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Abstract(s)
The systemization and organization of ideas and concepts
is an integral part of science. In chemistry, the organization
of the periodic table of the chemical elements in the
1860s was one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs ever
made and in fact during the 20th century it became a universally
recognized scientific icon (1). The periodic table is
the fundamental classificatory scheme of the elements and
summarizes the realm of chemistry (2). Simply knowing the
position of an element in the periodic table tells us about its
properties and is usually enough to predict how the element
will behave in a wide variety of different situations or reactions
(1). Based on this potential mine of information, it is
possible to make reliable predictions of the properties of the
compounds that each element forms. Nowadays, the concept
of the periodic table is starting to interact with other sciences
and reports of periodic tables of amino acids (3), genetic codes
(4), protein structures (5), and biology (6) can be found in
the specialized literature. Symbiosis between science and art,
for example, “The Periodic Table of The Elephants” (7), can
also be seen.
To appeal to a better understanding of the periodic table,
the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Instituto Politécnico
do Porto and the Centro de Química da Universidade do
Porto promoted a contest and exhibit with the goal of stimulating
a wide and heterogeneous audience, ranging from
young children and their parents to graduate students from
several disciplines, to explore the nature of this icon. Imaginative
educational activities such as contests (8–10), games
(11, 12), and puzzles (13–15) provided a way to communicate
with the general public with the goal of attracting students
to science. This also constituted an interesting,
informative, and entertaining alternative to non-interactive
lectures. Simultaneously, artistic creativity was combined with
scientific knowledge.
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Publisher
American Chemical Society, Division of Chemical Education