Periodic Table Project
Overview
The goal of this project is to construct a personalized periodic table that illustrates our growing knowledge of and mastery over the elements. Each student will be assigned an element from the periodic table, conduct some brief research to identify key information about their element, and then use that information to produce a short skit and visual artistic representation of their element.
Essential Questions
Please write out your thoughtful answers to the following Essential Questions in complete, well-formed sentences and turn them in in addition to the required individual and group products listed below. For questions 1-6, I encourage you to write a narrative that answers the Essential Questions in response to the following: What is the significance of the Periodic Table of Elements?
1. What is the purpose of the Periodic Table?
2. In what manner is the Periodic Table organized?
3. What are some general trends we discover within the Groups (Families) of the Periodic Table?
4. What are some general trends we discover within the Periods of the Periodic Table?
5. How is the Periodic Table used as a tool to study chemistry?
6. How do you think the Periodic Table came to be? Who “discovered” it?
7. Please specifically state the following information in bulleted form for the specific element that you have been assigned:
Products
Each student will turn in three products:
(Individual) 1 researched page of writing that incorporates the following information. The writing may be any style of your choice: narrative, poem, letter, etc. (please refer to the book, The Periodic Table: Elements with Style for examples). The writing should not be a bulleted list, nor is it the same as simply answering the questions as you did in the Essential Questions. It is intended to tell a story! Please include at least seven of the following items in your written page:
(Individual) 1 illustration portraying your interpretation of the element. Your artwork may be of any style, in any media (photography, painting, collage, etc) on a 6x6 canvas tile that Aliza will provide to you. We will use these tiles to create a periodic table wall within our classroom. Your illustration must be designed around the information you have researched about your element. Each illustration must incorporate:
Family skits (in groups). Students will synthesize the research they've completed of their individual element with students whose elements are in the same family. Each group will write and perform a skit in which they personify each of the elements in their assigned group. The skit's dramatic action should be based on the interaction (or, in the case of the noble gases, non-interaction) with the other elements of the group.
Learning Goals
This project serves as a practical introduction to the Periodic Table. We will each study, in depth, one particular element with the aim of becoming an expert on our element. We will delve into the structure and arrangement of the elements that compose the Periodic Table and use our products to conduct a further, targeted study on Periodic Trends.
Timeline
This project will take two weeks. It will be launched on Tuesday, September 2nd and conclude on Friday, Sept 12th (this means it is due at the start of class on Friday, September 12th!).
If the allotted class time is not enough, you will still be responsible for completing each piece of the project by the designated deadlines!
Due Dates
Presentation
Our peer critiques will consist of students providing warm and cool feedback on rough sketches and initial drafts of creative writing. Students will briefly present their research to the class by reading their creative writing and participating in a Gallery Walk of creative products on Friday, September 12th.
Final Essay
Your final assignment to this project will synthesize your understanding of the importance of your element and its place in our world.
Imagine that one day, out of nowhere, one of the elements on the periodic table suddenly starts to disappear from the face of the Earth. Depending on the element, the results could be cataclysmic. Write a fictionalized "firsthand" account of the day your element disappeared. (For example, the day Earth lost its iron--buildings crumble, blood becomes anemic, etc.) To accomplish this task, you will need to use the research you conducted of your element. Where does your element appear in nature, if at all? How is it used by scientists, engineers, artists, doctors, and so on? Where is its presence crucial? How would life be different without your element? Would life even be able to survive? If your element has no applications, change the prompt so that the entire family that your element belongs to disappears from Earth.
This essay should be two pages, single-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman or Arial font with 1 inch margins. (For RPH) Due at 5 pm on Friday, October 7.
Grading
Resources
The Path to the Periodic Table
Dynamic Periodic Table
Periodic Videos
Poetic Table of Chemistry
WebElements
The goal of this project is to construct a personalized periodic table that illustrates our growing knowledge of and mastery over the elements. Each student will be assigned an element from the periodic table, conduct some brief research to identify key information about their element, and then use that information to produce a short skit and visual artistic representation of their element.
Essential Questions
Please write out your thoughtful answers to the following Essential Questions in complete, well-formed sentences and turn them in in addition to the required individual and group products listed below. For questions 1-6, I encourage you to write a narrative that answers the Essential Questions in response to the following: What is the significance of the Periodic Table of Elements?
1. What is the purpose of the Periodic Table?
2. In what manner is the Periodic Table organized?
3. What are some general trends we discover within the Groups (Families) of the Periodic Table?
4. What are some general trends we discover within the Periods of the Periodic Table?
5. How is the Periodic Table used as a tool to study chemistry?
6. How do you think the Periodic Table came to be? Who “discovered” it?
7. Please specifically state the following information in bulleted form for the specific element that you have been assigned:
- Element name
- Element symbol
- Period
- Group number and family
- Atomic number
- Atomic weight
- Electron configuration
- Most common phase (solid, liquid, or gas)
- Appearance and characteristics (minimum of 5)
- Applications/uses (at least 2)
Products
Each student will turn in three products:
(Individual) 1 researched page of writing that incorporates the following information. The writing may be any style of your choice: narrative, poem, letter, etc. (please refer to the book, The Periodic Table: Elements with Style for examples). The writing should not be a bulleted list, nor is it the same as simply answering the questions as you did in the Essential Questions. It is intended to tell a story! Please include at least seven of the following items in your written page:
- Element name
- Element symbol
- Period
- Group number and family
- Atomic number
- Atomic weight
- Electron configuration
- Most common phase (solid, liquid, or gas)
- Appearance and characteristics (minimum of 5)
- Applications/uses (at least
(Individual) 1 illustration portraying your interpretation of the element. Your artwork may be of any style, in any media (photography, painting, collage, etc) on a 6x6 canvas tile that Aliza will provide to you. We will use these tiles to create a periodic table wall within our classroom. Your illustration must be designed around the information you have researched about your element. Each illustration must incorporate:
- Element symbol
- Atomic number (near the top)
- Atomic weight (near the bottom)
- The element symbol, atomic number, and atomic weight must all be clearly visible!
Family skits (in groups). Students will synthesize the research they've completed of their individual element with students whose elements are in the same family. Each group will write and perform a skit in which they personify each of the elements in their assigned group. The skit's dramatic action should be based on the interaction (or, in the case of the noble gases, non-interaction) with the other elements of the group.
Learning Goals
This project serves as a practical introduction to the Periodic Table. We will each study, in depth, one particular element with the aim of becoming an expert on our element. We will delve into the structure and arrangement of the elements that compose the Periodic Table and use our products to conduct a further, targeted study on Periodic Trends.
Timeline
This project will take two weeks. It will be launched on Tuesday, September 2nd and conclude on Friday, Sept 12th (this means it is due at the start of class on Friday, September 12th!).
- 2 hour of class time to research your element or the Essential Questions: Tuesday 9/2 and Wednesday 9/3
- 1 hour of class time to work on a rough draft of your tile: Thursday 9/4
- 1 hour of class time to work on the final draft of your tile: Monday 9/8
- 1 hour of class time to work on your family skit with your group: Thursday, 9/11
If the allotted class time is not enough, you will still be responsible for completing each piece of the project by the designated deadlines!
Due Dates
- Answers to Essential Questions due: Thursday, 9/4
- Rough draft of tile due for peer critique: Friday 9/5
- 3 goals for improvement of artistic product generated from peer feedback: Monday 9/8
- Rough draft of creative writing due for peer critique: Monday 9/8
- 3 goals for improvement of creative writing generated from peer feedback: Tuesday 9/9
- Group skits, final tiles, and final creative writing: Friday, 9/12
- Final Essay and Reflection: Monday, 9/15
Presentation
Our peer critiques will consist of students providing warm and cool feedback on rough sketches and initial drafts of creative writing. Students will briefly present their research to the class by reading their creative writing and participating in a Gallery Walk of creative products on Friday, September 12th.
Final Essay
Your final assignment to this project will synthesize your understanding of the importance of your element and its place in our world.
Imagine that one day, out of nowhere, one of the elements on the periodic table suddenly starts to disappear from the face of the Earth. Depending on the element, the results could be cataclysmic. Write a fictionalized "firsthand" account of the day your element disappeared. (For example, the day Earth lost its iron--buildings crumble, blood becomes anemic, etc.) To accomplish this task, you will need to use the research you conducted of your element. Where does your element appear in nature, if at all? How is it used by scientists, engineers, artists, doctors, and so on? Where is its presence crucial? How would life be different without your element? Would life even be able to survive? If your element has no applications, change the prompt so that the entire family that your element belongs to disappears from Earth.
This essay should be two pages, single-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman or Arial font with 1 inch margins. (For RPH) Due at 5 pm on Friday, October 7.
Grading
- Essential Questions (10 pts)
- Element Tile (20 pts)
- Creative Writing (20 pts)
- Group Skit (25 pts)
- Final Essay and Reflection (50 pts)
Resources
The Path to the Periodic Table
Dynamic Periodic Table
Periodic Videos
Poetic Table of Chemistry
WebElements