This publication is the third product of the project to significantly update and reorder the Science Syllabus for Middle and Junior High Schools of the State of New York, Department of Education. The understandings, questions, and learning activities in the publication have been enhanced by the inclusion and referencing of program objectives, performance criteria, and process skills which serve to focus student achievement. Environmental, consumer, and career implications are included in the material. Unit titles include: (1) Properties and Changes in Matter; (2) Introduction to Atomic Structure; (3) Chemical Shorthand; (4) Introduction to Organic Chemistry; and (5) The Role of Chemistry in Society. Learning activities deal with, among other things, laboratory safety and skills, physical properties of matter, chemical kinetics and equilibria, and solubility. Some activities require a laboratory facility while others do not. Many activities and concepts could be used in physics and biology instruction as well. (MR)