An Activity Example Concerning Learning of Elements and Periodic Table

Abstract

This study aims to introduce the “Activity of Elements” that was designed by the researcher and to investigate the effect of this activity on student performance about elements and periodic table. The research was carried out with 15 students in the 8th grade. The activity consists of two stages: project preparation and competition. In this article, the activity steps were explained, its effectiveness on the students’ success was evaluated and the students' opinions about the activity were examined. It was determined that the students’ performance increased on recognizing the groups and periods in the periodic table, and learning the names, symbols, atomic numbers, usage areas and place of the first 18 elements and commonly used elements in the periodic table. Moreover, the students expressed that they enjoyed the lesson and learned in fun during the activity and they stated that the most enjoyable stage was the competition stage.