The Periodic Table for Kids: Rows, Columns and Element Families (Grade 7 and Grade 8 Science)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Everything around you is made of elements. An element is a pure substance made of only one kind of atom. Today we will learn to read the map of all the elements, the periodic table.

Scientists know of one hundred and eighteen elements. They are lined up in order of atomic number. The atomic number is the number of protons in the center of each atom. Hydrogen has one proton, so it comes first.

Each box shows facts about one element. The big letters are its symbol, like O for oxygen. The number on top is the atomic number. Some symbols come from Latin names, so gold is A U.

The rows going across are called periods. There are seven of them. The columns going down are called groups, or families. There are eighteen groups. Elements in the same group behave in similar ways.

Metals sit on the left and in the middle. They are shiny and conduct heat and electricity. Nonmetals sit on the right. Along the zigzag line between them are metalloids, which have some properties of both.

Let's meet two families. Group one, the alkali metals like sodium, are so reactive they are stored in oil. Group eighteen, the noble gases like helium and neon, hardly react with anything at all.

Now it's your turn. Carbon has six protons in each atom. What is carbon's atomic number? And is it found on the left or the right side of the table? Pause and try. Six, and on the right, with the nonmetals.

Great job! Remember, elements are ordered by atomic number, the number of protons. Rows are periods, columns are groups, metals are on the left and nonmetals on the right. Practice the periodic table in the Science Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!