1. Chemistry, Fertilizer, and the Environment Mandi Bottoms, Curriculum and Evaluation Specialist

2. Agenda California AITC Lesson Plans Unit Background Lesson Highlights One in a Million Activity Molecular Shuffle Activity Wrap Up

3. California AITC Lesson Plans Written by educators Field-tested by educators 17 instructional units and lesson plans Aligned to the California content standards FREE

5. Chemistry, Fertilizer, and the Environment Funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture Five lesson unit Meets content standards for grades 8-12 Written and evaluated by teachers

6. Lesson 1: Micros and Macros (elements important for plant growth) What do plants need to grow? What does chemistry have to do with it? Activity: Plant Doctor

7. Lesson 2: Matter of Fact (atoms, molecules, and compounds) What is matter? How does nitrogen change in the nitrogen cycle? Activity: Nitrogen Cycle Game Review: Molecular Shuffle

8. Lesson 3: Concentrate on the Solution (fertilizer solutions and their concentrations) How is fertilizer measured and applied? How much is a part per million? Activity: One in a Million Lab Activity: Concentrate on the Solution

9. Lesson 4: Just Add Water (the relationship between irrigation and fertilizer) What is agricultural runoff? How do you measure nutrient levels in water? How does nutrient load and irrigation scheduling affect runoff? Inquiry Lab: How Much is Too Much?

10. Lesson 5: Fertilizer, Inc. (producing and marketing fertilizer) Where do elements come from? What does chemistry have to do with it? Activity: Students form teams to research, develop, and market a fertilizer.

11. One in a Million Activity A solution is a homogeneous mixture. The solute is the fertilizer. The solvent is the water.

12. One in a Million Activity One part per million is a very small amount. We can dilute solutions by adding more solvent. We can control the concentration of a solution.

13. Molecular Shuffle Review Activity Choose an identifying trait that will represent different elements. Examples: hair color, gender, pennies, etc. Call out molecular formulas—atoms, molecules, or compounds. Students gather in groups to represent the number of atoms required for each molecular equation.

14. Molecular Shuffle Review Activity Examples: P = “I’m an Atom!” NO = one male and one female H 2 O = two females and one male or two males and one female

15. N Nitrogen

16. N 2 Atmospheric nitrogen

17. NO Nitric oxide

18. NO 3 - Nitrate

19. Na Sodium

20. NO 2 - Nitrite

21. NaCl Sodium chloride

22. NH 3 Ammonia

23. K Potassium

24. H 2 O Water

25. NH 4 + Ammonium

26. N 2 O Nitrous oxide

27. CaCl 2 Calcium chloride

28. Molecular Shuffle Review Activity Choose several different identifying traits. Call out complex chemical formulas, with several elements. Example: Ca(NO 3 ) 2 Call out the name of the molecule only. Create responses for students to identify micro and macro nutrients.

29. Chemistry, Fertilizer, and the Environment Currently being pilot-tested by California teachers. Available for free download January 2013. All AITC lesson plans are available at no cost: www.LearnAboutAg.org/lessonplans

30. Questions? Mandi Bottoms Curriculum and Evaluation Specialist Mandi@LearnAboutAg.org