This term will be all about chemistry! We will cover the foundations of chemistry knowledge about the nature of atoms and ions, as well as acids, bases, salts, the pH scale, indicators and reaction rates.
The majority of the term will be spent preparing you for the Level 1 Science external assessment (an end-of-year exam) about foundational chemistry concepts. Students MUST take this course and pass the end-of-year exam (AS90944: Demonstrate Understanding of Acids and Bases) to be prepared for Level 2 Chemistry the following year. Please note, this standard will be offered by Suze Lamont in yellow block in term 2 so this is not the only time it is available this year.
Zack says that this standard is ESSENTIAL for any student wishing to study chemistry beyond Level 1 NCEA. Michelle says that if you are keen to study biology beyond Level 1, then an understanding of chemistry is really useful.
In the last few weeks of term, we will start looking at how to conduct and document valid scientific experiments. This will result in the internal assessment for the practical chemistry investigation internal AS90930 (4 credits - these credits also count towards the numeracy requirement at Level 1).