Chemistry - Materials: Metals

In this MEL Academy lesson your children will:

  • learn the properties of metal s
  • clean silver and copper
  • understand how batteries work

Lesson time

8:00am   PST (San Francisco, Seattle, ...)
9:00am   MST (Phoenix, Denver, ...)
10:00am   CST (Chicago, Houston, ...)
11:00am   EST (New York, Toronto, ...)
4:00pm   GMT (London, ...)

Lesson duration: 45-55 minutes.

Prepare in advance

In this lesson, we will conduct several DIY experiments. Prepare in advance household materials shown below. The numbers indicate which DIY experiment each piece of equipment is for.

DIY Materials

  2-3 different iron items without coating (screw, nail…)
  Hydrogen peroxide 3-9%
  Vinegar 5-9%
  2-3 glasses
  Big bowl or a basin
  Salt
  2x Spoons
  Access to hot and cold water
  Tarnished silver items or bronze
  Aluminium foil
  Baking soda
  Copper nails/screws
  Copper coins: 1 cent US / 1-2 p UK coins
  Lemon
  Cotton wool
  Simple electronic voltmeter

MEL Experiment

If you are a subscriber of MEL Chemistry then you can conduct Metal Contest experiment from the Metal Contest chemistry set:

Metal Contest

Tutor

This lesson is presented by Daniel Sullivan:

Daniel Sullivan

Daniel Sullivan is a hugely enthusiastic and experienced ex-head of science with over 20 years of teaching experience. He is now running a science teacher training company and is looking forward to engaging with students once again.