Liven up your history lesson in Chemistry class with this Google and print mash-up activity!
I've never been a big history buff, so admittedly, teaching about the development of the atomic theory and the men involved has not always been my favorite topic to teach my students. But rather than sludge through this lesson, I decided to make it more engaging by adding interactive Google slides and a gallery walk. My students really enjoyed this approach because it allowed them to work with a partner and get out of their chairs.
Here's what I did. First, students watched a TedEd video about the history of the atomic theory. Then they worked together to research a little bit about each scientist in a set of interactive Google slides.
After the students complete the slides, I had them walk around the room to examine the "gallery" of portraits. They used their research to match the portrait with the description of the scientist on their handout. Then, they took a smaller picture of the scientist and glued it to their paper. (See below)
As the students matched the scientist to the description on the handout, they also drew an illustration to help them remember what that particular scientist discovered or how they contributed to the development of the atomic theory.
Lastly, I decided to create a self-grading quiz in Google so that I could assess how well my students understood not only the history of the atomic theory, but the errors in early thinking.
This was a great alternative for us to cover atomic theory in a more engaging way!
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