Subject:

Chemistry

Type of Lesson:

Lecture, Research

Grade:

10

CSEC OBJ:

A2.1, A2.2, A2.3 Students should be

familiar with the concept of the atom
as a basic building block of matter.

Term:

Christmas

UNIT:

Atoms and the Periodic Table

Duration:

80 minutes

Lesson: 14

The Atom and its structure

Week: 5

Objectives
As a result of this lesson, you will be able to:
1) Describe with illustrations the structure of atoms of atomic number
1 to 20.
2) State the properties of electrons, protons and neutrons.
3) Define atomic number and mass number.
Prerequisite Student Knowledge
1) Knowledge of matter as comprised of tiny particles
Important Points
1) All matter is made up of microscopic particles called atoms.
2) Atoms consist of even smaller particles called electrons, protons
and neutrons.
3) The electrons are arranged in shells.
Key Terms
atom

electron

atomic number

element

mass number

neutron

Student Instructional Material

proton

Challenge Areas
Construct a model of an atom using material of your choice.

Equipment/Material Needed:
Textbooks, pictures/diagrams/charts of atoms and how the particles are
arranged in the atom
A bag of brown sugar and sheets of paper towel.
Picture of a dish with pieces of sodium, calcium or another metal
Note to Student
You must understand that atoms cannot be seen by the naked eye.
They are microscopic particles.

Student Instructional Material

1) Introductory Activity
a. Let us investigate a sample of brown sugar by pouring
some onto the sheet of paper towel.
i.
What do you see?
ii.
What makes up the bag of sugar?
iii.
How are these arranged in the bag? Imagine that
these particles are atoms. Then this is how they are
arranged in the solid sugar.
b. Look carefully at the picture of the dish of sodium in
Figure 14.1.

Figure 14.1

i.
ii.
Important Point
Atoms are tiny
particles that make
up matter.
Elements are made
up of only one kind
of atom.

Can you see the particles in this substance?

A piece of sodium is made up of billions of tiny
particles called sodium atoms. Atoms are too small
to be seen even under a microscope. Two million
hydrogen atoms would be needed to cover an
average full stop. Sodium is made of sodium atoms
atom
only, so it is an element. Copper atoms are found in
copper metal and iron atoms are found in iron
metal. Copper and iron are therefore elements too.
An element is a substance that is made of only one
kind of atom. Every element has a name and a
symbol.

Student Instructional
nstructional Material

Body of Lesson
1) Whats inside the atom?
a. Go to the PowerPoint presentation on Whats Inside The
Atom to view a. What are the particles inside the atom?
b. Click on the link to learn more about the subatomic
particles.
http://education.jlab.org/atomtour/listofparticles.html
c. After viewing the PowerPoint presentation and the website,
complete the following paragraph on the particles inside an
atom. Review the presentation to check your answers.

Atoms have three basic particles: _____________,

______________ and ________________ .
The ___________ and _________ are found inside the
nucleus. The __________ move around the nucleus on
shells.
The positively charged particles are the __________.
The negatively charged particles are the __________.
The __________ have no charge.

2) Elements and their symbols

a. The symbol for an element is an abbreviated way of
referring to the element and is derived from the name or the
Latin form of the element. The symbol of an element can
be written to include the mass number and the atomic
number:

Student Instructional Material

Mass number
SYMBOL
Atomic number
b. Below is an example:
19

represents one atom of fluorine

Mass number

= 19

Atomic number

=9

Number of protons

=9

Number of electrons = 9
Number of neutrons = 19 9 = 10
c. Na is the symbol for sodium and is derived from its Latin
name. It can also be expressed as:
23

Na
11
i.

What is the mass number?

____

ii.

What is the atomic number?

____

iii.

What is the number of protons?

____

iv.

What is the number of electrons?

____

v.

What is the number of neutrons?

____

3) Arrangement of electrons
a. Electrons are arranged in a particular way in the shells. The
first shell, that is, the shell closest to the nucleus can hold a
maximum of two electrons and the second shell can hold a
maximum of eight electrons. The third shell can hold a
maximum of eighteen; however, for elements 1 - 20, it can
Student Instructional Material

only hold a maximum of eight. So for the atom of fluorine

whose atomic number is 9, two electrons will go into the
first shell. Since no more electrons can hold in the first
shell, the remaining electrons will go into the second shell.
The electrons are then arranged as 2.7. This notation is
called the electronic configuration.
4) Activity
a. Draw the structure of fluorine atom. You should end up
with a structure with 10 neutrons and 9 protons in the
nucleus, two electrons on the first shell and seven on the
second shell.
b. Find a partner to do some research to find the names and
symbols of the first twenty elements. Complete Worksheet
1.
5) Each pair of students will be assigned two elements, their atomic
numbers and mass numbers. You are expected to create a model of
the atom for each element, using the materials provided.
Remember the order of the filling of the shells. Hand in the models
for grading.

Closure
In-Class Assignments
1) Summarize the main points in the lesson by answering the
following questions.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Name the particles found inside the atom?

How are these particles arranged within the atom?
What are the charges of these particles?
What is an element?
What is the atomic number of an element?
What is the mass number of an element?
How does one arrive at the symbol for an element?
How are electrons arranged in an atom?

2) Draw a flow chart to show the relationship between atom, element,

electron, neutron, proton, atomic number, mass number.
3) Atomic Structure Quiz
a. Visit the following link to review atomic structure
http://chemistry.about.com/od/atomicmolecularstructure/a/a
a062804a.htm
Student Instructional Material

b. Do the quiz found at

http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/blatomquiz.htm
on Atomic structure to see how well you have grasped the
concepts. You might also want to try:
http://www.chem4kids.com/extras/quiz_atomstruct/index.h
tml

Out-of-Class Assignment
1) Write a short summary of the main points in your notebook.
2) Complete the following diagram in Figure 14.2.
List with characteristics or features to be used to complete the
diagram in Figure 14.2:
109 types
mass 1
mass ~0
charge +1
charge -1
no charge
invisible
pure substance
has characteristics of element

Element

Atom

Proton

Neutron

Electron

has feature

has feature

has feature

has feature

has feature

Figure 14.2 Five ideas and their characteristics

3) Identify the following elements and draw a labeled diagram to
illustrate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons present in
each atom:
27

24

Al
13

16

Mg
12

O
8

4) Read up on isotopes for the next lesson.

Student Instructional Material

Supplemental
Glossary of Terms
Atom

The smallest, indivisible part of an atom that can

take part in a chemical change

Element

A substance made up of one kind of atom

Proton

A positively charged particle found in the

nucleus of an atom
A negatively charged particle found orbiting
around the nucleus in the shells of an atom
A particle found in the nucleus of an atom. It has
no charge.
The number of protons found in an atom

Electron
Neutron
Atomic number
Mass number

The sum of the number of protons and neutrons

in an atom

CSEC Question
1) Complete the following table:
Species

Atomic
Number of
Element

Mass
Number of
Element

Arrangement
of electrons
in species

Number of
neutrons in
the nucleus
6

27

32

2,8,3
16

Recommended Materials
None
Bibliography
Tindale, A. Chemistry: A Concise Revision Course for CXC 2nd
Revised Edition, Nelson Thornes Publishers 1998
Gallagher, R.M. & Ingram, P. Complete Chemistry 2nd Edition Oxford
University Press 2000
Student Instructional Material

Worksheet 1: Information on the first twenty elements

Name of element

Symbol

Hydrogen

Atomic
Number

Mass Number Number of

neutrons

Electronic
configuration

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Student Instructional Material