Ionic Bonding Dice Game

Published: 2023-11-13 8:51 PM

Category: Teaching | Tags: chemistry, science, skills, practice, lesson

We're in the middle of writing chemical formulas and names right now and this unit is just mind numbingly boring. It's important for fluency and foundational for chemical reactions, but I just don't have a good way to tell a better story about ionic compound naming.

My attempt this year is to at least turn some of the practice into a small game. This is something we'll use mid-unit to mix the practice up a little bit. The focus is on writing and naming compounds after you've done transition metals and polyatomic ions, but you can substitute any of the ions on the template for any level of bonding.

Each group needs two differently colored dice. They have 10 rolls to write different ionic compound formulas and names. The instructions on the template say to get to at least 35 points, but you could have teams roll until someone gets 10 unique compounds.

You can grab a copy of the template here (Google doc link).

You could mix up a couple different versions of the template and have more variety in the names found. Groups can work together to write the names and get more practice in that way, too.

It isn't much, but I'm hoping it adds a little variety to the routine. If you make modifications or if you have other ideas on how to make this chapter less of a drag, feel free to get in touch via email.