External assessment
Understanding the activity series
The difference between the electrochemical series and the activity (or reactivity) series can be confusing to students, particularly as potassium is below lithium in one and above it in the other. This...
External assessment
VSEPR
Why students seem to find determining the shape of a molecule or ion using Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory difficult and how you can help them. For some reason students seem to find...
External assessment
Thinking through multiple choice questions
Multiple choice questions are a good way to examine knowledge and understanding efficiently and have been used by the IB as part of the final assessment in chemistry for decades. However they are not...
External assessment
Paper 1
This section looks at all aspects of Paper 1 which consists of Section A (multiple choice) and Section B (short answer data-based questions on experimental work). Linked pages cover advice to students,...
External assessment
Grade descriptors
The way in which the examination papers are criterion-based and graded by component using grade descriptors is explained. The exams are criterion-based rather than being norm referenced. In theory (although...
External assessment
Objectives & command terms
The four assessment objectives are outlined with the questions on the papers assessing roughly 50% Objectives 1 and 2 and roughly 50% Objective 3. The key command terms used in the questions which align...
eBook
MC test: S1.1 Particulate nature of matter
A ten question multiple choice test on S1.1 Introduction to the particulate nature of matter including worked answers for each question. To give your students access to this page you will need to change...
Teaching, learning & resources
Approaches to teaching
This section looks at ways of teaching IB Diploma chemistry. It covers the skills and different teaching styles that IB teachers use and stresses the importance of imparting a love for lifelong learning...
Teaching, learning & resources
Syllabus
The syllabus, which lists what can be assessed, is laid out in the 2023 IB Chemistry guide. It is not intended to be a teaching order. This section explains the aims of the chemistry programme and the...
DP Core
How useful are oxidation states?
This page questions how useful oxidation states really are as the rules used to determine them are based on a false assumption and lead to some strange values being assigned which are not particularly...