Balancing chemical equations activity

Are you teaching how to balance chemical equations in your middle school science classroom? In this blog post, you'll learn fun ways to introduce this topic & a lesson that will teach this concept while reducing cognitive load! #6thgrade #7thgrade #8thgrade

Sure, you can teach your high school chemistry students to cross charges. But what if that isn’t working? What if you need a different way to explain how the charges must balance out to zero within the chemical compound?

In this (edible) activity, learners balance chemical equations using different kinds and colors of candy that represent different atoms. Learners will work in pairs and explore conservation of atoms. One partner will use his/her candy to simulate the reactant (left) side of the equation and the other partner will use his/her candy to simulate the product (right) side.

Balancing Chemical Equations Activity – one of my long time favorite activities. Students will learn how to read formulas, count atoms, create and read chemical equations, and balance chemical equa…

Browse over 40 educational resources created by I Heart Teaching Science in the official Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Browse over 40 educational resources created by I Heart Teaching Science in the official Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Make a classroom set of Balanced/Unbalanced placards - the word "Balanced" on one side and "Unbalanced" on the other side. I printed the words in two different colors (you could print them in black on different colored paper) and slid the papers into plastic page protectors. Each student gets a placard. You write a chemical equation on the board (or project it) and students need to determine if the equation is balanced or not. On the count of 3, students hold up the appropriate side of their…

The importance of balancing chemical equations and the idea of limiting reagents can be difficult for young chemists to understand. To help them, provide students with a chemical equation that's more familiar and interesting to them: 1 box of cake mix + 3 eggs + 2 cups of water --> 24 cupcakes Then follow up with questions: How many eggs do I need if I have 2 boxes of cake mix? How many cups of water do I need for 2 boxes of cake mix? How many cupcakes will I get with 2 boxes of cake mix?…

Our fantastic science mom, Staci, has created another engaging science activity for us. This time she shows us how we can teach our kids how to balance chemical equations using Lego bricks! Before you read the activity, print out the Chemical Equations Worksheet so that you can refer to it as Staci explains how to use…

Introducing students to balancing chemical equations - using Lego!