The Big Picture- My First Year Chemistry Scope and Sequence

The Big Picture: General Chemistry

I thought I’d start to dive into the big picture of what I implement in my classroom. I’ll start with General/Honors Chemistry, and next I’ll write about AP chemistry. I have found it really helpful to see the scope and sequence from other teachers over time, and I hope this is helpful to you.

Guiding principles in my scope and sequence: Start with a simple representations of the nanoscopic and dig deep. Hopefully, by the time we start with vital, albeit often more challenging symbolic representations (mole, stoichiometry, solutions), students have a decent foundation to build upon.

Follow this link for more specific learning goals per unit. Here is a summary of that document:

*Note: This level 2 business is what I force all honors students to do. I’m not perfect, but I try to structure my classes such that students in general chemistry who are ready for level 2 work have access to it and are assessed on it.

General Notes:

I consider myself an engineer of sorts and stand on the shoulders of those who came before me. In addition to connecting with lots of people over time, here are some commercial resources that have shaped curriculum that I will likely elaborate upon in future posts:

1. Living by Chemistry (Bedford, Freeman, and Worth) - When I purchased this in 2010, it was about $1,000 and used a mini-grant to pay for it. I’m not sure what the pricing structure is now.

   1. Pros: It’s not really the book...it’s the 5E daily activities that are overall well designed to always fit a larger purpose or theme. I have learned a TON from using this curriculum. It’s worth it. This is where I get my (seemingly random) unit titles. Also, the people who worked to develop this curriculum are well-respected chemists at UC-Berkeley, led by Dr. Angelica Stacy. This work has been field tested in many environments and it shows in the final product. Also, they are always at NSTA and are very friendly to talk to in person.

   2. Cons: Gauge your students. Oftentimes, my students need more practice in class before moving on.

2. POGIL Activities for High School Chemistry (Flinn Scientific)

   1. Pros: Activities are pretty solid, and in the teacher resources, there are some common misconceptions to look for as students work, as well as sample assessment questions. Also, it’s $52. I bought this with my own money.

   2. Cons: I have been fortunate enough to have engaged in multiple POGIL facilitator trainings, as the PO stands for Process Oriented...aka how to get kids to work together and share/challenge ideas? These activities can go downhill FAST if they are treated as daily worksheets to complete.

All in all, I have landed in this place scope and sequence-wise after seven years of inquiry and thought to develop a chemistry narrative to support students in (I think) meaningfully connecting the macro-, nano- and symbolic world.

Here’s why I’m keeping this short and sweet:

• What questions do you have? (Like, how in the world do you teach titrations before stoichiometry)?

• What is your overall scope and sequence? How did you arrive there? Post a link or upload a file?