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J. DUDLEY HERRON Pvrdue Univenity West Lafayene, Indiana 47907
"Chemantlcs"-A
New Chemical Educational Card Game
Albert K. Sawyer University of New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire 03824 Learning the symbols and charges of ions and comhining them to make formulas of compounds is often tedious for a beginner. This aspect of stoichiometry may be made more interesting with a card game which we have called "Chemantics". The game is played with symhol cards and number cards which are laid down durine vlav to eive the formulas of chemical compounds. The basic deck, consisting of 52 cards and two wild cards, contains cards for the representative elements of atomic number 1-20 inclusive aloig with number cards, parenthesis cards, and cards for other commonly encountered elements. Extra symbol cards are included for several elements, particularly hydrogen and oxygen. In addition to number cards from 2 to 4 inclusive, the two wild cards are used to represent any number. In this rummy-type game played by 2,3, or4 players, seven cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are placed in a oile from which eachdaver in turn draws. makes whateve&lay he desires, and d&ds. ~lternativeli, a player may in his turn elect to take an opponent's formula by adding one or more cards to it to make a new, more complicated compound, or he may elect to take a discard pile if in doing so he can use the top card to lay down the formula of a comvound. The object of the game'is to use cards to lay down correct formulas for comwunds. The cards are desimed so that when they are laid do& the chemical formula &I appear as one would ordinarily see i t written. For example,
When an opposing player goes out, each remaining player subtracts from his score the number of cards remaining in his hand, In scoring, attention is focused on the number of atoms in the molecule beina considered, and what is meant in the writing of chemicai formulas is reinforced. For example, the score for CaO would be two, for C ~ ( O H )would Z be 5, and for CadPo& would be 13. Each player sums the scores for all of the compounds he has laid down and the player with the highest scores wins. A challenge aspect is included in that a player may question
' Additional details may be obtained from the author and card
decka may be purchased by contacting Tom Sawyer, Box 472. Durhsm, NH 03824. 780 / Journal of Chemical Education
the correctness of a formula laid down by an opponent. If the challenger is wrong, the value of the score of the formula challenged is subtracted from the challenper's score. If the challenger is right, the incorrect formula is iemoved from the board and i t s score (had it been correct) subtracted from the player's total. This aspect brings about discussion and reference to a source of information such as a text, a handbook, or the teacher. Ideally, the game would be used in a classroom where several groups would be playing, with the instructor observing and correcting errors and answering questions which might arise. Minor changes in the deck and the rules may be made depending on the knowledge and abilities of the students. For examde, tables of charees of common ions mav he included a t first and subsequentl; omitted. Cards for c e h elements mav be excluded at first and included later. For more sophGticated play, cards for additional elements may be added. Finally, a solitaire type of game may also be played if desired.' The author wishes to acknowledge the help and enjoyment he has had in developing this game over a number of years with his sons Ken, Dave, Greg, and Tom, respectively.
A Game for Review JoAnn Paslawsky Marian High School R.D. #2, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania 18252 It beeomes increasingly difficult to keep students interested as the end of school avvroaches and hoth teachers and studenrs suffer from sprink fever. In order to maintain student enthusiasm, I devised the comvetitive method of review which is described here. Each class is divided into teams of three students and these teams are matched for competition by drawing team numbers from a hat. Winning teams in the first round of competition are then matched for quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds of competition. A timekeeper, scorekeeper, and judges are selected from students who are not competing in a given match.
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Editors Note: This is the second Hieh School Forum dealing with classroom games. Teachers who use gamer m their claws will heinterested in theidlowing referenres.'l'hefimt describes t h use ~ uigamesand the second iaadescription otinatrurtional games (two for use in chemistry) which are commercially available. Gordon,Alice, "Games for Growth:Educational Games in the Classroom" Science Research Associates, Palo Alto, California. 1970. Zuckerman, David, and Horn, Robert, " The Guide to Simulation Games for Education and Training," Information Resources, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970. ~
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