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6th grade · Science · Unit 2 of 17

The Periodic Table

Groups, periods and patterns

What your child practices

Groups and periods, metals, non-metals and metalloids, alkali metals, halogens and noble gases, and how valence electrons and shells explain the patterns.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 6.6(C) · metals, nonmetals and metalloids on the periodic table

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Rows are periods. Elements in a period have the same number of electron shells.
  2. Columns are groups. Group 18 elements, like neon, have a full outer shell.
  3. Metals are shiny, bend and conduct electricity. Metalloids, like silicon, are in between.
  4. Count the numbers in an electron arrangement to find the shells: 2, 8, 1 has 3 shells.

Example: Sodium has electrons arranged 2, 8, 1. Which period is it in? Each number is one shell. 2, 8, 1 is three shells. Answer: period 3

The Periodic Table in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 2 of 17 in 6th grade Science, after Particles & Mixtures and before Density & Buoyancy.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A solid is dull, brittle and does not conduct electricity. It is most likely a…

    • alkali metal
    • metal
    • non-metal
    • transition metal

  2. Question 2

    Group 18 elements, such as neon and argon, are called the…

    • alkali metals
    • noble gases
    • halogens
    • metalloids

  3. Question 3

    The elements in a period all have the same number of…

    • protons
    • valence electrons
    • neutrons
    • electron shells

  4. Question 4

    Which element has 3 electron shells and 8 valence electrons?

    • Lithium
    • Boron
    • Argon
    • Beryllium

  5. Question 5

    Mendeleev left gaps in his periodic table. Why?

    • He believed the table was finished
    • He did not know any metals
    • He ran out of space
    • He predicted undiscovered elements with properties that fit the pattern

  6. Question 6

    Phosphorus has electrons arranged 2, 8, 5. Which period (row) is it in?

    answer box

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