Big believer in the power of beautiful lesson plans to make learning easier. My resources cover the sciences and geography. My biochemistry degree and tuition work I do mean I create resources for a lot of courses as and when I need a resource-always feel free to comment and request something if you want something else or an adaptation. Oxford biochemistry graduate.
Big believer in the power of beautiful lesson plans to make learning easier. My resources cover the sciences and geography. My biochemistry degree and tuition work I do mean I create resources for a lot of courses as and when I need a resource-always feel free to comment and request something if you want something else or an adaptation. Oxford biochemistry graduate.
Simple worksheet on two pages covering electrolysis of aluminium for students to fill in. Covers the equations at the cathode, anode, redox, why the process is environmentally damaging and why recycling aluminium is a good thing to do. There’s also links to recommended YouTube videos from Fuse School and the RSC. This plan targets the AQA 9-1 chemistry GCSE course. Versions both in colour and black and white.
This lesson plan is given away for free in order to encourage recycling! But if you like it please check out my lesson plan on metallic bonding, my worksheet on AQA solution electrolysis equations and on extracting metals using carbon and other lesson plans. I also have versions for Edexcel GCSE and Edexcel iGCSE.
Update: 13/3/24: added clarification that the cathodes are graphite and added a link to a video showing bauxite mining to show the amount of land needed.
Simple worksheet on two pages covering electrolysis of aluminium for students to fill in. Covers the equations at the cathode, anode, redox, why the process is environmentally damaging and why recycling aluminium is a good thing to do. There’s also links to recommended YouTube videos from Fuse School and the RSC. This plan targets the Edexcel iGCSE 9-1 course. Versions both in colour and black and white.
This lesson plan is given away for free in order to encourage recycling! But if you like it please check out my lesson plan on metallic bonding and other lesson plans. I also have versions of these questions for Edexcel GCSE and for AQA.
Update: 16/3/24: added clarification that the cathodes are graphite and added a link to a video showing bauxite mining to show the amount of land needed.
Simple worksheet on two pages covering electrolysis of aluminium for students to fill in. Covers the equations at the cathode, anode, redox, why the process is environmentally damaging and why recycling aluminium is a good thing to do. There’s also links to recommended YouTube videos from Fuse School and the RSC. This plan targets the Edexcel GCSE 9-1 chemistry course although should be suitable for other exam boards. Versions both in colour and black and white.
This lesson plan is given away for free in order to encourage recycling! But if you like it please check out my lesson plan on metallic bonding and other lesson plans. I also have versions for AQA and Edexcel iGCSE.
Update: 13/3/24: added clarification that the cathodes are graphite and added a link to a video showing bauxite mining to show the amount of land needed.
Notes on purifying an organic liquid, including links to RSC YouTube clips of the processes.
These notes are oriented towards exam technique and don’t include a complete practical method.
The notes are particularly targeted towards the AQA chemistry A-level and required practical but could be used for other courses or as a basis for other lesson plans. 2018 AQA paper 3 question 3 was consulted writing the notes.
Worksheet on making copper sulfate crystals from copper oxide (insoluble base method) covering two pages for Edexcel 9-1 iGCSE chemistry, versions in colour and in black and white for printing with a mark scheme. Covers removing the excess copper oxide and letting crystals form. There’s a link to a recommended video from Pearson.
The content is divided over the two pages: the first page is more “directly on the topic” questions and could be used on its own for students at the time they cover copper sulphate or do the practical, the second page is more extension and for “final exam revision”: based on student questions and points that came up from discussing the video, I made the second page cover more synoptic questions making connections with other topics, like temperature and rate of reaction. The worksheet is targeted towards building exam technique and written question skills, so doesn’t include a full practical method. Questions consulted include 2C June 2016 Q7 for technique (I recommend this for exam-style practice) and 1CR June 2019, question 5d for rate of reaction and temperature.
I have a similar worksheet for AQA GCSE chemistry.
Worksheet on making copper sulfate crystals from copper oxide (the insoluble base method) covering two pages for Edexcel 9-1 GCSE chemistry, versions in colour and in black and white for printing with a mark scheme. Covers removing the excess copper oxide and letting crystals form. There’s a link to a recommended video from Pearson.
The content is divided over the two pages: the first page is more “directly on the topic” questions and could be used on its own for students at the time they cover copper sulphate or do the practical, the second page is more extension and for “final exam revision”: based on student questions and points that came up from discussing the video, I made the second page cover more synoptic questions making connections with other topics, like temperature and rate of reaction. The worksheet is targeted towards building exam technique and written question skills, so doesn’t include a full practical method.
Specification reference: SC8c core practical, preparing copper sulfate, C3.17
Worksheet on making copper sulfate crystals covering two pages for AQA 9-1 GCSE chemistry, versions in colour and in black and white for printing with a mark scheme. Covers removing the excess copper oxide and letting crystals form, and checked against a similar question on the 84621H specimen paper. There’s a link to a recommended video from Pearson.
The content is divided over the two pages: the first page is more “directly on the topic” questions and could be used on its own for students at the time they cover copper sulphate or do the practical, the second page is more extension and for “final exam revision”: based on student questions and points that came up from discussing the video, I made the second page cover more synoptic questions making connections with other topics, like temperature and rate of reaction. Written targeting AQA but would be suitable for other exam boards. The worksheet is targeted towards building exam technique and written question skills, so doesn’t include a full practical method.
Topic area: required practical 1 and 4.4 Chemical Changes > 4.4.2 Reactions of acids > 4.4.2.3 Soluble salts > Preparing a pure dry sample of a soluble salt from an insoluble oxide or carbonate.
I also have a version for Edexcel iGCSE chemistry.
Worksheet covering the equations and rules for solution electrolysis for AQA 9-1 GCSE higher chemistry on two pages. Covers electrolysis of sodium chloride solution (brine/saltwater), copper sulfate solution with inert graphite electrodes, and electrolysis of pure water. Diagrams, a mark scheme and links to recommended videos from Fuse School and ChemJungle are included. Versions in colour and converted to black and white.
Worksheet on two pages on extracting metals using carbon (and tungsten), targeting the AQA 9-1 science and chemistry GCSEs in the C5 “Chemical changes” section of the course. Covers the reactivity series, unreactive metals, word and symbol equations, environmental impact, redox and tungsten extraction. There’s an in-depth mark scheme, diagram of a blast furnace and links to recommended videos.
Revision notes on the Arrhenius equation for the AQA A-level chemistry specification on two pages. Includes a lot of model calculations, recap of straight line graphs and explanation of the confusing units, including a detailed explanation of the 2018 paper with T and t and how 1/t is proportional to k.
A lot of students by the second year of A-level have forgotten how to do GCSE maths problems like understanding a straight line graph, so this set of notes has a lot of recap of straight line graphs. There’s also a lot of detailed breakdown of the log equation and how it’s a straight line graph. Model calculations are given for log and power of e so students can check they’re using their calculator right.
Notes on the tests for gases and for water for Edexcel 9-1 chemistry GCSE on one page. The notes include an explanation of what the tests tell you about the properties of each chemical and links to recommended videos. Versions both in colour and in black and white for photocopying. Gases covered are tests for hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.
Notes on the tests for gases and for water for Edexcel 9-1 chemistry iGCSE on one page. The notes include an explanation of what the tests tell you about the properties of each chemical and links to recommended videos. Versions both in colour and in black and white for photocopying. Gases covered are tests for hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.
Notes on the tests for gases and for water for Cambridge chemistry iGCSE on one page. The notes include an explanation of what the tests tell you about the properties of each chemical and links to recommended videos. Versions both in colour and in black and white for photocopying. Gases covered are tests for hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. The reaction of ammonia with hydrogen chloride is also covered.
Notes on the tests for gases and for water for AQA 9-1 chemistry GCSE, with notes on one page and a table on a separate sheet. The notes include an explanation of what the tests tell you about the properties of each chemical and links to recommended videos. Versions both in colour and in black and white for photocopying.
Worksheets for teaching polymers on the AQA chemistry specification, covering the current 9-1 GCSEs: a two-page question and answer worksheet covering addition and condensation polymers, and a fill-in-the-blanks sheet for the common addition polymers and their uses. Practices definitions and drawing organic molecule structures. Mark schemes are attached. I include a lot of alternative ways the molecules could be drawn in case the person giving the lesson isn’t a chemistry specialist.
Lesson plan on ionic bonding, featuring a lesson plan presentation, one-page notes for students to take home and a question sheet for students to do. Covers ionic bonding, state at room temperature, common properties, conductivity of electricity, strength and dot and cross diagrams for forming ions.There’s diagrams, pictures and links to two recommended YouTube videos. The question sheet is intended to be a graduated scheme of work with first fill-in-the-blank and then written questions.
Written for AQA 9-1 GCSE chemistry and also for Edexcel GCSE and iGCSE chemistry, but suitable for all the major exam boards. It’s also good for introduction to A-level as a recap.
Notes on gas chromatography and GC-MS for the current Edexcel A-level specification. There’s pictures and diagrams, explanation of a calibration curve and links to three top recommended videos in this one-page resource.
Five page revision notes on Gibbs free energy, for the OCR A specification. Covers the standard trick questions, graphs against temperature, and includes a range of worked examples, diagrams of the graphs, types of reactions where ΔH and ΔS have different signs and unit conversion examples.
When doing tuition using an online platform like Zoom or Skype, you often need to put formulas into the chat box or onto an online whiteboard that wasn’t designed for scientific use and doesn’t support constructing superscript and subscript characters. Also, you may need to write out formulas very quickly if your student asks something unexpected.
So this is a list of a huge number of formulas for the major GCSE and iGCSE chemistry courses using the Unicode superscript and subscript characters, indexed and ready to go for tuition. (For other countries, it should be suitable for tuition of students up to around age 16.)
Covering thirteen pages, sections include:
common ions
organic chemistry: combustion, alkene hydration, alcohol oxidation
acid-base: acids with metals, carbonates, oxides, hydroxides, ammonia reactions
common reversible reactions: Haber process, syngas, the Contact process
inorganic reactions: thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate, electrolysis (water, sodium chloride, copper sulfate with graphite or copper electrodes), displacement, thermite, metals reacting with oxygen and water, halogen displacement, both with overall and ionic and half-equations)
the chemical tests: precipitation, hydroxide tests
the chemical reactions of biology: respiration and photosynthesis
core maths equations that might be needed in science, such as area of a circle, volume of a sphere, volume of a cylinder etc.
some prebuilt unit conversions
Versions of important equations are included in multiple forms, such as with or without state symbols, so you can select one that matches the level you’re working at with the student and keep the lesson flowing.
I’ve used these formulas for a huge number of paid tuition jobs, and couldn’t do anything without them-they’ve really helped me make things clear to students, keep lessons moving and give a professional impression. Many students have asked me how I make equations appear looking good in the chat of a call, or even asked me for this document to use themselves!
The document is an editable rtf and docx file with the equations and all the superscripts and subscripts and some common symbols at the start. You can build your own equations if you need them or edit or reorganise the document to suit your way of working.
Helping students understand chemistry, I’ve realised you have to hold a lot of things in your head to even know what a chemistry textbook is talking about. A lot of students find they just can’t hold together all the things they have to know at once.
Back in 2015, I realised what students can benefit from is a concentrated set of notes, like a dictionary or a glossary but in full sentences, that fits as much of chemistry as you can on a single page that you can keep referring back to to decode what’s going on.
My students liked it, and I’ve worked to create definitions that are concise and clear to fit as much as possible on one page.
It’s helpful for giving students just starting the course to have to refer to every now and then, and for students who need remedial help because the concepts are slipping out of reach.
The notes include quick basic definitions of:
structure of an atom
how to read the periodic table
ionic, covalent and metallic bonding
properties of ionic chemicals
oxidation and reduction
properties of ionic chemicals
acids, bases and alkalis
the idea that in neutralisation the salt name depends on the acid