At a glance
The course in numbers
How to read it. One row is one 45-minute lesson; its pack holds the plan, worksheet and quiz. The week column counts 3 lessons a week until you change the control above; the sheet you download uses the same numbers. Each topic ends at an assessment point, its question bank, which you can assign in the app for a marked score. The learning intention is the first idea of each lesson in the students' own pages; the traps are the examiner traps those pages pre-empt.
The topics in syllabus order
Weeks 1 to 23Topic 1States of matter
Week 1| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.1 | Solids, liquids and gases | Switch the simulator between solid, liquid and gas and watch how the particles are arranged and how they move. |
| 1 | 1.2 | Diffusion | Watch a large particle being knocked about by particles too small to see. |
| 1 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 20 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- A flat section on a heating curve does not mean the heating has stopped.
- The white ring forms closer to the hydrochloric acid end, not in the middle and not near the ammonia.
Topic 2Atoms, elements and compounds
Weeks 1 to 3| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.1 | Elements, compounds and mixtures | Look at Fig. 1 and ask two questions of any box: how many types of atom are there, and are the atoms joined to each other? |
| 2 | 2.2 | Atomic structure and the Periodic Table | Build an atom in the simulator. |
| 2 | 2.3 | Isotopes | Pick an element in the simulator and add or remove neutrons. |
| 2 | 2.4 | Ions and ionic bonding | Pick a metal and a non-metal in the simulator and move the outer electrons across. |
| 3 | 2.5 | Simple molecules and covalent bonds | Build each molecule in the simulator. |
| 3 | 2.6 | Giant covalent structures and metallic bonding | Switch between the two carbon structures in the simulator. |
| 3 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 48 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- A molecule is not the same thing as a compound.
- The mass number is not the number of neutrons.
- Do not just average the mass numbers.
Topic 3Stoichiometry
Weeks 3 to 5| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3.1 | Formulae and equations | A model or diagram of a molecule lets you count the atoms directly. |
| 4 | 3.2 | Relative masses | Load an element into the simulator and look at its isotopes and their abundances. |
| 4 | 3.3 | The mole and gas volumes | Extended content. |
| 4 | 3.3 | Reacting masses, yield and purity | Extended content. |
| 5 | 3.3 | Concentration and titrations | Core: know that concentration is measured in g/dm 3 and in mol/dm 3. |
| 5 | 3.3 | Empirical and molecular formulae | Extended content. |
| 5 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 48 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- Never balance an equation by changing a small number inside a formula.
- Count every atom of the element.
- Read whether the question wants molecules or atoms. 9 g of water is 3.01 × 10 23 molecules but 9.03 × 10 23 atoms, because each H 2 O molecule contains three atoms.
Topic 4Electrochemistry
Weeks 5 to 6| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4.1 | Electrolysis of molten compounds | Select molten lead(II) bromide in the simulator and switch on the current. |
| 6 | 4.1 | Electrolysis of aqueous solutions | Switch the simulator to sodium chloride solution. |
| 6 | 4.1 | Electroplating and refining copper | In the simulator, watch copper ions pick up electrons and become copper atoms on a metal surface. |
| 6 | 4.2 | Hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells | Hydrogen is fed to one electrode and oxygen, usually from the air, to the other. |
| 6 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 36 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- Metals always form at the cathode and non-metals at the anode in a molten compound.
- Sodium is never produced at the cathode from an aqueous solution: it is more reactive than hydrogen, so hydrogen gas is released instead.
- The object being plated must be the cathode.
Topic 5Chemical energetics
Week 7| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5.1 | Exothermic and endothermic reactions | Run the neutralisation in the calorimeter and watch the thermometer rise. |
| 7 | 5.1 | Reaction pathway diagrams | Switch between exothermic and endothermic reactions in the simulator. |
| 7 | 5.1 | Bond breaking, bond making and bond energies | Extended content. |
| 7 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 30 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- In an endothermic reaction the chemicals gain energy, but the thermometer shows a fall, because it measures the surroundings, which have lost energy.
- The activation energy arrow starts at the reactants, not at the bottom axis and not at the products.
- Multiply each bond energy by the number of those bonds, including the big numbers in the equation: 2O 2 means two O=O bonds, and CO 2 has two C=O bonds.
Topic 6Chemical reactions
Weeks 8 to 9| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 6.1 | Physical and chemical changes | Ask one question: is there a new substance at the end? |
| 8 | 6.2 | Rate of reaction | Run the magnesium and acid experiment in the simulator. |
| 8 | 6.2 | Collision theory and catalysts | Extended content. |
| 9 | 6.3 | Reversible reactions and equilibrium | Two colour changes appear in every syllabus. |
| 9 | 6.3 | The Haber and Contact processes | Change the temperature and pressure in the simulator and read the equilibrium yield of ammonia. |
| 9 | 6.4 | Redox | The simplest definitions use oxygen. |
| 9 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 48 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- Dissolving is a physical change: evaporate the water from salt solution and the salt is recovered unchanged.
- Changing the rate does not change the amount of product if the same amounts of reactants are used.
- "More collisions" is not enough for the marks: say more frequent collisions (more collisions per second).
Topic 7Acids, bases and salts
Weeks 10 to 12| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 7.1 | Properties of acids and bases | Add an acid, then an alkali, to each indicator in the simulator and note the colours. |
| 10 | 7.1 | pH, indicators and neutralisation | Use the colour chart to read a pH. |
| 10 | 7.1 | Acids as proton donors, strong and weak acids | Extended content. |
| 11 | 7.2 | Acidic, basic and amphoteric oxides | Step through the oxides of Period 3 in the simulator. |
| 11 | 7.3 | Preparing soluble salts | Use this method when the other reactant is an insoluble solid, so any unreacted solid can be filtered off. |
| 11 | 7.3 | Insoluble salts and solubility rules | Compare the solubilities of the Group 2 hydroxides and sulfates in the simulator; they follow opposite trends, which is why barium sulfate is insoluble. |
| 12 | 7.3 | Hydrated and anhydrous salts | The dot in a formula such as CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O shows water that is part of the crystal, in a fixed ratio. |
| 12 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 56 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- Metal + acid gives hydrogen; carbonate + acid gives carbon dioxide.
- A lower pH means a higher concentration of H + ions, not a lower one.
- Strong and concentrated are different ideas.
Topic 8The Periodic Table
Weeks 12 to 13| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 8.1 | Arrangement of the Periodic Table | Step across Period 3 in the simulator, from sodium to argon. |
| 12 | 8.2 | Group I: the alkali metals | Each alkali metal reacts with water in the same way, but the violence increases down the group. |
| 13 | 8.3 | Group VII: the halogens | Warm each halogen in the simulator and compare the colours and how easily each turns to vapour. |
| 13 | 8.4 | Transition elements | Compare a typical transition metal, iron, with a Group I metal, sodium. |
| 13 | 8.5 | Noble gases | Other elements react in order to reach a full outer shell. |
| 13 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 40 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- The Periodic Table is ordered by proton number, not by relative atomic mass.
- Reactivity increases down Group I but decreases down Group VII.
- In a displacement reaction the colour change comes from the halogen that is formed, not the one added.
Topic 9Metals
Weeks 14 to 16| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 9.1 | Properties of metals | Push the layers of ions in the simulator and watch them slide while the sea of electrons holds them together. |
| 14 | 9.2 | Uses of metals | For each use, give the property that makes the metal suitable. |
| 14 | 9.3 | Alloys and their properties | Mix in atoms of a different size in the simulator and try to slide the layers. |
| 15 | 9.4 | The reactivity series | The same three tests put the metals in order. |
| 15 | 9.5 | Rusting and its prevention | Three iron nails, three test tubes, one week: only one nail rusts. |
| 15 | 9.6 | Extraction and the reactivity series | Carbon is more reactive than metals below it, so it can take the oxygen from their oxides. |
| 16 | 9.6 | Extracting iron in the blast furnace | Follow the gases up the furnace. |
| 16 | 9.6 | Extracting aluminium by electrolysis | Aluminium oxide melts above 2000 °C. |
| 16 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 56 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- With cold water a reactive metal forms a hydroxide; with steam a metal forms an oxide.
- Aluminium resists corrosion not because it is unreactive (it is high in the reactivity series) but because of a thin, tough layer of aluminium oxide that seals the surface.
- An alloy is a mixture, not a compound: the elements are not chemically combined and there is no fixed formula.
Topic 10Chemistry of the environment
Weeks 16 to 17| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 10.1 | Water: tests, treatment and pollution | A chemical test tells you water is there. |
| 17 | 10.2 | Fertilisers | Add an alkali to an ammonium salt in the simulator and test the gas given off. |
| 17 | 10.3 | Air pollution | Learn each pollutant as a pair: where it comes from, and what harm it does. |
| 17 | 10.3 | Greenhouse gases and climate change | Extended. |
| 17 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 32 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- Filtration removes insoluble solids only: dissolved salts, nitrates and microbes small enough to pass through are not removed by it.
- Plants take up ions such as nitrate and ammonium dissolved in soil water, not nitrogen gas from the air, which is why the 78% nitrogen in air does not feed most crops.
- A catalytic converter does not remove carbon dioxide: it makes more of it, from carbon monoxide.
Topic 11Organic chemistry
Weeks 18 to 21| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 11.1 | Formulae, functional groups and homologous series | Build a molecule in the simulator and switch between its molecular, structural and displayed formulae. |
| 18 | 11.2 | Naming organic compounds | Pick a stem and an ending in the simulator and check that your displayed formula matches the name. |
| 18 | 11.3 | Fuels and fractional distillation | A fraction is not a single compound: it is a mixture of hydrocarbons with similar chain lengths and a narrow range of boiling points. |
| 19 | 11.4 | Alkanes | Alkanes do not react with acids, alkalis or bromine water in the dark. |
| 19 | 11.5 | Alkenes | Add bromine to ethene in the simulator and watch the double bond open. |
| 19 | 11.5 | Cracking | Build alkanes of different chain lengths in the simulator and compare their formulae with C n H 2n+2. |
| 20 | 11.6 | Alcohols | Learn the conditions for each route exactly; they are asked for word for word. |
| 20 | 11.7 | Carboxylic acids and esters | Compare ethanoic acid with hydrochloric acid of the same concentration in the simulator. |
| 20 | 11.8 | Addition polymers | Add reagents across the double bond of an alkene in the simulator, then link many alkene molecules together to make a polymer. |
| 21 | 11.8 | Condensation polymers and proteins | Extended. |
| 21 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 80 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- A homologous series has similar chemical properties but a trend in physical properties: do not swap the two words. "Saturated" means only single carbon-carbon bonds, not "contains as much hydrogen as possible dissolved in it".
- A chain drawn with a bend is the same molecule, not an isomer: follow the bonds, not the shape on the page.
- Fractional distillation is a physical separation: no bonds inside molecules are broken, so it is not cracking.
Topic 12Experimental techniques and chemical analysis
Weeks 21 to 23| Week | Ref | Lesson | Learning intention |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 12.1 | Experimental design and apparatus | Each quantity has its own apparatus. |
| 21 | 12.2 | Acid-base titrations | Run a titration in the simulator: fill the burette, add the indicator, and slow down to single drops as the colour starts to change. |
| 22 | 12.3 | Chromatography | Every detail of the set-up has a reason. |
| 22 | 12.4 | Separation and purification | Name the mixture, find the property that differs, then choose. |
| 22 | 12.5 | Tests for anions and cations | Add acidified silver nitrate to each halide solution in the simulator and compare the three precipitate colours. |
| 23 | 12.5 | Tests for gases | Learn the test and the result as a pair. |
| 23 | Assessment point | Topic question bank, 48 multiple-choice questions: print or review, or assign in the app for a marked score. |
Examiner traps to pre-empt:
- The filtrate is what passes through the paper, the residue is what stays behind: do not swap them.
- The rough titre overshoots the end-point, so leave it out of the mean.
- Measure both distances from the baseline, not from the bottom of the paper, and measure to the centre of the spot.
Also for this course
Beyond the scheme
Lesson packs67 packs: plan, worksheet, quiz
Question bankBuild a test from every course
PlannerBlock out the term
Classes and gradebookAssign the banks, track everyone
Student syllabus pageIGCSE Chemistry 0620
Original work by the TheLucidSTEM team. Week numbers assume 3 lessons a week unless you change the control; the download carries the numbers shown.