Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes – The story so far...
15 minutes – Tune in: Activating prior knowledge
20 minutes – Find out: New chemical elements
15 minutes – Take action: Investigating an element
5 minutes – Reflection

Presentation slides

We strongly encourage you to use the Presentation Slides as a guide for yourself and your students through this lesson.

The story so far...

Step 1.

Revisit the story so far, using the Threshold Cards as a guide to retell the story of the history of the universe. Students should be involved in the retelling - you might nominate different students each lesson to be responsible for a different threshold. Prompt them to explain what ingredients were present in the universe at the time, what goldilocks conditions existed to enable a change, and the new complexity it resulted in.

Remember, students' explanations can't be wrong, but you might supplement them with the information below.

In the beginning, we weren't sure there was anything in the universe. If there was, we don't know what it was. We also don't know what the conditions were like. However, something happened, which we know as the Big Bang. This caused the universe to change so much that we recognise it as a new complexity - almost a totally new place. After that, we had space, time, matter (hydrogen and helium), and energy (gravity and electromagnetism).
These were perfect Goldilocks Conditions for something to happen. First, gravity pulled matter together. Inside these fusions, it was more than 10 million degrees Celsius. Suddenly, stars lit up. Galaxies, clusters, and superclusters were formed.

The universe had changed once again.

Tune in: Activating prior knowledge

You can also use the Presentation Slides to guide you through these steps.

Step 1.

Start by seeing what students know about chemical elements and their importance to us and the world.

Students might have some understanding that everything in the universe is made up of very small particles and base elements. Humans are made of carbon, amongst other things, as are most lifeforms on earth, including trees. Water is made by combining hydrogen and oxygen. Burning fossil fuels releases the gas carbon dioxide, which is a mixture of carbon and oxygen molecules.

Students will also probably have some understanding that pure metals such as gold are also an element.

However, you don't have to get too advanced with this for now.

Step 2.

It might help students to visualise these elements using the Illustrated Periodic Table of Elements.

Students should already be familiar with two of these elements in terms of the beginnings of the universe. In Lesson 5 we learnt about Hydrogen and Helium, two of the elements important in the creation of stars. You can find these two elements in the top left and right corners of the table.

Students will no doubt know of helium in its common form in their lives: helium-filled balloons, as represented here. It's important to understand these balloons are not filled with air. There are different gases (elements) in the world, and these balloons are filled with one of them: helium.

Find out: New chemical elements

Step 1.

Watch:

From the Big Bang to Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYkdDniQJyw)

Step 2.

Watch:

They Might Be Giants - Meet the Elements (official TMBG video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy0m7jnyv6U)

Step 3.

Watch:

Threshold 3: New Chemical Elements | Big History Project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxuzz7tHfIc)

Take action: Investigating an element

These instructions are also available on the Student Worksheet.

Step 1.

Independently, students will investigate an element of their choosing, using both of the resources listed on the Student Worksheet.

Provisions for Learning Support and Extension: It's fairly easy for students to self-differentiate for this investigation. If students aren't feeling confident, encourage them to choose an element they've heard of before, such as gold or sodium.

These are pretty simple to understand, have fairly clear uses in our world, and are abundant. On the other hand, if students are looking for more of a challenge, encourage them to pick an element that's a lot more 'weird'. Just be aware that it might be more difficult to understand how something like europium is used to make colour televisions. Something safer but a little more challenging might be one of either lead, mercury, radium, potassium, or arsenic.

Step 2.

Guided by the Student Worksheet, students should find:

The atomic number of their element
The chemical symbol of their element
Whether their element is found as a solid or gas in its natural state (and whether it is a metal)
Where their element can be found in the world, and how abundant or rare it is
What their element is useful for in our world
Any other interesting facts about their element.

Step 3.

Once students have found this information, they should create a poster (either digitally or by hand) that 'expands' their elements entry on your Periodic Table of Elements. This A4 sheet should clearly communicate everything they know about the element.

Reflection

It is worth each student briefly presenting the element they researched to the rest of the class, even if they just explain one use for their element. This will help grow the collective knowledge of your class.

If you can, display an A3 version of the Illustrated Periodic Table of the Elements somewhere in your class, along with students' posters of expanded knowledge. You can return to this display over the course of the unit as you discover the importance of more and specific elements throughout our universe.

Threshold crossed

Finally, tell the next part of the history of the universe that we have just covered.

"The stars started to age and die. They were running out of hydrogen and helium.

Giant stars collapsed, fusing to create more complex elements in the billion-degree temperatures.

After a time, 92 elements were present in the universe, making our universe a far more complex place.

The universe had changed once again."

Stick your Threshold 3 Card up around the classroom somewhere as an indicator of a threshold being crossed!

Where to next?

Students' learning throughout Big History is leading them towards designing future cities. As Big Historians, we are travelling through 13.82 billion years of our universe’s history to find solutions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #11: to make cities inclusive, safe and resilient.

Remind students that the Sustainable Development Goals are the world’s to-do list for people and the planet. We all need to be a part of the process. 193 nations came together and agreed on one common list for all of us that helps make the planet and our communities stronger.

What will be our fourth touchdown threshold in our next lesson? Our Solar System and Earth: How does Earth differ from other planets?

Big History Passport check-in

After this lesson, students should have added to their Big History Passport:

Student Worksheet - Research on an element
Poster - Expanded periodic table (you might have to leave a space for this if it's being used in a class display)
Threshold 3 Reflection Page

Big History - What are Elements?

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

Additional Info

In this lesson