All Elements and the periodic table articles
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Article
Will we run out of elements?
From helium to lithium and more, chemists are developing circular economies to preserve precious elements
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Resource
Representing elements and compounds | Review my learning worksheets | 14–16 years
Identify learning gaps and misconceptions with this set of worksheets offering three levels of support
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CPD
Everything you need to teach atomic structure and periodicity at post-16
Top tips and teaching ideas to help your students get to grips with the periodic table and its trends
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Ideas
Boost younger students’ grasp of atomic structure
How to go beyond the simplistic when teaching this topic at 11–14, to help students achieve success at 14–16
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Poster
How to read the periodic table
Make sure your students know how to find elements, groups and periods
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Ideas
5 ways to teach elements, compounds and mixtures at 11–14
Use these teacher-tested ideas to ensure your students don’t get mixed up about chemical substances
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Poster
How to teach electron configurations
Everything you need to help your post-16 students understand orbitals and shells
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Resource
Atoms, molecules and compounds quiz | 11–14 years
Use this quiz to check understanding of atoms, molecules, elements and compounds
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Ideas
Modelling trends in periodicity
How to use models to help your students get on top of periodic trends
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Feature
Play card games to teach electronic configuration and ionic compound formation
How a game-based approach can improve your students’ understanding and recognition – and reduce assessment anxiety
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Feature
Demystifying scientific symbolic language
Teach your students how to understand and use chemical symbols in their learning
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Opinion
Should we rethink when we teach groups 1, 7 and 0?
Embedding fundamental chemistry skills effectively may require some resequencing
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Resource
The chemistry of a meteorite | 11–14 years
Data analysis and graph drawing activity for 11–14 year olds based on the chemical composition of the Dhofar 007 meteorite. Identify elements from chemical formula and differentiate between metal and non-metal elements.
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Feature
Meteorite chemistry
What is a meteorite made of? Studying the composition of meteors allows scientists to look back billions of years to before the birth of the solar system
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Resource
Chalky spinach
How does the food we eat affect our bodies? Discover the acid inside spinach, and why it can feel chalky
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Opinion
Teaching creative chemistry
It’s not just the arts that are creative, chemistry is too. And it’s an essential element in its teaching
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Feature
The grand end of term quiz
Looking for something fun to wrap up the term? Challenge your 14–16 students with this chemistry-themed quiz
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Opinion
Should we teach chemistry from primary?
Secondary school teacher Ian Stuart shares the benefits of teaching atomic theory to seven- and eight-year olds
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Ideas
How to use a visualiser for successful lessons
From zooming in on chemical phenomena to explaining marking schemes, try these teacher-tested approaches