Warm Up : (Date) Matter: Atoms Session 2 What is matter? Can atoms be seen under a microscope? Draw a picture of an atom. Page #

Table of Contents Scientific Method 1-2 Matter: Atoms Session# Title Page # Scientific Method 1-2 Matter: Atoms

What is Matter? Matter is everything around you…anything that has mass and takes up space. Give some examples…

Matter Includes all things that can be seen, tasted, smelled, or touched *Does not include heat, sound, or light

So, what is matter made of? Matter is made up of different kinds of atoms. Atoms are the smallest part of matter that still have the properties of the matter. They, too, have mass and occupy space. How did we figure this out?

The ancient Greeks thought matter was made of a combination of four simple substances that were called elements. The ancient Greeks thought the four elements were air, fire, water, and earth. (There are actually over 100 elements.)

The idea of all matter being made up of small building blocks that cannot be divided into smaller pieces also dates back to an ancient Greek philosopher named Democritus of Abdera who lived in 430 BC. He named the blocks ‘atomos’ which means indivisible. This is the origin of the word ‘atom’ that we use today.

Fun Fact:

Sooner or later every one of us breathes an atom that has been breathed  before by anyone you can think of who has lived before us- Michelangelo or George Washington or Moses. Jacob Bronowski

The Aluminum Foil Test Does the smallest piece of aluminum that you can cut still have all the properties of the original piece of aluminum? How small can the smallest piece be and still retain the properties of aluminum? (Could you cut the piece in half and half again 10 more times? 100 more times? 1000 more times?) Using your imagination of cutting and cutting, you will eventually get to one atom of aluminum. An atom is the smallest part of an element. Since you can still cut the aluminum in pieces, you have not reached the size of a single atom. Now imagine that there may be a way to cut the smallest piece of aluminum you have into even smaller and smaller pieces.

How small is an atom. Tiny. Atoms are very very small How small is an atom? Tiny!!!!!!! Atoms are very very small. They are so tiny that a speck of dirt contains billions of them. This means you cannot see them even with a microscope.

Models are often used for things that are too small or too large to be observed or that are too difficult to be understood easily. In the case of atoms, scientists use large models to explain something that is very small. Models of the atom were used to explain data or facts that were gathered experimentally. So, these models are also theories.

Atoms are the Building Blocks of Matter

Everything you see is built from something else Everything you see is built from something else. You could start really small... - Particles of matter - Atoms - Molecules - Macromolecules - Cell organelles - Cells - Tissues - Organs - Systems - Organisms - Populations - Ecosystems - Biospheres - Planets - Planetary Solar Systems - Galaxies - The Universe ...And finish really big.  All of that is possible because of atoms. 

Time for a StudyJam http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/atoms.htm

Reflection (Date) Matter: Atoms Session 2 List 3 things that are matter. Why was Democritus’ name atomos (indivisible) appropriate? Are atoms of the same element alike?(think Aluminum Foil Test) Page #