When I was a student I had to memorize the solubility rules. And now it seems that chemistry students aren’t required to memorize them anymore. Which is totally fine by me. I’d rather spend time and energy on getting my students to think instead. I really don’t believe in having kids memorize things when they can find the answer in a 4 second Google search. This is the 21st century after all…
I’d rather give my students a table of solubility rules and teach them the skills to read the table instead. That’s something that is going to be far more worthwhile for my kids in the long run.
But in that practice, I hope they “accidentally” memorize some solubility rules… I have an activity or two that I use with my students to help them with solubility rules, whether that means memorizing accidentally or on purpose. And there are a few ways we use it.
Paper Activity for Solubility Rules
I give my students a laminated set of chemical formulas. They then physically sort the cards into two categories: soluble or insoluble. I like to use these during class time for a quick review. As the kids sort, either solo or in pairs, I circle the room and help kids out. This more so is used as assessment. It’s more for me than it is for them. Once I pull a card out of one group, it will automatically go to the other. But in doing that I get to see who is understanding.
Alternatively, I will walk around and tell kids “three cards are in the wrong spot.” This sends them to go back and reevaluate all the cards – that turns the card sort into something for them instead. When they are done and get the final answer, I have them write down the answers in their interactive notebooks.
I’ve also given students the opportunity to keep a set of the cards for themselves. They glue an envelope into their interactive notebooks, hold on to the cards and write an answer key when they are done.
Sometimes I have the kids work competitively in their card sorts as well. First to finish, most right in a certain amount of time, or even a turn based game. To do this, kids take turns within a group placing or correcting the placement of cards. They have to do it SILENTLY (which is my favorite part). Then the first team to get them done correctly wins.
Digital Activity for Solubility Rules
This is effectively the same thing, except one tiny difference. We take the cards and move them around in a Google Slides presentation. The thing I like about this is that the kids can do the work and REDO the work. I like to have them copy the original slide so they can do the work again. I’ll also copy the answer key slide into the presentation for grading. Additionally, it’s great for them checking their work. This is a great way for kids to self assess. What a great study tool!
Turn a card sort into a game of war
You can super easily take a card sort set and turn it into a game of war. In the card game “War” there are pairs of kids who put one card up against each other. The highest value card wins. The winner takes both cards. If they are of equal value, there is a war, were three additional cards are placed face down, and the fourth cards are put head to head. The winner will take all the cards.
For solubility rules you could do this by assigning value to the cards. Perhaps the highest valued card are soluble all the time with no exceptions, like the Group One ions. Substances that are mostly soluble with some exceptions can be valued at a level 2. Things that are mostly insoluble can be level 3. Lastly the never soluble ions would be a level 4. This can be a tactic to upgrade the level of rigor of a card sort. You could be super brave and bring in solubility curves here as well…
Using Card Sorts in High School Science
I love the ease of card sorts and how versatile they can be in my schedule. We will use them on the day that I teach the topic. They stay in my room for early finishers. The card sorts are used for unit review, in stations. They can even be used as a quiet task for some of the kids that can’t participate in a class activity for behavior concerns.
