Mississippi Science FB.2.2
The Standard
- FB.2
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and interactions of matter and how the organization of matter supports living organisms.
Obtain and use information about elements (e.g., chemical symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, and group or family) to describe the organization of the periodic table.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · The Chemistry of Life
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find elements by name or symbol and read their atomic number, atomic mass, and group. They use atomic numbers and columns to explain how the table is arranged.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given sodium and potassium, a student identifies their symbols, atomic numbers, atomic masses, and shared group. They explain that atomic number counts protons and determines an element's position.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the table is ordered by atomic mass rather than atomic number. They may confuse a vertical group with a horizontal period, or think every atom of an element has exactly the mass shown.
How to Assess It
- Using a periodic table, record the symbols, atomic numbers, and atomic masses of sodium and potassium. Name their shared group and explain which has more protons.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs cards for the first 20 elements, then have them place the cards on a blank periodic table grid.
Ask: Why are sodium and potassium in one column, while sodium and magnesium sit side by side?
Call out an atomic number; students race to find its symbol, atomic mass, and group on a periodic table.
Show a fertilizer bag labeled N-P-K; have students find each element's atomic number and group on the table.
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Printable FB.2.2 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- CHE.3.1
Explore and communicate the organization of the periodic table, including history, groups, families, family names, metals, nonmetals, metalloids, and transition...
- CHE.3.2
Analyze properties of atoms and ions (e.g., metal/nonmetal/metalloid behavior, electrical/heat conductivity, electronegativity and electron affinity, ionization...
- CHE.3.3
Analyze the periodic table to identify quantum numbers (e.g., valence shell electrons, energy level, orbitals, sublevels, and oxidation numbers).
- PHS.3.1
Use contextual evidence to determine the organization of the periodic table, including metals, metalloids, and nonmetals; symbols; atomic number; atomic mass; c...
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