This is a hands-on project that allows students to design their own periodic table of elements. Each student will need a box with dividers. Have the students collect representations of each element. Use items such as a small piece of silver jewelry for silver, aluminum foil for aluminum and so on. Not all elements will be able to be collected, given some are gases and others are unattainable for other reasons. However, this is a neat hands-on idea for the elements that can be collected. The boxes can then be displayed in the classroom.
This project is a great way to get the entire class involved in creating a large periodic table. Assign each student in the classroom three or four elements, depending on your classroom size. Ask each student to create a small poster for her element — about the size of a sheet of paper. Students should create their posters to appear like an information box in the periodic table. Then have the students arrange their individual posters into one large periodic table on a wall of the classroom.
In this project, students will work together to design a children's book about the periodic table. Ask each student to use a blank journal to design one page about an element they are assigned. It should include all the information about the element that is provided on the periodic table, however it also should have a drawing or illustration to make it appealing to children. The finished product can be donated to the school library.
For this class activity, students create a periodic table using brochures. Assign each student an element, and ask him to research it. Each student must design a brochure all about the element he was assigned. The brochures should include basic information, as well as photos and illustrations. Resources about the element can be included as well. The finished brochures can hang along a classroom wall in the shape of a periodic table. This is a great point of reference for students throughout the year.