YEAR 11 CHEMISTRY COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Outline

Overview

Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry Syllabus at GEMS Wesgreen International Secondary School aims to provide the students an opportunity to develop attitudes relevant to chemistry such as; synthesis, formulation, analysis and characteristic properties of substances and materials of all kinds. It will provide students the opportunity to study wide range of courses including Cambridge International AS & A Level chemistry.

Learning Outcomes

Students should be helped to appreciate the achievements of chemistry in showing how the complex and diverse phenomena of both the natural and man-made worlds can be described in terms of a number of key ideas which are of universal application, and which can be illustrated in the separate topics set out below. These ideas include:

• matter is composed of tiny particles called atoms and there are about 100 different naturally-occurring types of atoms called elements
• elements show periodic relationships in their chemical and physical properties
• these periodic properties can be explained in terms of the atomic structure of the elements
• atoms bond either by transferring electrons from one atom to another or by sharing electrons
• the shapes of molecules (groups of atoms bonded together) and the way giant structures are arranged is of great importance in terms of the way they behave
• reactions can occur when molecules collide and do so at different rates due to differences in molecular collisions
• chemical reactions take place in only three different ways:
  • proton transfer
  • electron transfer
  • electron sharing
• energy is conserved in chemical reactions so can therefore be neither created nor destroyed.

Ongoing Objectives

The objectives are to:

provide an enjoyable and worthwhile educational experience for all learners, whether or not they go on to study science beyond this level

• enable learners to acquire sufficient knowledge and understanding to:
  • become confident citizens in a technological world and develop an informed interest in scientific matters
• be suitably prepared for studies beyond Cambridge IGCSE
  • allow learners to recognise that science is evidence-based and understand the usefulness, and the limitations, of scientific method
• develop skills that:
  • are relevant to the study and practice of chemistry
  • are useful in everyday life
  • encourage a systematic approach to problem-solving
  • encourage efficient and safe practice
  • encourage effective communication through the language of science
• To develop attitudes relevant to chemistry such as:
  • concern for accuracy and precision
  • ·objectivity
  • integrity
  • enquiry
  • initiative
  • inventiveness
• Enable learners to appreciate that:
  • science is subject to social, economic, technological, ethical and cultural influences and limitations
  • the applications of science may be both beneficial and detrimental to the individual, the community and the environment.

Unit Overviews

Term 1

For blended learning we will provide video links, live demonstrations of practical investigation as well as access to the relevant worksheets and resources that all students will need.

Approximate length: 12weeks

Units Covered:
Unit 8: Acid, bases and Salts
Unit 10: Metals (Reactivity Series, Extraction and Uses of Metals)
Unit 5: Electricity and chemistry
Unit 6: Chemical energetics
Unit 7: Chemical reactions (Rates of Reaction and Reversible Reaction)

Specific National Curriculum Objectives Covered:

Chemical and allied industries
• extraction and purification of metals related to the position of carbon in a reactivity series.

Chemical changes
• identification of common gases
• the chemistry of acids; reactions with some metals and carbonates
• pH as a measure of hydrogen ion concentration and its numerical scale
• electrolysis of molten ionic liquids and aqueous ionic solutions
• reduction and oxidation in terms of loss or gain of oxygen. Energy changes in chemistry
• Measurement of energy changes in chemical reactions (qualitative)
• Bond breaking, bond making, activation energy and reaction profiles (qualitative).

Rate and extent of chemical change
• factors that influence the rate of reaction: varying temperature or concentration, changing the surface area of a solid reactant or by adding a catalyst
• factors affecting reversible reactions.

Term 2

Programme of Study 

Term 3

IGCSE Examination

Assessment

Formative: Throughout the units, the children will complete graded work, quizzes and investigation activities, which allows the teacher to assess the students’ attainment and inform their planning.
For each unit the students complete a pre and posttest. This allows us to see progress across the units and to inform our planning.

Summative: At the end of each term, we complete internal tests. This allows us to measure the students’ progress throughout the term and year. The end of term tests and the mock examinations will test students in Papers 2, 4 and 6 as per the IGCSE syllabus.