Remembering the Periodic Table by Using a Silly, Vivid Story (John R. Rose, LiveOakAcademy.org)
Make up a story which contains key words that sound like the first syllable or two of each element, in order. Each key word should be something you can vividly imagine, in your mind’s eye. The more clearly you see the image, the harder it will be to forget it. “Link” each image to the next, by connecting them in the flow of the story. Go ahead and make up nonsense, as long as you can clearly see the pictures in your imagination.
Here is an example. Feel free to make up your own images; you will more easily remember your own images.
[Row 1, #1-2] Say hello and laugh, “Hi!” and “He-He!” [H, He].
[Row 2, #3-10] There was a light barrel [lithium, beryllium]. Somebody bored a hole in it and out sprayed some carbonation [boron, carbon]. It was night, and the poor ox got sprayed in his sleep [nitrogen, oxygen]. He fell to the floor, and bumped his knee [fluorine, neon].
[Row 3, #11-18] I spilled my soda on my mag-light [sodium, magnesium]. I tried to wipe it up with aluminum foil, silly me [aluminum, silicon]. I went to see the philosopher, who told me about my soul [phosphorus, sulfur]. I spilled Clorox on him, and he said “aaargh!” [chlorine, argon].
[Row 4, #19-36] They grow potatoes in California [potassium, calcium]. But there was a scandal among the Titans [scandium, titanium]. Someone vandalized their sacred chrome mongoose, breaking it with an iron [vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron]. Luckily, there was a cobbler who fixed it with nickles and copper pennies, and threw it in the sink [cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc]. Afterwards, he went to Gaul and then Germany [gallium, germanium]. Sadly, the Germans poisoned him with arsenic [arsenic]. The silly undertaker left his broom with him in the crypt [selenium, bromine, krypton].
[Row 5, #37-54, and part of Row 6, #55-56] I had a ruby, which I strained through a wire circle [rubidium, strontium, “wye” for yttrium, zirconium]. I was nigh a bee, but didn’t get stung [niobium]. Molly B. has taken Ruthann on a road trip, where they became pals [molybdenum, technetium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium]. They went to the Silver Casino, where they met a cad, who was an indian [silver, cadmium, indium]. Alas, they had to eat dinner out of a tin can, since they spent all their auntie’s money [tin, antimony]. They went to the bank teller, who had a scary eye that was seen on them [tellurium, iodine, xenon]. The spunky girls told him to “Cease!” or else they would bury him [cesium, barium].
[Lanthanide Series, #57-70] Let’s talk about this teller, who talks with a lisp. His name is Lance, but call him “Lanth” [lanthanum]. He spends his last money on breakfast cereal, and the prays for another dime [cerium, praseodymium]. He kneels, asking for a dime [neodymium]. You see, he had promithed he would take his girl to the prom; her name is Samantha the Samaritan [promethium, samarium]. He actually takes her to Europe, where they hijack a herd of cattle and turtles [europium, gadolinium, terbium]. Using the stolen animals for food, they become chefs, real dish pro’s [dysprosium]. They serve customers in homes and in urban settings [holmium, erbium]. They have special cooking tools which are itty-bitty [thulium, ytterbium].
[Rest of Row 6, #71-86, and part of Row 7, #87-88] Back to Molly and Ruthann's argument with Lance: He give them some of his loot; in fact, he gives them half [lutetium, hafnium]. This is a tantalizing amount of money, but Molly hides it under her tongue, to keep it out of the rain [tantalum, tungsten, rhenium]. The rain storm becomes a tornado, which whirls our adventurers up to the Land of Oz, over an iridescent rainbow [osmium, iridium]. In Oz, the lucky people eat off plates of gold [platinum, gold]. But alas! Dissolving mercury is poured on the plates by evil Taliban, causing them to be as useless as lead weights [mercury, thallium, lead]. This is bad for business [bismuth]. But the smart businessman takes a poll, collects a statistic, and decides on a new rating [polonium, astatine, radon]. The successful businessman vacations in France, taking his radio [francium, radium].
[Actinide Series, #89-102] The businessman arrives in France, where he will act in a play as the hero Thor [actinium, thorium]. He protects the world from the evil planet trio, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto [protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium]. At the end of the play, he saves America [americium]. You know, some Americans are curious creatures, especially residents of Berkeley, California [curium, berkelium, californium]. But Albert Einstein is very firm that he never needed mental effort to win the Nobel Prize [einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium].
[Rest of Row 7, #103-109] Back to the traveling girls again! Ruthann is out of money again, and can’t even afford low rents [lawrencium]. Molly gets in Ruth’s Ford, and they escape to Dublin, Ireland, where they visit the eastern seaboard [rutherfordium, dubnium, seaborgium]. They are easily bored, and the place is boring to them, but it is such a hassle to leave [bohrium, hassium]. So, as a happy ending, Molly marries a mighty nerd, who impressed her with his ability to memorize the periodic table [meitnerium].
Vocabulary notes: lithe = light, vandalize = destroy, chrome = shiny metal, mongoose = weasel-like creature, Gaul = France, arsenic = famous poison in murder mysteries, crypt = burial cave, nigh = near, cad = rude and obnoxious man, urban = in the city, tantalizing = appealing and tempting, iridescent = with rainbow-like colors, poll = survey of peoples’ opinions, statistic = number resulting from a study, Thor = mythical Nordic god of thunder, seaboard = coast, hassle = inconvenience.
Appendix: Link every 5th element to a phonetic peg word, for quick reference by number: 5/B miners bore for boron in a hill, 10/Ne my knee on a daisy crushes it, 15/P the philosopher’s dolly bursts into flames, 20/Ca a Californian pushes calcium up his nose, 25/Mn watch out for mongooses when swimming the Nile, 30/Zn there’s a mess of moss in the sink, 35/Br Mr. Mole was locked in the crypt along with his broom, 40/Zr Dad gives Mom a rose and a fake diamond (zircon) for a cheap gift, 45/Rh on a road trip you can take the train and go by rail, 50/Sn after eating from a tin can, tie it shut with a shoelace, 55/Cs slap that rude teller across the face with a wet lily, and say “cease or be buried!”, 60/Nd instead of kneeling on a dime, I knelt on some cheese, 65/Tb the chefs serve turtle chili, in the shell (yuck!), 70/Yb they have itty-bitty wax tools, 75/Re the eagle flying in the rain is getting wet, 80/Hg a vase full of mercury, 85/At a valley full of papers with statistics on them, 90/Th mighty Thor smashes an unpleasant pizza with his hammer, 95/Am he protects America by shielding it with a huge pillow, 100/Fm the cold, dry sauce is firm enough to step on, so Fermi walks on it, 105/Db at the Dublin seashore, the trained seal is entertaining.