Hobbies And Interests
Twenty Questions
Use the popular game of twenty questions as a classroom chemistry game. The major advantage of twenty questions is that it requires no set up, yet still challenges your students. Your students can sit during this game. Stand in front of the class. Choose a chemistry vocabulary term for your students to guess. This can include specific formulas or even chemical names. The purpose of the game is for your students to score more points than you. Students score by guessing the term in 20 questions or less. You win if your students do not guess the term. Pick a student to ask a question. Answer the question and then pick another student. Make sure as many students get a chance to ask questions as possible. The chosen student can guess the term after he asks his question. The student who asks the twentieth question gets the opportunity to guess for the last time. However, he can take suggestions from his classmates.
Electron Battleship
Battleship is a popular game based on ship warfare. Adapting it for chemistry is very simple. This game will help your students learn how many electrons an element has by simply looking it up on the periodic table. Give each student a manila folder with two laminated periodic tables taped on the inside, right-side up. Give each student a dry erase marker. Students draw lines through the elements on the bottom periodic table to indicate their ships. The top periodic table is used to record where they have guessed. Five elements in a row is an aircraft carrier, four is a battleship, three is a submarine and a destroyer and two is the PT boat. The first player guesses an element by stating how many electrons are in a single atom of that element. The opposing player states the element guessed and says whether it was a hit or miss.
Chemistry Jeopardy
Jeopardy is a popular trivia game show that challenges players to guess the question to a stated answer. This game can easily be adapted for the classroom. Use construction paper to create a game board. It should have six vertical columns and five horizontal columns. The horizontal columns are the categories and the vertical ones are the cash amount. The cash amounts in the first round should be 100 to 500 dollars, while the second round doubles those amounts. Create little pockets on each column to hold your game cards. This gives you the chance to add different questions and categories to the game each time. Create dozens of game categories and answers under each game card. Each game card should have a vocabulary term definition, such as, "This element, the first on the periodic table, is lighter than air and highly explosive." Split your class up into multiple teams. Players should ring a bell if they want to guess. The team with the most money after two rounds wins.