The Layered Learner

This card sort is a great alternative to traditional "rule learning" for naming chemical compounds. Students are given a set of fifteen compounds: 5 binary ionic, 5 ternary ionic, and 5 covalent. Each card has the formula and name on it. Students must sort the cards into the three categories and justify their classification. Based on the groupings, they write their own rule for naming each type of compound. I do this as an opener early in my bonding units. Then I follow up with frequent che