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8th Grade Physical ScienceUnit 1S8P1.e

Atoms & the Periodic Table

The universe's building kit — and the map that organizes it.

The endless cut.

Take a strip of aluminum foil. Cut it in half. Keep the half and cut it again. And again. If your scissors were infinitely tiny, could you keep cutting forever — or would you reach a piece so small that one more cut means it isn't aluminum anymore?

Start: What Do You Already Know? → Explore on your own ↓
7activities
14new words
3parts
∞replays — new every time
Open world

Explore

Jump in anywhere, in any order. Every activity reshuffles each time you play, so there's always something new. You earn amu for every right answer.

Think about it

Big questions to wonder about

By the end of this unit, you'll be able to answer every one of these.

If you kept cutting a piece of foil in half forever, would it always stay aluminum?

If atoms are mostly empty space, why doesn't your hand pass right through your desk?

Gold, oxygen, and carbon are all made of atoms. So why do they act so differently?

Why do noble gases almost never react with anything?

Vocabulary

Word Wall

The 14 words you'll own by the end of this unit. Tap any card to flip it. Words you collect in the activities get a ✓.

The road ahead

Unit Roadmap

Three parts, in the order we'll learn them.

1

Part 1: Inside the Atom

  • What an atom is
  • Protons, neutrons & electrons
  • Atomic number & mass number
  • Bohr models (elements 1–20)
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2

Part 2: Reading the Periodic Table

  • Anatomy of an element square
  • Periods and groups
  • Metals, nonmetals & metalloids
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3

Part 3: Patterns, Families & Simple Molecules

  • Valence electrons
  • The famous families
  • Why noble gases are so stable
  • Simple molecules: H₂O, CO₂, O₂
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Where we're headed

Learning Targets & Success Criteria

Learning Targets

I am learning to…

  • Describe the structure of an atom — protons, neutrons, and electrons — and where each one is found
  • Use the periodic table to find an element's atomic number, mass number, and numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons
  • Analyze patterns in the periodic table: periods, groups, valence electrons, and metals vs. nonmetals
  • Model atoms with Bohr diagrams and simple molecules like H₂O, CO₂, and O₂
Success Criteria

I will be successful when I can…

  • Name the three subatomic particles and give their charges, masses, and locations
  • Calculate the numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons from the atomic number and mass number
  • Draw a Bohr model for any of the first 20 elements using the 2-8-8 rule
  • Decode an element square: atomic number, symbol, name, and atomic mass
  • Identify periods, groups, and where metals, nonmetals, and metalloids sit on the table
  • Predict how an element behaves from its group and explain why noble gases are stable
  • Count the atoms in a simple molecule like H₂O, CO₂, or O₂
Georgia Standards of Excellence

Standards

S8P1

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the structure and properties of matter.

S8P1.e

Develop models (e.g., atomic-level models, including drawings, and computer representations) by analyzing patterns within the periodic table that illustrate the structure, composition, and characteristics of atoms (protons, neutrons, and electrons) and simple molecules.

Watch

One-minute videos

Quick previews from Simple Science Videos.

The Atom

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The Periodic Table

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More on Tobin Science

Keep going

Free activities for this unit that go deeper.

Periodic Table Explorer

Periodic Table Patterns

Counting Atoms