1. The key to understanding a complex subject like chemistry is to think in terms of simpler building blocks.
In your past, you probably made something (a craft, perhaps) that involved using things that acted a building blocks for the more complicated item that you made. Try to give me at least two examples.
2.
In the picture we see that the man is made of lego building blocks. Later
we will see that everything in the picture is made of building blocks.
Those that make up the wood, glass, and cement are too small to see. If
you were standing about a hundred yards from our lego man, could you see
the lego building blocks? And might you mistake him as a real person?
3.
When we see a cake, we might think calories. When kids looks at a cake,
they might think of the wish that they would make. What building blocks
(ingredients) might cooks see in a cake?
4.
On the right is a representation of a plastic called Low Density Polyethylene
or LDPE for short. It is used to make squeeze bottles. The larger gray
spheres are carbon atoms, and the white spheres are hydrogen atoms. What
is the smallest repeating unit (building block) that would build these
chains? (hint: It's 3 atoms)
