Transition metal games

These three games involving transition metals provide a great opportunity to develop understanding, vocabulary and thinking skills. Familiarise learners with keywords for the transition metals topic by exploring definitions in a variety of ways: writing questions, using key terminology in different sentences and avoiding ‘taboo words’. Use this resource alongside the Education in Chemistry article Catalyst for change, when teaching about transition metals as catalysts.

Game 1: Jeopardy on transition metals

This game is inspired by the American television gameshow, Jeopardy!

Game instructions

Print out or display the table of keywords in the instructions. For each keyword or phrase in the table, learners need to make up a question that will give that word or phrase as the answer.

Vocabulary

The keywords and phrases included in this game are:

• coloured compound
• H₂O ligand
• variable oxidation state
• coordination number 6
• complex ion
• reduce the activation energy
• catalyst
• d sub-shell
• homogenous
• zinc

Game 2: Words in the bag

This game is inspired by the board game Articulate!

You will need

• a set of keywords (print out page 4 of the instructions)
• a bag or envelope (one per team)

Cut out each of the words separately. The words could be printed on card or laminated to ensure that they can be used multiple times. Place the words in the bag or envelope.

Game instructions

This is a team game. It works best when teams have a minimum of three players. The aim of the game is to correctly describe as many words as possible in the shortest amount of time. Each team needs their own bag of words. The words are differentiated by colour with the easiest words in blue, the hardest in purple and the rest in orange. Remove the more difficult words to scaffold the task according to ability or progression through the course.

One player on each team is the ‘describer’, the other team members are the ‘guessers’. The describer pulls a keyword from the bag, ensuring that the guessers cannot see the printed word. The describer must use chemistry definitions to describe the word to their team. They must not use charades (actions) or ‘sounds like’ clues in their descriptions. The guessers can have as many tries at guessing as they need for each word. Once the correct word has been guessed, the describer may pull another word from the bag.

Variations

The game can be played with one describer for the whole bag, or with the role of describer passing to another team member after each word.

Introduce a competitive element either against the clock or against other teams. The winners are the team who can guess the most words correctly in 45 seconds or the first team to complete the whole bag of words.

Vocabulary

The keywords and phrases included in this game are:

ligands	catalyst	precipitate	octahedral
tetrahedral	oxidation state	middle	metallic
d sub-shell	activation energy	coordination number	zinc/scandium
(II) roman numeral	complex ions	coloured	5 orbitals
homogenous	heterogenous	stable	variable
monodentate	bidentate	partially filled d sub-shell	square planar

Game 3: Transition metal taboo

This game is inspired by the board game Taboo.

You will need

• Transition metal taboo PowerPoint

Game instructions

This game is played in pairs.

Display the presentation ‘Transition metal taboo’. One player stands with their back to the presentation and the other faces it. The player facing the presentation describes the large word at the top of the slide without using any of the ‘taboo words’ below. The player with their back to the presentation, without looking, should guess the word at the top of the slide. They can guess as many times as they like.

Vocabulary

Keyword	Taboo words
Catalyst	Reaction, faster, energy, lower, not used up
Monodentate	One, single, ligand, attached, water, ammonia, chloride
Complex	Ion, atoms, charge, ligand, transition metal
Ligand	Water, bonded, transition metal, complex, ion
Zinc	Period 3, element, transition metal, ion, d sub-shell
d-block	Electrons, structure, p-block, s-block, orbitals
Coloured	White, looks like, different, yellow, blue
(II)	Charge, Roman, number, +2, complex, ion
Homogenous	Catalyst, faster, reaction, same, state/phase, aqueous (aq)
Oxidation number	Different, varied, charge, ion, Roman numerals
Redox	Reduction, oxidation, charge, state, gain, loss, electrons