The Building Blocks of All Matter Elements The Building Blocks of All Matter Essential Question: What are elements, and how are they represented?

 Everything you see around you, from your own body to the planet you're standing on, the air you breathe, and the stars in the sky, is made of matter.

 Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space  Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.  All matter is made up of small particles called atoms.  Atoms are the smallest units of elements.

But, what about these???

Elements  Elements are pure substances that are made of only one kind of atom.  Examples: magnesium, aluminum, gold, silver, iron,  Scientists developed a way to organize elements, based on their properties . We find elements organized on the Periodic Table.

Look at the Periodic Table in front of you Look at the Periodic Table in front of you. With your table group, list all of the things that each tile on the Periodic Table has in common.

Rules for Chemical Symbols  Elements are represented by chemical symbols. Oxygen = O Hydrogen = H Gold = Au Rules for Chemical Symbols  Rule 1 - PRINT all symbols.  Rule 2 - If there is only one letter, that letter is always a capital. Example: H for hydrogen  Rule 3 - If there are two letters, the first letter is a capital and the second is lower case. Example: He for helium

Elements on the Periodic Table 1 capital letter – A 1 lowercase letter – u Symbol - Au 1 Capital Letter - O

Symbols Correct or Incorrect? ca CA cA CA Ca Ca CA

Correct Symbol for Calcium

Guided Questions:  What is matter?  What is the smallest unit of matter OR  What is an atom?  What are elements?  How are elements represented on the Periodic Table?  What are the rules for chemical symbols?

Nutrition Labels: Look at the nutrition label and find as many elements as you can. List the elements and their chemical symbol.