Polymers are an important part of our day-to-day lives, but how much do your pupils know about them? Learn the basics and beyond in a series of activities designed to build skills in observation, planning, organic chemistry, and bonding.

Concepts

polymers, polymerization, chemical symbols, chemical equations, acids and bases, alkenes, monomers, organic chemistry, milk, seaweed

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the first activity as a competition between lab groups to see who can develop the strongest glue
• Expand upon the lesson using one of the several links to activities included in the teacher's guide

Classroom Considerations

• Discuss pi and sigma bonds before passing out student materials, if this topic has not already been covered
• Facts about polymer products in the lab are from the United Kingdom; consider inserting similar facts from closer to home to make the lesson more relevant
  

Pros

• Resource packs several different polymers into a neatly constructed series of experiments
• The explanations of polymer chemistry are very well-written

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.9-10.2 RST.9-10.3 RST.11-12.3