Explorer · Grades 6-12 · Beta
Elements Inspector
Spin a 3D atom, light up its emission spectrum and wander the whole periodic table. No quiz, just curiosity.
- Students will
- Explore how atomic structure connects to each element's place and properties
- Who drives
- Students on devices, or teacher on the big screen
- Time
- Open-ended
- Modes
- Just explore, no score
- Works offline
- Yes, one 773 KB file
A 5-minute start
- Project the table and ask: "Which element do you want to look inside?" Let the class pick.
- Spin the atom. Count protons, electrons and shells together.
- Open its emission spectrum. Every element's light is a fingerprint, which is how we know what stars are made of.
Wander, then talk
- Pick two elements in the same column. What do their atoms have in common?
- Which element surprised you, and why?
- Why might scientists arrange the table in rows and columns at all?
There's nothing to score here. Let students click around first, then bring the class together.
HS-PS1-1NGSSNational frameworks. Your state's standards are usually built on these.
Paste this into Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology or a class website:
Or download the single HTML file. It runs offline in any browser, from a USB stick or a shared drive.
Emission lines: NIST Handbook of Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data (elements 1-99)
Includes Three.js r128 (MIT).
Curio Class content is CC BY 4.0 and code is MIT. Use it, share it, adapt it. Just credit Curio Class.
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