A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
A Science teacher by trade, I've also been known to be found teaching Maths and PE! However, strange as it may seem, my real love is designing resources that can be used by other teachers to maximise the experience of the students. I am constantly thinking of new ways to engage a student with a topic and try to implement that in the design of the lessons.
This bundle of 10 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C5 (Monitoring and controlling chemical reactions) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Rates of reaction
The Collision theory
Temperature and the rate of reaction
Concentration and the rate of reaction
Particle size and the rate of reaction
Catalysts and the rate of reaction
Reversible reactions
Temperature and pressure and equilibrium
Choosing reaction conditions
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 4 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic C4.2 (Identifying the products of chemical reactions) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Detecting gases
Detecting cations
Detecting anions
Instrumental methods of analysis
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is a fully-resourced lesson which includes an engaging and detailed lesson presentation and differentiated worksheets that together guide students through the key details of endothermic and exothermic reactions. This lesson has been designed for GCSE students but could be used with students entering this topic at A-level who are looking for a recap on the key details.
This lesson focuses on a few critical areas of these reactions and those which are often poorly understood. For example, considerable time is taken to ensure that students understand how energy is taken in to break bonds in a reaction and given out when bonds are formed. From this basis, they learn to compare the amount of energy taken in with the amount given out and ultimately determine whether it is an endothermic or exothermic reaction. The format of the lesson is that students are guided through the combustion of methane as an exothermic reaction and shown how to draw reaction profiles and calculate energy changes using the bond energies to prove it is that type of reaction. Having worked with the teacher and each other on this reaction, students are then challenged to bring their skills together to describe, explain and represent an endothermic reaction. If students feel that they will need some assistance on this task, the worksheet has been differentiated so they can still access the learning. There are a number of quick competitions written into the lesson to maintain engagement and also progress checks are found at regular intervals so students can constantly assess their understanding. The lesson finishes with a final game called The E factor which tests the students knowledge from across the whole lesson.
This bundle of 6 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic C5.1 (Monitoring chemical reactions) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Theoretical yield
Percentage yield
Atom economy
Concentration of solution
Titrations
Titration calculations
Gas calculations
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students and looks at the key details of two methods that are used to make ethanol, fermentation and the hydration of ethene. Some students may believe that the sole use of ethanol is for alcoholic drinks so the first part of the lesson uses a quick competition to introduce some additional uses. There are a number of these competitions that run during the lesson, in order to maintain engagement but also to introduce key terms and check on understanding in alternative forms. The details of each of the reactions are discussed and related topics are tested through questions and tasks, such as the students being challenged to write symbol equations and adding state symbols and to remember the identification test for carbon dioxide. The final part of the lesson plays one final competition, which is a battle between all of the students to spot which of the two reactions is being described by a clue.
This bundle of 7 lessons covers the majority of the content in the sub-topic C6.2 (Organic Chemistry) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Alkanes
Alkenes
Alcohols
Carboxylic acids
Alkanes from crude oil
Cracking oil fractions
Biological polymers
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 2 lessons covers all of the content in the sub-topic C3.2 (Energetics) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Distinguish between endothermic and exothermic reactions
Draw and label a reaction profile for both reactions
Explain activation energy
Calculate energy changes in a chemical reaction by considering bond making and bond breaking energies
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This is an engaging revision lesson which uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quick differentiated tasks and quiz competitions to allow students to assess their knowledge of the topic of moles and related topics as covered in the GCSE Chemistry and GCSE Combined Science courses. An understanding of moles and their associated calculations is critical for the success of a student in these two courses.
The following topics are covered in this revision lesson:
Avogadro’s law and constant
Mole calculations involving Avogadro’s constant
Mole calculations involving the formula, moles = mass x molar mass
Mole calculations involving the constant and the formula
Moles in balanced symbol equations and identifying molar ratios of reactants or reactants to products
Calculating masses in reactions
Gas calculations (molar volume)
Concentration of solutions (in mol per decimetre cubed)
Students will be engaged through the range of activities which includes quiz competitions such as “Fill the VOID” where students have to complete some equations which have pieces missing and also “In the BALANCE” where students have to balance equations in order to work out the number of moles on each side of the reaction. This lesson can be used at any time during the year as a revision material, in the lead up to mocks or as a final revision lesson before the GCSE terminal exams.
A thought-provoking lesson which explores why certain conditions are chosen for reversible reactions. Throughout this lesson, students are challenged to think about the topic in three ways. Of course, they have to consider the chosen conditions from a Scientific angle by knowing how temperature and pressure affect the position of the equilibrium. They must also think about the business (and health) side of the argument by recognising that increased pressures are both dangerous and expensive. Finally, they are taught recognise how the chosen conditions are in fact a compromise which has taken both the Science and business into account. Students are guided through the choice of conditions for the production of methanol so that they can apply their knowledge to the production of ammonia by the Haber process.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students.
A fun and engaging lesson presentation (74 slides) and accompanying differentiated worksheets that uses exam questions with displayed mark schemes and competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of Module C4 (Predicting and identifying reactions and products). The following topics within the combined Science specification are covered by the tasks:
C4.1 Predicting chemical reactions
Group 1 - the alkali metals
Group 7 - the halogens
Halogen displacement reactions
Group 0 - the noble gases
Reactivity of elements
C4.2 Identifying the products of chemical reactions
Detecting gases
Students will be able to use the understanding checks to see which areas of the specification need more attention
A concise lesson presentation (19 slides) which looks at meaning of the key term, polymers, and briefly explores addition and condensation polymers. The lesson begins with a fun exercise to enable students to come up with the word polymers so that they can be introduced to the definition and then relate this to another term, monomers. A quiz competition is used to introduce addition and condensation polymers. Students are shown the displayed formulae and names of a few addition polymers and then challenged to use this to name and draw some others. They will then learn how DNA is an example of a condensation polymer. A set homework is included in the lesson which gets students to research thermosetting and thermosoftening polymers
This bundle of 12 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C3 (Physical chemistry) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The sub-topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
[a] Energetics
Know that chemical reactions can be endothermic or exothermic reactions
Calculate the heat energy change using the expression involving specific heat capacity
Draw energy level diagrams to represent endothermic and exothermic reactions
Use bond energies to calculate the enthalpy change
[b] Rates of reaction
Describe experiments to investigate the effect of changing surface area, concentration, temperature and the addition of a catalyst on the rate of reaction
Describe and explain the effects of changing surface area, concentration and temperature on a rate of reaction with reference to the collision theory
Know the definition of a catalyst and understand how it reduces the activation energy of a chemical reaction
Draw and explain reaction profile diagrams
[c] Reversible reactions and equilibria
Know that some reactions are reversible
Know the characteristics of a reaction at dynamic equilibrium
Know the effect of changing either the temperature of pressure on the position of the equilibrium
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 8 lessons covers a lot of the content in Topic P6 (Radioactivity) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Physics specification. The topics covered within these lessons include:
Atoms and Isotopes
The properties of alpha, beta and gamma radiation
Nuclear equations
Half-life
Background radiation
Irradiation and contamination
Nuclear fission
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This bundle of 18 lessons uses a range of exam questions, tasks, activities and quiz competitions to engage students whilst they assess their knowledge of the topics in modules B1-6, C1-6 and P1-6 of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Combined Science specification. All of the lessons are fully resourced to take away that worry about how to get students to effectively revise in the lead up to assessments.
This bundle of 9 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C4 (Organic chemistry) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The sub-topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
[a] Introduction
Know that a hydrocarbon is a compound of hydrogen and carbon atoms only
Know what is meant by the term homologous series and functional group
Understand how to name compounds containing up to six carbon atoms
Be able to write the structural and displayed formula of an organic molecule
[b] Crude oil
Know that crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons
Describe how the process of fractional distillation separates crude oil into fractions
Know the names and properties of the main fractions
Know the possible products of complete and incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons with oxygen in the air
Understand why carbon monoxide is poisonous
Describe how long chain alkanes are converted to alkenes and shorter chain alkanes by cracking
[c] Alkanes
Know the general formula for the alkanes and explain why they are classified as the saturated hydrocarbons
Understand how to draw the structural and displayed formula for the alkanes
[d] Alkenes
Know that alkenes contain the functional group C=C and know their general formula
Explain why the alkenes are described as the unsaturated hydrocarbons
Understand how to draw the structural and displayed formula for the alkenes
Describe how bromine water can be used to distinguish between an alkane and an alkene
[e] Alcohols
Know that the alcohols contain the functional group -OH
Understand how to draw structural and displayed formula for the first 4 alcohols
Know that ethanol can be manufactured by reacting ethene with steam and by the fermentation of glucose
[f] Carboxylic acids
Know the functional group of the carboxylic acids
Understand how to draw structural and displayed formula for the acids
Describe the reactions of the acids with metals and metal carbonates
Know that vinegar is an aqueous solution containing ethanoic acid
[h] Synthetic polymers
Know that an addition plymer is formed by joining many small molecules called monomers
Understand how to draw the repeat unit of an addition polymer
All of these lesson presentations and accompanying resources are detailed and engaging and contain regular progress checks to allow the students to constantly assess their understanding.
This lesson describes the meaning of the atomic and mass number and explains how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons. The PowerPoint has been designed to cover the detail of points 1.4, 1.7, 1.8 and 1.10 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry and Combined Science specifications.
The lesson begins by challenging the students to put the chemical symbols for astatine, oxygen, iodine and carbon together to form the word atomic. Time is taken to explain the meaning of the atomic number and to emphasise how the number of protons in the nucleus is unique to atoms of that element. The students will learn that as the number of electrons is always the same as the number of protons in an atom, the atomic number can be used to calculate the numbers of both of these particles. Moving forwards, the mass number is considered and having been given the number of neutrons in a lithium atom, the students are challenged to articulate how the mass number and atomic number were used in this calculation. A series of worked examples are done as a class before the students are given the opportunity to challenge their understanding.
An engaging lesson presentation (73 slides) and associated worksheets that uses a combination of exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within unit C5 of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification.
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Percentage yield
Concentration of solution
Titrations
Titration calculations
Gas calculations
Rate of reaction
Factors affecting the rate of reaction
Reversible reactions
Equilibrium position
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Under PRESSURE” and “Number CRAZY” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
This is a fully-resourced revision lesson that uses a combination of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to help the students to assess their understanding of the topics found within Topic C3 (Physical chemistry) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification which has its’ first assessment in 2019.
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Energetics
Rates of reaction
Reversible reactions and equilibria
Students will be engaged through the numerous quiz rounds whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which require their further attention during general revision or during the lead up to the actual assessment.
This is an engaging revision lesson which uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quiz tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content within topic 9 (The Periodic Table) of the Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry (0620) specification. The lesson covers the content in both the core and supplement sections of the specification and therefore can be used with students who will be taking the extended papers as well as the core papers.
The specification points that are covered in this revision lesson include:
CORE
Describe the Periodic Table as a method of classifying elements and its use to predict properties of elements
Describe the change from metallic to nonmetallic character across a period
Describe lithium, sodium and potassium in Group I as a collection of relatively soft metals showing a trend in melting point, density and reaction with water
Describe the halogens, chlorine, bromine and iodine in Group VII, as a collection of diatomic non-metals showing a trend in colour and density and state their reaction with other halide ions
Predict the properties of other elements in Group VII, given data where appropriate
Describe the transition elements as a collection of metals having high densities, high melting points and forming coloured compounds, and which, as elements and compounds, often act as catalysts
Describe the noble gases, in Group VIII or 0, as being unreactive, monoatomic gases and explain this in terms of electronic structure
State the uses of the noble gases in providing an inert atmosphere, i.e. argon in lamps, helium for filling balloons
SUPPLEMENT
Describe and explain the relationship between Group number, number of outer shell electrons and metallic/non-metallic character
Identify trends in Groups, given information about the elements concerned
Know that transition elements have variable oxidation states
The students will thoroughly enjoy the range of activities, which include quiz competitions such as “Make sure you check every passage PERIODICALLY” where they have to scan summary passages about the table and decide if it is 100% correct whilst crucially being able to recognise the areas of this topic which need their further attention. This lesson can be used as revision resource at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams
This is an engaging revision lesson which uses a range of exam questions, understanding checks, quick tasks and quiz competitions to enable students to assess their understanding of the content within topic 6 (Groups in the Periodic Table) of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification.
The specification points that are covered in this revision lesson include:
Explain why some elements can be classified as alkali metals (group 1), halogens (group 7) or noble gases (group 0), based on their position in the periodic table
Describe the pattern in reactivity of the alkali metals, lithium, sodium and potassium, with water; and use this pattern to predict the reactivity of other alkali metals
Explain this pattern in reactivity in terms of electronic configurations
Recall the colours and physical states of chlorine, bromine and iodine at room temperature
Describe the pattern in the physical properties of the halogens, chlorine, bromine and iodine, and use this pattern to predict the physical properties of other halogens
Describe the reactions of the halogens, chlorine, bromine and iodine, with metals to form metal halides, and use this pattern to predict the reactions of other halogens
Describe the relative reactivity of the halogens chlorine, bromine and iodine, as shown by their displacement reactions with halide ions in aqueous solution, and use this pattern to predict the reactions of astatine
Explain the relative reactivity of the halogens in terms of electronic configurations
Explain why the noble gases are chemically inert, compared with the other elements, in terms of their electronic configurations
The students will thoroughly enjoy the range of activities, which include quiz competitions such as “Make sure you check every passage PERIODICALLY” where they have to scan summary passages about the table and decide if it is 100% correct whilst crucially being able to recognise the areas of this topic which need their further attention. This lesson can be used as revision resource at the end of the topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual GCSE exams
