Writing a chemistry curriculum has honestly been on my bucket list since I started It’s Not Rocket Science®️ back in January of 2016. I started with biology and physical science because those were courses I was teaching full-time when I started writing curriculum. I ended up tackling anatomy next honestly just because it sounded FUN and I loved being able to write a curriculum for an elective course (having no national standards felt like HAVING NO RULES and it was seriously a blast for me creatively – more on this in the anatomy scope and sequence blog post).
I needed a few recovery years after that one (plus had a few other projects I wanted to tackle, like creating professional development and starting the Secondary Science Simplified®️ podcast!) but in July of 2022 I was finally ready to start writing my chemistry curriculum.
Now, 18 months later, it is finally DONE and I couldn’t be prouder. It took twice as long as any of my other curricula for a few reasons:
- I spent two months solely just reading state standards (and of course the NGSS*) and decoding them. I made a 35-page document of my notes from this process – with the goal of covering AS MANY states’ specific chemistry standards as possible to serve the most teachers.
- I have really refined my curriculum writing process over the last 8 years I’ve been doing this, and have a method that I am truly obsessed with (and so proud of). But my method is incredibly detail oriented. I want to create resources that truly cannot be found anywhere else and that no one can beat in comprehensiveness. All of the above takes TIME.
- I wanted to do this without missing the stage my kids were in, so I really set hard boundaries on my INRS working hours compared to my “full-time stay-at-home-mom” working hours. When I started this curriculum I had a 6 month old, a 3 year old, and a 4.5 year old. I wanted to enjoy my last time having a baby in the house, and I wanted to prioritize my last year with my oldest home with me (who started kindergarten when I was 60% done with the curriculum). I wrote this curriculum during a MASSIVE transitional period for my family – and it took so long because I was balancing all my responsibilities throughout it.
But now it is officially DONE and I am SO PUMPED ABOUT IT. I cannot express to you how much I simply adore this curriculum. I truly think it is my best work thus far. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT IT!! Note: I am now ITCHING to get my hands on a facelift for physical science (I did a major revamp of biology in 2020 so physical science is technically now my “oldest”, and I’d love to zhuzh it up a bit – just need to recover from this chemistry curriculum first.)
Course Overview
Chemistry can be a subject that really intimidates a lot of students. I think this is twofold – (1) because of its quantitative nature, and (2) because we are talking about atoms and subatomic particles all yearlong, which they cannot see.
But one of my main goals in writing my chemistry curriculum was to make chemistry APPROACHABLE and RELATABLE to students. Even if students go on to NEVER take another science class again, or do ANYTHING in a science field, taking chemistry will still be of great benefit to them.
WHY?
Because when it comes down to it, chemistry is really a subject all about problem solving.
We can use the chemistry content to teach our students how to think critically and solve problems.
Will we do a good bit of math? YES. But, if we teach our students how to be critical thinkers and problem solvers, they can handle any of the math that comes up. I absolutely LOVE this about chemistry.
Additionally, the micro really informs the macro in chemistry (just like it does in any life science). What is happening at the atomic and subatomic levels is dictating what we can actually see going on in a chemical reaction. I really want students to understand this, which is why I made it a point to bring up recurring themes over and over and over again.
Themes that students will hear in MULTIPLE units:
- Bonding is a spectrum
- Everything comes down to electrons (and really, electronegativity)
- Collision theory
- Kinetic molecular theory
- Intermolecular forces
There truly isn’t one unit where ANY of these themes is covered in full because they are brought up over and over again. It is one of the beauties of writing a curriculum in its entirety, in “one sitting”. I can intentionally weave these ideas throughout the entire tapestry of a year’s worth of instructional resources, and, as I always do in It’s Not Rocket Science®️ curricular units, ensure that ALL assessment questions align with the instructional resources the students are using.
Because I was so intentional with these themes, it honestly took me a while to decide the best chemistry scope and sequence for this curriculum. Below I will VERY generally outline how the key concepts are divided among each unit, but if you want to see a more detailed pacing guide for each unit that includes a list of the instructional resources used for every concept, click here to download my free chemistry scope and sequence pacing guide!
Unit Sequence
I divide ALL of my curricula into larger units, and then each unit is subdivided into concepts. Below you can find the way my units are organized for this course. Each unit is numbered and named, and the overarching concepts highlighted in each unit are listed. EVERYTHING in chemistry is interrelated and builds on itself which is why I spent MONTHS reading standards and researching before settling on this organization that I think best scaffolds the content.
A few notes on my chosen organizational sequence:
Unit 1 Introduction to Chemistry: I know there is a lot of debate about not scaring students right away with a lot of math and saving it for midyear when you get to stoich. But I REALLY disagree with this. Like I said in the beginning, I want students to see chemistry as a problem solving and critical thinking course. Starting these skills ASAP in the school year is critical for them being exposed to them over and over again all year long. I feel like my students are the LEAST apathetic at the start of the year so I WANT to start out with a harder topic that they can put all those freshly rested from summer brain cells towards learning. I do NOT want them seeing conversion factors for the first time during stoich when those factors are grams to moles. I would much rather familiarize them with conversion factors using inches and meters and other units they interact with on a daily basis. Set the foundation with familiarity first!
I also don’t know how you introduce the mole or even talk about the electromagnetic spectrum with flame tests without having already covered scientific notation. I include in this introduction unit a review of measurement, lab equipment, safety, experimental design, and the basics of matter that is ALL stuff they would have seen in physical science prior to taking chemistry, so I feel like that helps to balance out the hardness of dimensional analysis and sig figs.
Unit 2 The Atom and Unit 3 Electrons: You might find it intriguing I mention the periodic table in my 2nd unit but don’t mention periodic trends until the 3rd unit. I did this intentionally because I REALLY want them to understand the atom before they start looking for trends. At the same time, you can’t really talk about the structure of an atom without looking at a periodic table, which is why the basics of the organization of the periodic table are first introduced, then later we build on this by adding in the periodic trends. As I mentioned previously, when coming up with this chemistry scope and sequence, appropriate scaffolding was critical for me. These concepts are SO interconnected and I know there are 1,000 ways you could arrange these topics. This is just the reasoning behind why I chose “my way”.
Unit 4 Chemical Bonds: This unit is actually double the normal amount of concepts/content which is why I actually divide it into two separate summative assessments. I wanted to put them all together though because I think students seeing intermolecular forces ALONGSIDE intramolecular forces is so important! However, just like how I teach mitosis and meiosis separately in biology, I wanted to be sure students were set up for success and not getting ionic and covalent confused. So the first test covers an introduction to bonding, ionic bonds, and metallic bonds. Then the second test covers covalent, molecular geometry, and intermolecular forces. I really think this serves students better to not have to keep all of the naming rules straight when the compounds are all mixed together!
Unit 5 Chemical Reactions: I really went back and forth about WHERE to put chemical equilibrium. Ultimately, I decided to just do an introduction to it and bring it up earlier in the year here, so that I could bring it up again later in Units 9 and 10.
Unit 6 Stoichiometry: This unit kicks off the second semester and is FILLED with food-based activities. I intentionally did this to make the content more palatable (pun intended).
Nothing too notable about Units 7-9, as I’ve found most teachers organize this content in this manner.
Unit 10 Thermochemistry: I love ending the year here because I think it is a GREAT way to tie so many things in from all of the previous units in the year. I know some people separate kinetics from thermodynamics, but at least for me, I feel like kinetics is an easier topic (I also covered it in the past with my physical science students) and thermodynamics can be trickier, and I always like to pair harder topics with easier.
I hope this helps to provide context for my selected chemistry scope and sequence! Now let’s talk about what really makes the It’s Not Rocket Science®️ chemistry curriculum unique.
Details Specific to My Curriculum
First and foremost, I ALWAYS focus on the three C’s of all It’s Not Rocket Science curricula – creative, comprehensive and clear.
I focused on including a VARIETY of unique instructional activities, alongside a few chemistry classics (like the colligative properties ice cream lab and flame test lab). When I did include my own take on a few classic chemistry instructional resources, I made sure to focus on providing you the support you need to really excel using these resources (for the first time ever, I prioritized including lab set-up pics and even videos for some!!)
I wrote this curriculum for the biology teacher who has been thrown a section of chemistry for the first time. Clarity is of the upmost importance, and you will find the comprehensiveness achieved in the detail of the fully typed out answer keys (for every single math problem!!) and the hundreds of pages of teacher notes.
Additionally, I ALWAYS think of the teacher who, like I once was, is teaching a lab-based science in a non-lab space. No labs require bunsen burners or gas. All lab materials can be ordered from online retailers, and I constantly prioritize low budget items for the teacher without a science budget. Your students can learn chemistry in an experiential way without you breaking the bank!!
Last but not least, I cannot emphasize enough the alignment of these resources. I truly spent 18 months studying, creating, revising, and re-working resources to ensure that I was (1) covering the most national and state standards possible, and (2) including instructional resources for every single assessment question possible that your students will see. I truly put my heart and soul into this curriculum, and I sincerely hope you love it as much as I do!!
Interested in checking out my chemistry curriculum? You can find it here on TpT or here in my resource shop. I always recommend that teachers purchase one unit first to make sure that you like my style. Then if you go on to invest in the curriculum for the full year, please reach out to me and I can get you a refund for the initial unit purchased to test out, as long as it has been purchased within the same calendar year.
Questions behind my rationale or anything related to the chemistry curriculum? I’d love to hear from you! Shoot me an email as that is the best way to get in touch with me.
A note on NGSS*:
The NGSS does not have specific chemistry standards. Instead, there are high school physical science standards, which are half chemistry-based and half physics-based. Even though the majority of states use NGSS, every district handles the distribution of the standards differently. Some of you are at 4-course model schools, and others 3. That is why I can’t make a blanket statement that this is an NGSS curriculum, because that means something different to everyone.
HOWEVER, I can tell you that this curriculum was written to cover ALL of the content in HS-PS1 and HS-PS3 (the two chemistry-based standards). I also LOVE the 3-D nature of the NGSS, so the CCCs and SEPs were integrated and thought of as each instructional resource was created.
Each unit comes with an “NGSS Alignment guide” that provides context for how the 3 dimensions are incorporated. It also provides ideas for utilizing phenomena in how you teach each unit. This allows you to develop storylines specific to your students and their interests. My hope is that this curriculum provides you all of the foundational resources you need for figuring out “what” to teach so that you can then focus your energy on “how” you want to teach if you are in fact following NGSS.
*Note: NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this blogpost, and do not endorse it.
I hope you found this blogpost helpful. Don’t forget to grab my free chemistry pacing guide! If you teach biology, anatomy, or physical science, check out the pacing guides I’ve made for those subjects, too!
