Students work individually, then compete in teams, to identify symmetry elements and operations present in a high-symmetry structure, such as an octahedron or tetrahedron (without showing the character table until the end of the activity).  Students often  visualize symmetry elements differently from one another.  Creating teams, allows them to work collaboratively, and the competition adds an incentive for finding the most elements.  Since some students are better at seeing some symmetry elements (and operations) than others, it allows for them to work in small groups to both teach and lea

Chemical acrostic is used as a teaching tool in descriptive inorganic chemistry. This is an active learning approach to engage the students with a fun classroom activity. The acrostics are designed by Simon Cotton and published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's education resource magazine "The Mole." The students are divided into groups of two or three to work on the acrostics. To come up with the answers, the students engage in meaningful group discussions that enhance conceptual understanding.

Covers the geometries and symmetries of the seven crystal systems in an inquiry-based manner. 2-D paper templates are provided, which the students cut out, fold, and tape together to create 3-D representations of the seven crystal systems: triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, rhombohedral, hexagonal, and cubic. The students can then use these to determine the geometries and symmetries of the systems for themselves.