Atoms are the building blocks of all matter. These odd little fellows make up tables, buildings, chihuahuas and even you. They are impossibly small and yet absolutely vital for all matter and all interaction between matter. They are extremely mysterious and constantly offer new puzzles for science to tackle. And that's exactly what we're going to do.

If you’ve been following the energy curriculum up to this point and are looking forward to more great energy stuff, stay tuned. Electromagnetic energy is coming soon. However, before we get there, we need to take a bit of a side road. Remember how energy is things moving over a distance against a force? Well, when it comes to electromagnetic energy those moving things are electrons. What’s an electron you ask? Well, that’s what this unit is all about. We need to wander into the world of quantum physics for a bit and take a look at the teeny and the mysterious world of atoms.

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One of the best things you can do with this unit is to take notes in a journal as you go. Snap photos of yourself doing the actual experiment and paste them in alongside your drawing of your experimental setup. This is the same way scientists document their own findings, and it's a lot of fun to look back at the splattered pages later on and see how far you've come. I always jot down my questions that didn't get answered with the experiment across the top of the page so I can research it more later. Are you ready to get started?