If you’re a new chemistry teacher or homeschooling parent, there’s a surprisingly difficult question you’ll run into early on. What periodic table should my students use? At first glance, it feels like the answer should be simple. A periodic table is a periodic table… right? Well, not exactly.
Some periodic tables are extremely basic and only include atomic number, symbol, and atomic mass. Others are packed with information like oxidation states, electron configurations, valence electrons, electronegativity values, and more. And there are good arguments for both!
Over the years, I’ve found that the “best” periodic table depends a lot on your teaching goals, your students, and how much support you want to build into the learning process. In this post, we’ll break down the pros and cons of different types of periodic tables so you can decide what works best for your classroom.
First: What Do Students Actually Need a Periodic Table For?
Before choosing a periodic table, it helps to think about how your students will use it throughout the year. In a regular high school chemistry course, students commonly use the periodic table to:
- Identify atomic number and mass
- Determine protons, neutrons, and electrons
- Predict ion charges
- Identify metals, nonmetals, and metalloids
- Find valence electrons
- Understand trends like electronegativity and atomic radius
- Write electron configurations
- Predict bonding behavior
- Calculate molar mass
- and probably more that I haven’t thought of…
That’s a lot of information to ask from one chart! The next question is, Do you want students to memorize and infer some of this information, or do you want the periodic table itself to provide it?
There’s no universally correct answer. Both approaches have advantages.
Simple Periodic Tables: Less Information, More Thinking
On your most basic periodic tables, you’ll have just the element symbol, the atomic number, and the mass. That’s all. This is what the “experts” use everyday. (It’s also what you’ll find on my pocket periodic table that I got from my HS Chemistry teacher, Mrs. P.) These are also typically what a student would receive on a standardized test, though not necessarily. If your students are going to take the ACT or AP Chemistry, this becomes more important! I’d check out the reference tables given during the State exam if you have one of those.
Advantages of the Simple PT
My favorite part of using the simpler periodic tables is that students actually have to learn how to read them. They become forced to recognize patterns (which I think is REALLY what chemistry teaches them! Who needs to know that water is a polar molecule in the real world?! It’s all about pattern recognition, baby!)
For example, instead of just looking and seeing that chlorine has 7 valence electrons, they have to recognize that chlorine is one space away from Group 18, the noble gases. The noble gases have a full valence shell of electrons. For chlorine, one short of full, would be 7 valence electrons. Ya see all the content knowledge I just packed in there?! Oh, it’s a beautiful thing!!!
Consider oxidation states. When it comes to bonding, students start to realize that ALL THE elements in group 17 have a -1 charge, (to fill up that valence shell with one more NEGATIVE electron). This method creates stronger chemistry skills over time.
Disadvantages of the Simple PT
When the first/only periodic table your students are given has very little information on it, it starts out as a frustration before it becomes a tool. Do you remember how frustrating rulers were when you first used them in first grade? Or maybe your protractor in fourth grade? Once you got the hang of it and learned to use the tool, it felt like a cheat code. Same goes for the periodic table. You’ll get plenty of moans and groans at the beginning. “Why can’t this just have the names of the elements?” “Why do I have to memorize oxidation states?”
But the thing is, your students aren’t really memorizing anything. They need to learn how to use the tool. Soon, group numbers, common oxidation states, and periodic trends are simply embedded into the tool’s usage. But before that happens, your students will be frustrated and will complain. (Personally, I think the frustration is worth the learning, but in your classroom, that’s a decision for you.)
Detailed Periodic Tables: More Support, Faster Accessibility
The more detailed periodic tables are going to have loads more information. They can include things like:
- element name
- state of matter at STP (often by color coding)
- oxidation states
- electron configuration
- electronegativity
- there are plenty more things that could be here, but they are far less popular, like density or melting point
Advantages of a Detailed PT
Your chemistry students have LOADS to learn this year. They’re doing algebra within this course. They have 400+ words to learn, most of which they’ve never heard of before. They’re working in the lab and writing lab reports, which very well could be more labor than the lab “worksheets” they may have filled out last year, when they were getting their feet wet with high school level labs. Giving them a more detailed periodic table could be seen as throwing them a bone in this very taxing course.
A more detailed table could be something you choose for your whole class, or as a form of differentiation. Some students may need the extra help, particularly those who have specific learning accomodations or are ENL students. It’s also a great option for homeschool students that don’t have access to an expert chemistry teacher (not knocking homeschool parents at all – you just may not know chemistry like a regular classroom teacher.) Perhaps it is a differentiation amongst students, or maybe between your honors and grade-level classes. Read more on simple differentiation methods I use in my classes in this post.
A more detailed periodic table can be an excellent choice if you are looking to have your students work more independently. Instead of asking, “how many valence electrons does sulfur have?” they can check out the electron configuration to get their answer. (This is assuming, of course, they know how to read electron configurations…)
Disadvantages of a Detailed PT
The biggest downside of all is that your students stop looking for patterns and instead just blindly read the “data” table that is the periodic table. If your students simply read that fluorine has 7 valence electrons, they can easily miss the opportunity to see the pattern amongst all elements in Group 17. They can miss the ENTIRE POINT of the specific organization the periodic table has. (That’s less likely if you explicitly teach a lesson on the History of the PT, but it’s something to keep in mind.)
Not only that, it can be very visually overwhelming. Depending on the amount of information, the space each element is allocated, and the font size, your detailed periodic table can quickly become a jump scare instead of a proper tool. Your students are already intimidated by chemistry. This much information can quickly make them clam up.
Perhaps the most scary of all (at least for me) is that your students may completely lose the ability to navigate chemistry. Now, this is an extreme situation… but I’d hate for your students to not know by May that Group 18 is the last group without looking at the periodic table for confirmation. It can feel a bit like a student who puts 3+5 into the calculator “just to be sure.” The chances of that being every student in your room is very slim, I’ll give you that, but it will happen to a kid or two. Just something to be on the lookout for.
My favorite Periodic Table
My favorite periodic table is one that is a nice clear font, where the capital I has caps on it (unlike the font I’m using to write this post). I want my students to be ABSOLUTELY aware of the difference between Iodine (I) and Chlorine (Cl). My dream periodic table has a very clear atomic number, usually bolded, and a mass that goes out at least to the hundredths place. Obviously I want group and period numbers along the top and left side of the table (and repeated for the f-block!) And that’s really all I want. If I chose to use a “more detailed” PT for students who needed accomodations, that would only include the element name. I have my students memorize a short list of about 50 element symbols and names (the ones we will actually use in our chemistry class). You can get that list for free here.
How to Choose a Periodic Table
If you’re brand new to teaching chemistry, don’t stress yourself out tyring to find the “perfect” periodic table. There really isn’t one. Instead ask yourself what you really want your PT to do, and what you want your students to know.
- What information is important for my students to know independently?
- What information am I okay with them needing to reference?
- Which students (if any) need some extra support? What does that look like for them?
- Do I want to do a gradual pull back of information that keeps students learning, and reduces the help they get?
In the end, the periodic table is simply a tool that helps students to understand chemistry and patterns in nature. And truthfully, it’s okay to change your mind halfway through the school year. There’s no issue with giving more support or asking your students to be more independent based on what you see in them and their abilities.
Need Help Planning Your Chemistry Curriculum?
If you’re trying to figure out when to teach concepts like electron configuration, bonding, periodic trends, or oxidation states, I have a free chemistry curriculum map that walks through a full-year sequence for regular high school chemistry. It’s designed to help chemistry teachers organize their year in a way that actually builds understanding step by step instead of feeling random and disconnected. You can grab the free curriculum map here.
