Carbon PDF

Carbon is the ninth unit in the Chemistry course. Carbon is a huge branch of chemistry that studies carbon and the millions of compounds it creates. It is also known as organic chemistry. In this unit you will study the properties of carbon, the naming systems for carbon, and how carbon functions in living and non-living systems.

This unit is not a textbook. It is a guidebook book full of lesson plans and resources for the mentor to design a course specifically for his or her students.

This unit has sections on:

• Chains & Rings
• Molecules of Life
• Polymers

Learning By Doing

This is an activity and lab based curriculum, where you learn by doing. Here are a few of the activities to choose from in this unit:

• Make paper ring and and chains to learn how carbon can bond with itself and hydrogen
• Create a notebooking page with foldables about the naming rules for carbon compounds
• Make bead and pipe cleaner models of sigma and pi bonds
• Distil aromatic compounds from flowers or herbs
• Make caramel and observe the Maillard reaction
• Make a model of a polymer with cross linked chains of carbon
• Make plastic from potato starch
• Plus much more!

Each Layers of Learning Science unit includes library lists of books, a family read-aloud suggestion, lab experiments, hands-on activities, printables and paper crafts, sidebars for extra learning, and tools to help you assess student’s progress and mastery. You can learn more about how Layers of Learning works in the Curriculum Guide. You may also want to purchase the Science Guidebook for even more information on how to teach and learn with Layers of Learning Science.

See Inside

Here is a two-page spread from Carbon:

There are many different activities, pintables, and games in each unit. You get to design your student’s learning by choosing your favorites and reading books and watching videos on the topics presented in the unit.

The sidebars line the entire unit and help you take off on tangents, learn extra information, have deep discussions, coordinate with Writer’s Workshop, or find high interest books to hand to your child.

Flexibility

This unit was written to be used for a month but contains plenty of content for many more weeks of learning if you choose. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, meant to be cycled back to in the future when your child is older. As such, it intentionally includes far more material than you can possibly cover in a month.

Carbon is also part of the overall Chemistry course, the third Year of the four year Layers of Learning Science cycle. If you use the program in order, it will take you through the four branches of science from Earth & Space to Biology to Chemistry to Physics in a logical progression where skills are learned and then practiced and used. However, each unit stands alone and can be used independently of any other unit and in any order.

Printable Pack

This unit comes with a downloadable Printable Pack that includes all the student worksheets. The printables can be copied as many times as needed for your family or class.

You can download the Printable Pack from your receipt or from your account at Layers of Learning.

Above, you see the cover and two of the Printable Pack pages.

Extra Resources

This unit comes with extra weblinks and a YouTube video playlist on the Chemistry Resources page.