Element Families of the Periodic Table Informational Text Distance Learning

This Element Families of the Periodic Table Informational Text Activity will give your students a visual introduction to the families of the periodic table, including the element behaviors, uses, and common properties! This product includes eight mini-posters, one for each of the element families on the main group of the periodic table: Alkali Metals, Alkaline Earth Metals, Boron Group, Carbon Group, Nitrogen Group, Oxygen Group, Halogens, and Noble Gases. The mini-posters give overview information about the family as well as a visual of where on the periodic table the family is located and a diagram of an atom of that family highlighting the number of valence electrons. Also included is the student packet, which is broken into the eight families and asks for specific information that students will find on the mini-posters.

The students are also directed to color each family with a specific color on the blank graphic organizer at the end of their packet and they go to the fantastic interactive table at www.periodictable.com to learn even more about the elements in each family. Furthermore, there is a section for students to conduct their own research on the element of hydrogen, which does not belong to a family.

When I use this activity, I print two of each mini-poster (laminate them if you want) and lay them on a big table. I have students work in partners to read about each family, one at a time, and complete that section of the student packet. When they finish, they bring the mini-poster back to the table for another group to use. Another option is to make stations and have the students walk around.

I have also included a link for you to use the information posters AND/OR the student packet as Google documents. You can share one or both of these with your students on Google Classroom. This will allow the students to work at their own pace or to do this assignment at home!

This activity helps students to extract the big ideas from informational text while also giving a solid visual of the locations of the element families. The interactive portion gets them excited to learn more about the chemistry of the elements!

Give your students an additional Eureka! by having them construct the top of the periodic table using my Bohr Diagram Atom Manipulatives. They will see how very similar the elements' atoms are within an element family! (Try my Modeling Atoms: Bohr and Lewis Dot Diagrams Cornell Doodle Notes and Powerpoint too!)

You may also be interested in these resources:

Basics of the Periodic Table Cornell Doodle Notes

Elements Compounds and Mixtures Cornell Doodle Notes

Periodic Personalities : A Groups of the Periodic Table Graphic Organizer

Eggium Isotopes and Atomic Mass Activity

Reading the Periodic Table Magic Pixel Picture Review

Buy My Element Advertisement Project

Atoms and the Periodic Table Mad Lib Task Cards

Thanks for looking!

Sunrise Science