Chemistry
Choose from one of the following sections:
There are six main sections studied in the South Australian syllabus, each
containing more detailed studies:
- Consumer Chemistry
- Structural Formulae and Systematic Nomenclature
- Alcohols
- Aldehydes and Ketones
- Carbohydrates
- Carboxylic Acids
- Esters
- Fats, Soaps and Detergents
- Other Cleaning Agents
- General Consumer Chemistry
- Quality Control
- Volumetric Analysis
- Other Analytical Methods
- Industrial Chemistry
- Reaction Rate
- Chemical Equilibrium
- Designing an Industrial Process
- Energy Use and Sources
- Industrial Extractive Processes and Energy Costs
- Measuring Energy Changes
- Combustion
- Voltaic Cells
- Nuclear Energy
- Small Molecules
- Structure, Bonding and Shape
- Electron Configuration
- Period Trends
- Biosphere Chemistry
- Big Molecules and Lattices
- Organic Polymers
- Inorganic Polymers
- Polymer Properties
Chemistry is a progressive knowledge subject, which means that advancing
through the subject requires a firm understanding of previously studied topics.
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you understand work you are
doing and apply it at other times, especially in tests. If you choose to
ignore your weaknesses, exam-time will be impossibly busy.
Thankfully, Chemistry is not a subject where there are lots of assignments
along with other work in lesson time. Generally, the whole year consists of
lesson time, homework and tests every two or three weeks. However, there is
one assignment that you are expected to complete before and/or during year 12
Chemistry. This is the social relevance study, which focuses on the social of
chemistry in society. This counts as 5% in the end of the year's school
assessed grade (50% of the end of year grade).
The main and most important section of chemistry is the end of year exam.
This counts for 50% of your total grade in Chemistry. Therefore, it is
obvious that a lot of time should be spent on the preparation for this exam.
See the general sections on exam preparation.
Undoubtedly, the most constructive thing that can be done before school
starts is to research and write a rough draft of the social relevance project.
Obtain the relevant assignment sheets from your teacher and begin research
straight away. You will be staggered at the amount of time it takes to
properly research a topic. Download a copy of my social relevance project here.Here are some general pointers:
- very carefully choose a subject based on your interests in that area
and how easily you will be able to get information on that topic
- avoid the very typical topics such as the greenhouse effect, acid rain,
ozone depletion and so on
- if possible, check with your teacher that your topic is a good one
- begin researching
-
start in a local library and then work your way through the bigger
libraries
- if you are progressing to large libraries and find that you are not finding
enough, then you should seriously consider changing your topic
- collate information(write a plan)
by noting the relevant information,
remember to:
- emphasize the chemistry, and the social relevance
- include your reason for choosing the subject (only briefly)
- have a structured approach to the content
- Introduction
- Body (i.e. 'the facts','chemical use/effects','social relevance')
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Appendices
- write a rough draft
- check the draft / edit etc
- write good copy
- show to to teacher
- amend to teachers suggestions
- complete the social relevance project before or very early in the
school year
- do all the homework that is set, the night that us is set, otherwise
you will arrive in chemistry the day after and not fully understand the
lesson. This can lead to a very dangerous 'snowball' effect.
- do homework thoroughly and don't do it in your head - you will learn a
lot more when you write it out on paper and complete every question in the
correct sequence
- if time ever gets really tight, don't do the formative practical work...this
is only a very low percentage of your years grade (probably less that 1%) and
they take too long for the amount of marks that you will get out of them
- do the summative practicals really well - they count for a large portion of your school assessed grade and they are normally pretty easy
- follow the general guide of learning for tests like a bible - find them
here
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