Summary

In this activity, students will watch a video and answer questions about the organization of the periodic table. They will learn about how the elements on the periodic table are organized and what their location on the table can tell us about them.

Grade Level

Middle School, High School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards:

• 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.
• HS-PS1-2: Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
• Scientific and Engineering Practices:
  • Developing and Using Models
  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

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

• Describe how the periodic table is organized and what information an element’s location can provide about its chemical behavior.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

• History of Chemistry
• Periodic table
• Valence electrons

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal
Lesson: 10 minutes

Materials

• How the Periodic Table Organizes the Elements Video
• Student handout
• Computer and projector with sound and internet access

Safety

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

Teacher Notes

• The “How the Periodic Table Organizes the Elements” video is part of the ACS video series Chemistry Basics.
• The running time of this video is about four minutes. It goes through information quickly, so you may want to pause the video at certain points or play the video through twice.
• This video is intended for students to watch, and for teachers to integrate into their curriculum.
• The student questions are presented in sequential order in the video.
• An answer key has also been provided for teacher reference.