Issues in teaching and Learning Science (Term 1)

In Term 1, we mainly covered on chemistry. We learnt about the periodic table, atomic structure, the two types of bonding and equation writing.

Periodic Table



In term 1, I learned how to read the periodic Table. In fact, it was easy, the hard part is to memorize the whole table.

- The elements in the periodic table are arranged in ascending of their atomic numbers.
- The elements are arranged in groups and periods. Groups are vertical while periods are horizontal. Elements in the same group have similar properties. When you move across elements in the samePeriod, you will see that the properties of these element will slowly change from metallic to non-metallic.
- Each element have its own atomic and mass numbers, in a periodic table.


Atomic Structure

After learning to read the periodic table, we were taught about Atomic Structure. We learned the following:

- Mass number is number of proton + the number of neutrons
- When we are drawing an atomic structure, we have to write the number of proton and the number of electron in the middle of the structure. We have to draw circles to represent the shells of an atom, the number of circles depends on how many shells the atom have. Dots will represent electrons.
- The first shell only consist of 2 electrons, second shell can have only 8 electrons , third shell can have only 8 electrons.
- When drawing if the atom is a cation, we bracket the structure and draw a plus sign at the top right hand corner outside of the bracket. For anion, it is the same except using the plus sign, we use the minus sign.

The 2 bondings

Next, we learned about the 2 types of bondinsg the occur in atoms. The following explains the 2 bondings, Ionic Bonding and Covalent Bonding.

Ionic Bonding

- Ionic bonds are formed between a cation, which is usually a metal, and an anion, which is usually a nonmetal.
- In ionic bonding, the atoms of one element will lose one or more electrons and becomes a cation and the atoms of the other element will gain the electrons from the other element and become an anion.

Covalent Bonding

- Covelent bond is a bond formed by sharing of a pair of electron between atoms of non-metals.

Equation Writing

Next, we learn how to write an equation. We learn how to write a

- Word Equation
- Chemical Equation
- To make a balanced equation, we have to make sure that the positive and negative charges of the element add up and equals to the charge of the result.


MY REFLECTIONS FOR TERM 1

In this topic, I had faced numerous difficulties and obstacles as I did not understand some parts. In this topic, the greatest problem I faced is to write a word and chemical equation. Later, I realized that to write a word equation, we must read and memorize the numerous formulas, and maybe sometimes guess. For Chemical Equation, I finally understood how it works, with the help of my Science Teacher, Miss Lim and friend, Bram. They were kind and patience in teaching me. Thanks to them I finally understood. The rest was okay, however for periodic table, it was hell to memorize it.


Source of Pic: http://www.ptable.com/