Periodic Trends Lab
Read the periodic table and predict radius, energy and reactivity.
Periodic Trends Lab teaches the periodic table as a map that predicts how elements behave. Students start by finding periods, groups and blocks on a table of elements 1 to 36, then sort elements into metals, nonmetals and metalloids and name the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, halogens and noble gases.
The game looks inside the atom with protons, neutrons, electrons and isotopes, then ions and their charges. Students draw electron shells and write configurations for the first 20 elements, compare trends in radius, ionization energy and electronegativity, and finish by writing formulas and names for ionic and covalent compounds.
What children practice
- Find periods, groups and blocks on the periodic table
- Sort elements into metals, nonmetals and metalloids and name the main families
- Count protons, neutrons and electrons in atoms and isotopes
- Work out the charge of an ion and count its particles
- Write shell arrangements and electron configurations and find valence electrons
- Compare trends and write ionic formulas and covalent names
Levels
- Reading the table: Periods, groups, blocks
- Families and regions: Metals, nonmetals, families
- Inside the atom: Protons, neutrons, isotopes
- Ions and charges: Cations, anions, ion charges
- Electron arrangement: Shells, valence electrons
- Periodic trends: Radius, ionization energy, electronegativity
- Formulas and names: Ionic and covalent
- Course mix: Everything
How it works
- Eight levels move from reading the table to naming compounds, and the last level links ideas in chains.
- Pictures come from the game's own element table, with shell diagrams and nuclei drawn from the real configuration.
- Five correct answers and the practice timer unlock each next level, in order.
- Students tap cells in a window of the table, fill in a table, build a compound name from tiles or choose an answer.
Best for: A good fit for grades 9 to 12 in a first chemistry course, when students are learning to predict properties from position on the table.
Tip for parents: Pick two elements from one column and two from one row and ask your child which atom is larger and why. Explaining the trend in their own words is better than recalling the rule.
Questions parents ask
Which elements does the game use?
Hydrogen through krypton. Electron configurations and shell diagrams are taught for the first 20 elements.
Does it include exceptions to the trends?
It leaves out the well-known dips and the debated cases. Trend questions compare elements in the same period or group whose real values follow the textbook trend, and noble gases are left out of radius and electronegativity comparisons.
How are compound names handled?
Level 7 uses the criss-cross rule for binary ionic formulas and prefixes for covalent names. Formulas appear with real subscripts and no subscript of 1.
Ready to try it?
Periodic Trends Lab is free with a parent account. A parent adds a child profile, and the child's progress is saved.