This activity is designed around the Periodic table Java applet designed by Brian Reid, and available at Dartmouth College
This applet allows users to visualize various atomic properties on the periodic table by using color, a rainbow scale. Elements that have higher values of a particular property will be colored red, while the lowest properties will be color coded blue (elements where properties are not known are left white). The applet also allows users to solve puzzles, where users are required to place elements in their proper location on the periodic table, based on their symbol, and property color, or without the symbol, based only upon the property color.
These puzzles are similar to a common inquiry activity from "Explorations in Conceptual Chemistry: A student activity manual.", by Jeffery Pardis. (p 93). The difference is that in the java applet, the properties available to the students are more diverse, properties are not numerical, but rather color coded, and the properties can only be chosen one at a time, rather than viewed together. Nonetheless, the puzzle provides a good example of an inquiry based exercise for discovering the relationships, and uses of the periodic table. As part of this project, we are observing various participants solve several puzzles (a Column, a Row, and the p- block) with the intention of determining how this activity effects the construction of a students mental model of the periodic table.
Method. We are using a think aloud strategy, combined with adobe captivate to record both the voice, and the students actions on the screen. here is a brief example of a recorded data stream. Annotations can be made as part of the native captivate file. This allows one to work directly with the data, and reduces the need for written transripts.
Preliminary results. Initial pilot studies show that these puzzles are solvable by novice chemisty students. Some other initial observations: