Color Code the Periodic Table

The periodic table is often color coded to show which elements are metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. In this activity, you will color code your own periodic table.

​Materials (per individual)

• Periodic Table Handout

• Colored pencils only

Step 1 On your handout

Use orange to color the seven metalloids:
B (boron), Si (silicon), Ge (germanium),
As (arsenic), Sb (antimony), Te (tellurium) and At (Astatine). 

​Like this...!

​Notice that the metalloids form a pattern like a staircase.

​Step 2

The elements on the periodic table to the right of the metalloids are nonmetals, along with H (hydrogen) on the top left. Color the nonmetals blue-basically, H, He, C, N, O, F, Ne, P, S, Cl, Ar, Se, Br, Kr, I, Xe, and Rn.

​Like this...!

​Like this...!

Step 3

All the other elements are metals. Color the metals green.

​Like this....

​Create a key or legend for the 3 different categories

The periodic table has chemical symbols to represent each element.  The symbol for each element is represented by one or two letters from the element's name.

If the chemical symbol has two letters, the first letter is capitalized and the second letter is in lowercase. Some symbols do not correspond to the English word for the element because many names are derived from Latin.

In the periodic table, the information in each element box includes the atomic number, chemical symbol, element name,  and average atomic mass.

The location of each element on the periodic table is based on its properties. Elements in the same column, called a group, share similar properties. Elements in the same row, called a period, have properties that vary in a predictable way. These patterns can be used to interpret the periodic table and gather information about elements.

Another way the periodic table organizes the elements is to separate them by metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. Metals are on the left and lower part of the periodic table. Nonmetals, except for hydrogen, are on the right and upper side of the periodic table. The elements that separate the metals from the nonmetals are metalloids.

​Metals-on the left and bottom

​Nonmetals-on the upper right

​Metalloids-between metal and nonmetals