Assign each student to research a different element. The number of elements will vary according to class size and number of classes, but try to cover at least the first thirty elements, allowing students to research more than one element for extra credit, if necessary. Depending on what level of chemistry you are teaching, required information can include atomic number, atomic mass, physical properties -- boiling point, melting point, color, classification -- common isotopes, common compounds, Bohr models, electron configurations, electron dot models and the number of protons, neutrons and electrons. Encourage your students to be artistic and create visual aids out of tissue boxes -- or anything of similar size -- to display their research. Students will then present their elements to the class and arrange them on the wall in the shape of a periodic table for future reference.
Point to the different sections of the student-created periodic table to help students determine whether an element is a metal, metalloid or non-metal. Explain the difference between an ionic bond and a covalent bond and the significance of valence electrons in determining reactivity. Write the chemical formulas of various compounds and ask students to determine whether they are ionic or covalent -- by determining whether the compound includes only non-metals, making it covalent -- or a metal combined with a non-metal, making it ionic. When they get the hang of it, divide them into teams and make a contest out of it.
Download a Jeopardy template or make your own as a slideshow presentation. If you aren't very tech-savvy -- or your classroom isn't equipped for a computer display -- you can arrange index cards or construction paper on a Jeopardy grid at the front of the classroom. Take some liberties in writing and arranging the questions, using graphics, music and sound effects if desired. Divide students into teams and give the winning team a prize.
Place a piece of copper in a silver nitrate solution and you're bound to enthrall at least a few students on the nature of ionic bonds. Likewise, breaking apart water molecules to produce a hydrogen-filled balloon will show them how covalent bonds can be broken. It's also a way to show students just how combustible hydrogen is. No matter how well you frame the mathematical aspects of compounds, a lab demonstration is the best way to show how elements behave -- and how this applies to the real world.