Crossword Puzzles about Middle School Chemistry

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What's inside this resource

Eight chemistry crosswords, one per page, ask students to fill in twelve terms per puzzle from clues such as "a substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances" or "an ionic compound that resists changes in its pH." Solving each grid correctly spells out the name of a historical chemist down the puzzle's vertical row -- Linus Pauling, Louis Pasteur, Dorothy Hodgkin, Alfred Nobel, Marie Curie, Alice Ball, Amadeo Avogadro, and Rosalind Franklin. Vocabulary ranges from foundational terms like element, mixture and solid to more advanced ones like isotope, valence and alkyne, spanning atomic structure, chemical bonding and states of matter. A completed answer-key grid follows each puzzle, and a closing biography page gives two to three sentences on each of the eight chemists named in the puzzles.

Product description

From the author

These crosswords help students to rehearse middle school chemistry concepts. When they fill a printables/crossword-puzzles">crossword, a hidden name of a famous chemist will appear. The accomplishments of the chemists are explained on the last page.

This material can be used for example as a review, exam preparation, time filler, material to a substitute teacher etc. This is ready to use, print-and-go material including all answers. Students may need some study book or other source to get all crosswords completed. However, you can use these without any books first to see how far the students will go! These printables/crossword-puzzles">crossword puzzles are best suitable for work in small groups, but can be also used for individual work.

The hints are verbal descriptions. Some examples of the hints:

A substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances

A mixture of metals or a metal combined with other elements

Helps to measure small amounts of liquid one drop at a time

Materials that ignite easily are called …

A law that tells that the pressure of an ideal gas at constant temperature varies inversely with the volume

Anode and cathode are both …

A glass container with a at bottom and a small spout for pouring

Organic compounds that contain the functional group OH

One of the states of matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume

Purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors

Examples of words in the crosswords:

Element, inorganic, oxide, nucleus, aromatic, chemical formula, alkyne, acid, double bond, dilution, absorption, allotrope, microscope, neutralization, ion, evaporation, radioactive, ionic bond, mass number

Some words occur in multiple crosswords, but never twice in the same printables/crossword-puzzles">crossword.

The hidden words in the middle rows are the following chemists:

Linus Pauling, Louis Pasteur, Dorothy Hodgkin, Alfred Nobel, Marie Curie, Alice Ball, Amadeo Avogadro, Rosalind Franklin.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Define core chemistry vocabulary terms -- element, compound, isotope, ion, valence, mixture -- by solving crossword clues.
Identify a historical chemist from the letters revealed in a crossword's vertical row.
Self-check crossword answers against the provided completed answer-key grids.

Teaching tips

Assign one crossword per class period across the eight puzzles, since each targets a different vocabulary cluster -- for example atomic particles and bonding in some puzzles, states of matter and mixtures in others.
Have students research the chemist named in each puzzle's vertical row using the included biography page once they finish solving it, connecting vocabulary practice to science history.
Preview the multi-word-answer convention before students begin -- one blank square marks a space between words -- since it is specific to this puzzle's format.

Skills covered

Chemistry vocabulary recall -- students match definitions such as "a substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances" to terms like element across 8 crosswords.
Self-checking -- students compare their completed grids against the provided answer-key pages.
Cross-curricular history connection -- solving each puzzle's vertical row reveals a chemist's name, linking to the included biography page for figures like Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What determines the hidden name revealed in each crossword's vertical row?

Solving all the clues correctly spells out one of eight chemists' names -- Linus Pauling, Louis Pasteur, Dorothy Hodgkin, Alfred Nobel, Marie Curie, Alice Ball, Amadeo Avogadro or Rosalind Franklin -- down that puzzle's vertical row.

How does the puzzle handle multi-word answers?

One grid square is left blank to represent the space between words, and the same convention applies to any other special character in an answer.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

Chemistry vocabulary
Atomic structure
States of matter
History of chemistry

Topics

Chemistry crossword middle school science

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Categories this resource belongs to

Research Crosswords Science Crosswords Chemistry Worksheets Science Worksheets High School Worksheets 6th Grade Worksheets

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