Toxins: Balancing Chemical Equations

Class began with the ChemCatalyst from the Lesson 72 PowerPoint.  With the lesson focusing on balancing chemical equations, we worked through the ChemCatalyst equation on the whiteboard, and then jumped into balancing the equation for photosynthesis (both pictured below):

Students learned how to count and add atoms on both sides of the equation, how to write the mole number in front of the reactants or products (when needed), and how to multiply the mole number by the subscript numbers.  For review, students are encouraged to watch the Crash Course video below (note – we have seen the first 9 minutes, so pick up at about the 9 minute mark to review about balancing equations).

Students then received the Lesson 72 Worksheet to work on in pairs.  We worked through worksheet question 2C, as well as Lesson 72 textbook questions 4A and 4G (for homework, students were assigned textbook question 4, all parts).  Work for those problems is shown below:

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Evolution: Some of the Things That Molecules Do

We kicked off our Evolution Unit with Episode 2 of Neil deGrass Tyson’s reboot of the Cosmos series called Some of the Things That Molecules Do.  The video does an excellent job presenting evolution as the product of genetic mutation, and differentiates between natural and artificial selection.  Students received a worksheet and time to collaborate on the responses both during (intermission) and after the video.