THE ELEMENTS

What The Universe Is Made Of !!!

Look around you. What do you see? Trees, mountains, animals, desks, chairs, toys, people, etc. These are all objects. They are all unique and have their own physical properties. These are color, shape, texture, size, and hardness (CoShaTex, SiHard). General properties are: weight, density, and volume.

All objects take up space. How much space an object takes is called its volume. All objects have mass. This is how much of an object there is. Mass is related to how much an object weights. Mass and weight are two different things. The unit for weight is gram. All objects that take up space and have mass are called matter.

Everything around us is made of matter. The simplest form of matter is the element. An element cannot be changed into another substance by simple means. For example, Iron cannot be changed into gold. You can only change its shape.

The simplest form of an element is the atom. An atom has all the properties of that element. They are very small and cannot even be seen with a microscope.

In 1869, the Russian Mendeleev noted that there was a pattern of behavior with the elements. He arranged them in an informative array called The Periodic Table of Elements.

To learn more about the atoms and the Periodic Table, visit the following links.

 http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/5gradecover.html

http://www.chemicool.com/

 http://www.webelements.com/

: http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/list1.html

• Choose five elements and research them using the links suggested above. Create a table displaying their atomic symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, and common objects in which these elements are used or found.

• Draw a diagram of an atom labeling properly all its parts.