“Make Things go Boom?”, was the most common question on our brainstorming whiteboards at the beginning of our chemistry unit/project.

Unfortunately I am only able to find this image of my group’s brainstorm whiteboard.

The “Big Idea” for this project was: How does the electron arrangement of atoms impacts their chemical nature? My understanding of the big idea is; the impact electrons have is dependent on their arrangement in the different energy shells, a good example is Neon as it’s outermost shell, or Valence shell is full as all atoms want, because it is how an atom is the most stable.

The first Core Competency that we had to use was: Communicating: formulate physical or mental theoretical models to describe a phenomenon. I demonstrated this competency by showing that in my video to ways that atoms bond in easy to understand and scientifically correct diagrams.

The second competency that we had to use was: Processing and analyzing: construct, analyze and interpret models and/or diagrams. I was able to show this competency in a variety of ways including; Kahoot quizzes, tests, textbook assignments, and Bohr Models in my final video.

The third and final competency we used was: Questioning and predicting: demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem or personal interest. I personally believe that I showed this competency by focusing (most of the time) in class, and focusing and doing well when we did a Kahoot quiz.

Through  this project I have gotten a better understanding of how atoms bond, and my hatred for Explain Everything has also grown.

Here is my final video:

-Finn