What a wonderful milestone for me as a Chemistry educator — 16 out of 17 students in our Grade 11 cohort have chosen Chemistry as one of their DP subjects!
This is a real testament to the collective hard work of our students, families and teachers, and it is especially rewarding to see this after having worked with some of these students for the past four years. Watching their confidence and interest in Chemistry develop over time has been incredibly rewarding.
Over the past two weeks, we have focused on establishing the essential foundations needed for success in Diploma Chemistry. Students have explored:
🔹 Atomic structure and the organisation of the periodic table
🔹 Ion formation and writing chemical formulae
🔹 Different types of chemical reactions through practical investigation
🔹 Essential laboratory skills and safety procedures
Our practical work has been particularly important as students begin to develop the precision, observation, data collection and scientific communication skills they will need throughout the DP course.
Next week, we will bring this foundation phase together by working on:
🧪 Translating word equations into chemical equations
📐 Revisiting the mathematical skills needed for Chemistry
📖 Taking part in an IB Chemistry Data Booklet scavenger hunt to become familiar with one of the key resources they will use throughout the DP
Towards the end of the week, we hope to begin our first DP unit: Structure 1 – Models of the Particulate Nature of Matter, where students will start developing a deeper understanding of matter at the atomic and molecular level.
It has been a fantastic start, and I am excited to see this group continue to grow into confident, curious and capable Chemistry students.