This document describes an activity to introduce students to the mole concept by defining a new counting unit called an "OWL". An OWL is established to contain a specific number of items. Students then answer questions that involve calculating quantities of various substances using OWLs as the unit. They are asked to write directions for converting between the number of items and number of OWLs. The goal is for students to understand mole calculations by relating the concept to a more familiar counting unit like a dozen.
This document describes an activity to introduce students to the mole concept by defining a new counting unit called an "OWL". An OWL is established to contain a specific number of items. Students then answer questions that involve calculating quantities of various substances using OWLs as the unit. They are asked to write directions for converting between the number of items and number of OWLs. The goal is for students to understand mole calculations by relating the concept to a more familiar counting unit like a dozen.
This document describes an activity to introduce students to the mole concept by defining a new counting unit called an "OWL". An OWL is established to contain a specific number of items. Students then answer questions that involve calculating quantities of various substances using OWLs as the unit. They are asked to write directions for converting between the number of items and number of OWLs. The goal is for students to understand mole calculations by relating the concept to a more familiar counting unit like a dozen.
This document describes an activity to introduce students to the mole concept by defining a new counting unit called an "OWL". An OWL is established to contain a specific number of items. Students then answer questions that involve calculating quantities of various substances using OWLs as the unit. They are asked to write directions for converting between the number of items and number of OWLs. The goal is for students to understand mole calculations by relating the concept to a more familiar counting unit like a dozen.
Purpose
To
discover
a
method
of
counting
things
that
you
are
not
able
to
see.
Information
When
you
buy
eggs
you
usually
ask
for
a
_______
eggs.
You
know
that
one
dozen
of
any
item
is
______.
Paper
is
not
packaged
by
the
dozen.
Paper
is
packaged
by
a
ream.
A
ream
of
paper
has
500
sheets.
Why
is
it
useful
to
use
units
like
a
dozen
or
a
ream?
What
determines
how
many
items
should
make
up
a
particular
unit?
If
you
were
asked
to
design
a
new
unit
to
count
something,
what
would
you
consider
when
choosing
how
many
items
should
be
included
in
your
new
counting
unit?
Safety,
Handling,
and
Disposal
Do
not
open
the
packages
in
the
lab
area.
Follow
your
teachers
instruction
for
disposal.
Dispose
of
used
reagents
according
to
local
ordinances.
Materials
3
packages
of
different
types
of
candy,
balance,
worksheet,
calculator,
pencil
Procedure
1.Record
the
number
of
items
in
each
package.
Measure
the
mass
of
each
package.
Record
the
mass
of
each
package
in
the
data
table.
2.Answer
questions
in
Analysis
and
Interpretations.
3.Record
masses
your
group
measured
on
a
transparency
summarizing
class
data.
Data
Each
package
contains
________
items.
Name
of
items
in
the
package
Mass
of
the
package
ANALYSIS
AND
INTERPRETATION
1.
As
you
know,
a
dozen
represents
12
items.
Since
I
did
not
have
enough
items
to
make
a
dozen,
I
decided
to
make
a
new
counting
unit.
I
called
this
unit
an
OWL.
Each
of
your
packages
contains
_____
items.
We
will
call
this
number
of
items
an
OWL.
If
you
understand
the
concept
of
OWL
as
a
counting
unit,
just
like
a
dozen
for
counting
by
12,
you
should
be
able
to
complete
the
following
questions.
Questions
An
OWL
of
oranges
will
have
_____
oranges.
An
OWL
of
pretzels
has
____
pretzels.
An
OWL
of
desks
has
_____
desks.
An
OWL
of
molecules
of
water
has
____
molecules
of
water.
An
OWL
of
particles
has
___
particles.
An
OWL
of
atoms
of
iron
has
_____
atoms
of
iron.
An
OWL
of
formula
units
of
salt
has
_______
formula
units
of
salt.
Now
that
you
understand
the
meaning
of
an
OWL,
you
should
be
able
to
answer
the
following
questions:
a.
How
many
Hersheys
Kisses
are
in
2
OWLS?
_______
b.
How
many
caramels
are
in
10
OWLS?
_______
c.
How
many
Hersheys
Kisses
are
in
400
OWLS?
_______
d.
How
many
caramels
are
in
1/2
OWL?
_____
WRITE
DIRECTIONS
FOR
FINDING
THE
#
OF
ITEMS
IF
GIVEN
THE
#
OF
OWLS.
Show
your
directions
to
the
teacher.
Use
the
above
directions
to
answer
the
following
questions.
Show
what
you
did
to
find
each
answer.
1.
How
many
pencils
are
in
20
OWLS?
_______
2.
How
many
pencils
are
in
100
OWLS?
_______
3.
How
many
apples
are
in
10
OWLS?
_______
4.
How
many
oranges
are
in
5
OWLS?
_______
5.
How
many
pencils
are
in
0.5
OWLS?
_______
6.
How
many
pencils
are
in
0.25
(1/4)
OWLS?
_______
7.
How
many
atoms
of
silver
are
in
20
OWLS?
_______
8.
How
many
molecules
of
water
are
in
10
OWLS?
_______
Finding
the
Number
of
OWLS
If
you
are
given
the
number
of
items
you
can
tell
the
number
of
OWLS.
For
example,
since
one
OWL
is
4
items,
8
items
make
up
2
OWLS.
e.
How
many
OWLS
are
16
Hersheys
Kisses?
______
f.
How
many
OWLS
are
100
pretzels?
____
g.
How
many
OWLS
are
400
desks?
____
h.
How
many
OWLS
is
1
orange?
________
(Write
a
fraction
or
a
decimal.)
i.
How
many
OWLS
are
2
caramels?
_________
Show
work
below
Write
directions
for
finding
the
number
of
OWLS
if
given
the
number
of
pieces.
1.
How
many
OWLS
are
48
Hersheys
Kisses?
______
2.
How
many
OWLS
are
2
Hersheys
Kisses?
______
3.
How
many
OWLS
are
32
Hersheys
Kisses?
______
4.
How
many
OWLS
are
3
Hersheys
Kisses?
______
5.
How
many
OWLS
are
24
Peppermints?
______
6.
How
many
OWLS
are
2
Peppermints?
______
7.
How
many
OWLS
are
20
caramels?
______
Show
work
below
As
you
can
imagine,
an
OWL
of
molecules
of
water
would
be
too
small
to
see.
Scientists
had
to
select
a
bigger
unit
for
counting
molecules
of
substances.
The
unit
scientists
use
is
called
a
MOLE.
One
MOLE
of
anything
has
602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000
items.
This
number
is
called
AVOGADROS
NUMBER
and
is
usually
written
in
scientific
notation
as
6.022
x
1023
One
MOLE
of
anything
has
6.022
x
1023
items.
Use
the
rules
you
have
written
for
calculations
involving
OWLS
to
answer
questions
about
MOLES.
Remember
to
use
6.022
x
1023
for
the
number
of
items
in
a
MOLE.
Recall
how
to
multiply
numbers
written
in
scientific
notation.
[4
x
6.022
x
1023
=
(6.022
x4)
x1023
=
24.08
x
1023
=
2.408
x
10
24].
Note:
Atoms
and
molecules
in
these
questions
are
words
meaning
items.
1.
How
many
Hersheys
Kisses
make
up
1
MOLE?
_______
2.
How
many
caramels
make
up
10
MOLES?
_______
3.
Find
the
number
of
Peppermints
in
4
MOLES.
_______
4.
Find
the
number
of
atoms
of
sodium
in
2
MOLES.
_______
5.
Find
the
number
of
molecules
of
water
in
6
MOLES.
_______
6.
Find
the
number
of
caramels
in
0.5
MOLES.
________
7.
How
many
moles
of
caramels
are
6.022x1023
of
caramels?
_______
8.
How
many
moles
of
desks
are
6.022x1023
of
desks?
______
9.
How
many
moles
of
pens
are
12.04x1023
of
pens?
______
10.
How
many
moles
of
sodium
atoms
are
12.04x1023
of
sodium
atoms?
_______
Student
Handout
Activity
#
2
Introduction
to
the
Mole
Name
Purpose
To
discover
a
method
of
using
a
scale
to
count
things
that
you
are
not
able
to
see.
Safety,
Handling,
and
Disposal
None.
Materials
Student
Handout:
Activity
#
1
Introduction
to
the
Mole,
Periodic
Table
of
Elements,
calculator,
pencil
Procedure
1.
In
addition
to
being
able
to
tell
the
number
of
items
in
an
OWL,
you
can
now
tell
the
mass
of
an
OWL
of
Hersheys
Kisses,
Peppermints,
and
caramels.
Use
your
data
table
on
page
#
1
of
ACTIVITY
#
1
Introduction
to
the
Mole
or
class
data
to
fill
in
the
information
below:
Based
on
your
measurements,
the
mass
of
1
OWL
of
Hersheys
Kisses
is
______
g.
The
mass
of
1
OWL
of
Peppermints
is
________g.
The
mass
of
1
OWL
of
caramels
is
________g
2.
Calculate
each
of
the
following:
The
mass
of
100
OWLS
of
Hersheys
Kisses
is
________g.
The
mass
of
1/2
OWL
of
Hersheys
Kisses
is
________g.
NOTE
THAT
ALTHOUGH
THE
NUMBER
OF
ITEMS
(PARTICLES)
IN
AN
OWL
IS
THE
SAME,
THE
MASS
OF
AN
OWL
OF
DIFFERENT
ITEMS
IS
DIFFERENT.
Questions
Use
your
directions
above
to
answer
the
following
questions:
The
mass
of
4
OWLS
of
Peppermints
is
________
g.
The
mass
of
25
OWLS
of
Peppermints
is
________g.
The
mass
of
0.5
OWLS
of
Peppermints
is
________g.
The
mass
of
3
OWLS
of
caramels
is
________g.
The
mass
of
100
OWLS
of
caramels
is
________g.
The
mass
of
1/5
OWLS
of
caramels
is
________g.
The
mass
of
60
OWLS
of
Hersheys
Kisses
is
________g.
The
mass
of
0.1
OWLS
of
Hersheys
Kisses
is
________g.
How
would
you
calculate
the
number
of
OWLS
if
you
know
the
mass
of
a
package
of
Hersheys
Kisses?
How
would
you
calculate
the
number
of
OWLS
if
you
know
the
mass
of
a
package
of
caramels?
How
would
you
calculate
the
number
of
OWLS
if
you
know
the
mass
of
a
package
of
Peppermints?
