Element Lab

What your child will figure out

• Use an element symbol or proton count to locate the matching element on a periodic table.
• Read an element's group as a column and period as a row.
• Use metal, nonmetal, state, group, and period clues together to narrow an element search.
• Build a simple neutral atom whose proton and electron counts match a target element.

The levels

1. Symbol scan

   Predict and locate oxygen from O, reveal its element card, and explain that symbols are compact names.

2. Grid coordinates

   Distinguish sodium's group from its period, trace the column and row, then locate Na.

3. Metal detector

   Use category, state, group, and period evidence to identify chlorine as a gaseous nonmetal.

4. Atom forge transfer

   Transfer from a proton clue to carbon, then build a neutral carbon atom with six protons and six electrons.