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pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

ChemOkey: A Game To Reinforce Nomenclature

Nusret Kavak*
Chemistry Department, Gazi Faculty of Education, Gazi University, Ankara 06500, Turkey
*
S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: Learning the symbolic language of chemistry is a difficult task that

can be frustrating for students. This article introduces a game, ChemOkey, that
can help students learn the names and symbols of common ions and their
compounds in a fun environment. ChemOkey, a game similar to Rummikub, is
played with a set of 106 plastic or wooden tiles. The object of ChemOkey is to
create the formulas and names of ionic compounds from tiles on which the names
and formulas of common cations and anions are written. With ChemOkey,
students can learn the symbols and names of common ions and acquire a level of
familiarity with the electroneutrality principle and the names and formulas of ionic
compounds.

KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Physical Chemistry,

Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives, Humor/Puzzles/Games, Nomenclature/Units/Symbols, Student-Centered Learning

S ymbols are extensively used in teaching and learning

chemistry and these symbolic representations take a wide
variety of forms.1 Learning the symbolic language of chemistry
is difficult and wearisome for many students. Using games in
the chemistry classroom can provide engaging and alternative
methods of instruction. Games are excellent methods of active
learning and have been used in various chemistry courses to
enliven lectures and recitations; they are excellent for review,
practice, and having fun.2−5 Games used for a variety of
concepts have been described previously in this Journal.6 A
game, “ChemOkey”, that helps students learn the symbols and
names of many inorganic compounds, is presented.
■ PLAYING THE GAME
The 106 tiles are placed face down on the table and thoroughly
mixed. Each player takes 13 tiles from the table (the player
chosen to play first takes 14 tiles). Then, the rest of the tiles are
left face down in the center of the table.
The object of the game is to collect tiles to make sets as
shown in Figure 1. A set consists of a chemical formula and the
name of the chemical compound and may require four or five
symbol and name tiles. The tiles composing the formula and
name of one ionic compound must be made from the tiles that
are held by an individual player. The joker tiles can represent

■ EQUIPMENT
ChemOkey, a game similar to Rummikub, is played with a set
of 106 plastic or wooden tiles consisting of 26 cation symbol
tiles, 26 cation name tiles, 26 anion symbol tiles, 26 anion name
tiles, and two joker tiles. The ChemOkey tiles should be
prepared by the teacher or students. To make the ChemOkey
tiles, the names and symbols of 13 different common cations
and anions are written on paper rectangles of 32 mm × 23 mm.
Each combination of symbol and name should be written twice.
either a missing symbol or name tile. For example, Figure 1B
illustrates the use of a joker to replace the fluoride tile. A player
wins when he or she is able to make two sets of four tiles (as in
Figure 1A or 1B) and one set of five tiles (as in Figure 1C).
Except during his or her turn, each player has 13 tiles. The
first player begins the play by discarding one tile, face up. After
this, each player in a clockwise direction, may either take the
tile just discarded by the previous player or draw the next tile
from the supply in the center of the table and then must discard
one unwanted tile. This continues until a player forms a
winning hand. Discarded tiles are placed to the right of the
player who discarded them, in a stack, so that only the most
recent discard in the stack is visible.

■
These papers are then affixed to Rummikub tiles. An example
of one possible complete ChemOkey set is shown in the
SCORING
Supporting Information.
Each player begins the game with 20 points. When a player
ChemOkey is almost always played by four players, although
wins a round, each of the other players loses 2 points. If the
it is possible for two or three people to play. Each player has a round ends without any player forming a winning hand, there is
rack to store tiles without revealing them to the other players,
similar to that used in Scrabble.
© XXXX American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. A dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed3000556 | J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 1. The samples of the quadruple and quinary sets.
no score. Play continues until any player’s score reaches zero.
The player with the highest score at that time is the winner.
■
RESULTS
The game was used at a science festival that was attended by
approximately 1000 high school students and 100 teachers to
assess whether it was fun and aided learning. An informal poll
of attendees indicated that it was appreciated by both students
and teachers. Most teachers and students said that ChemOkey
was fun. Also, the teachers said that the game can be a
productive use of class time and provided good reinforcement
of nomenclature.
The effectiveness of using the ChemOkey game to assist in
the learning of ionic nomenclature was tested. Two classes of
ninth grade students from a private urban high school were
sampled. One of the classes functioned as the control group (n
= 25) and the other class functioned as the experimental group
(n = 24). The class selection was made randomly. Each class
received the same 1-h lecture about the nomenclature rules for
ionic compounds by the same instructor who was not the
researcher. After the instruction, in the experimental group,
students played the ChemOkey game and the control group
students completed an assignment consisting of converting
chemical names to formulas and vice versa. Both groups were
allotted a 3-h laboratory session on their respective tasks.
An ionic nomenclature test, consisting of 50 questions about
converting chemical names to formulas and vice versa was given
before the lecture as pretest and after the game or assignment
as posttest to both groups. The control and experimental
groups’ pretest and posttest scores were analyzed by
independent sample t test (Table 1). Analysis of the data
showed that there was not a statistically significant difference
between the control and the experimental group in the pretest
(t(47) = 0.377, p = 0.708). However, posttest results showed
that there was a significant difference in favor of the
experimental group (t(47) = 5.368, p = 0.000). It was
Table 1. Results of Independent Samples t Test Comparing
Mean Differences in Groups
Pretest Posttest
Groups Mean SD t Mean SD
Control (n = 25) 20.44 3.87 32.72 3.53
Experimental 20.00 4.29 0.377 38.67 4.20
(n = 24)
a
Significantly different at 0.05 level.
Activity
concluded that the ChemOkey game was more effective than
the traditional assignment to assist in the learning of ionic
nomenclature.
■ DISCUSSION
This game provides an enjoyable way for a class to work
together in groups to learn the formulas and names of 169
different ionic compounds. The activity also supports learning
of less familiar compounds and those with less obvious
formulas and is more stimulating to students than traditional
memorization techniques.
In the language of chemistry, repeated letters are indicated by
numerical subscripts, so MgCl2 is written rather than MgClCl.
However, many students do not understand why and when the
numerical subscripts are used. Therefore, they make mistakes
when they write the formulas of ionic compounds. This mistake
can be minimized by using the ChemOkey game. Students who
have combined ChemOkey tiles such as Mg2+, Cl−, Cl− and
written formulas such as MgCl2 may understand more clearly
the meaning of numerical subscripts in the formulas of ionic
compounds. Students can also learn the electroneutrality
principle by means of the ChemOkey game.
The results of this study suggest that ChemOkey is effective
game in helping students learn chemical nomenclature and
formula writing. Also, students learn ionic nomenclature more
effectively when information is presented through the use of
game. This is in agreement with the findings from other
articles.6−9
■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT
* Supporting Information
S
Detailed playing instructions for the game; a set of tiles; a
complete list of the possible ionic compounds. This material is
available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
■ AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: nkavak@gazi.edu.tr.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■
t
5.368a ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I acknowledge the participation and contributions of the
students who have played ChemOkey and given positive
B dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed3000556 | J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education Activity

feedback. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their

helpful and positive suggestion that have improved this article.

■ REFERENCES
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(2) Koether, M. J. Chem. Educ. 2003, 80, 421−422.
(3) Greengold, S. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 547−548.
(4) Campbell, S.; Muzyka, J. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 458.
(5) Hanson, R. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2002, 79, 1380.
(6) Russell, J. V. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 481−484.
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(8) Crute, T. D. J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 481−482.
(9) Deavor, J. P. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 430.

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