Chemical Education Today

edited by
Association Report: 2YC3 Ann Cartwright
San Jacinto College, Central Campus
Division of Science & Mathematics
How to Make Learning Chemical Pasadena, TX 77501-2007

Nomenclature Fun, Exciting, and Palatable

by Joseph Chimeno

One great challenge that introductory chemistry students

have is learning the names of various chemical compounds.
When this topic is first introduced, and problems and ques- The Cation Wheel
tions are assigned at the end of the chapter, one may hear
students moaning and groaning. So to make chemical no-
menclature fun, exciting, and palatable, the “Rainbow
Wheel”1 was developed at North Iowa Area Community
College.
What is the Rainbow Wheel? It is a chemical nomen-
clature game that students play to help them master chemi-
cal nomenclature. The game consists of two wheels; one is a
cation wheel and the other is an anion wheel. The cation
wheel has 36 cations surrounding the wheel in a pie-shaped
format, and the anion wheel has 36 anions surrounding its
wheel in a pie-shaped format. The objective of the game is
to have the student spin a spindle within each wheel, thus
randomly selecting a cation and an anion. The game is called
the Rainbow Wheel because each wheel contains four rain- pre-quiz on chemical nomenclature before using the Rain-
bows that are very colorful and appealing to the eye. The stu- bow Wheel. The averages for each class were the following:
dent is to combine the anion and cation into the correct for- Class A had an average of 58.4% correct; Class B had an av-
mula and to name it correctly according to nomenclature erage of 54.8% correct; and Class C had an average of 50.9%
rules. The answers are placed on a grid with space for ten correct. After the pre-quiz, each class worked with the Rain-
cations and ten anions. Once the grid is complete, the stu- bow Wheel Chemical Nomenclature Game extensively. The
dent will have written the formulas and names for 100 com- students compiled the formulas and names for many com-
pounds. pounds. This work involved completing a minimum of six
During the 1998–99 academic year, I had my students grid sheets with the formulas and names of 100 compounds
use this game and compete with one another in nomencla- per sheet. Each student had the opportunity to write the for-
ture contests, determining who could complete the grid the mula and name for each compound. A few students com-
quickest and with the most correct formulas and names. pleted nine grid sheets. After reviewing their work, students
Comments from the students were very positive. They had took the post-quiz (after using the Rainbow Wheel). The av-
fun and enjoyed themselves, not to mention that they learned erage scores had risen by 18–22% per class. The results of
the names and formulas of various chemical compounds. This the post-quiz were: Class A’s average was 76.5% correct; Class
game was designed to name ionic compounds; but with a B’s average was 75.1% correct; and Class C’s average was
slight modification, molecular compounds can also be incor- 73.3% correct. The results indicated that the Rainbow Wheel
porated into the game. had a significant and positive impact on the student’s ability
Results of the Rainbow Wheel were impressive. The stu- to write the formulas and to name correctly a variety of
dents’ quiz scores went up significantly after using the game. chemical compounds.
The students loved the excitement of competing with one
another, and it actually made nomenclature a fun experience. Note
Who said chemistry isn’t fun?
In the fall of 1999, three different introductory chemis- 1. The Rainbow Wheel can be found at http://www.niacc.cc.ia.us/
~jchimeno/introchem/wheelpage.html (accessed Dec 1999).
try classes participated in the use of the Rainbow Wheel
Chemical Nomenclature Game at our school. The classes were
instructed in the rules of nomenclature (Stock Method), and Joseph Chimeno teaches at North Iowa Area Community
a number of examples were discussed in detail. Nomencla- College, 500 College Drive, Mason City, IA 50401; phone: 515/
ture problems were assigned and reviewed. Each class took a 756-3305; email: blueagl@netins.net

144 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 77 No. 2 February 2000 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu