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 lesson introduces the alkanes as a group of hydrocarbons and explains how to draw their displayed formula and work out the general formula. The PowerPoint is part of the second lesson in a series of 2 which have been designed to cover point 7.1.1 of the AQA GCSE Chemistry & Combined Science specifications.
The students were introduced to crude oil and hydrocarbons in the previous lesson so this one begins by introducing the fact that most of the hydrocarbons in crude oil are alkanes. The students are challenged to recall that covalent bonds will hold hydrogen and carbon together and they will learn that every carbon atom has four covalent bonds. This fact is used in the step by step guide as they are shown how to draw the displayed formula for methane. Moving forwards, a quick competition is used to introduce the next three members of the group in ethane, propane and butane, and the students have to apply their understanding by drawing the formula to find the molecular formula. The general formula for the alkanes is determined and then a series of exam questions will challenge them to apply this to work out numbers of carbon or hydrogen atoms or to write a formula.
This lesson describes how the chemical formula of an ionic compound can be deduced using the formulae of the constituent ions. The PowerPoint and accompanying worksheet have been designed to cover point 1.26 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also cover the same point in the Chemistry section of the Combined Science course.
This lesson builds on the knowledge acquired in previous lessons when students learnt how to identify the charge of an ion based on the group of the atom. A step by step guide is used to show them how the transfer method can be used to write the formulae for compounds including halides and oxides. Time is taken to introduce the formulae for sulphate, carbonate, hydroxide and nitrate ions and the students are shown how brackets may be needed when writing formulae for compounds containing these ions. Understanding checks in the form of questions and quiz competitions are used to allow the students to assess their progress
This lesson describes how the empirical formula of a compound can be deduced from the masses of the different parts. The PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover points 1.44 & 1.45 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also covers those points in the Chemistry section of the Combined Science course.
This lesson uses a step-by-step guide to walk students through the method involved in calculating the empirical formula. Students are given a template to use as they are introduced to the questions and then encouraged to work without it as the lesson progresses. The students are shown how empirical formula questions can be made more difficult and hints are given so that students are able to tackle them and access all of the marks available.
This lesson explains the properties of the fullerenes and focuses on graphene in terms of its structure and bonding. The PowerPoint and the accompanying resources have been designed to cover point 1.38 of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification and also covers that same point on the Combined Science course.
The lesson begins by recalling the definition of an allotrope. The students are then introduced to graphene and will begin to understand how this covalent structure is related to graphite and will know the shared properties of these two materials. Time is taken to ensure that students can explain why graphene is able to conduct electricity. Moving forwards, students will meet the family of allotropes known as the fullerenes and will learn some important details about a few of these including C60
A fully resourced lesson, which includes an informative lesson presentation (22 slides) and differentiated worksheets that guide students through the topic of balancing symbol equations. The lesson takes the students through the steps involved and begins by getting them to be able to recognise when an equation is balanced or not. The difficulty of the equations to be balanced increases as the lesson progresses and students are given helpful hints to aid their progress.
This lesson is suitable for both KS3 and GCSE students
A detailed lesson which includes a lesson presentation (52 slides) and an associated worksheet that goes through the basis of electrolysis and then focuses on the examples when the electrolyte is a molten salt. The lesson has been designed to move in small steps with regular progress checks so that key details are fully understood. It begins by ensuring that students understand which ions are attracted to which electrode. The lesson then looks at how electrons are either gained or lost at the electrodes and this is related to redox reactions as well. Helpful hints and exam question tips are given throughout to aid students with this commonly assessed topic.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but could be used with both older and younger students
This is a detailed and engaging lesson presentation which focuses on the properties of the elements found in group 1 of the Periodic Table, the alkali metals. Students are challenged throughout the lesson to be able to link their observations of the reactions to the properties. Once they have learnt that the reactivity increases as they move down the group, time is taken to go over this in detail so that students can explain why sodium is more reactive than lithium (and so on) in terms of electron configuration. Progress checks are embedded throughout the lesson so that students have the opportunity to assess their understanding.
This lesson has been designed for GCSE students (14 - 16 year olds in the UK) but is suitable for younger students who may be carrying out a project on the Periodic Table
A fully-resourced lesson that looks at a number of the allotropes of carbon which need to be known for GCSE Science. The lesson includes an engaging lesson presentation (40 slides) and associated worksheets. The lesson begins by recalling the definition of an allotrope. Students are then introduced to graphene and will understand how this is related to graphite and know the properties of these two materials that are shared. Time is taken to ensure that students can explain why graphene is able to conduct electricity. Moving forwards, students will meet the family of allotropes known as the fullerenes and will see some important details about a few of these.
This lesson has been written for students studying GCSE (14 - 16 year olds in the UK).
A lesson presentation (44 slides), accompanied by a question worksheet, which together looks at the reactants and products of a neutralisation reaction and challenges students to represent these reactions with equations. The lesson begins with a bit of fun as students are asked to read through a scene from the US comedy show and spot that a neutralisation reaction is hidden under the jokes. Students will use their KS3 knowledge to recall that these reactions involve acids and alkalis and moving forwards they will be introduced to a new term, base. The rest of the lesson focuses on writing word and balanced symbol equations for different neutralisation reactions. A step by step guide is used to demonstrate how to work out the name of the salt as well as writing accurate chemical formulae. Finally, students are challenged to apply their new-found knowledge and complete equations for 4 neutralisation reactions and they can assess against the displayed mark schemes. Progress checks have been written into the lesson at regular intervals so that this self-assessment is constant and any misconceptions are quickly addressed.
This lesson has been written for GCSE students but could be used with younger students who are looking to extend their knowledge
This bundle of 7 lessons covers the majority of the content in Topic C1b (Elements, compounds and mixtures) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Understand how to classify a substance as an element, compound and mixture
Understand that a pure substance has a fixed melting and boiling point
Separating mixtures by simple distillation
Separating mixtures by fractional distillation
Separating mixtures by filtration and crystallisation
Separating mixtures by paper chromatography
Interpreting and analysing chromatograms
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 the majority of the content in Topic C1i (Electrolysis) of the Edexcel iGCSE Chemistry specification. The topics and specification points covered within these lessons include:
Understand why ionic compounds conduct electricity only when molten or in aqueous solution
Describe experiments to investigate electrolysis of molten compounds and aqueous solutions
Write ionic half equations for the reactions at the electrodes
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.
An engaging lesson presentation (47 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 the Chemistry unit C6 (The rate and extent of chemical change) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification point C5.6)
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Calculating rates of reactions
Factors that affect the rate of a reaction
Collision theory
Reversible reactions
Equilibrium
Changing the equilibrium position
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Don’t get iRATE” and “Under PRESSURE” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
An engaging lesson presentation (54 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 C8 (Chemical analysis) of the AQA GCSE Combined Science specification (specification point C5.8)
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Pure substances
Chromatography
Identification of common gases
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Take the CHROMATOGRAPHY hotseat” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
An engaging lesson presentation (77 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 TOPIC 2 (Bonding, structure and properties of matter) of the AQA GCSE Chemistry specification (specification point C4.2)
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Chemical bonds
Ionic bonding
Ionic compounds
Properties of ionic compounds
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
Properties of metals and alloys
The three states of matter
State symbols
Structure and bonding of carbon
Size of particles and their properties
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “The name’s BOND…” 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 sub-topics found within Topic C9 (Separate chemistry 2) of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry specification.
The sub-topics and specification points that are tested within the lesson include:
Describe flame tests to identify cations in solids or solutions
Describe tests and identify anions in solids or solutions
Recall the formulae of the molecules of alkanes and alkenes
Explain why the alkanes and alkenes are described as the saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons respectively
Explain how bromine water is used to distinguish between alkanes and alkenes
Describe how the complete combustion of alkanes and alkenes leads to the production of carbon dioxide and water
Recall that a polymer is made up of repeating units
Recall the formulae of the carboxylic acids and alcohols
Know the functional groups of these homologous series
Compare the sizes of nanoparticles with atoms and molecules
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 GCSE terminal exams
This revision lesson contains a motivating and engaging powerpoint (67 slides) and associated worksheets which have been designed to challenge student knowledge of the Periodic Table. The lesson involves a wide range of activities which include exam questions with clear answers to allow students to self-assess, quiz competitions and differentiated tasks. The students will enjoy the transitions between the different activities whilst crucially being able to evaluate their understanding of this key topic in Chemistry. Deliberately, the lesson hasn’t been written for any particular exam board or exclusively for Combined Science or Chemistry, but instead it covers the topics which are shown below and this will allow teachers to pick and choose which parts they want to do in a particular lesson.
Properties of the alkali metals (group I)
Properties of the halogens (group VII)
Properties of the noble gases (group 0)
Formation of ionic compounds between group I and VII elements
Reactivity of the alkali metals and the halogens
Displacement reactions of the halogens
The transition elements
Organisation of the Periodic Table
Predicting properties of the unknown or rare elements
As the title suggests, the content of this lesson has been written to be GCSE standard and therefore is most suitable for use with 14 - 16 year olds. However, it could be used with younger students who are doing work on the topic and want to challenge themselves
This revision resource has been designed to include a range of activities that will engage the students whilst they assess their understanding of the content of topic C2 (Experimental techniques) of the CIE IGCSE Combined Science specification for examination in June and November 2020 and 2021. Exam questions, quick tasks and quiz competitions such as “SEPARATE the FACT from the FICTION” will challenge the students on their recall of the content as well as their ability to apply this knowledge.
The lesson was written to cover as much of the content as possible, but the following topics have received particular attention:
• Simple distillation and fractional distillation
Choosing appropriate apparatus
Experimental and investigational skills
Crystallisation and filtration
Paper chromatography
Calculating the retention factor
This resource contains an engaging PowerPoint (45 slides) and associated worksheets and is ideal for use at the end of this topic or in the lead up to mocks or the actual terminal exams
This is a fully-resourced lesson which uses exam-style questions, quiz competitions, quick tasks and discussion points to challenge students on their understanding of the content in topics C1 - C4, that will assessed on PAPER 3. It has been specifically designed for students on the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science course who will be taking the FOUNDATION TIER examinations but is also suitable for students taking the higher tier who need to ensure that the fundamentals are known and understood.
The lesson has been written to cover as many sub-topics as possible, but the following have been given particular attention:
The relative mass and charge of protons, electrons and neutrons
Using the Periodic table to calculate numbers of the sub-atomic particles
Writing elements and compounds in chemical symbol equations
Simple and giant covalent structures
Explaining the difference in conductivity of graphite and diamond
Drawing dot and cross diagrams for ionic compounds
The transfer of electrons during the formation of an ionic bond
Writing chemical formulae for ionic compounds
Conservation of mass and balancing symbol equations
Calculating the relative formula mass
Electrolysis of molten salts and aqueous solutions
Extraction of metals
In order to maintain challenge whilst ensuring that all abilities can access the questions, the majority of the tasks have been differentiated and students can ask for extra support when they are unable to begin a question. Step-by-step guides have also been written into the lesson to walk students through some of the more difficult concepts such as drawing dot and cross diagrams, diamond and graphite and writing chemical formulae.
Due to the extensiveness of this revision lesson, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 3/4 teaching hours to complete the tasks and therefore this can be used at different points throughout the duration of the course as well as acting as a final revision before the PAPER 3 exam.
An engaging lesson presentation (82 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 C4 (Predicting and identifying reactions and products) of the OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry specification.
The topics that are tested within the lesson include:
Group 1 - the alkali metals
Group 7 - the halogens
Halogen displacement reactions
Group 0 - the noble gases
The transition metals
Reactivity of elements
Detecting gases
Detecting cations
Students will be engaged through the numerous activities including quiz rounds like “Crack the CODE” and “Blockbusters” whilst crucially being able to recognise those areas which need further attention
This highly detailed and engaging lesson presentation (143 slides) acts as an excellent revision tool for students who are approaching their 1st OCR Gateway A GCSE Chemistry paper which includes the topics found in modules C1 - C3. This lesson uses a range of exam questions with explained answers, quick tasks and quiz competitions (such as UNLOCK the SAFE) to encourage the students to assess their understanding of the specification content and ultimately recognise any areas which will need further attention before the exam.
The topics that are covered in this revision lesson include:
Ionic, covalent and metallic bonding
Atomic structure
Using the Periodic Table
Mole calculations
Balancing symbol equations
Conservation of mass
Pure and impure substances
Chromatography
Calculating energy changes in reactions
Reaction profiles
Endothermic and exothermic reactions
The detail in this presentation means that it is likely to be spread over a number of lessons and small chunks can be used at a time when revision needs to be specific.