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Elements & the periodic table

Recognize elements, read the table, and connect chemistry to everyday life.

Read an explanation, try some practice, or explore through play. Choose the approach that helps you today.

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28 resources

  • guideFree6 min read

    How To Use A Blank Periodic Table

    Use a blank periodic table for symbols, groups, and periods. Free worksheet PDFs, a completed chart, and classroom exercises with an answer key.

  • guideFree5 min read

    Bond Forge: Chemistry Dots and Boxes

    Play chemistry dots and boxes on a 3D forge table: answer to draw bonds, close boxes, and challenge Cobalt or a friend. Free starter elements.

  • guideFree5 min read

    Element Symbols: Chemistry's Times Tables

    Math has a named fact layer parents watch for. Chemistry has one too, still unnamed: element symbols either become automatic or cost attention on every line.

  • guideFree5 min read

    Should Students Memorize the Periodic Table?

    The chart on the wall is a scaffold for some things and a crutch for others. What researchers found students should memorize, look up, and drill under a timer.

  • guideFree6 min read

    The Science Behind Periodic Mole

    We built our chemistry games on published research: game-based learning, spacing, per-fact practice doses. And we say what we refuse to claim.

  • guideFree5 min read

    Printable Periodic Table PDFs for Class

    Choose a free printable periodic table PDF with names, atomic masses, or blank cells. Direct downloads, paper sizes, and printing tips for class.

  • guideFree6 min read

    Helium Was Discovered on the Sun First

    Helium is the only element found in space before Earth. Astronomers saw its yellow line in an 1868 eclipse, and chemists found it here 27 years later.

  • guideFree6 min read

    When Aluminum Was Worth More Than Gold

    In the mid-1800s aluminum cost more than gold, because no one could free it from its ore. Then two young inventors did, and the price collapsed.

  • guideFree7 min read

    Free Chemistry Printables for Teachers

    Free, CC-licensed chemistry printables: periodic tables in Letter, A4, and 11×17, a blank worksheet, a wall poster, 118 element posters, and flashcards.

  • guideFree8 min read

    Fireworks Chemistry: Every Color in the Sky

    Fireworks are flame tests at full scale: strontium burns red, barium green, copper blue. The chemistry of firework colors, and the chemicals we retired.

  • guideFree7 min read

    The Best Interactive Periodic Table

    Most interactive periodic tables are for looking elements up. On the best one for learning them, you recall each element, with games and spaced repetition.

  • guideFree6 min read

    What Every Element Looks Like

    Most elements are silvery metal, but bromine is a liquid, cesium is gold, gallium melts in your hand, and bismuth grows rainbow crystals. A visual tour.