Chemical reactions: student digital

• This teacher guide is highly valuable for the year 9 science curriculum due to its relevance to content descriptions in the Chemical sciences strand. Activities and question suggestions support teaching about the size and structure of atoms; what happens during a chemical reaction in terms of rearrangement of atoms, energy changes and the conservation of mass; and the reactions that occur between acids and metals, bases and carbonates. As well there is is material to support teaching how to write word equations for observed chemical reactions. This resource also assists teaching about radiation, specifically the energy emitted by unstable atoms.
• This is a valuable resource due to its relevance to several content descriptions within the Scientific inquiry and skills strand for 9. The resource contains detailed instructions for desigining activities and inquiry tasks relevant to a variety of chemistry topics. It covers all vital components of a good scientific investigation including making predictions, planning and conducting simple experiments, using scientific equipment including constructing and following safety guidelines, recording and evaluating results, and report writing. There are activity sheet tasks for assessing student inquiry skills particularly for making predictions and discussing results.
• This resource is valuable for Science as a human endeavour strand. In Nature and development of science, it supports teaching about the development of scientific understanding over time particularly atomic theory and models for the structure of the atom. It also contains material for teaching about prominent scientists and their work on radioactivity including Marie Curie and Michael Faraday.
• It is valuable in Use and influence of science for teaching about the role of science and technology in solving issues. The sections called Energy from the nucleus, What is energy, and Acids and bases contain materials for teaching about technologies and applications of chemical science in producing energy, useful products and medical solutions.
• This resource is valuble for content descriptions in years 8 and 10 chemical science, particularly those relating to elements and their location on the periodic table. For year 8, it also supports teaching about the symbols and formulas used to represent elements and compounds, and identifying when a chemical change has occurred. In year 10, it is valuable for teaching about the electronic structure of atoms, the products of different chemical reactions, and writing equations to describe chemical reactions.
• This resource has value for the literacy, numeracy, and critical and creative thinking general capabilities. The teaching of literacy is supported through the scientific language used to describe specific concepts and ideas, including the style and format of scientific reports. Numeracy skills are supported through inquiry tasks with many opportunities for teachers to demonstrate and instruct the collection and representation of data and balancing chemical equations. This resource also supports the critical and creative thinking capability with materials to support teaching about predicting, evaluating and explaining investigation results.

8; 9; 10