Taking its inspiration from the recent discovery of new elements in the periodic table, this chemistry lesson is intended to get your students thinking about about how elements have been discovered, named and organised according to rules set by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
The students are then tasked with coming up with their own element names, and deducing the positions of various elements in the periodic table by investigating their properties. Finally, they contemplate whether we may have reached the ‘end’ of of the periodic table – and if not, what the implications would be if any new, heavier elements were to be discovered.