What do diamond and graphite have in common? Wait … that’s too easy. What do diamond, graphite, soccer balls, and the state of Texas have in common? Find out in this video, part of the Chemistry Now series from the partnership of NBC Learn, NSF, and NSTA. Expose students to some of the wonders of carbon allotropes—ranging from nano-scale applications such as chemotherapies and molecule-sized computer chips to space elevators.

The NBC Learn collection (linked below) also includes an NBC News profile of Herbert Haupman, the 1985 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, one of the Chance Discoveries video series on the development of graphene, and other resources related to carbon chemistry. As always, view the videos, try the lessons, and let us know what you think.

—Judy Elgin Jensen

Photo of dog with buckyball shaped object by  Stuart Dootson.

Video:  “Diamonds, Pencils and Buckyballs: A Look at Buckminsterfullerene,” examines the structure and properties of buckminsterfullerene molecules and carbon allotropes, along with diamonds and graphite. And in “Chance Discoveries: Graphene” researchers from the University of Manchester stumble onto a technique that enables them to reduce graphite to a thin layer one atom thick, and they end up with a pure material of unprecedented strength with highly conductive properties.

Middle school lesson: This lesson guides students in developing a presentation about Nobel Prize-winning chemists.

High school lesson: In this lesson, students explore Nobel Prize-winning chemists and develop presentations about them and their discoveries.

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