Title of Book: The Mystery of the Periodic Table
Author: Benjamin D. Wiker
Publisher: Bethlehem Books/2003
ISBN:978-1-883937-71-3
Grade Levels for Recommended Use: 8th Grade
TEKS: 8(3) D The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed
decisions and knows the contributions of relevant scientists. The student is expected to relate the impact of
research on scientific thought and society, including the history of science and contributions of scientists as
related to the content.
TEKS: 8(5) C The student knows that matter is composed of atoms and has chemical and physical properties.
The student is expected to interpret the arrangement of the Periodic Table, including groups and periods, to
explain how properties are used to classify elements;
Brief Summary: This book helps make a complex area of science - the field of chemistry and the periodic table
- accessible to everyone. Benjamin Wiker skillfully and humorously takes the readers through the history of
theories, experiments, mistakes and successes in understanding the elements and the development of the
Periodic Table. The icing on the cake is how fascinating the order of the table is and how closely and
mathematically the elements are related to each other. The book is written for ages 10 and up, but highschoolers and even college students would benefit from the memorable way this book presents the big picture
and helps it 'stick.'
Materials needed:
For each student group: a set of periodic eggs (cut out and in zip top bag), an egg box sheet
For each student: a periodic table
Suggested Activity: “Fabulous Periodic Eggs”
1. Post the learning objectives & review with the students
Students will sort and classify a set of eggs
Students will use a vertical and horizontal axis for classification
Students will identify how to read parts of a Periodic Table of Elements
2. Have the students get with their lab partner.
3. Ask the students “What can we learn about organization that will apply to the Periodic Table of
Elements?”
4. Distribute the pictures of the periodic eggs
5. Ask the pairs to sort the eggs based on an observable property.
6. Discuss ways that the different pairs grouped the eggs. Point out that there are multiple ways to sort the
eggs.
7. Point out the band and the jewels on the eggs. Explain to the students that the bands are the horizontal
rows with jewels. Ask the students to find the egg that has the least number of bands and the least
number of jewels.
8. Pass out the egg box page.
9. Ask the students to place the egg with the least number of bands and jewels in the first container of the
egg box.
10. Tell them that they must sort the remaining eggs based on the rules of the box. The horizontal rule is the
number of jewels arranged from fewest to most going from left to right. Each row needs to contain the
same type of jewel. The vertical rule is the number of bands, fewest to most going from top to bottom.
11. As you move around the classroom, ask the pairs how they organized the eggs.
12. Give each student a Periodic Table.
13. Point out that the Periodic Table is also organized along a vertical and horizontal axis based on the
properties of the elements.
14. Hand out the periodic table information page for the students to read.
15. Explain that Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, was the first to publish the classification of the
elements that gave us the format we use today. Mendeleev organized his chart by patterns in the
elements that he knew at that time. He predicted that some elements had not yet been discovered
because there were spaces in this organizational chart that were not filled.
16. Tell the students that you have some mystery eggs that need to be classified. Distribute the half sheets
of mystery eggs and encourage students to place them according to the patterns they have established in
their charts.
17. Tell the students to use the blank eggs shape in the spot for the missing eggs.
18. Discuss the results that each of the pairs got.
19. Have the students answer the questions on the Connecting Learning Sheet.
From Chemistry Matters AIMS Educational Foundation ISBN-10: 1932093036 or purchase just the lesson plan
and activity sheets for $2.00 at the website http://store.aimsedu.org/aims_store/e-activities/all-eactivities/fabulous-periodic-eggs.html
Adapted by Cynthia Hopkins, 2010
Extension: My Favorite Alien (Adapted from Annette Boles Houston Teacher Institute)
MY FAVORITE ALIEN
Objectives:
1. The student will be able to discuss and explain what a family and a period are on the Periodic Table of
Elements.
2. The student will be able to correctly arrange the Aliens in the proper families and periods based up on the
Periodic Table of Elements.
Materials:
Glue
Scissors
Construction paper
Pen/pencil
Alien pictures (below)
Student checklist
Editor’s letter
My Favorite Alien questions
Periodic Table of Elements
Problem:
The yearbook staff at Mendeleev Middle School has a problem completing their 2010 yearbook. They have lost
the yearbook picture of My Favorite Alien. They cannot retake the picture of My Favorite Alien. My Favorite
Alien has left the Galaxy. However, there are pictures of other Aliens. You must arrange the pictures of the
remaining Aliens. The pictures must be in order.
The only clues you have are found on the Periodic Table of Elements. Use it to figure out which Alien is
missing. You must use the characteristics of the remaining Aliens to draw the portrait of My Favorite Alien.
The portrait must fit in the sequence of the remaining Aliens.
Procedures:
1. Read the letter from Mendeleev’s yearbook editor.
2. Study the pictures of the seventeen Aliens.
3. Cut out the Aliens and arrange them into families and periods.
4. Study the physical characteristics of each Alien before you arrange them in families and periods based upon
the Periodic Table of Elements.
5. Leave an open space for My Favorite Alien’s portrait that was lost.
6. Get permission from your teacher before you glue the Aliens in the correct order. Refer to the Periodic Table
of Elements for correct placement.
7. Once you have glued the remaining Aliens in the correct order, draw the missing portrait of My Favorite
Alien. The portrait must be similar to the surrounding Aliens.
8. Label each Alien with the element name from the Periodic Table of Elements.
9. Complete My Favorite Alien Questions.
Student Checklist:
□1. Read the letter from Mendeleev’s yearbook editor.
□2. Study the pictures of the seventeen Aliens.
□3. Cut out the Aliens and arrange them into families and periods.
□4. Study the physical characteristics of each Alien before you arrange them in families and periods based upon
the Periodic Table of Elements.
□5. Leave an open space for My Favorite Alien’s portrait that was lost.
□6. Get permission from your teacher before you glue the Aliens in the correct order. Refer to the Periodic
Table of Elements for correct placement.
□7. Once you have glued the remaining Aliens in the correct order, draw the missing portrait of My Favorite
Alien. The portrait must be similar to the surrounding Aliens.
□8. Label each Alien with the element name from the Periodic Table of Elements.
□9. Complete My Favorite Alien Questions
MY FAVORITE ALIEN QUESTIONS
1.What is the name of the fifteenth Alien?
2. What is the atomic number of the tenth Alien?
3. How many Alien families are represented?
4. To which Alien family does My Favorite Alien belong?
5. How many electrons does it take to fill the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd energy levels?
6. How many electrons are in each level for Alien thirteen?
7. Please explain why some Aliens are smiling and some are frowning?
8. What is a valence electron?
9. What is the valence electron for Alien eight?
10. What is the valence electron for Alien six?
11. List all of the Aliens that have a full outer energy level.
12. What two things helped you place each Alien in a family?
13. Can you draw a picture for the nineteenth Alien if there was one? Draw a portrait below. Include everything
that other Alien family members have.
January 17, 2010
Dear Student Body,
We have a problem! The yearbook staff is in a panic!
The Mendeleev Middle School staff may miss the printing deadline for this year’s yearbook. The deadline is in
two weeks. We need your help to complete our exchange student section. We have completed all of the other
sections of the yearbook; however, the exchange student’s section is not finished.
This year our exchange students were far out. They came from the distant galaxy Andromeda. The Alien
exchange students have unique physical characteristics and behavior made them a close-knit group. We had
eighteen Alien exchange students. However, we only have photographs of seventeen Aliens.
We are missing the photograph of My Favorite Alien. Most of the Aliens were from the same families. Their
physical features and clothing are similar. We need someone to create a portrait of the missing Alien. The
missing Alien was Mendeleev Middle School’s favorite.
I have included the pictures of the seventeen remaining Aliens. Arrange the pictures of the seventeen Aliens in
their families according to their clothing and arrange them in periods according to their physical characteristics.
If you can do this, you will be able to determine where My Favorite Alien fits in. Please draw the portrait of the
missing Alien to help us complete the exchange student’s section of the yearbook.
Please help us meet the deadline.
Ima Al-Chemist,
Yearbook Editor