Lesson Plan: VSEPR Chemistry

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This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to identify the shape of molecules using VSEPR.

Objectives

Students will be able to

describe the concept of valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR),
recall how to draw Lewis structures of simple molecules,
use VSEPR to predict the shapes and bond angles of simple molecules,
identify bonding pairs and lone pairs of electrons within molecules,
apply the AXE Method to assign bonding pairs and lone pairs and determine the steric number,
link the number of bonding pairs and lone pairs to the shape of the molecule.

Prerequisites

Students should already be familiar with

the formation of ionic and covalent bonds,
basic knowledge of chemical structures,
electrostatic forces between like charges,
the use of solid and dashed wedges to represent bonds in three dimensions.

Exclusions

Students will not cover

the background or development of VSEPR theory,
shapes of molecules with steric numbers higher than 6.