This group of resources is "hands-on and brains-on" Start the lesson with the practical work making a rainbow. This can be done as a teacher demonstration but is lovely for students to carry out. Follow up with the "colouring in" worksheet that takes a look at different indicators. There is a kinesthetic activity designed to get students moving and help them think about which acids and alkalis are needed to make a series of salts. To finish off students can work through the neutralisation worksheet which involves more thinking and colouring in.

This lesson is run as a competition between small groups of students. The lesson encourages students to use a series of challenges and clues to work out for themselves the key ideas about the greenhouse effect. The lesson is structured with a starter, a session gathering the main ideas and then time for students to put together their own explanation. It is aimed at less academic GCSE students but would also work well for keystage 3 students and more able GCSE students who could complete it more quickly.

So many students find this topic confusing! This resource is intended to make clear the differences between atoms and molecules and between elements and compounds. The practical work is backed up by a student worksheet. It's primarily aimed at KS3 students but weaker KS4 students will find it helpful too.

Here are two activities designed to help students understand the significance of elements and investigate some of their properties. The activities are backed up by a student worksheet. It is primarily aimed at KS3 students though teachers might like to use it with less able KS4 students too.

Here are three activities to introduce students to the range of naturally occurring chemicals found on planet Earth. They are designed to develop student's skills of interpretation and analysis. Students first label a diagram of the planet to show its different components. They then extract information from a table and interpret it to discover more about the some of the chemicals found on Earth. Finally a set of chemical cards are sorted into a Venn diagram

Whilst students play top trumps with these well designed cards (supplied in word and pdf format), they will learn much about molecular structure and formulae as well as finding out about how living organisms use the molecules. A great starter activity, students enjoy the game and learn a lot along the way.

A suite of resources to help students understand the development of the periodic table and how it highlights patterns and trends in the elements. It includes a presentation detailing the history of the periodic table, two active worksheets to help students appreciate how the periodic table is organised, a template for students to make their own spiral periodic table and a list giving links to five of the best periodic table resources available on the web.

Here are two games that really help students get the hang of formulae. They have been used successfully with students in years 8-11 from many different schools. Use them when introducing students to formulae in keystage 3 or 4. They are suitable for all abilities and also requires students to communicate effectively. Game One - Molecule Race. Working in pairs, students race to build models of ten different molecules. One student uses the card to give instructions to the other who builds the molecule. The cards are provided in word and pdf format. MOLECULAR MODEL KIT (EG MOLYMOD) REQUIRED. Game Two - Triplet Match. This whole class or team activity gets students to match names, with formuale and diagrams.

This excel spreadsheet provides good simulation of the Haber process where you can adjust the proportions of the raw materials, the temperature, the catalyst and the pressure to find out how much ammonia you make. Get it right and you can maximise your profit per day! When opening the spreadsheet, don't forget to click "enable" Students can work individually on this activity or the simulation can be projected and used with the whole class. There is also a worksheet to help students think through the process at the molecular level along with notes and answers for the teacher.

Using this simulation, written in excel, your students can explore the impact of surface area, temperature and concentration on reaction rate. As the conditions change, so the graph changes. When opening the spreadsheet, don't forget to click on "enable". There is a worksheet for students to complete as they work through the activity. There are also two additional worksheets with further explore rates graphs and help students to deepen their understanding.

Displacement reactions can be difficult for students to master so here's a card game based around whist that will help them. As they play the game, students have to decide whether or not the chemicals on the cards will react, if they can provide a card that prompts a displacement reaction they win! The game is designed to prompt higher level thought and discussion. Also included are outline details for a teacher demonstration of the displacement reactions with an accompanying worksheet for students to complete

This is a card game (based on rummy) where students collect sets of cards that, taken together, form a complete neutralisation reaction. There is a full set of playing cards along with instructions on how to play for the teacher. To accompany the game there is also a "colouring in" worksheet that links neutralisation reactions to changes in pH. There is also a thinking activity where students read through a series of cards in order to find out the uses of some common salts formed by neutralisation.

A suite of three highly engaging activities to help students relate sub-atomic structure and electron configuration to the periodic table 1 Periodic Table Bingo uses real bingo cards and can get very competitive 2 An outline, blank periodic table (featuring the first 20 elements) which students complete by drawing in the electrons in each of the atoms 3 A worksheet designed to help students see the link between number of shells and period and number of outer electrons and group.

As well as instructions and technical details for this classic piece of practical work, this activity is also reinforced by a great simulation where students can see try cracking different large molecules and find the effect on the resulting mixture. If they can match the supply to the demand successfully, they can maximise their profit. The simulation could be carried out by individual students or by a teacher in front of a whole class. There is also a follow up worksheet for students to help them understand the equations that underpin the reactions

Two hands-on activities for what can be a rather dry area of work. In the first, students examine diagrams of atoms and use a periodic table to identify them. In the seconds, atom pairs are examined in order to find out whether or not they are isotopes. The activities work well after the key idea have been explained since they help students consolidate and then apply their knowledge.

In this bundle you'll find:- - a starter activity modelling air and the covalent molecules it contains - details of a teacher led demonstration showing that covalent molecules do not conduct electricity - an activity to help students draw representations of covalent molecules along with some extension activities - 3 worksheets to consolidate student learning