The Periodic Table

Our first science unit focuses on The Periodic Table of Elements and we have dived right into it these past two weeks.  I wanted to share with you a few things that we did, just in case you are doing that unit too!

I wrote about what we did last year, and basically, the introduction was the same.  So to spare you having to read it twice, here is the link for those of you who would like to take a gander.

After the same basic intro, I wanted them to actually look at the Periodic Table itself.   We discussed a few of the elements, and I told them about how the table was grouped.  Which lead me into giving them this foldable that I made with four different sections on it.  I found some great information about each grouping from this website and the students took notes as we discussed what was happening.


Then, to get them to dive into the actual table and learn a few of the elements, I had them do some Periodic Table Spelling.  Basically, they searched around the table for element symbols that spelled out various words.  For example, Iron (Fe) and Argon (Ar) spell FeAr.  Fear.  Some kids were super creative, spelling their own names or really long words.  Others attempted sentences!  Here is the worksheet I gave them to write down their ideas as they were spelling.

Then, they had to choose at least one of the words and create a flip up for each of the elements.  Inside the flip, they wrote things that the elements were used for.  Here is a very simple and informative Periodic Table chart that my kids used to help them with the flip ups. 

Finally, the students researched two elements each to create little element squares, based around my Element Project.  The kids had a whole list of requirements that they needed to find and create a display that told about the element.  We then put them together to form this awesome full sized Periodic Table!  I love the way this one came out.  It is so eye-catching and really screams "Science!"  You can pick up the Element Project here.

So there you have it, some easy little things you can do in your room to introduce your students to the Periodic Table.  What is something you have done in the past?