A bonafide Science Teacher (of 13 years), and Head of Year, from Gloucestershire offering tried and tested resources to save you the time and energy when planning. There's no point reinventing the wheel!
Watch out for new resources to help you meet the demands of teaching the Science GCSE and Chemistry A-Level.
A bonafide Science Teacher (of 13 years), and Head of Year, from Gloucestershire offering tried and tested resources to save you the time and energy when planning. There's no point reinventing the wheel!
Watch out for new resources to help you meet the demands of teaching the Science GCSE and Chemistry A-Level.
This simple activity offers you a small data set for students to plot in as a line graph (you’ll need graph paper!). It also provides descriptions which can be ‘cut and stuck’ or annotated onto the graph to summarise the different stages of foetal growth. Once the graph and descriptions are in place there should be plenty of opportunity to question/extend your students by getting them to think about the different stages of the graph. Eg Where is growth most rapid? Why might that be? How might the woman be feeling during these stages? Why?
You get the idea!
Great or graph plotting skills development too.
A simple 'match ‘em up’ activity to sort/match the name of the reproductive organ with it’s function. These are not in order so could be printed off and handed out straight away. If time is limited this would make a good colour code activity rather than ‘cut and stick’.
This lovely resource allows students to present details on the menstrual cycle in a creative and visual way. It is a blank calendar for the month of February (28 days = perfect!) with a diagram of the cycle and the key events which take place plus an incomplete, colour coded key. Students task is to research, find out information to complete the empty boxes under the calendar and describe the main stages of the cycle. This can then be colour coded on to the calendar with colouring pencils. The task can be extended to challenge students to research what is occurring in terms of hormone activity too!
A cut and stick or match 'em up type activity to assess recall of simple chemical reactions content.
common gas tests
reactant and products
the fire triangle
word equations
A simple resource/worksheet to get students thinking about real life fire scenarios and how most appropriately to break the fire triangle to extinguish the fire.
Students are given four different fire scenarios. For each they need to draw the type of fire and then decide upon the best way of extinguishing it and then explain why.
SPEC IT, REVISE IT, TEST IT. If students know EXACTLY WHAT they need to revise (using the specification checklist) it makes for smarter revision. If they can TEST THEMSELVES to measure their understanding - even better!
This resource is a comprehensive but concise knowledge organiser covering Heat Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions (including bond energy calculations/ exothermic vs endothermic and energy profiles - I’ve also included my nifty way of helping students remember the difference between making and breaking bonds in terms of their exothermic and endothermic properties!).
This knowledge organiser has been made against the Edexcel specification but would easily be applicable to others. The Knowledge Organiser is applicable to students sitting standard or higher tier papers (studying Separate or Combined Science routes).
Each revision point has been written as a typical ‘stock exam answer’ and cuts out all the waffle.
A great knowledge organiser all boiled down to one sheet.
My revision methods are quite simple in my lessons - SPEC IT, REVISE IT, TEST IT. If students know EXACTLY WHAT they need to revise (using the specification checklist) it makes for smarter revision. If they can TEST THEMSELVES to measure their understanding - even better!
This resource is a comprehensive but concise knowledge organiser covering the tough put essential Chemistry Calculations plus some great examples of model calculation answers. This knowledge organiser has been made against the Edexcel specification but would easily be applicable to others. Each revision point has been written in accordance with the specification section to help students translate the specification points. The Knowledge Organiser is applicable to students sitting standard or higher tier papers.
Calculations included are…
calculating concentrations (in g/dm3 and mol/dm3)
calculating unknown concentrations using titration data
gas volume calculations starting with mass of a reactant
gas molar volume ratios
A great knowledge organiser all boiled down to one sheet.
If students know EXACTLY WHAT they need to revise (using the specification checklist) it makes for smarter revision. If they can TEST THEMSELVES to measure their understanding - even better!
This resource is a comprehensive but concise knowledge organiser covering…
Electrolysis key definitions
Predicting the products of an electrolysis experiment (a great flow diagram to make this easier for students!)
Half equations
Purifying Copper
oxidation and reduction
This resource is a must have for Quantitative Calculations revision, classwork or homework.
Resource includes a Knowledge Organiser (written against the Edexcel Specification but easily applicable to others) PLUS a worksheet of calculations to test against the content in the knowledge organiser. I’ve even included worked answers to save you the bother!
Calculations include…
concentrations in mol/dm3
percentage yield
atom economy
Gas volumes
Gas volumes from masses
Titration Calculations
Lots for students to do, nothing for you to do apart from print it off!
A great knowledge organiser all boiled down to one sheet.
If students know EXACTLY WHAT they need to revise (using the specification checklist) it makes for smarter revision. If they can TEST THEMSELVES to measure their understanding - even better!
This resource is a comprehensive but concise knowledge organiser covering…
common formula
ionic formula to learn (simple and compound)
word equations
balanced equation writing
ionic equation writing
hazard symbols and precautions to reduce risk.
A lesson for early on in the Organic Chemistry topic of A-Level Chemistry, introducing the idea of functional groups and homologous series. Students will carry out an independent task to find out the functional groups from a given list plus the general formula and homologous series they belong to.
I have also included an exam question to assess understanding at the end of the lesson or to set as a homework for lesson follow up (answer included).
An excellent activity to allow your A-Level Chemists to apply their knowledge of Mass Spectrometry and Infrared Spectroscopy to identify some Organic unknowns. This activity will need to be taught after students have had an introduction to the main homologous series’ in their first year of A-Level Chemistry.
The task involves students studying mass and infrared spectra to identify the unknown chemicals. Some qualitative clues have also been given to encourage students to realise that analysis often involves multiple sets of data.
All answers are included. I gave this as a paired task but would work well in groups, individually, as a homework or an assessment.
Who? For those teaching the new Chemistry/ Combined Science GCSE (2016). Also for those of you requiring a clear and simple worksheet for your students to complete on the first 20 elements of the periodic table.
What? This worksheet requires students to look up each element (from the top 20) in the periodic table to deduce how many electrons. They will then need to apply the 2, 8, 8 rule and away they go!
A couple of bonus questions at the end… (Answers are on included on the second sheet - all electronic configurations given to save you looking them up!)
Who? Those teaching the new (and old!) GCSE Physics. This worksheet would fit nicely into the P3 Edexcel specification. This is for students who are getting to grips with identifying the useful and wasted energies made by electrical devices.
What? The worksheet is a grid to be filled out after considering/discussing the different types of energy output delivered by the different electrical devices. There is also an opportunity to consider aspects of their design which have been developed to reduce wasted energy. This will extend some and deepen the thinking involved.
Answers are included on the second sheet of the resource.
Who? For you lucky people teaching the new Chemistry/ Combined Science GCSE (2016). Also for those of you requiring a straightforward and simple lesson on atomic number, mass number plus how to use them to calculate numbers of the sub-atomic particles in an atom. This lesson has been made with reference to the new Edexcel Spec.
What? This is a whole lesson on one powerpoint. A starter/ diagnostic to see what your group know about the atom already. Learning objectives, worked examples with answers, class tasks with answers (all written in the ‘notes’ section of the powerpoint). This lesson is ready to go but still offers you flexibility to offer group work or peer teaching style tasks if you wish. Everything you need is here as powerpoint slides can be printed as ‘worksheets’ if needed.
This super resource uses modelling of how to calculate Kc and deduce units for Kc. The whole lesson is based around typical exam questions which will be worth approximately 5 marks. This video has links directly to my YouTube channel to allow you to play students a model Kc calculation with a clear step-by-step method. Using the video models will free you up as teacher to talk through each step and allow time for questioning without having to worry about working through the examples - they are already done for you!
The final model is a an exam question from a previous past paper. The markscheme has been included in the presentation to allow you to share this with your students.
Kc calculations are tricky to teach but this really takes out the hard work! The whole lesson is within the powerpoint and teaching suggestions are written into the notes section of each slide.
Who? For those who are teaching GCSE Physics ‘Motion’, specifically ‘Stopping Distances’. This is a card sort for students to decide which factors fall into the ‘thinking distance’ pile and which the ‘braking distance’ pile.
What? This is a grid of different factors which students may discuss and decide whether they affect the thinking or braking (or both) distance of a vehicle. There will be plenty of opportunity to debate which are worse. This activity is flexible enough to become a ‘diamond 9’ type activity too.
How? Cards can be cut out and arranged or colour coded.
This super resource will challenge your students plus help in preparing them for synoptic style questions. It is an activity which can be run in groups or individually depending on your group. It would make a great competition or equally as an exam style problem.
This will test students knowledge of qualitative tests as well as being able to read and interpret all spectra (HNMR, CNMR, Mass Spectrometry and Infrared Spectroscopy). Students will have to combine their skills to identify four unknowns given only qualitative test results and spectra. They will need to deduce the structure and name of the four unknowns with no help from you!
A full set of instructions plus all the answers/ solutions are included too, so you really don’t have to do ANY of the work!
This activity is tried and tested and well received! IT has been designed with the Edexcel Specification in mind but will apply to others. Enjoy! (Reviews welcome as I’d love to hear what your students thought).
My revision methods are quite simple in my lessons - SPEC IT, REVISE IT, TEST IT. If students know EXACTLY WHAT they need to revise (using the specification checklist) it makes for smarter revision. If they can TEST THEMSELVES to measure their understanding - even better!
This resource is a comprehensive but concise knowledge organiser covering Atomic Structure (including isotopes and calculating relative atomic mass). This knowledge organiser has been made against the Edexcel specification. Each revision point has been marked with the specification section (in green) and is applicable to students sitting standard or higher tier papers. Students also get to see some model exam questions so they are able to see how the specification points may be presented in exam form.
This circus of activities would easily be your main task within a lesson. The focus is on dissolving/soluble vs insoluble/ separating mixtures and solutions. I have produced a tech list (attached) so this should be as straightforward as possible! Very simple practical kit which should not cause any issues.
Students could be put into groups/pairs and complete this circus with little input from you. The main worksheet/booklet has simple but clear instructions of what to do at each station. The only thing you will have to organise is how to lay out your room!
Aimed at KS3 but could easily be used with low ability KS4.