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Atoms and Elements The Smallest Piece of Matter
Teaching Ideas Give each student a strip of paper 14cm long (you could cut these from the How
Small is an Atom Cutting Template) and ask them to cut it in half. A key point
to talk about is how the two pieces of paper have the same properties as the
Learning Objective: original piece of paper. You could discuss what these properties are as a class.
To understand the difference The slide tells students that Democritus reasoned that if you keep cutting a stone
between atoms and elements. in half, and half again, eventually you will get to the point it will no longer be
divided. He called these small pieces of matter atomos (what we know as an
Success Criteria: atom today). Students can then see how many times they are able to cut the
paper in half (about 7 or 8 is usual). Ask them if they had tools that could cut even
• To state what an atom and
smaller pieces, how many times do they think they could keep cutting it in half?
element are.
After 31 cuts, the paper would be the size of the radius of an atom.
• To describe the Dalton
atomic model. Atoms and Elements
• To identify elements on the The slides introduce Dalton’s atomic theory of matter, listing the points of his
periodic table. theory and giving definitions for the key words atom and element. Students will
write these definitions down in the plenary. We now know that some of Dalton’s
Context statements were not correct, though this content is beyond the KS3 curriculum.
You may choose to share with students that atoms can indeed be broken down
This is the first lesson in the
into smaller parts and that isotopes of each element exist. Whether you choose
KS3 Atoms and the Periodic
to include this will depend on the students in your class.
Table unit. Students are
introduced to the definitions of
The Particle Model
the words atom and element,
practise finding symbols on The next few slides recap the particle model. Students are asked how the particles
the periodic table and recap would be organised in each state. You could ask them to draw diagrams in their
the particle model and states books or on whiteboards, then take feedback from the group. Diagrams of the
of matter. arrangement of atoms in each state for two different elements are then shown.
It is explained that one atom alone does not have the properties of an element,
nor is it a solid, liquid or gas, but that a group of atoms together act in this way.
Resources
scissors
Elements Speed Dating
Students need to work in pairs for this activity. Give each pair one of the
Elements Information Sheets. There are 15 sheets in total, which include some
information, uses and interesting facts about some elements that should be
familiar to students. You may choose to use fewer than 15 sheets to shorten the
activity. There are three versions of the Elements Fact Sheet, that include space
for 5, 10 or 15 elements depending on how many Elements Information Sheets
you wish to use.
Give students five minutes to read their information sheet and memorise as
many facts as possible.
As a minimum, students must be able to recall:
• the element name;
• the element symbol;
• the melting and boiling point;
• at least one use.

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Students may need a whiteboard on which to write some
key words or figures to act as prompts. You could set a limit
on how many words they can write.
Once students have memorised facts about their element,
collect the Element Information Sheets.
One student from each pair will move clockwise around
the classroom. You may wish to number the students so
they know who is moving and who is remaining still. In their
new pairs, Student 1 will share information about their
element, while Student 2 records this on their Element Fact
Sheet. After one minute, students swap roles so Student 2
describes their element and Student 1 records.
Student 1 should share the interesting facts about their
element and then move to the next table. It is important
that the same student moves each time to ensure they
gather all the information.
The timings can be altered to suit the class but all students
should move tables at the same time.
Once students have collected information about all
elements, they will move back to their original table and
compare answers with their partner. This will ensure that
they are able to fill any gaps they may have missed.
At this point, ask the students to use the melting and
boiling points to work out the state of that element at room
temperature.
Students could then decide on their favourite interesting
fact and you could share some as a class.

Elements Storytelling
Students are given the first paragraph of a story on the
Elements Storytelling Worksheet. The story has missing
words which can be spelt using symbols from the periodic
table. A list of elements for each gap are listed in the box
underneath the paragraph. This activity helps students to
become familiar with the periodic table and the symbols for
elements.
There is an example on the slide that you can complete as
a class before providing students with a Periodic Table and
asking them to complete the first paragraph. The answers
are shown on the following slide.
You can then ask students to write the next paragraph of
the story, including at least five words that need to be spelt
using symbols on the periodic table.

Plenary

You could round the lesson off by asking students to

Atoms and Elements Teaching Ideas 2