Igcse chem prac exam style paper intro indd

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© Cambridge University Press 2014  IGCSE

®

 Chemistry

Introduction to teaching ideas

Introduction to teaching ideas

Th

  e notes included here are intended to provide outline ideas for ways in which you might cover the Cambridge 

IGCSE

®

 Chemistry syllabus with your students. Th

  ey are not intended to provide a scheme of work or lesson plans. 

Th

  ere are several diff erent ways in which the ideas and content of the syllabus can be covered, and the sequence 

and depth of treatment needs to be tailored to the students’ prior experience and the school’s context. Examples of 

schemes of work for this and similar courses can be found on the Cambridge International Examinations Teacher 

Support website (http://www.cie.org.uk/profi les/teachers). Th

  ese schemes do suggest activities that can be used to 

teach various topics. Remember that a full scheme of work needs to be a ‘living’ document, continuously evaluated 

and modifi ed as the course evolves. 

Included on this resource, and on the Coursebook CD-ROM, are tables linking the chapter content of the 

Coursebook to the syllabus. However, it is most important to remember that chemistry is not just a body of 

knowledge to be learnt. Th

  e questions in the Coursebook, exercises in the Workbook and the worksheets supplied 

as part of this Teacher’s Resource provide many opportunities for students to develop and assess their learning and 

familiarity with the subject. However, there are other skills which need to be developed throughout the course that 

relate to chemistry as a science. Students need to become familiar with scientifi c method. Th

  ey should be asked 

to make careful observations and record them, to display, analyse and interpret results, to evaluate the reliability 

of results and to plan their own experiments. Th

  e content of the fi nal chapter of the Coursebook, exercises in 

the Workbook and particularly the practical Activities featured in the Coursebook provide many opportunities 

for developing these skills, and you will certainly also like to add some of your own. Th

  ough not exhaustive, we 

have tried to suggest areas where ideas can be found. In particular, we have included some reference to the use of 

microscale chemistry and data-logging techniques, both areas that are developing rapidly worldwide. Th

 roughout 

the Activities and Workbook Exercises we have suggested means for both student self-assessment and teacher 

evaluation of the development of various practical skills.

Th

  e notes for each chapter begin with a table suggesting a possible way of breaking up the material to be 

covered into a number of topics based on the diff erent sections in each chapter. Th

  e number of periods suggested 

for each topic is probably a minimum, and most teachers are likely to want to spend more time than this on many 

topics. For each topic area, relevant resources in the Coursebook, Workbook and worksheets are listed together 

with external references to some useful websites. Th

  ese websites are all active at the time of writing and are likely 

to continue to be so. Outline descriptions of what might be included in each of these lessons are then given. Th

 ese 

are no more than suggestions, and they are not comprehensive. You may like to use all of them, some of them or 

none of them! Th

  ere is also a list of some of the most common student misunderstandings and misconceptions that 

are met in teaching the course, and some suggestions for tasks that could be set for homework. Revision checklists 

relating to the learning outcomes for each chapter, and to these teaching ideas, are provided on the Coursebook 

CD-ROM. Summaries linking the learning outcomes for each chapter to the sections of the syllabus they relate to 

are also included on this and the Coursebook CD-ROM.

Although the teaching ideas are grouped and ordered by chapter, it is not necessary for the sequence of 

concepts presented in the Coursebook to be followed exactly. Indeed, teachers are encouraged to present the topics 

in an order that they feel best suits their class. One possible diff erent teaching sequence for the overall course is 

shown in Figure 1. Th

  e sequence is depicted as a spiral to emphasise that certain topics build on others and the 

ideas can be revisited, introducing more complex ideas and examples, as the course progresses. Th

  e contents of the 

notes included are simply suggestions, some of which you might like to incorporate into your lessons.

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