Felt Atom

Today the students will be taking notes on the structure of atoms.  The students will also be manipulating a felt atom.  I cut out bits of felt that represent protons, neutrons, and electrons so the students can see where they go in relation to each other.  I will also be showing the students a few computer simulations. The first can be found here:

Click to Run

The second is an interactive periodic table.  This periodic table website will tell you a little bit about each type of atom on the periodic table.
This game shows how electrons orbit around the nucleus of the atom.  It does NOT show how the electrons are configured around the nucleus however.  This game does a better job showing where the electrons orbit the atom.
There are lots of fun intertactives on this site and if you finish you should play with a few.
A few good extension activities can be found at brainpop.  The students could watch the video on atoms, atomic models, the periodic table, isotopes, ions, and chemical bonds.
The username is elkinsms and the password is gearup

The start up for today is "What are the three subatomic particles found in an atom?"