CHEMISTRY

UNIT 3 and 4
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS
Reference: Nelson Chapter 11
PRACTICAL WORK

Chemistry is an experimental science and as such, experiments and investigations are an integral part of the
Chemistry Course.

Practical experiments are normally taken from the STAWA Exploring Chemistry Year 12 book. It is expected that
the relevant instructions for each activity be brought to practical classes unless otherwise directed by the teacher.

You will be given advance warning of approaching experiments. These will be advertised close to the date on
which they are conducted.

It is expected that the experiment instructions will be read prior to the lesson in which the experiment is conducted
and that you will be ready to conduct the experiment at the beginning of the lesson. This means doing the
preparatory work for the laboratory write-up and having a table of results ready for data collection.

If preparation work is not done/evidenced, students will need to complete their preparatory work first and as such,
may lose valuable practical time.

A short pre-laboratory discussion, where appropriate, will be conducted by the teacher to provide useful hints, to
warn students of possible dangers associated with the experiment and to explain necessary safety precautions to
be taken.

Safety rules MUST be adhered to at ALL times during experiments.

At the conclusion of an experiment, the teacher will conduct a post laboratory discussion, where appropriate, to
discuss various aspects of the experiment.

All students are expected to keep a Chemistry Practical Log Book.

CHEMISTRY PRACTICAL LOG BOOK

An A4 book containing lined pages is required. It is not to be spiral-bound or have easy to tear out pages.
The book must have a clearly labelled front cover with your name, your year and the subject (e.g. Chemistry).

The book is required at all practical activities and demonstrations.

The first four pages of your book are to be used as Contents pages.

ALL writing and results are to be done in pen.

ALL diagrams and figures (e.g. graphs) are to be drawn with a pencil.

Scientific diagrams are to be used in place of sketches. Lines should also be ruled where possible.

Diagrams and figures must take up at least 1/3 of a page.

Experimental results and data must be directly recorded in the book. It is not appropriate to use scraps of paper for
recording.

The Discussion section should be an analysis and summary of the results, and an evaluation of the method.

The Conclusion is a few sentences summarising the results and their implication.

If you are to write a report than you must include Acknowledgements, References and Appendicles.

Books must be brought up-to-date within one week of the completion of an experiment in class and must be
available for inspection by the teacher on request.

You may refer to your Chemistry Practical Log Book during Invigilated Practical Tasks.

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