The Important Lesson

This reading's central theme is that molecular structure determines the properties of a substance, and that scientists alter molecular structure to create new substances with new properties. The activities Build Your Own Molecule and Designer Molecules - Esterification are designed to reinforce these ideas. The lesson also provides an opportunity to reinforce the connection between chemical symbols, microscopic molecules, and macroscopic materials. (For more on this, see How to Draw Aspirin.)

Relevant National Science Education Standards

Unifying Concepts and Processes — The lesson shows that the organization of a system, in this case the specific arrangement of a molecule's atoms, is what determines how that system (the molecule) behaves.

Physical Science — Molecular structure and its relationship to macroscopic properties are central to the reading.

Science and Technology — The reading stresses that our ability to make materials with new and desired properties is a result of our technological capability to make molecules with desired molecular structures.