How to Teach the Periodic Table to Elementary Students

The periodic table of elements has long been an invaluable tool for chemists and a popular lesson topic for chemistry students. While most students will not learn all the intricacies of this complex diagram until later scientific exploration, they can begin their study of the periodic table as early as elementary school. If charged with the task of teaching your elementary students about the periodic table of elements, start with the basics and carefully guide them through their study.

Instructions

1

Post the periodic table. Hang a poster-sized version of the table up several weeks before you plan to start your periodic table lessons. Your most inquisitive students may start to look over the table and familiarize themselves with it before your lessons begin, and the others will likely at least look upon the complex diagram with wonder, increasing their motivation to learn about the information it contains.

2

Set an objective for your periodic table unit. Every teacher has a different goal for their students when it comes to learning about the periodic table. If your state education standards require that you teach certain aspects of the periodic table, allow these mandates to guide your objective creation. If not, decide for yourself what is most important that your students learn. Perhaps you want them to memorize the table. Or you may simply want them to understand the basics. Compose your objective before you begin teaching to ensure that you know what goal you are working towards.

3

Discuss the ordering of the periodic table of elements. Explain to students that the atomic number represents the number of protons in the nucleus of the element. If you have not yet discussed what parts make up an atom, pause to do so. Also explain that the vertical columns on the periodic table represent families of elements and that each member of the family has the same number of outer electrons. Finally, point out that the horizontal rows on the table represent periods, and that elements in the same period are more closely related to each other than to elements in other periods.

4

Break down the table and study it in sections. Confronting your students with the entire table at once will likely overwhelm them. To prevent this, discuss the elements in chunks by breaking down the table into several row sections.

5

Quiz regularly to ensure student understanding. Do not wait until the end of your study to test your students, quiz them throughout the unit so that you can deal with any misunderstandings as they arise.

6

Reteach information with which students struggle. If you notice that some information proves challenging to all students, stop and reteach by reviewing the overly challenging material. By doing so, you increase the likelihood that your periodic table teaching efforts prove effective.

7

Engage students in exploration of each of the elements. After studying the entire table, assign each student or small group of students an element to study. Have the students write reports, compose skits or create presentations about their assigned elements to encourage them to dig deeper into their exploration of some of the periodic table members.