Description
What our Periodic Table of Elements STEM lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Periodic Table of Elements STEM teaches students about groups and periods of the PToE and explains different types of elements. They will learn about metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. This lesson is for students in 5th grade and 6th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.
Options for Lesson
In the “Options for Lesson” section of the classroom procedure page, you will see some suggestions for additional activities or ideas to add to the lesson if you want to. Students design “trading cards” for elements with stats like reactivity, state of matter, uses, and valence electrons. Use paper tiles or floor tape to map out a large-scale Periodic Table. Invite a chemist, pharmacist, engineer, or materials scientist to talk about how they use the Periodic Table in real life. Explore online interactive Periodic Tables (like ptable.com or the Royal Society of Chemistry).
Teacher Notes
The paragraph on this page provides a little more information or guidance on what to expect from the lesson. You can use the blank lines to record any thoughts or ideas you have as you prepare.
PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS STEM LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Introduction
The Periodic Table of Elements STEM lesson includes two content pages. You may have learned in your science class that the Periodic Table of Elements is a chart that shows all the known elements in the universe. An element is a type of atom, and atoms are the tiny building blocks that compose everything around us—from the air we breathe to the food we eat. For example, water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, two elements on the Periodic Table (H2O). Scientists created the Periodic Table to organize these elements in a way that helps us understand their properties and how they interact.
Periods on the Table
Elements are grouped by their atomic number, which tells us how many protons are in an atom’s nucleus. The table is arranged in rows and columns. The rows are called periods, and the columns are called groups or families. Elements in the same group act alike because they have similar structures. For example, helium, neon, and argon are all in the same group and are gases that don’t like to react with other elements. That’s why helium is used in balloons—it won’t catch fire or explode!
When you look across a row or period, each element has one more proton and one more electron than the one before it. These electrons are arranged in energy levels around the nucleus. All the elements in the first row have one energy level. Elements in the second row have two, and so on. This helps explain why lithium (used in phone batteries) behaves differently than sodium (used in table salt). They are in different periods and have different energy levels.
The columns on the Periodic Table tell us how many valence electrons an element has. These are the electrons in the outer shell of an atom, and they decide how that element will react with others. For example, chlorine has seven valence electrons and wants one more to feel “full,” so it effortlessly combines with sodium, which has one valence electron it wants to give away. That’s how table salt (sodium chloride) is formed!
Groups
The Periodic Table of Elements also groups elements based on whether they are metals, nonmetals, or metalloids. Metals are shiny and bendable, and they conduct electricity. Copper is a metal used in wires because it lets electricity flow easily. Nonmetals are often dull and brittle; oxygen is a nonmetal that we need to breathe. Metalloids are in between. Silicon, a metalloid, is used to make computer chips because it has the right properties.
Some columns have special names. Alkali metals are in Group 1, which includes lithium and potassium. These metals are so reactive that they can explode in water! Halogens are in Group 17, including chlorine and fluorine. They are often used in cleaning products and toothpaste because they fight germs. Noble gases in Group 18, like helium and neon, don’t react much. Neon is used in bright signs because it glows through electricity.
Reactivity
As you move down some groups, elements become more reactive. For example, potassium is more reactive than lithium, even though both are in Group 1. That’s because potassium’s outer electron is farther away from the nucleus, making it easier to lose. This pattern helps scientists predict how different elements will behave. In fact, this is how new medicines and materials are developed, by using patterns in the Periodic Table to guess how elements will react.
Most elements on the table are solids at room temperature, such as aluminum and iron. A few are gases, like hydrogen and nitrogen. Only two—mercury and bromine—are liquids. These states can change with temperature. For example, water is usually a liquid. When it freezes, it becomes a solid (ice); when it boils, it becomes a gas (steam). The same thing can happen to elements—if you heat up iron hot enough, it will melt!
Purpose of the Periodic Table
The Periodic Table of Elements isn’t just for scientists in labs. It helps people all over the world. Doctors use it to understand how calcium and iron help our bodies stay healthy. Builders use it to choose the right metals for construction. Chefs even use it. When they sprinkle salt or use baking soda, they use compounds made from elements on the Periodic Table!
When you study the Periodic Table, you’re thinking like a scientist. You can analyze patterns, compare atomic numbers, and observe how properties like reactivity and conductivity change across periods and groups. By asking questions, recording data, and making predictions based on element properties, you begin to understand how the Periodic Table of Elements is a powerful tool for organizing the building blocks of matter.
PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS STEM LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Periodic Table of Elements STEM lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. Each one will reinforce students’ comprehension of lesson material in different ways and help them demonstrate when they learned. Use the guidelines on the classroom procedure page to determine when to distribute each worksheet to the class.
GUESS MY ELEMENT ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For this fun activity, students will pick an element and fill out its information in the info section. Then they will write a clue that describes the element’s properties, use, or behavior without giving it away directly. Students will copy their clues onto an index card and then, with classmates, take turns guessing the elements. Whoever has the most correct guesses wins the game.
ELEMENTS BINGO PRACTICE WORKSHEET
Students will play a fun game of BINGO for the practice worksheet. There are eight BINGO cards so that you have some variety. If you prefer, you can have students do the second option. Provide copies of the Table to pairs or small groups of students. Call out up to 50 random elements and make it a race to see which group finds them the fastest.
MATCHING GAME HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
The homework assignment requires students to cut out element names and clue cards to play a matching game with.
Worksheet Answer Keys
If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
