Unit Cells and Crystal Structures

Module Description:

This module was created by the Center for Nanotechnology Education (Nano-Link) and serves as an introduction to crystal structures and properties. During this module students will learn about the atomic nature of solid materials, the structure of crystaline materials, crystal unit cells, and forces and interactions at the nanoscale. The module includes an activity where students create super saturated solutions and then grow crystals from these solutions."  

Module Contents

This module includes a lesson guide, PowerPoint presentation, video, and a learning standards alignment document.

The 13-page lesson guide provides background information about crystaline solids, an abstract, learning outcomes, an activity flow chart, a lab activity, discussion questions, and more. The PowerPoint presentation also provides background information on cell structures. The video shows a demonstration of the lab activity and runs 02:32 minutes in length. 

Versions in Spanish are also included for most of the module documents. 

For orientation purposes Unit Cells and Crystal Structures Module - Nano-Link.pdf is included as a separate attachment and offers a sample of the type of material included in this module. 

Below is a list of the files contained within the .zip attachments. The size of each file is included in parenthesis. 

Unit Cells and Crystal Structures (4 files, 5.1 MB)

• Alignment of Unit Cells and Crystal Structures Module to NGSS (Crystals.pdf 594 KB)
• Unit Cells and Crystal Structures Module Guide (Unit Cells and Crystal Structures Module - Nano-Link.docx 3.2 MB)
• Unit Cells and Crystal Structures Presentation (Unit Cells and Crystal Structures presentation - Nano-Link.pptx 1.3 MB)

Unit Cells and Crystal Structures (Spanish) (5 files, 12 MB)

• Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal (Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal - Nano-Link.docx 679 KB)
• Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal (Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal - Nano-Link.pdf 529 KB)
• Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal(PPT-Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal - Nano-Link.pdf 7.7 MB)
• Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal (PPT-Celda unitaria y estructuras de cristal - Nano-Link.pptx 3.1 MB)