Apologia: Chemistry Ionic Formulas

Next week is The Flinn Ionic Formula Writing kit, which is free online!  Ionic Formulas. The kit has the ionic in two colors: the positive ions, or cations are red and the negative ions, or anions, are blue.  I draw a red cat with a huge positive sign and a blue ant with a big negative sign to help kids remember them.  The formula kit can be augmented with red and blue Legos. Lego Ions

I write an example using aluminum chloride on the board and complete the first row of the data chart before reviewing the process with the class.  I write the cations in red pen and the anions in blue to reinforce the concepts.  The link above has the data sheet, ion formulas, and copies of the ions, which should be copied on to red and blue card stock.  Some kids want their own sets of ions to practice at home.  If you have a big class, make large ions with felt to demonstrate on the board.  Next week, our plans include several labs, including an ionic compound lab.  I prepared 1M solutions of several compounds, such as, sodium carbonate, silver nitrate, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate, etc.  The lab is a precipitate lab.  Whenever they get a precipitate, they have to write the name of the compound.  I usually label one set as cations and another with its anion.  It is simple, but effective.  Ionic Formulas Lab
This is a good lab to introduce lab reports.  I want the kids to write a title and keep data.  For this lab, they note observations in a data table and then write the ionic formulas below.