Resource 2: Making Posters

Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

Chemical families and the periodic table

Your pupils should include all the following information on their poster:

  • the name of the element
  • the symbol
  • a description of what the element looks like, including its state at room temperature and its colour
  • where it comes from
  • what it is used for
  • something about its properties – strength, hardness, reactivity.

They might also choose to include

  • the melting point and boiling point
  • how it is extracted
  • the atomic number and mass number
  • the number of protons and neutrons
  • an explanation of its reactivity, i.e. why it is very reactive or why it is unreactive.

READ International

It is always easier to give your students the freedom to do activities like this if you have some books that they can refer to. It might be possible for you to borrow books from a neighbouring school, or, if you are in a city, to borrow books from a library.

Read International is a project based in the UK which collects un-used books from secondary schools in the UK and distributes them to schools in Tanzania and Uganda. The books they distribute are carefully sorted and checked to make sure they are relevant to the curriculum. Their contact details are:

info@readinternational.org.uk [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]

READ International, 39–41 Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, London, SE5 9NR, UK.

If you are not based in Tanzania or Uganda, it might still be worth contacting them to see if they know of other charities who do work in your country.

Resource 1: Problem Solving and Creativity

Resource 3: Differentiating Work