Tracing the History of the Atomic Theory
By Lori Altenbaumer, 7th/8th Math & Science
Our 8th grade Integrated Physics & Chemistry (IPC) students officially launched their Atomic Structure unit with a collaborative research activity that took them back to the very beginnings of atomic theory—and all the way forward to modern scientific understanding.
To begin the unit, students worked individually to research key contributors who played a major role in shaping our current understanding of atomic structure and the periodic table. Each student was assigned a specific scientist and tasked with investigating their discoveries, the time period in which they worked, and how their ideas advanced (or even challenged!) what scientists believed about atoms at the time.
Using Canva, students then summarized their findings on a single 8.5 x 11 page, designing a visually appealing and informative display that included:
The scientist’s name and date of discovery
A description of their contribution to atomic theory
Atomic models
Illustrations or images to support their research
Properly formatted scientific references
Once completed, the individual pieces came together to form a classwide Atomic Theory Timeline, displayed in chronological order. This allowed students to clearly see how scientific understanding evolves over time—how each discovery builds upon previous ideas, corrects misconceptions, and leads to deeper insight.
As we move forward in our Atomic Structure unit, students now have a strong conceptual foundation and a visual reference they can return to throughout our learning. We’re excited to build on this knowledge as we dive deeper into atomic models, subatomic particles, and how atomic structure explains chemical behavior.
