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ACTIVITY in Review, Chemistry Basics. Last updated April 30, 2024.

Summary

In this activity, students will complete a series of chemistry-themed word puzzles. There are 10 puzzles of varying difficulty levels in the set; each puzzle provides 16 words which students must categorize into four groups of four items that share something in common without knowing what the categories are. Each puzzle has only one correct solution. Words that have more than one meaning and/or could fit in multiple categories will be more difficult to categorize correctly. Students will then have a chance to reflect on any of the terms or categories that were particularly tricky or unfamiliar to them.

Grade Level

High School

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • Use creative problem solving to make connections between science and chemistry terms.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

  • Chemistry terms

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal

Lesson: 15 – 20 minutes

Materials

  • Computer, tablet, or phone with internet access
  • Periodic table
  • Student handout

Safety

  • No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

  • This activity was created for the ChemFun section of the May 2024 issue of Chemistry Solutions.
  • The puzzles in this activity were made with the online game creator “Connections Plus.” You could have students record their answers using the student handout, or you could just provide students with the links to the puzzles to complete for fun:
  • This activity was designed to be an engaging and fun opportunity for students (and teachers!) to draw connections between various chemistry terms, including but not limited to element names, sections of the periodic table, scientists, and other general science terms and information.
  • This activity could be used as a quick warm-up/bell-ringer activity, or shared with students who finish an assignment earlier than others. You could have students complete all or a subset of the 10 puzzles, and they can even create their own puzzles to challenge their friends.
  • It would be best to use this activity in the second half of the school year, or near the end of course, as students need to be familiar with the chemistry terms and concepts used in the puzzles in order to successfully solve them.
  • An Answer Key document has been provided for teacher reference. Some of the categories are quite challenging, so you may want to try them yourself first and/or review the answer key if you want to be able to point students in the right direction. (This article explains the basics of the game format and also includes some tips and strategies.)

For the Student

Directions

Complete the chemistry-themed word puzzles using the links or QR codes provided below. The rules are:

  • Find groups of four items that share something in common.
  • Select four items and tap 'Submit' to check if your guess is correct.
  • Try to find the groups without making 4 mistakes! (But keep guessing if you don’t get it before 4 mistakes.)
  • Each puzzle has only one correct solution – so be careful with words that could have more than one meaning or fit in more than one category!

As you complete the puzzles, do the following:

  • Write each category and the words that go in them in the spaces provided.
  • Write how many guesses you made to get the correct solution.
  • Circle any terms that were confusing to you, even after you got the final puzzle solution – words you don’t recognize, or words whose categorizations were confusing to you.



ChemConnections 1: https://bit.ly/ChemConn1

Number of guesses to get correct solution:

Category:

Terms:

Category:
Terms:

Category:
Terms:

Category:
Terms:

The downloadable student handout has links and tables for all 10 puzzles!

Reflection

  1. You were asked to circle terms that you were still a bit confused by even after you solved the puzzle – maybe it was a name or term you didn’t recognize, or maybe you didn’t understand why it was categorized the way it was. Choose two of your circled terms and look them up to learn more about them. Summarize what you learned about each term in a sentence or two in the space below:
    1. Term 1:
    2. Term 2:
  2. Which puzzle was the most challenging for you? Why do you think that was?
  3. Create your own Connections puzzle! Go to https://connectionsplus.io/ and click “Create” to build your own puzzle and challenge your friends.