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Article: Elemental food for thought.(Tips and techniques for creative teaching)(first tasks students learn in chemistry )
- Article from:
- The Science Teacher
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Science Teachers Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One of the first tasks students learn in chemistry is to pronounce and spell the names of elements and learn their corresponding chemical symbols. Repetitive oral recitation is commonly used to learn this information, but games and puzzles can make this task creative, variable, and fun.
Elemental Food for Thought (Figure 1) is a puzzlelike activity that encourages students to match the names of elements with their chemical symbols. Clues consisting of a series of element names are converted into chemical symbols to spell a familiar food or food-related item (Figure 1). No prior knowledge of chemical properties is needed. For assistance, introductory students can ...