Substance Brochure
Researching
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Students choose a substance to research
Identify the physical and chemical properties of the
substance
Explain why those properties make the substance useful
Create a brochure about their substance to communicate
their learning
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Substance Ideas
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Sign-up
Sheet
Picture
uses
:
acetone
acrylic
aerogel
aluminum
ammonia
antifreeze
arsenic
aspirin
bakelite
baking soda
battery acid
bronze
butane
cadmium
caffeine
calcium carbonate
calcium chloride
canola oil
carbon nano tubes
celaphane
chalk
chlorine
cholesterol
chrome
clay
coal
collagen (skin)
copper
cornstarch
cyanide
diamond
ethanol
fat
ferrofluid
flour
gelatin
glass
glucose
gold
graphite
gypsum
helium
hemoglobin
hydrochloric acid
hydrogen peroxide
indigo (dye)
insulin
iodine
iron
jet fuel
keratin (fingernails)
kerosene
lactic acid
latex
lead
limestone
lye
maple syrup
mercury
methane
methanol
mineral oil
motor oil
mylar
neodymium
neon
nickel
nickel-titanium alloy
nylon
octane
paper
paraffin
petroleum
phenol red
polyethylene
potassium
propane
PVC
quartz
radon
rubber
rust
salt
sarin gas
silicon
silicone
silver
soap
sodium
sodium acetate
sodium polyacrylate
spider silk
starch
steel
styrofoam
sugar (sucrose)
sulfur
sulfuric acid
talc
teflon
tungsten
urea
vinegar
vinyl
water
wood (cellulose)
zinc
List of
s
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n
a
t
s
Sub
Substanc
Substanc
e Brochu
e Sign-up
Class Peri
od: ____
re
Sheet
____
Substanc
e
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Brochure
Template
Substance Brochure
Researching Physical and Chemical Properties of a Substance
Activity Overview
This activity is a fun, engaging way for students to explore some chemical and physical properties of a
substance of their choice. After identifying the properties of their substance, students will explain why
those properties make the substance useful to us. This helps students understand why we even care
about properties in the first place! Finally, they’ll communicate their understanding by creating a
colorful brochure about their substance, its properties, and its uses.
What will the students learn and do?
Students will:
• identify the uses of a substance of their choice
• practice identifying physical and chemical properties of the substance
• explain why those properties make the substance useful
• create a brochure about their substance to communicate their learning
Perks of this lesson
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Fun and engaging for students
Students enjoy choosing their own substance—gives them a sense of ownership
Great opportunity for teacher to identify misconceptions
Provides organic teaching opportunities when students get their research logs checked off
Checking for understanding is built into the activity
Artistic and creative students have a chance to utilize their skills
Super fun to grade!
Short ’n’ Simple Game Plan
Students will:
1. Sign up for a substance to research
2. Research the physical and chemical properties of the substance, and fill out a research log as they
find information
3. Get their research log checked off by the teacher
4. Create a colorful brochure about their substance using the information they collected on the
research log
Detailed Game Plan
Before the activity
This activity should be done when students already have an idea of many of the different types of physical
and chemical properties that substances have.
The brochure will need to be printed front/back. Make sure to line things up the correct way, otherwise the
back will be upside down!
Signing up for a substance
I suggest giving students a list of substances to choose from (see attached list). If you’d like, you can offer
that they come up with an idea of their own, but make sure to approve it first.
You might want to pass out a few hard copies of
substance ideas so the students can look over them
before they sign up.
Students should choose their top 3 choices before
lining up to tell the teacher the substance they want to
research, since the chances that their first choice will be
taken are pretty high.
Note:
• Most foods are really tricky, but based
on the student, you might approve
them. Examples of foods you might
want to avoid: cheese, milk, eggs,
ketchup
• Other foods work great, especially if
they are a pure substance. For
example: salt, sugar
I like to write under a document camera or project a
spreadsheet and type names in as students sign up
for their substances. This allows the rest of the class to see which substances have already been taken
while they stand in line, waiting to sign up.
Research & Research Log
Before building their brochure, students will research
the substance they chose and fill out their research log.
Note:
In the bottom five boxes of the research log,
students should simply describe what they are
going to draw in each picture box on their
brochure, not actually draw the picture on
their research log.
Students really struggle with the chemical
properties part of this assignment. Remind them that
a “non” property is also a property. For example, steel
has the chemical property of being nonflammable. Encourage them to think through some of
the “non” properties, such as non-reactive with water, non-corrosive, oxidization-resistant, etc. If the
students have taken notes, you can ask them to refer to their notes to get ideas for properties they may not
have thought of.
Students also struggle with the “why these properties are useful” section. I often use the following
kind of discussion to help them out:
• Teacher: Why do we build skyscrapers with steel instead of peanut butter?
• Student: Because it’s hard.
• Teacher: Good! Steel has the property of being hard, so it doesn’t squish or compress like peanut
butter. Let me ask you this: glass is a substance that is also hard, so why don’t we build skyscrapers
with beams made of glass?
• Student: Because glass breaks.
• Teacher: That’s right. Do you remember the name of the property that means that a substance
breaks easily?
• Student: …Brittle?
• Teacher: Yep! So, glass is brittle. That is a property we DON’T want in a beam for building sky
scrapers. How is steel different from glass?
• Student: It doesn’t break easily.
• Teacher: Right. So, steel has a property of being “not brittle,” or we could say that it’s
“strong.” We’ve figured out two properties of steel that make it useful for us—what are they?
• Student: It’s hard and strong.
When researching, students will try to find sites that clearly tell them all the properties of their
substance. The chances of them finding a site like that are pretty slim, especially if the substance is a
common one, like sugar. If students are struggling to find information about properties of their
substance, encourage them to do a search on a page using ctrl-f and then typing in a particular
property (e.g. “flammable”). Also, note that some sites define chemical properties differently—for
example, some sites call the melting point of a substance a chemical property.
Below are some websites that students have found useful in the past:
• rsc.org
• pubchem.gov
• chemicool.com
• chemicalbook.com
• chemistry.about.com
• Wikipedia.com
Brochure
Have students get their research log checked off with you before they begin on their brochure. This
prevents them from making big mistakes on their final product that are difficult to fix. It also allows a great
opportunity to identify misconceptions and guide students to “update” their understanding.
Make sure to be clear in your expectations regarding the appearance of the brochure. I tell my students: “I
want it to be beautiful, colorful, and legible.”
Optional Extension
If you’d like, you can have the students read one another’s brochures!
Substance Ideas
acetone
acrylic
aerogel
aluminum
ammonia
antifreeze
arsenic
aspirin
bakelite
baking soda
battery acid
bronze
butane
cadmium
caffeine
calcium carbonate
calcium chloride
canola oil
carbon nano tubes
celaphane
chalk
chlorine
cholesterol
chrome
clay
coal
collagen (skin)
copper
cornstarch
cyanide
diamond
ethanol
fat
ferrofluid
flour
gelatin
glass
glucose
gold
graphite
gypsum
helium
hemoglobin
hydrochloric acid
hydrogen peroxide
indigo (dye)
insulin
iodine
iron
jet fuel
keratin (fingernails)
kerosene
lactic acid
latex
lead
limestone
lye
maple syrup
mercury
methane
methanol
mineral oil
motor oil
mylar
neodymium
neon
nickel
nickel-titanium alloy
nylon
octane
paper
paraffin
petroleum
phenol red
polyethylene
potassium
propane
PVC
quartz
radon
rubber
rust
salt
sarin gas
silicon
silicone
silver
soap
sodium
sodium acetate
sodium polyacrylate
spider silk
starch
steel
styrofoam
sugar (sucrose)
sulfur
sulfuric acid
talc
teflon
tungsten
urea
vinegar
vinyl
water
wood (cellulose)
zinc
Substance Brochure
Substance Sign-up Sheet
Class Period: ________
Student
Substance
Name________________________________________________ Per._______
Substance Brochure
Research Log
Name of Substance:
History (discovery, what was it used for in the past, how did people
make/find it, etc.)
PROPERTIES
Physical Properties (at least 3)
Chemical Properties (at least 2)
Uses
Which properties allow it to be
used for those purposes? Explain.
Picture:
cover photo
Picture:
history
Picture: at
Picture: at
least one
physical
property
least one
chemical
property
Picture:
uses
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