Lesson: Name That Element!

Distribute “The Periodic Table” reference sheet to students. Open the “Name That Element!” article online and click “Presentation View” from the menu on the lefthand side of the webpage. Ask students: What properties of the element do you observe in the visuals? What uses of the element do you observe in the visuals? Let students discuss their answers in groups before reconvening.

Zoom in and use the spotlight tool to mask everything except the first clue. Read the clue aloud. Ask students what information could help them identify the element. Let students record any guesses they have without sharing them. Continue to read the clues and have students record guesses. After the last clue, ask students: What is the element? How did you use information from the article and the periodic table to figure out the answer?

Ask students which clues were most interesting and which were most helpful. What other elements did they guess as they read the clues? Why did they give those answers? Discuss patterns in the periodic table.

Share the “Name That Element! Choice Board” with students. Let them read the different activities and discuss with a partner which two or three activities they would like to complete. Have them record the element’s name at the top of the skills sheet and circle their choices. Let them complete their selected activities at home and then share their work in small groups.

Project “The Periodic Table” reference sheet so students can see it. Ask: How are the elements arranged? (They are arranged according to atomic number.) What is the atomic number? (the number of protons in an atom’s nucleus) Share the “Show What You Know” assessment for students to complete. (The answers are provided with the Google Form version and are available in the answer key for the PDF version.) Then ask students to create their own five-question quiz about the periodic table and swap their quiz with a partner’s quiz to complete.

⇨ EXTRA RESOURCE: Use our detailed periodic table as a reference tool