Subject insights: Chemistry
Well hello there and welcome to update #028!
When we think of secondary school chemistry, we might imagine Bunsen burners, foaming beakers and the periodic table song. In Huh, Helen Skelton explains the fundamental knowledge, skills and understanding students should be getting from a rich chemistry curriculum.
Fundamental to understanding chemistry is having a good knowledge of the particle model. Students need to be able to describe different structures, compounds and elements in terms of the particle model. They need to understand that in chemistry, we're talking about the structure of materials and the interactions between substances when we put them together.
Students need to be able to articulate what we mean by a chemical reaction and give examples while at the same time being able to link back to the particle model.
Models help us comprehend complex and often miniscule things. Over time we develop more sophisticated models to explain more complex ideas.
Year 7 begins with the basic solid-liquid-gas particle model. Then you build on that, linking it to chemical reactions and atoms and the idea of bonding, explaining that we have chemical bonds between atoms and how reactions concern rearranging those atoms.
Students need to understand that the rearrangement of atoms happens in certain patterns and specific ways. Complementing the particle model is a secure level of understanding of the periodic table, what it is and why chemists use it. There are trends and patterns in the periodic table; it is the chemist’s way of organising chemical knowledge.
Obviously, chemical knowledge is much broader than just the periodic table, but it gives us much of the underpinning understanding. Acids and alkalis and the reactions of acids and alkalis is another significant, fundamental area of the subject. You would expect a Year 9 chemist to be able to talk about the idea of pH scale and reactions associated with it.
The symbols used to represent elements in the periodic table are a global language! To think like a chemist is to understand what's really meant by a chemical bond and why chemicals interact as they do. Symbols are the language of chemistry.
The hands-on aspect of chemistry is important, so scientific method is woven throughout key stage 3. There is structured practical work, and there are also opportunities to design and plan experiments themselves. Key stage 3 gives a broader understanding of practical science and how scientists work.
My favourite practical at key stage 3, is the reaction of the group 1 metals with water because it is really visual. You can demonstrate that you are forming an alkali by using universal indicator in the water, and students can see the colour changing.
It is a demonstration, rather than a practical that students can do, but it is one where you can start to delve into the details of the chemistry that is happening in front of them. There’s so much scope for questioning, observation and reinforcing prior knowledge. Students may think the metal is just dissolving, but then we can ask whether it is dissolving or reacting. And then you are teasing out some of the differences between the physical processes and the chemical reactions taking place.
Curriculum development is best done collaboratively. It's incredibly useful to sit down and talk through a particular aspect of chemistry and the journey of the curriculum. It makes you justify what you are doing. Discussion opens up whole new ways of thinking about the subject.
Three documents to support line managers on chemistry
1. Ofsted Science report series
2. Chemistry chapter in What should schools teach? Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth, Cuthbert & Standish UCL
3. CogSciSci Symposium on Curriculum in Science
You can watch the full conversation with Helen, John and me on Myatt & Co.
(£/free trial)
When you’re ready, you might find these helpful for curriculum and leadership development in your school
NEW: Secondary subject networks are now available (£/free trial)
The spring Primary Subject Networks are also available (£/free trial)
And there’s also the popular Primary Curriculum Booster which include live check-ins with me!
Huh Curriculum Leaders Course: UPDATE: The June course is now open, and places are filling up fast and it’s the last chance for the live sessions!
Huh Leadership Lobby: a blended, self-paced course with live check-ins, led by me and Andrew Morrish. It is designed for aspiring, new and established leaders, it starts on 21 April 2023 and places are limited
In one interview or somewhere in one of his books, Richard Feynman had this to say about Physics if he had to squeeze it down to one sentence: All things are made of atoms – little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another.
Your description of Chemistry is quite similar and thus helpful.
"They need to understand that in chemistry, we're talking about the structure of materials and the interactions between substances when we put them together."
Thank you so much.