South Sudan Secondary 1 Chemistry

Unit 1: Separating Mixtures and Compounds

• Learning Outcomes:
• Knowledge and Understanding: Name common laboratory apparatus and understand safety rules; explain techniques of separating mixtures and compounds, linking concepts to industry (especially crude oil).
• Skills: Separate a range of mixtures and compounds; investigate parts of a non-luminous flame; present reasoned explanations for phenomena, patterns, and relationships; make predictions and propose hypotheses; record observations, measurements, and estimates; interpret and evaluate observations and experimental results; plan investigations, select techniques, apparatus, and materials; evaluate methods of investigation.
• Attitudes: Appreciate knowledge of chemistry in daily life; respect safety rules in the laboratory; develop precision and accuracy in taking measurements; appreciate different techniques of separating mixtures.
• Key Inquiry Questions: How to use specialized equipment for accurate measurements; how to obtain pure substances from mixtures; how to apply separation techniques in daily life.
• Topics Covered: Definition and importance of chemistry; the chemistry laboratory (safety rules, symbols, apparatus, heat sources, Bunsen burner); separating mixtures (filtration, decantation, separating funnel, distillation, chromatography, crystallization, evaporation, sublimation, magnetic separation, handpicking); application of separation techniques (e.g., crude oil fractionation).
• Links to Other Subjects: Physics, Biology, Agriculture, Geography, Mathematics.
• Activities: Investigating melting and sublimation; investigating physical and chemical changes; investigating diffusion; separating mixtures using various techniques; determining the hottest part of a non-luminous flame.
• Assessment: Observations, conversations, product evaluation.

Unit 2: Particulate Nature of Matter, Formulae, and Chemical Equations

• Learning Outcomes:
• Knowledge and Understanding: Understand the particulate nature of matter, formulae, and chemical equations.
• Skills: Investigate the effect of heat on matter; deduce formulae of simple and ionic compounds; investigate using specialist equipment; record results accurately; analyze results and look for patterns.
• Attitudes: Take responsibility in group work; appreciate explanations of chemical reactions using equations; be aware of risk and safety.
• Key Inquiry Questions: How kinetic theory explains the particulate nature of matter; how to explain chemical reactions using numbers and symbols.
• Topics Covered: States of matter; changes of state; physical and chemical changes; kinetic theory of matter; elements, atoms, and molecules; symbols of elements; atomic structure (protons, neutrons, electrons); atomic characteristics (atomic number, mass number); electronic configuration; ions and radicals; valency; chemical formulae and nomenclature; balancing chemical equations.
• Links to Other Subjects: Physics.
• Activities: Investigating movement of particles; investigating diffusion; demonstrating states of matter using models.
• Assessment: Observations, conversations, product evaluation.

Unit 3: Acids, Bases, and Salts

• Learning Outcomes:
• Knowledge and Understanding: Understand properties and uses of acids, bases, indicators, and salts.
• Skills: Perform experiments to investigate properties of acids, bases, and salts; investigate and compare properties of strong and weak acids; use information to identify patterns, report trends, and draw inferences; present reasoned explanations.
• Attitudes: Adapt behavior to suit different situations; be aware of the need to work safely.
• Key Inquiry Questions: How to determine the acidic and basic nature of substances; how to use a universal indicator to determine pH; how to distinguish a range of salts.
• Topics Covered: Properties and uses of acids, bases, indicators, and salts; pH scale and universal indicator; strong and weak acids and bases; neutralization reactions; types of salts (normal, acid, basic).
• Links to Other Subjects: Agriculture, Biology, Physics.
• Activities: Investigating properties of acids and bases; determining the strength of acids and bases; preparing acid-base indicators; determining pH of different substances; using a pH meter.
• Assessment: Observations, conversations, product evaluation.

Unit 4: Redox Reactions

• Learning Outcomes:
• Knowledge and Understanding: Understand redox reactions; know the activity series and its use in predicting displacement products.
• Skills: Investigate oxidation states; use potassium iodide and potassium permanganate to identify oxidizing and reducing agents; use information to identify patterns, report trends, and draw inferences; present reasoned explanations.
• Attitudes: Adapt behavior to suit different situations.
• Key Inquiry Questions: How to identify oxidation and reduction reactions; how to distinguish oxidizing and reducing agents.
• Topics Covered: Oxidation and reduction processes; oxidizing and reducing agents; oxidation numbers; reactivity series; predicting displacement reactions.
• Links to Other Subjects: Physics.
• Activities: Investigating reactions of metals with oxygen and acids; investigating the reducing property of potassium iodide and the oxidizing property of potassium permanganate; reacting zinc with copper(II) sulfate.
• Assessment: Observations, conversations, product evaluation.

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