Name ____________________________ period _________ Date __________
Ionic Bonding POGIL
Goals:
1) Students will use the periodic table to determine the number of electrons in the
valance shell of an atom using their knowledge of electron configurations
2) Students will apply the octet rule in determining how various elements combine
chemically using the octet rule
3) Students will Draw the corresponding Lewis diagram for a compound
Part I information: Determining valence electrons
Any atom’s electron configuration always has its “s” & “p” orbitals in the outermost
energy level. This is called the valence shell. The “d” & “f” orbitals always fill in on
lower energy levels. As a result, there can not be more than 8 electrons in the valence
shell. The only exception is the first energy level. It only needs 2 electrons because it
only has the “s” orbital, there is no “p” orbital in the first energy level. When an atom
obtains a full compliment of 8 valence electrons in its valence shell it is the most stable
that it can be. This tendency for matter to be stable, a quest to have 8 electrons in the
outermost energy level, drives atoms to combine chemically.
Critical thinking questions part 1:
1) How do you determine how many “s” electrons are in the valence shell?
2) How do you determine how many “p” electrons are in the valence shell?
3) How would you determine how many valence electrons an element had?
4) How does the group that an element is in affect the number of valence electrons?
Exercises: Determine how many valence electrons each element has
1) He
2) Ar
3) Si
4) Ge
5) Ca
6) Sr
7) Fe
8) Ru
9) Nd
10) U
Part II Information:
All elements that have 1 or 2 electrons in their valence shell are considered metals. This
would include any element that was found in group 1 through group 12. (excluding
Hydrogen group 1, and including Aluminum group 13) These elements are known as
