To start this game the empty box (pizza box) must be set on the floor and leaning up against a desk (its a big box that takes up too much room on a desk and could be stepped on if it were flat on the floor). We discuss how the contents fit into the box and how it should look once we are done with this activity. I refer to the box as a pizza box (resembles a take-out pizza box). The game board represent the atom's structure such as the nucleus (center) and the electron shells (rings).

To begin, I review with the students the contents in the box. In place of marbles they used fuzzy craft balls to stand in for the particles (protons, neutron, electron). If this cost proves prohibitive, I know of a teacher who used a large sheet of felt (24' x 24'), drew a 14' circle at the center to represent the nucleus and surrounded it with 16', 18', 20', and 22' circles to represent the electron shells. It retails for about $100 and is available from Frey Scientific CPO Science. The Atom Building Game teaches students about the structure of an atom using competitive game strategies. This is one of the few commercial products that I feel does a better job than any teacher made resource. This lesson is disguised as a game, but its true purpose is to have students verbalize the internal structure of an atom and encourage discourse among their peers. I bring this game back out every 3-4 weeks as a review to keep the structure of an atom fresh in my student's minds. Using it only once though defeats the true power this game has with students. I use this game as an ending activity to my Atomic Structure Unit. Knowing that the atomic number represents the number of protons in the nucleus, that a stable atom has a set atomic mass, and a neutrally charged atom has the same number of electrons as protons are just some of the details this game will teach and reenforce (SP2). Before a student can understand how matter behaves they first need to know the structure of the atom (PS1.A). The many participles that make up an atom and how they interact can be a confusing puzzle for students (MS-PS-1). Games can be effective resources for teaching the atom. Sci & Eng Practice 2:В Developing and Using Models MS-PS-1: Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.ДCI: PS1.A - Structure and Properties of Matter: Substances are made from different types of atoms.

A.t.o.m. game