Periodic Table Target: A Game That Introduces the Biological Significance of Chemical Element Periodicity

Periodic Table Target, a game for middle school or high school students, familiarizes students with the form of the periodic table and the biological significance of different elements. The Periodic Table Target game board is constructed as a class project, and the game is played to reinforce the content. Students are assigned several elements that they must classify by biological activity (as opposed to more traditional family names); they record their findings and those of the class on a blank data chart. Students then label appropriately colored felt squares, glue them onto the correct position on a previously prepared outline of the periodic table, and play the game. Students may also color paper periodic tables as a class exercise for their own future reference. The project allows students to observe correlations between chemistry and biology and serves as a reference for later, more conventional study of periodic properties of the elements and their placement on the periodic table.