A Visually Attractive “Interconnected Network of Ideas” for Organizing the Teaching and Learning of Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry

Abstract

A visually attractive interconnected network of ideas that helps general and second-year inorganic chemistry students make sense of the descriptive inorganic chemistry of the main-group elements is presented. The eight network components include the periodic law, the uniqueness principle, the diagonal effect, the inert-pair effect, the metal–nonmetal line, the acid–base character of metal and nonmetal oxides in aqueous solution, trends in reduction potentials, and dπ–pπ bonding involving elements of the second and third periods. dπ–pπ bonding is advocated for these courses in lieu of an extensive presentation of molecular orbital theory. Each component is given its own colorful icon and a distinctive visual image that is added atop and among the fabric of the periodic table. This colorful, iconographic, and symbolic building process makes it easier to organize the many facets of descriptive inorganic chemistry in a meaningful and memorable manner. When a new group of elements is presented, students can place the group data in perspective and integrate it into their own expanding network of interconnected ideas for understanding the periodic table.