Introducing Students to the Periodic Table Using a Descriptive Approach of Superheroes, Meats, and Fruits and Nuts

Abstract

In some universities, there is a significant population of first year chemistry students who enter the system with very little prior knowledge of the subject. This, coupled with preconceived ideas of subject difficulty, necessitates that the introduction of key concepts is carried out in a nonthreatening, engaging, simplistic, and efficacious manner. The periodic table is one of the most important and fundamental tools and forms the base of the scaffold for all aspects of not only chemistry but all of the sciences. Traditionally, this is introduced in a historical manner which identifies various elemental properties and builds up the table through time, often highlighting key individuals. We have adopted a novel nonhistorical approach as a preintroduction to the formal periodic table to our first-year chemistry students. This introduction focuses on key characteristic aspects of the table construction, such as grouping objects using columns, rows, blocks, and color; numbering of objects; use of abbreviations for objects; combining individual objects; and transitioning across and down the table, e.g., size changes across and down the table. These features are demonstrated using a variety of pseudo "periodic tables", including the Periodic Tables of iPad Apps, Fruit and Nuts, Meat, and Superheroes. The delivery of the various tables to introduce students to the chemical periodic table could be adopted (and appropriately adapted) to any level of the education system (from primary to tertiary levels). Feedback from students (n = 226) using the Likert scale showed the utilization of this form of introduction to be an effective way in teaching the various critical concepts of the periodic table.

Data Visualization Using Boxplots: Comparison of Metalloid, Metal, and Nonmetal Chemical and Physical Properties

“…The periodic table is an essential tool utilized in scientific disciplines . It provides a useful framework for understanding and analyzing numerous chemical and physical properties. , …”

“…Several studies have adopted targeted approaches to introduce the periodic table, for example, group learning, , crossword puzzles, , digital periodic tables, , descriptive approaches, games, − toy bricks, − hands on activities, , and principal component analysis. ,, …”

“Find Your Personal Elements”: An Engaging Approach to Introducing Chemistry to Secondary School Students

“…Furthermore, memorizing the chemical symbols associated with their names, which often seem arbitrary or counterintuitive, is found to be extremely boring and usually has a demotivating effect, bringing up feelings of anxiety to many students and quite often giving rise to disinterest. In an attempt to overcome these inconveniences, different strategies have been designed to engage students and help them learn and comprehend the periodic table, some of them successfully useful. − Within this context, we have designed a further fun and participative activity that we have named FYPE ( F ind Y our P ersonal E lements ), which we herein describe. According to current regulations, in Spain the students face chemical formulation for the first time in grade 8, which corresponds to the second year of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) in Spain; this stage is also the first contact of Spanish students with chemistry as an independent scientific subject.…”