Developing and Playing Chemistry Games To Learn about Elements

Feb 7, 2014 - Educational games are useful pedagogical tools that facilitate learning in an enjoyable way. To help students learn many interrelated su...
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Developing and Playing Chemistry Games To Learn about Elements, Compounds, and the Periodic Table: Elemental Periodica, Compoundica, and Groupica Eylem Bayir* Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Trakya University, Edirne 22080, Turkey S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: Educational games are useful pedagogical tools that facilitate learning in an enjoyable way. To help students learn many interrelated subjects and conceptssuch as the names, symbols, atomic numbers and properties of the elements, the placement of the elements on the periodic table, examples of everyday objects in which the elements are found, the properties of the groups on the periodic table, and the formation of compoundsthree games were formulated. Elemental Periodica and Groupica are card games, and Compoundica is a board game. These games were used as activities during a two-day Chemistry Games Days event, with 250 students (grades 9−12) and 30 inservice and preservice teachers involved. The reactions of participating students and teachers to the games were noted while play was underway. The results indicate that this set of games provides an entertaining way to facilitate students’ learning about elements, compounds, and the periodic table. Playing these games may help students reinforce central chemistry concepts and review for exams. KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Physical Chemistry, Humor/Puzzles/Games, Nomenclature/Units/Symbols, Periodicity/Periodic Table, Student-Centered Learning

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BACKGROUND Scientific disciplines such as chemistry, which are usually thought to be hard to learn and boring as well, should be taught in an interesting and enjoyable way. It is possible to promote active, constructive learning and to make learning science a fun experience by means of educational games.1−5 Games are effective learning tools that provide unique opportunities for students to interact with a knowledge domain in an educational setting.6,7 The incorporation of games in the chemistry classroom can provide engaging and alternative methods of instruction.5 Studies have indicated that card and board games dealing with chemistry topics are successful in teaching chemistry,8−11 capturing interest, developing collaborative skills,12 providing motivation,12,13 and addressing visual learning styles14 as well as decreasing the anxiety and apprehensions of students and teachers.15,16 To date, many games have been developed to review and reinforce a variety of chemistry topics, such as the nomenclature, symbols and formulas of chemical species,10,15,17,18 the families of chemical elements,13 the electronic structures of atoms,19 the periodic table,8 the formation of compounds,10,18,20 reaction rate theory,21 nuclear synthesis,22 stoichiometry,23 crystallography, 24 and organic chemistry.1,12,25,26 These games are mostly focused on specific subjects in chemistry. In this activity, a comprehensive set of three games (Elemental Periodica, Groupica, Compoundica) is © 2014 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

presented, encompassing many interrelated subjects and concepts: names, symbols, atomic numbers and properties of the elements, the placement of the elements on the periodic table, examples of everyday objects in which the elements are found, the properties of the groups (e.g., s and p blocks) on the periodic table, and the formation of compounds from the elemental ions. These games are organized to integrate with each other in terms of content so that when students play all the games of the set, they grasp the central topics needed to understand the nature of chemistry. They are appropriate for both students in grades 9−12 and younger students in grade 6−8.

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ABOUT THESE CHEMISTRY GAMES The Elemental Periodica game, which is designed in the form of a Bingo game, includes the names, symbols, atomic numbers, and physical properties of the elements (in the s and p blocks and common elements in the d block), the placement of the elements on the periodic table, and examples of everyday objects in which the elements are found. A review of the literature confirms the use of games involving the names and symbols of the elements15,17 or the place of the elements’ names and symbols in daily life.13 The Elemental Periodica game stimulates students to connect the concept of the Published: February 7, 2014 531

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• Each element’s name, symbol, atomic number, and its common properties related to daily life or technology Elemental Periodica can be played by two or more players and a referee. Before playing the game, a card for each player is prepared by the teacher or the students. This card must include a periodic table on which symbols of 10 elements from the s and p blocks and common elements from the d blocks are written. (According to the level of the students, the teacher chooses the elements to be used in the game). The symbol of any element can be available on only one of the cards or on more than one card. An example of a periodic table card from the Elemental Periodica game is shown in Figure 1. The card template, which

elements to both the periodic table and to daily life. In this way, when students come upon the name or the symbol of an element, they can imagine the place of the element both on the periodic table and in daily life. In addition, the Elemental Periodica game differs in terms of material and content from previously described Bingo-style chemistry games. Whereas cards with a grid26 or a short form of the periodic table8 are used in the other games, the cards in the Elemental Periodica game include an exact chart of the periodic table, showing the blocks in different colors. Using such cards helps students build the image of the periodic table in their minds and learn its structure, including the placement of the (s, p, d) blocks on the periodic table. In reviewing the contents of the games of Crute26 and Tejeda and Palacios,8 one sees that the first game focuses on matching the structures to the names of simple alkanes and the second game involves placing cards containing the names, symbols, and the outer or valence electrons of the elements in their proper position on the periodic table. The Groupica game in this activity is similar to the card game entitled The Families of Chemical Elements Game, the goal of which is to collect complete sets of cards depicting the maingroup families of the elements; that is, families 1, 2, and 13− 18.13 The Families of Chemical Elements Game includes only the names and symbols of the chemical elements, as well as examples of everyday objects in which the elements are found, whereas the Groupica game also includes the elements that belong to different groups or families (e.g., the s and p blocks), the special names of the groups (such as halogens or noble gases), the blocks in which the groups are placed, the number of valence electrons of elements, as well as common chemical or physical properties of the elements in different groups. Playing the Groupica game is also similar to The Game of Chemists, which is designed to introduce famous chemists.27 A review of the literature shows that several authors have designed games dealing with the formation of compounds.10,18,20 In these games, chemical species that are used to form compounds are placed on cards or tiles. In the Compoundica game in this activity, all of the included elements can be seen on the game board by the players. This format stimulates players to think about all the compounds that can be formed during the game. In this way, students can learn the compounds that can be formed by not only the cations that the die designates but also all the cations on the game board. As an additional value, both the symbols of the ions and also the symbols of the noble gases appear on the game board of Compoundica so that students can recognize the cases in which compounds can or cannot be formed.

Figure 1. Card example for Elemental Periodica (152 mm × 78 mm).

is provided in the Supporting Information, can be used for printing and writing symbols of elements. Additionally, an element introduction card is prepared for each element. The element’s name, symbol, atomic number, block, and common properties related to daily life or technology are written on these cards. An example of an element introduction card is presented in Figure 2. Paper squares fitting the squares of the

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PLAYING THE GAMES After the games were developed, they were used at two high schools for a Chemistry Games Days activity organized by the author. Approximately 250 students (grades 9−12) and 30 inservice and preservice teachers attended the event. The participating teachers, who were majoring in chemistry and science, were from schools and a faculty of education close to the schools.

Figure 2. Element introduction card for calcium (85 mm × 60 mm).

periodic table on the cards are also necessary for playing the game. A template for element introduction cards and templates for covering the elements are given in the Supporting Information. Players put their periodic table cards in front of themselves. The referee randomly takes one of the element introduction cards that have been placed face down. Then, he or she reads out only the atomic number, block, and common properties related to daily life or technology. Players attempt to identify the element by using the information that is read by the referee. If the symbol of the element that the referee describes is present on their periodic table cards, players cover it by using a

Elemental Periodica

Elemental Periodica is a card game that helps students learn the following: • The placements of the elements in the s and p blocks and common elements in the d block of the periodic table 532

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• The ion charge of common metal and some nonmetal atoms. • The formation of ionic compounds from positive and negative ions (electroneutrality principle). • The number of atoms in a compound depending on the valence electrons of ions. • The inert behaviors of the noble gases.

paper square. After an element’s description has been read out and players have covered the corresponding symbol, all cards are checked by the referee for accuracy. If any player covers an incorrect symbol on his or her periodic table card, he or she is disqualified from the game. The player who covers all the symbols on his or her periodic table card calls out the word “PERIODICA”, and he or she is declared the first-place winner of the game. The other players continue to play the game until all players have completed their cards. According to the order in which they complete the game, they are declared the secondplace winner, the third-place winner, and so forth of the game. If more than one player achieves “PERIODICA” at the same time, after the completion of the round, only these players replay the game in order to identify their places in the winners. Playing the Elemental Periodica game takes about an hour to complete.

The game is played by four players and a referee. To play the game, a Compoundica game board (in the Supporting Information), 16 tokens (4 O2−, 4 Br−, 4 Cl−, 4 I−) and a die are needed. To make tokens, the stamps found in the Supporting Information can be glued to the surfaces of dice. (In this case, 16 additional dice are needed). If any other materials are used as tokens, symbols of anions (O2−, Br−, Cl−, I−) should be written on the materials. The Compoundica game board and the stamps in the Supporting Information were produced using the Microsoft Office Publisher program. The object of the game is to complete tours of the game board with the four tokens. Each player rolls the die. According to the number he or she rolled, each player then chooses one of the four types of tokens (O2−, Br−, Cl−, I−), repeating this process until all tokens have been chosen. The players place their tokens on the corresponding stations on the game board. To start the game, the player with the highest points on the die rolls the die again. The player moves one of his or her four tokens in a clockwise direction, moving the same numbers of spaces as the number of his or her roll of the die and following the markings for cations and atoms of the noble gases on the game board (first pass). At the end of the first pass, the player may move again, moving the same number of spaces as there are atoms in the compound formed by the anion on the token and the cation on which the token is sitting (second pass). For example, if the player with the Cl− token rolls a three on the die, he or she arrives at Pb2+ at the end of the first pass. Then, he or she may proceed to Ba2+ because there are three atoms in the compound PbCl2 (second pass). After the first player’s turn, the next player takes his or her turn, and the other players follow in sequence. If a token arrives at the atom of a noble gas at the end of the first pass, the player must go back to the starting point because the anion on the token and the atom of the noble gas do not form an ionic compound. If two tokens meet on the same cation, the token that arrived first returns to its station. If players do not know which compound will form, they can look at the checklist of compounds. However, in this case, they are not entitled to a second pass. The referee always checks the products formed in the game by using the checklist (in the Supporting Information). If a player forms an incorrect compound on the board, he or she is disqualified from the game. If six or fewer cation spaces remain to arrive at the station, the player must wait until he or she has rolled the specific number on the die equal to the required number of cation spaces. The first player to complete tours of the board with all four of his or her tokens wins the game. According to the order of arrival back at the starting stations, players become the first-, second-, third-, and fourth-place winners of the game. Players should change their tokens (O2−, Br−, Cl−, I−) at the start of

Groupica

Groupica is designed to help students learn the properties of the groups of elements that belong to the s and p blocks (A groups) on the periodic table. The object of the Groupica game is to collect five cards that have the properties of one of the 1A−8A groups written on them. Five cards are prepared for each group from 1A to 8A by listing one property of the group on each card. One joker card, which can be used in place of any card, also must be available for the game. Additionally, a checklist that includes the properties of each 1A−8A group is prepared. Groupica is played by two or more people, up to eight. However, the number of players must be equal to the number of groups from the periodic table included in the game. For example, if the game is played by four people, four sets of group cards must be included in the game. The game also requires a referee. Using the checklist, the referee of the game checks the cards of the player holding a winning hand. All properties written on the winner’s cards must be confirmed on the checklist as belonging to one of the periodic table groups included in the game. If a player who claims to hold a winning hand has collected any incorrect cards, he or she is disqualified from the next round of the game. Sets of cards for the 1A, 2A, 7A, and 8A groups and the checklist for them are available in the Supporting Information. All cards are placed face down on the table and shuffled. One of the players randomly takes six cards, and all others take five. Players pick up their cards without showing them to the others. The player having six cards begins by discarding one unwanted card, and putting it on the right. The second player, sitting to the right of the first player, takes the card. Then, the second player discards one unwanted card and puts it on the right. This continues until one of the players collects five cards matching the properties of one of the 1A−8A groups. The player who declares a winning hand, that is, has all of the property cards belonging to any group (from 1A to 8A), shows his or her cards to the other players and wins the round. When a player wins a round, he or she earns 1 point. The game continues until one of the players has 10 points. The player who first reaches 10 points is the winner of the game. Playing this game takes approximately 10−15 min. Compoundica

Compoundica, which is adapted from the board game Ludo, teaches the formation of ionic compounds by using monatomic ions. It is a board game that helps students learn the following: • The symbols of common chemical elements and their monatomic ions. 533

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each round. After four rounds, the champion of the game is declared. Playing this game takes approximately half an hour.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Throughout the two-day Chemistry Games Days event, the 250 students (grades 9−12) and 30 inservice and preservice teachers participating were allowed to play the games. While they were playing, their verbal reactions to the games were recorded in writing. The data obtained from these written records were qualitatively analyzed using content analysis methodology. In this process, codes and themes or categories were created to explain relationships and patterns in the data contained within the text of the documents.28 An informal poll of attendees indicated that they appreciated the games in various dimensions represented by the themes and categories used in the content analysis process. According to the teachers, the games provided the following seven benefits: 1. Facilitating learning the main concepts of chemistry. 2. Teaching these concepts to students in an interesting and enjoyable way. 3. Enabling students’ understanding of the relationships between these concepts. 4. Promoting permanent learning. 5. Addressing multiple intelligence domains. 6. Encouraging students to use the concepts learned. 7. Engendering high interest and motivation in students for learning chemistry. According to the participating students, the games provided the following five benefits: 1. Showing students that chemistry can be learned in enjoyable ways. 2. Promoting understanding of the main concepts of chemistry and their relationships. 3. Directing the students to relate chemistry to daily life. 4. Giving students opportunities to use previously learned concepts. 5. Physically and mentally activating students. Each of these views belongs to more than one-quarter of the participants. Additionally, at the completion of the activity, most of the students stated that the Chemistry Games Days event was a quite different and enjoyable experience for them, and they wanted the activity to continue as long as possible. Overall, participating teachers and students expressed similar opinions about the games. This suggests that the set of games provides an entertaining way to facilitate students’ learning of the elements, compounds, and the periodic table. This set can be integrated at any point in introductory chemistry courses to reinforce central chemistry concepts and to review for exams. It may also be concluded that the games spark students’ interest in chemistry. Additionally, playing these games may be a welcome break for students from the usual routine of chemistry lessons. Perhaps in the future, this set of games will be one of the cornerstones in building a science games center.

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Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge the participation and contributions of the teachers and students who played the games and gave positive feedback.

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REFERENCES

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT

S Supporting Information *

Rules for playing the games; templates, cards, game boards, and checklists for the games; stamps for making game tokens. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. 534

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