Summary

In this game, students will apply their knowledge of the periodic table and its structure in order to guess the opponent’s secret element.

Grade Level

High School

NGSS Alignment

This game will help prepare your students to meet the following scientific and engineering practices:

• HS-PS1-1: Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.

Objectives

By the end of this game, students should be able to:

• Correctly use terms associated with the periodic table to describe different classifications of elements.
• Explain how the position of an element on the periodic table reflects the structure of its atoms.

Chemistry Topics

This game supports students’ understanding of:

• Periodic Table
• Atomic Structure

Time

Teacher Preparation: 5 minutes to make copies of the student handout

Lesson: 20-45 minutes

Materials

• Student handout
• Device connected to the Internet
• Access to the game: https://teachchemistry.org/classroom-resources/guess-what-periodic-table

Safety

• No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

• The game can be found at the following link (note that students can access the simulation without an AACT login):
  • https://teachchemistry.org/classroom-resources/guess-what-periodic-table
• In this game, students will use their knowledge of the structure of the periodic table to beat the computer to determine the identity of its secret element before it can identify theirs. They will start with a set of 20 elements, randomly chosen by the computer from a pool of 39. There are 15 content questions the opponents can ask each other in attempt to narrow the identity of the element to only one of the 20 possibilities.
• There is a counter that shows how many possible compounds remain for the computer’s guess of the student’s compound. At any point in the game, students can use a turn to randomly guess what the computer’s compound is, particularly if they see the computer getting close to identifying their compound.
  • At any point, the student can use the question “Is your element…?” and then click on the one they want to guess. The computer will only do this once it has determined the identity of the student’s element. If the student guesses incorrectly, the game will just continue. If they guess correctly, then they win the game!
• Students can play multiple rounds and the set of elements will change each time.
• Encourage students to read the game instructions on the screen before beginning.

The assumptions made in developing the question set and the element choices are:

• Metalloids
  • There are six elements that sources agree are metalloids: B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Te
    • Polonium was removed as an element choice in the game to avoid confusion
  • Metalloid chemistry is dominated by covalent bonding, rather than ionic bonding. Though there are cases where it is possible to cause a metalloid to form a cation, this is generally not the norm, so any question referring to the formation of ions would be answered “No” for any metalloid.
• Groups
  • Only 4 group (family) names are used in the game: alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens, and noble gases.
  • Part I of the student page allows you to require whatever groups you hold your students responsible for.
• Atomic structure
  • Limited to number of energy levels, valence electrons, and number of protons or electrons in neutral atoms and in ions.
  • Note that this activity uses the term, “energy levels” rather than “energy shells”.

Following are the 15 questions in the game, grouped by concept. For students, these will appear in two different ways. On the game screen, students can scroll through questions by clicking the right or left arrows. Alternatively, students can click on the question space to bring up a window containing a list of all questions in a randomized order. From the window they can select a question and that will return them to the game screen with their question selected.

• Basic periodic table terms
  • Is your element found in one of the first three periods on the periodic table?
  • Is your element in an even-numbered period on the periodic table?
  • Is your element exactly 2 groups away from nitrogen's group on the periodic table?
  • Is your element in an odd-numbered group on the periodic table?
• Element groups and classifications
  • Is your element classified as either an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal?
  • Is your element classified as either a halogen or a noble gas?
  • Is your element classified as a metal?
  • Do atoms of your element have exactly 2 or 3 fewer protons than atoms of any noble gas?
• How the periodic table and structure relate to atom structure
  • Do atoms of your element have less than 5 energy levels?
  • Do atoms of your element contain an odd number of protons?
  • Do neutral atoms of your element have an even number of electrons?
  • Do neutral atoms of your element contain 8 valence electrons?
  • Do neutral atoms of your element have fewer than 4 valence electrons?
• Ion Formation
  • When reacting, are atoms of your element likely to form ions by gaining electrons?
  • When reacting, are atoms of your element likely to form ions with less electrons than protons?