The Chemistry of Environmental Health
Name: ________________
Teacher: _________________
Date: ____________
Period: ___________
Periodic Table Activity
Directions: Read the below passage. As you read, follow the directions that
are italicized and in (parentheses). Use the periodic table on the back of this
page to complete the activity!
The periodic table is organized so that elements with common properties are
placed near each other or in similar fashion. In this way, we can use the periodic
table to predict behaviors of elements with which we are not already familiar.
Mendeleev listed the elements in columns in order of increasing atomic mass. He
then arranged the columns so that the elements with the most similar
properties were side by side.
Moseley determined the atomic number of the atoms of the elements. Moseley
arranged the elements in a table by order of atomic number instead of atomic
mass. This is the way the periodic table is arranged today, with increasing
atomic number from left to right, top to bottom.
The horizontal (across, left to right) rows of the periodic table are called
periods. The pattern of properties within a period repeats giving rise to the
periodic law: Elements that have similar chemical and physical properties end up
in the same column in the periodic table. (Circle the word period on the table.
There are __________ periods in the table.)
Each vertical column (up and down) of elements in the periodic table is called a
group or family. The elements in any group of the periodic table have similar
physical and chemical properties. Each group is identified by a number and the
letter A or B. Group A elements (Group 1A through 7A) are called the
representative elements because they exhibit a wide range of both physical and
chemical properties. (Circle the word groups on the table. There are ________
groups in the table. With a highlighter, highlight the “A” headings.)
The Chemistry of Environmental Health
Periodic Table Activity (p.2)
Representative elements can be divided into three broad classes:
1. Metals: have a high electrical conductivity and high luster, ductile
(able to be drawn into wires), and malleable (able to be beaten into thin
sheets). With the exception of Mercury, all metals are solid at room
temperature. Except for Hydrogen all elements on the left side of the
periodic table are metals. 80% of all elements are metals.
a. Group 1A are alkali metals (Make a color coded key in the right
hand margin. Color elements with atomic numbers 3, 11, 19, 37, 55,
87 orange. Label this group in the key as the alkali metals.)
b. Group 2A are alkaline earth metals (Color elements in group 2A
yellow. Label this group in the key.)
c. Group B elements are transition metals & inner transition
metals (rare earth elements). (Leave elements 57-71 and 89-103
white. Label these periods in the key as “Inner transition metals.”
Color all elements in the 1-8B groups blue. Label this group in the
key).
2. Nonmetals: non-lustrous, poor conductors of electricity, some are
gases at room temperature while others are brittle solids. They occupy
the upper-right corner of the periodic table.
a. Halogens: Group 7A (Color elements in group 7A red. Label this
group in the key).
b. Noble gases: Group 8, sometimes called the inert gases because
they undergo few chemical reactions. (Color elements in group 8
green. Label this group in the key).
3. Metalloids: elements that border the heavy stair line have properties
that are intermediate between those of metals and nonmetals. (Find the
dark stair line on the table. Color B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Te, Po, At gray. Label
this group in the key.) (Any elements that are not colored yet that are
above the metalloid line color purple. Label this group in the key as
“Nonmetals”. Color any element that is not colored still, below the
metalloid line any color that you have left. Label this group in the key as
“Other metals”).