Periodic Table Explorer

Students use the display to read any element tile correctly and to locate metals, metalloids and non-metals before they are asked to predict how an element behaves.

Students will be able to:

• Read atomic number, symbol, name and relative atomic mass from an element tile
• Locate metals, metalloids and non-metals on the table
• Explain what elements in the same group have in common

Black and white prints as clean line art rather than a greyed-out copy of the colour version, so the class can colour it in. The preview above changes with this setting.

Pages

21

Colour pages

14

Black & white

7

Paper

• White: 21 sheets — Everything in the print pack
• Grey: 4 sheets — Title letters
• Blue: 3 sheets — Backing the grid
• Orange: 2 sheets — Backing the giant tile

What is in the pack

• Title letters — THE PERIODIC TABLE — 4 sheets, black and white

  T · H · E · P · E · R · and 10 more

• Blocked periodic grid and giant element tile — 7 sheets, colour

  Reference sheet · Grid and giant element tile, tiled across six sheets

• Tile callout labels — 1 sheet, black and white

  atomic number · chemical symbol · element name · relative atomic mass

• Group name cards — 2 sheets, colour

  Group 1 — alkali metals · Group 2 — alkaline earth metals · Groups 3–12 — transition metals · Group 17 — halogens · Group 18 — noble gases · Lanthanides and actinides

• Element fact cards — 2 sheets, colour

  Hydrogen (H, 1) — the lightest element and the most common in the universe. · Carbon (C, 6) — forms more compounds than every other element combined. · Oxygen (O, 8) — about a fifth of the air and nearly half the Earth's crust. · Sodium (Na, 11) — soft enough to cut with a knife and stored under oil. · Iron (Fe, 26) — most of the Earth's core, and the reason a magnet sticks. · Silver (Ag, 47) — the best electrical conductor of any element. · and 2 more

• Key and colour code — 1 sheet, colour

  METALS · METALLOIDS · NON-METALS · The staircase divides them

  In black-and-white the three blocks print as plain, dotted and hatched fills, so the key still works without colour.

• Element-tile border strip — 1 sheet, colour

  Repeating strip of blank tiles

Change the title and the printable letters regenerate to match it.

1. 1

   Step 1 — Prepare the background

   Cover the board with a plain dark backing. The grid has a lot of internal lines, so a busy background makes it unreadable.

2. 2

   Step 2 — Add the title

   Run THE PERIODIC TABLE across the top. Sixteen letters — on a narrower board, split it over two rows with THE PERIODIC above TABLE.

3. 3

   Step 3 — Build the grid

   Tape the four grid sheets together at the back before you fix anything, then centre the whole panel on the left two-thirds of the board.

4. 4

   Step 4 — Add the staircase

   Run the dashed staircase line over the grid. This is the line students forget, so make it the boldest thing on the panel.

5. 5

   Step 5 — Mount the giant tile

   Put the enlarged iron tile on the right with a hand's width of clear space around it, then pin the four callout labels around it with a line to each field.

6. 6

   Step 6 — Add the group cards

   Place the group name cards down the centre gap in group order, so 1 is at the top and 18 at the bottom.

7. 7

   Step 7 — Finish the key and border

   Put the colour key at the bottom left where students look first, and finish with the tile border.