Periodic Table: Word Game

Originally posted on February 25, 2010 
 
WHAt CaN I FINd
(Tungsten*Hydrogen*Astatine - Calcium*Nitgroen - Iodine - Flourine*Iodine*Neodymium)

Have your students use the symbols found on the periodic table to spell as many words as they can. It's a fun and simple game, but it does help familiarize your students with the periodic table, what's on it, and where they can find certain elements.

Set the parameters as you wish: work alone, as partners, or teams? how long do words need to be to qualify? do plurals count? should they write out the names of the elements as well?

In the past, I've managed to work it so that the last day of school before vacation, students take a quiz on the periodic table and the spend the remainder of the period playing the game - it works out GREAT! You can offer a prize to the student(s) with the most words or the longest word, but it's not necessary - they're so engrossed in getting as many as they can and besting their friends that they keep going on their own.