Chemical Bonding Lesson Plan

Standards met:

 SC.912.P.8.6

Distinguish between bonding forces holding compounds together and other attractive forces,
including hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces.

 SC.912.P.8.5

Relate properties of atoms and their position in the periodic table to the arrangement of their
electrons.

Recommended Grade Level: 8th-10th grade

Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels Targets:

In this lesson the targets are comprehension and application.

Summary:

Students will be lectured on chemical bonds and the traits of ionic and covalent bonding. They will then
engage in an exploration demonstrating the Octet rule and chemical bonding using paper models of
elements forming covalent and ionic compounds. They will also explore combining elements to create
compounds using ionic bonding.

Objectives:

Students will be able to predict whether two atoms will form a covalent or an ionic bond based on their
valence electrons and their position in the periodic table with a 90% accuracy. They will be able to
model electron transfer between atoms to form ionic bonds and electron sharing between atoms to
form covalent bonds with a 95% accuracy.

Prerequisite Knowledge:

Students should have explored and grasped the following concepts:

 Matter is everything that has mass and takes up space.

 Matter is made up of tiny particles, called atoms. Atoms contain electrons, neutrons and
protons (subatomic particles).
  The periodic table is a way of organizing the elements according to their characteristics and
chemical behavior.
 The periodic table can be used to determine the number of protons, electrons and neutrons of
atoms of different element.
 The number of protons defines an element.
 The number of valence electrons (electrons in the outer shell) determines the chemical
properties of the element.

Materials and Resources:

 Pen or pencil
 Paper
 Cardstock or cardboard
 Pipe cleaners
 Single hole punch(es)
 Markers
 2 Bowls

Digital Resources:

 Computers
 https://florida.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.matter.covalentbond/covalent-
bonding/?#.Wt07rYjwZhE
 https://florida.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.matter.ionicbonding/ionic-
bonding/?#.Wt07rojwZhE
 https://www.learner.org/interactives/periodic/bonding/

Procedure:

Day one:

Students will work independently at computers. They will go to

https://florida.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.matter.covalentbond/covalent-
bonding/?#.Wt07rYjwZhE and complete the online module, learning about covalent bonds. This module
includes the ability to interact with simulated atoms and covalent bonding. Once the student finishes
the module, they will move onto
https://florida.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.matter.ionicbonding/ionic-
bonding/?#.Wt07rojwZhE and complete this module, learning about ionic bonding. This module allows
students to interact with simulated ionic bonding.

Once students finish this task they will go to https://www.learner.org/interactives/periodic/bonding/

and complete the online activity, testing their knowledge of chemical bonding. The student should
report back with their score.

Day two:
Students will work to model compounds using cardstock or cardboard to represent the nucleus and the
pipe cleaners representing the electrons in an atom. The students will label each “nucleus” with what
element it is representing as well as its ionic charge. They will then punch 8 holes around the perimeter
of the nucleus and insert pipe cleaners into the holes until the atom has the appropriate number of
electrons. The students will join the atoms by sharing pipe cleaners between atoms to represent
covalent bonds or by removing and inserting them into another atom to represent ionic bonds. Students
should model 3 compounds containing covalent bonds and 3 compounds containing ionic bonds of their
choosing. The students will be assessed on the accuracy and quality of their models.

Wrap-up / Closure:

Have students reflect on what they understood about chemical bonding and what questions they still
have. Have them answer the following questions:

 What is chemical bonding?

 What is ionic bonding?
 What is covalent bonding?
 How do ionic and covalent bonding differ?
 What causes ionic bonding? Covalent bonding?