Chemistry is the science of the stuff around you: the salt in your food, the charcoal in the stove, the soap on your hands, the water you drink and the air you breathe. You already do chemistry every day without noticing. In this subject you will learn to notice, to ask "What is it made of?" and "What happens if I change it?", and to find answers by careful observation instead of guessing.
Come to every lesson curious, not afraid. Chemistry has some new words and some symbols, but each one is explained, and you will meet them again and again until they feel normal. Read each lesson slowly, look closely at the pictures, and answer the "Are you getting it?" checks honestly: a wrong answer just shows you what to read again. Keep an exercise book just for Chemistry, and write down new words, your observations and your results in neat tables, the way real scientists do.
Every lesson ends with a "Try this" activity using safe things from home: water, salt, sugar, cloth, paper, a cup. Do them. Chemistry is a doing subject, and the things you see with your own eyes are the things you will remember. One rule never changes: never taste, mix or heat unknown substances, and do any cooking-related activity with an adult. A good chemist is always a safe chemist.
- 💧 A glass of water before you start
- 📵 Phone on silent, one subject at a time
- ⏱️ About 25 minutes, then a 5-minute break
- ✍️ Keep an exercise book for the “Try this” tasks
Term 1 4 topics
1Chemistry and SocietyWhat chemistry is, why we study it, how it links with other subjects, the chemicals in everyday products, careers that need chemistry and how chemistry helps Uganda's economy.
- What is chemistry?15 min
- Why we study chemistry, and its friends: other subjects15 min
- Chemicals in everyday products20 min
- Chemistry careers and Uganda's economy20 min
- AOIActivity of Integration · auto-marked
2Experimental ChemistryWorking safely in the laboratory, using and reading apparatus, the Bunsen burner, the scientific method, separating and purifying mixtures, chromatography, and using melting and boiling points to test purity.
- Staying safe: laboratory rules and accidents20 min
- Laboratory apparatus and measuring20 min
- The Bunsen burner and heating safely15 min
- Investigating like a scientist: separating sand, salt and water20 min
- Distillation and fractional distillation20 min
- Chromatography and testing purity20 min
- AOIActivity of Integration · auto-marked
3States and Changes of State of MatterWhat matter is, the properties of solids, liquids, gases (and plasma), the kinetic theory of particles, diffusion and Brownian motion, heat taken in or given out when state changes, and how evaporation cools us.
- Matter and its states15 min
- The kinetic theory of matter20 min
- Diffusion and Brownian motion20 min
- Changing state: heat in, heat out20 min
- Evaporation cools: sweating, drying and the clay pot15 min
- AOIActivity of Integration · auto-marked
4Using MaterialsNatural and synthetic materials, their physical properties and uses, polymers as long chain molecules, how heating changes some materials, and how materials pollute the environment or can be recycled.
- Natural and synthetic materials15 min
- Properties of materials and their uses20 min
- Polymers: long chain molecules20 min
- How heating changes materials15 min
- Materials, pollution and recycling20 min
- AOIActivity of Integration · auto-marked