Inquiry-Based Activities and Games That Engage Students in Learning Atomic Orbitals

Atomic orbitals represent an essential construct used to develop chemical bondingmodels, upon which other more advanced chemistry topics are built. In this article, we share aseries of active-learning activities and a gamified approach to develop students'representationalcompetence about atomic orbitals and to engage students in learning the properties of atomicorbitals. These properties are essential for understanding an array of fundamental concepts such aspenetration and shielding, relationships such as periodic trends, and models used to describechemical bonding. The activities employ an inquiry-based approach to engage students in exploringthe relationship between atomic orbitals'spatial properties and quantum numbers. The activitiesguide students to collect data to verify periodic trends and construct electronic configurations. Theactivities utilize Orbital Explorer Web site for visualization, comparison, and analysis of atomicorbitals. The Orbital Explorer Web site is described in a related Technology Report. The activitiesand the game are suitable to be conducted in both in-person and remote-teaching settings.