How many different ways have you introduced periodic trends? It’s been many for me. This year may have been the best. It balanced concepts and manipulatives. It wasn’t boring and it wasn’t fluffy. I was able to complete it in one block period. Hopefully this will give you some ideas to consider.
1. Start with the periodic table.
We just completed our unit on light and electron configuration. I put the kids into groups and gave them each a deck of Trendy cards. They laid out the periodic table on their table. Colors identify families and principle quantum number are in the top corner. This all feels familiar to them. I asked them to identify 2 traits about the families. Ultimately, they got to the answers of valence electrons, reactivity, and electron configuration. They could see the familiar periodic trends. Having them visualize the repetition of information they already knew was beneficial.
2. Teach Coulomb’s Law.
I brought them back to their normal desks, leaving the card periodic tables intact. I asked them what factors lead to the attraction level between the electrons and the protons in the nucleus. Through small group discussions they actually landed on the amount of charge and how far apart they are. I wasn’t sure this would happen, but with some guidance it did. We worked though the concept of Coulomb’s Law and the equation. Then I sent them back to the game. Within a period, what factor in Coulomb’s Law is changing as you move from left to right? They had a minute to talk about that in their groups. Then I asked, “What factor is changing as you move down a family?” Again, they go back to their table and discuss. This part was a little harder than I expected. But ultimately, even my lower classes got there.
3. Find application on the periodic table.
I chose the element sulfur and had them find at least two different elements that would have increased Coulombic attraction for the electrons. This was tough. Even though I felt that we had been taking nice baby steps, this was challenging. After some discussion, I ultimately got the majority of kids identifying the general attraction trend on the periodic table. More protons mean more attraction. So does fewer energy levels.
4. Teach effective nuclear charge, Zeff.
I brought the kids back to their desk and introduced effective nuclear charge. Zeff is so important when moving into future trends that I took some real time here. I applied Coulomb’s law to the concept. We talked about the difference between core and valence electrons (which they had already learned in electron configuration). They calculated effective nuclear charge for some different elements on the board. Then they went back to the card periodic table. I had them find the elements they had just calculated Zeff for. I asked them to find the periodic trend on the table with effective nuclear charge. For my honors class, they didn’t even make it to the cards. They already saw it. But it was helpful for the lower classes.
5. Play “War” with effective nuclear charge.
I had the kids shuffle up their periodic table cards with the extra element cards. Then they dealt them all out and played “War”. Everyone in the group would flip over their top card. The card with the most effective nuclear charge wins and takes all the played cards. If it is a tie, the two who are tied play another round on top of the cards, and the winner takes all. As they were playing, I could hear the conversations increasing. The kids who were slower were being taught by the kids who got it. It was very simple but also very effective.
6. Play Trendy with only one trend.
After a few minutes of “War” we honored the winners and then added the trend cards for effective nuclear charge. Then they shuffled up and dealt six cards to each kid and played Trendy. Since there was only “Higher Effective Nuclear Charge” and “Lower Effective Nuclear Charge” trends, they were easily able to play the game.
7. Continue on through the trends.
They only got a few minutes of Trendy in at the end of the period. Today, they will start by playing Trendy with only Zeff. Then I will add to their notes atomic radius. And then we will play. And then add the next trend. Then play. It is a way to take their newly found information and make them apply it in a fun and conversational way. It is in the conversations that they are forced to cement what they actually know. They have to defend why they chose to play the card they did. And their opponents won’t let them get by with being wrong!
If you don’t own Trendy, you can still utilize this method up through playing war. I can’t tell you how many times I have had students make element playing cards on scraps of paper and create their own manipulatives. I hope you found this helpful and will be able to incorporate something of value.
Want to teach using Trendy? The game is a classroom manipulative that turns into a fast-paced family style game. You can teach and play through effective nuclear charge, atomic radius, first ionization energy, electronegativity, and electron affinity. It makes the lineup of trends feel more attainable and way more engaging.
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