The entire point of the periodic table is to be able to know the properties of the elements WITHOUT memorizing anything! Understanding trends is paramount to predicting properties of the elements. While I do have students memorize some names and symbols, I don’t want them actually memorizing much else about the table. Of course, there are a lot of students that struggle with predicting properties of elements they may not have ever heard of. It stresses them out (which I understand nobody likes being wrong!) So I instead like to give them practice with a cool properties of the elements lab activity!
So usually in my chemistry curriculum outline, I’ll find some time for students to play a periodic table guessing game. It’s pretty much modeled after the classic game Guess Who.
Properties of the Elements Game
The students choose an element from a mini, cut down version of the periodic table. All 118 elements are just kind of tough to manage, AND there are some elements that we still don’t know all their properties. Plus, you know how teens are, they pick the most random elements on purpose and kind of break the game. The point is to get more familiar with elements we will actually be talking about in class.
Once they have their element, they fill in their cheat sheet. This asks them about common properties of their element. You could have the students check their answers online, with a neighbor who is NOT playing with them, with you, or trust them that they’ve got it. I usually like to have them check their answers online and then with me for anything they can’t find.
Then with a partner, the kids ask each other questions about the other’s element, which is unknown to them. They are only allowed to ask Yes or No questions in order to deduce which element their partner has. Here are some samples:
Questions to Ask
- Is your element shiny?
- Is your element brittle?
- Does your element lose electrons when it bonds?
- Does your electron have ONLY two electron shells? (I point out that all elements in periods 2-7 have two electron shells so they should be careful about what they are really asking.)
Questions They Can’t Ask
I don’t allow them to ask any questions about the element’s symbol or its specific neighbors. Here are some samples of those:
- Is your element in the same group as gold?
- Does your element’s symbol start with C?
- Is your element’s box touching silicon’s box?
Reasons I Love this Lab Activity
Again, the point is that they are getting more familiar with the PROPERTIES of the elements, not just where they are on the periodic table. (Though that is helpful!) Eventually they get to the point where they can guess their opponent’s element.
Part of the reason I love this lab activity is because you can do it over and over and over again. You can also tell your students to choose a specific element that you’d like them to uncover or decipher. You could create cards for the elements and pass them out, assigning elements to kids. This way you can “force Johnny to learn about the properties of metalloids” in a gentle way.
Plus, it’s a game. So the kids kind of forget that they are learning. Which is my favorite way to teach!
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“But it’s not really a lab”
I get it! I totally understand where you’re coming from. But in my world, anything hands on where kids are asked to stretch their minds counts as a lab. And this properties of the elements lab activity really is a LAB. The kids are making predictions. They are using tools around them to come to a conclusion. It involves deductive reasoning. Kids work in pairs. It’s SUPER hard to get a “true” lab for periodic table. Especially at the high school level when kids are inexperienced and materials are lacking. I say – forget the naysayers! Plus this lab activity has kids answering questions duringa and after the experience. You COULD have them write a conclusion paragraph if you wanted, but I think that would be tough. Especially when it comes to this since the SEQUENCE of the questions asked is really how it should be written. You’d have to have the students take dilligent notes during their questioning to do it right.
