The Periodic Table - R2P

This resource provides a lesson plan showing how to use a board game to teach about the Periodic Table. The approach used in the lesson is based on education research which is summarised in a separate research summary document.

The lesson outlines how to create a game, that can be differentiated depending on pupils' abilities, to help them understand how atomic structure is related to the periodic table. In addition pupils are encouraged to appreciate the difference in electronic structure and position in the Periodic Table of metals and non-metals.

The research summary discusses various types of game-based learning techniques for teaching the Perodic Table and their effectiveness.

This resource is part of a collection of research informed secondary science lesson plans produced as part of the Research-2-Practice (R2P) project undertaken by research teams at the University of Roehampton, University of Lincoln, York St John University and KYRA research school, between 2020 and 2021, which was funded by Wellcome.

The overall aim of the project was to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in science by giving time-pressed teachers quick and easy access to relevant research to inform their practice and provide exemplar lesson plans to show how the research could be used in the classroom. More resources can be found here.