Chemical Symbol Crossword (with answers) Students should use the clues to complete the crossword and identify which elements the chemical symbols represent? *Once the students have completed the crossword and self/peer assessed their answers, you could ask the students to find the elements on the Periodic Table and identify the group and period number as well as Atomic Number and Mass Number. This activity is great for all abilities. For higher ability classes, ensure they complete the task* mentioned above as well as discussing why and how chemical symbols are used in Chemistry. You can also discuss why not all chemical symbols are just the first few letters of the element name.

The students plays role of the Teacher and looks to make the necessary corrections to the students work. This is suitable for all abilities and can be used to consolidate the learning of lesson content or as a starter/plenary.

Chemical Symbol Card Match (with answers and blank grid) This activity is great for lower ability classes and/or as a starter/plenary when introducing chemical symbols. Print the grid above and ask your students to cut out each square. They should then match the element to its chemical symbol and glue them next to each other in their exercise book. Alternatively, you could laminate the grid above and cut out each square, keeping them in an envelop or plastic wallet so that you can reuse this activity over and over again. If time is of the essence, you could ask your students to chose 15 different coloured pencils and colour each element the same colour as its matching chemical symbol. For example, your students may colour Helium in blue and also colour the chemical symbol ‘H’ in blue too.