This is an atomic bonding activity that I created with the help of my students. This activity works great at the middle school level to introduce the concept of atomic bond formation. We made a series of metals and nonmetals and cut out shapes to represent the number of bonds that each atom could form. We designed different connector chips for covalent and ionic bonds, and printed a few noble gases just for fun. Then we used the atoms for an activity in which we made a series of increasingly larger molecules. This is a great activity for introducing atomic bonds and terms such as diatomic molecules, molecular compounds, ionic compounds, hydrocarbons, salts, etc.
I print each atom in a different color:
Carbon: Black
Chlorine: Green
Copper: Copper / bronze
Fluorine: Pale yellow (yellow with the final top layer before text white)
Gold: Gold
Helium: Pink (can also print red with the final top layer white)
Hydrogen: White
Iodine: Purple
Iron: Brown
Lithium, Sodium & Potassium: Grey
Neon: Orange
Nitrogen: Pale blue
Oxygen: Red
Silver: Silver / metallic
Sulfur: Yellow
Video:
The author marked this model as their own original creation.