Lesson Plan: Energy Changes in Reactions Chemistry • First Year of Secondary School
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to identify types of energy and relate changes in energy to chemical bonding and chemical reactions.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- define different types of energy, with an emphasis on chemical, thermal, and light energy,
- understand the concept of a system and the surroundings and how the transfer of heat between them occurs during a chemical reaction,
- identify and describe the different types of systems: open, closed, and isolated,
- understand that in chemical reactions, energy is both required and released, but the overall change in energy is important,
- understand that the plimsoll notation refers to standard conditions and define what these conditions are,
- Identify that the overall change in energy during a reaction is known as the enthalpy change and has the symbol .
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the concept of a chemical reaction whereby reactants can react to form products,
- writing and understanding chemical equations,
- interpreting molar ratios from chemical equations.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- detailed descriptions of nuclear reactions as a source of energy,
- other thermodynamic principles or notations such as entropy, Gibbs free energy, internal energy, or work,
- detailed descriptions of bond energy, exothermic/endothermic reactions, or breaking and making bonds (these are covered in subsequent lessons).