Learning Goals
Students will be able to analyze and construct historical and modern atomic, isotope, and nuclear-change models to explain how evidence-based models represent atomic identity, mass, stability, and energy release.
Students will be able to predict the relative properties and behavior of elements in everyday materials using valence-electron patterns, atomic radius, electronegativity, and reactivity trends.
Students will be able to construct and revise evidence-based explanations of simple chemical reactions using outermost electron states, periodic trends, and patterns of chemical properties.
Students will be able to substantiate the conservation of atoms and mass during chemical reactions using balanced representations and quantitative evidence.
Students will be able to defend a sustainable choice between two everyday materials by evaluating credible evidence about physical properties, atomic makeup, chemical behavior, resource use, and competing claims.
Products
Matter in Daily Life Scientific Evidence Portfolio
Each student creates a digital or paper portfolio containing annotated daily-life matter examples, historical and modern atom models, isotope and nuclear-change comparisons, periodic-trend analysis, reaction and conservation calculations, and an independently written CER argument comparing two materials. The argument includes a credibility-checked evidence log, citations, explicit warrants, a fair counterargument with concession and rebuttal, and midpoint and final reflections.
Sustainable Materials Exhibition and Public CER Defense
Teams create a digital or poster-based “Matter in Daily Life” exhibition that synthesizes members’ individual evidence to trace common items from elements and atomic structure to properties, reactions, resource use, and sustainability impacts. During a public CER presentation, the team defends its recommended material, addresses an opposing position and unplanned audience questions, and identifies where the strongest and most limited evidence lies.
No rubric has been generated yet.