When substances react, the atoms involved in the reactants are rearranged, forming other products. Students have learned that the physical and chemical properties of the newly formed substances (products) are different from the physical and chemical properties of the original substances (reactants). Students in grade eight will learn that it is the underlying arrangement of the atoms in the reactants and products and the energy needed or released during the rearrangement process that explain chemical reactions. Understanding chemical reactions is essential because they constitute, directly or indirectly, a large portion of the discipline of chemistry.

Students need to be able to distinguish a chemical change from a physical change. In a physical change one or more physical properties of the material are altered, but the chemical composition (i.e., the arrangement of the atoms in molecules) remains the same. In a chemical change the atoms are rearranged to form new substances with different chemical and physical properties. Students must be familiar with the periodic table and the names and symbols of the chemical elements.

In grade one students are prepared for the idea of chemical reactions when they learn that the properties of substances can change when they are mixed, cooled, or heated. In grade three they learn that when two or more substances are combined, a new substance may be formed with properties that are different from those of the original materials. In grade five they learn that during chemical reactions, the atoms in the reactants rearrange to form products with different properties.

The study on reactions begun in grade eight will support future studies about conservation of matter and stoichiometry as well as work on acids, bases, and solutions. Students will go beyond studying reactions and their reactant/product relationships to work with the rates of reaction and chemical equilibrium. Students should be able to envision a chemical equation at the atomic and molecular levels. They should “see” the number of reactant atoms and molecules in the equation coming together and by some process rearranging into the correct number of atoms and molecules that form the products. This important conceptual skill helps students to keep track of all the atoms.