1. Laboratory for Teaching Lewis Dot Structures
PS21
Friday, January 27, 2017

2. Materials
Paper to write element symbols on
FrootLoops
Toothpicks

3. Atoms Give students a metal and a nonmetal element to use
Write the symbol for the metal on one piece of paper
Write the symbol for the nonmetal on the other piece of paper
Have students determine the number of valence electrons for each
Use the Frootloops to represent electrons (one color per atom) to generate the Lewis dot structure

4. Cations and Anions
Have students figure out the charge that the metal would normally have as a cation in ionic salts
Have students figure out the charge that the nonmetal would normally have as an anion in ionic salts
Have students add or remove Frootloops to generate Lewis dot structures for the ions

5. Molecules Give students a molecule to draw the Lewis dot structure of
Have students follow rules for drawing structures starting with providing correct number of valence electrons of each atom in terms of FrootLoops.
Have students replace bonding pairs of FrootLoops with toothpicks