New AACT Resources to Help Teach the Periodic Table (2024)

As chemistry teachers plan activities for their students, AACT will highlight resources from our high school library that help to reinforce topics in different units throughout the school year. Our last news post highlighted resources from our high school library that support a Chemistry Basics unit. We will now focus on lessons and other activities to be used in a Periodic Table unit.

We have added a few resources related to this topic to the high school library, which are highlighted below. We have also updated our unit plan to help you teach a unit on the periodic table. 

ACCESS PERIODIC TABLE UNIT PLAN →

Before introducing the periodic table, have students take the "What Type of Element Are You?" Interactive Quiz. It's a low stakes, fun way to introduce families and help students get to know each other. 

Finding new ways to teach periodic trends has always been a priority in my classroom. I find it is difficult for students to understand the relationship between atomic radius, ionization energy, and electronegativity. If you are looking for a new resource to help with periodic trends, try out the Introduction to Ionization Energy and Electronegativity with a Tactile Model. In this activity, students will investigate ionization energy and electronegativity through building tactile models using Lego blocks.

At the end of the unit, challenge students to complete the Chemistry Pyramids activity, from the November 2023 issue of Chemistry Solutions. Kind of like a combination between Sudoku and 2048, students use the periodic table to complete the puzzle by ensuring the atomic numbers of the elements below add up to atomic numbers of the element(s) above. 

Going to be out unexpectedly and need a last-minute lesson plan? The Periodic Table Turns 150 Emergency Lesson has you covered! Complete with answer keys, readings, and guidance for the students, this ChemMatters-focused lesson will save you prep time.  

We hope that this new lesson plan and unit plan can help you to reinforce several of the topics covered in a unit on the periodic table. Most of these lessons were made possible by great teachers who shared their own resources. We need your help to keep the collection growing. Do you have a great demonstration, activity, or lesson related to this topic that you would like to share with the community? Please send it along for consideration.