Our “Resources Included" tags indicate supplemental Board Gaming with Education resources for your classroom or at-home learning with your purchase. Ion is a card drafting game with no down time, where players select from a number of available ions and noble gases, with the goal of forming neutrally charged compounds or sets of noble gases. Players score additional points for creating compounds found on the goal cards each round. "The science teachers in my school were just beside themselves. They just thought, ‘I did not know games could do this." -Portal Gaming Podcast See the Ideas for Using Ion in Class (PDF) below for more details about the number of players for your learning environment, length of time for various activities, and appropriate grade-level activities. Players: 2 - 7 Time: 20 - 30 minutes Age: 8+ Rodger recommends using Ion for introducing interactions between elements, specifically ions. It uses just a few ions to show students how they can bond together. Through game play it will give students a more concrete understanding of how compounds can form. Game play is simple and quick and can play up to seven students! How to Play Each player is initially dealt eight cards. They choose one card and pass the remaining to the player on their left, while they receive the same amount of cards from the player on their right (this is commonly referred to as “card drafting” or “pick and pass”). Selected cards must be either (1) bonded to another ion or (2) set alone. Players only score points for neutrally balanced cards. So a positive charged Sodium (Na+) bonding with a negatively charge Chloride (Cl-), forming a neutral NaCl compound, would score points. Points are scored at the end of each round and player may gain additional points for building specific compounds listed on the goal cards for that round. After three rounds the player with the most points wins! Browse-Before-You-Buy EduGamer Resources*! Ideas for using Ion in class! (PDF) Overview of standards and vocabulary! (PDF) Downloadable Resources Included after purchasing Ion! Classroom Resources: Ion - Teacher Guide: Game Set Up & Gameplay Groups/Stations Activity (PDF) Ion - How-to-Play (PowerPoint) Ion - Lesson Plan (PDF) Ion - Vocabulary Matrix (PDF) Ion - Custom Score Sheet All of our games resources include our "Let the Dice Roll" Supplemental Questions Activity (PDF) Homeschool Resources Ion - At-Home Learning Guide (PDF) Some materials included in the classroom resources can also be used for at-home learning *Resources available in other formats including Microsoft Word upon request.
