Year 10 Textbook

St. Mary’s College Science Department

Year 10 Science


Year 10 Science

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M. Logue


Year 10 Science

Pupil Name

Date

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Year 10 Science

Welcome back to your third year at St. Mary’s College.

Hopefully you enjoyed your summer holidays and are ready to work hard

again this year. This is an important year for you because how you do will

help decide what GCSE science course you will follow next year. So it is

important to work hard and do your very best.

In 3 rd Year you will be learning about a variety of topics including

variation among humans, materials and their properties, the atom,

chemical reactions and forces and movement.

The full list of your topics is below…

September to Hallowe’en – Cells and Variation

Hallowe’en to Christmas – Force and Movement

January to Mid-term – Materials and Energy

Mid-term to Easter – Chemical Reactions

April/ May – The Atom

June – Numeracy in Science/ Careers

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Year 10 Science

Topic 1 – Cells and Variation

In this topic you will be learning about the main organs in our bodies and

their functions (jobs).

You will then learn about variation (the differences between humans) and

how this happens.

First though you need to be very clear about the difference between

things which are alive, dead and non-living.

Look at the pictures below and decide which things are alive, dead and

non-living…

Basically things that are dead must have died so they must have been

alive at some point – for example the dead leaf. The robot was never alive

so we describe it as ‘non-living’

Living things must be able to do ‘living processes’. There are 7 living

processes which all living things should be able to do.

We remember them by using ‘MRS. GREN’

M – movement (moving from place to place or moving on one spot)

R – respiration (burning our food to get energy from it)

S – Sensing (being able to detect the world around)

G – Growing (getting more cells and getting bigger)

R – Reproducing (having babies or making seeds like plants)

E – Excretion (getting rid of waste - peeing and pooing)

N – Nutrition (eating or getting energy from food)

Homework 1

Learn the 7 living processes and what they mean

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Year 10 Science

Next you will be learning about the main organs in human bodies.

Look at the locations of the main organs in the body below. You will need

to know these – and be able to identify them on an unlabelled diagram.

The table on the next page gives the jobs of the main organs in the body.

See if you can think of a rhyme to help you

remember the main organs of the body –

Brain, Lungs, Heart, Liver, Stomach, Small

Intestine, large Intestine, Bladder

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Year 10 Science

Name of Organ

Brain

Job

Controls all other organs and emotions

Heart

Pumps blood to all parts of the body and all cells

Lungs

Take oxygen from the air and put it in the blood

Stomach

Digests food – breaks it into smaller pieces for absorption into the

blood‐stream

Liver

Removes toxins (poisons) from our body

Small Intestine

Absorbs nutrients from our food and into our bodies

Large Intestine

Absorbs water from our food and into our bodies

Homework 2

Learn the locations and jobs of the main organs of the body.

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Year 10 Science

Next you are going to look a little closer at what makes up all our organs –

tiny cells

Every part of the body is made up of cells but these are too small to see

with just your eyes. You need a microscope in order to see cells. You are

going to use a microscope to look at the cells from an onion (which is a

living thing too).

First look at the parts of a microscope.

You will need to know the parts of the microscope for your Christmas

Exam.

You have no End of Unit Test for this topic.

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Year 10 Science

Now you will prepare a slide of onion cells so you can use a microscope to

look at them.

Follow the method below…

Peel off a very thin layer of onion skin

Lay the onion skin on a glass slide (no creases or overlaps)

Add a few drops of iodine on top of the onion skin to dye it

Place a cover slip on top of the onion skin slide

Place on the microscope stage

Adjust microscope to see onion cells clearly

Hopefully you will see something that looks a little like the image below.

In this diagram you can see the

actual parts of each onion cell.

You will learn more about the

parts of cells later.

Onion cells under a microscope

Homework 3

Write a method for how you prepared and observed onion cells under a

microscope.

Extension Homework

The eye-piece lens in a microscope has a magnification of x10 and the

three objective lenses have magnifications of x10, x40 and x100.

What is the largest magnification you can get and what is the smallest

magnification you can get?

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Year 10 Science

The last part of this short topic is to learn about the parts of cells and

their jobs.

Animal Cell

Plant Cell

The tables below show the jobs of the different parts of a cell.

Animal Cell

Name of part of

cell

Nucleus

Cell membrane

Cytoplasm

Job

Controls what the cell does

Controls what enters and leaves the cell

Jelly like substance which fills the cell, gives

the cell its shape and where chemical reactions

take place

Plant Cell

Name of part of

cell

Nucleus

Cell membrane

Cytoplasm

Cell Wall

Chloroplasts

Vacuole

Job

Controls what the cell does

Controls what enters and leaves the cell

Jelly like substance which fills the cell, gives

the cell its shape and where chemical reactions

take place

Gives the cell shape/structure and protection

Contain chlorophyll which absorbs sunlight to

allow the cell to do photosynthesis (make food)

Large empty space to store materials and

waste

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Year 10 Science

Finally look at the diagrams of animal and plant cell beside each other and

notice the parts that are in both cells and the parts that are only found

in plant cells.

Living, nonliving

and dead

Homework 4

Living

processes –

MRS GREN

Using a

microscope to

look at onion

cells

Topic 4

‘Major Body

Organs’

Major organs

in the body

and their jobs

Cells – parts

of animal and

plant cells

Revise all the things you have

learned in this topic so far.

The mind map on the right will

help you focus on the right

areas to study.

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Year 10 Science

Next you will be learning about variation.

To begin with, look carefully at your partner and list as many of their

physical attributes as you can (look for things that can be different

between you and your partner) – for example – eye colour, hair colour,

shape of nose, dimples, hair length etc.

Now do the same with the pictures of

the kittens below…

A B C

In particular you should list the

differences in the colour of fur,

the size of ears, the colour of

eyes etc.

D E F

Activity

If you have time the teacher might give you out sets of model animals.

In groups you should try to list their differences. This is good practice for

noticing differences between different animals and will also help you when you

have to do this for humans…

The differences between animals (whether they are the same species of

different species) is called ‘Variation’

Variation is the range of differences there are between different

animals and plants.

Among humans these differences might include …

eye colour, hair colour, shape of nose, dimples, arm length, height, weight,

scars, ear lobes and many other things.

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Year 10 Science

Look at the butterflies below and identify all the different

characteristics

Now we will concentrate on the variation between humans for a while….

It is important first to note that there are two main reasons for the

variation between us all.

1. Our genes

2. The environment

The variation between us which is caused by our genes (which we get from

our biological parents) is called ‘Inherited’ variation.

The variation between us which is caused by the environment in which we

live is called ‘Environmental’ variation.

The table below gives some examples of each type of variation…

Examples of inherited

variation in humans

Eye colour

Hair colour (natural)

Ear lobe

Widow’s peak

Ability to roll your tongue

Examples of environmental

variation in humans

Scar

Accent

Language

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Year 10 Science

Of course there are some examples of variation in humans which are

partly genetic but also affected by the environment – for example weight

and skin colour.

Homework 5

Copy out the list of features below and write I after those you think are

inherited and write E after those you think are environmental…

shape of nose neat hand writing freckles

hair colour hair length scars

skill at languages an accent eye colour being good at sport

blood group

size of feet

Extension Homework

1. What features do you think you have inherited from your…

a. Mother

b. Father

2. Fred and George Weasley (pictured below) are identical twins.

What features do you think they have inherited from their parents?

What features do you think are the result of their environment?

Fred

George

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Year 10 Science

Activity

1. Copy out and complete…

We _________many features from our parents.

Other things like being able to ride a bike, we _________ during our

lifetime.

We say that they are due to the ____________.

2. Aine has just come back from two weeks holiday in Spain. Do you think

her sun-tan is inherited? Explain your answer.

3. Meabh says that being red-haired and being good at sport are both

inherited. Do you agree? Explain your answer.

Next you are going to learn about ‘continuous’ and ‘discontinuous’

variation…

Continuous Variation is any difference which has lots of different

possible values and which varies gradually.

Often forms of continuous variation can be measured and given a

numerical value.

Examples of continuous variation in humans would be height, weight, arm

length, length of foot etc. All of these have many, many possible values.

Discontinuous variation is any difference which is more clear cut such as

eye colour, hair colour,

blood group or can you roll

your tongue or not. With

discontinuous variation

there are normally a fairly

small number of different

possible values.

For example with eye colour

the possible values are

blue, brown, green (only a

few possibilities).

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Year 10 Science

If we do a survey of heights in a class of girls we would probably get 25

different heights, all slightly different so a bar chart would have 25

different bars and wouldn’t be very useful.

Instead it is better to group the heights into categories so we can see

better the spread of different heights in the class including which is the

most common range. Look at the bar chart below for a class of pupils’

heights.

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Year 10 Science

On the other hand if the data is for discontinuous variation such as which

blood group people are then you can simply draw a normal bar chart for

each of the possible values – in this case A, B, AB and O

Now you are going to use data for different forms of variation in your

class to draw bar charts.

First you need to collect the data…

Eye Colour

Blue

Brown

Green

Hazel

Grey

Number of pupils

Height Range Number of pupils

150 – 154 cm

155 – 159 cm

160 – 164 cm

165 – 169 cm

170 – 174 cm

Activity

Numeracy in Science

Now draw a bar chart for eye colour and a bar chart for heights of pupils in

your class. Good Luck!

Extension Activity

Numeracy in Science – Very difficult

Now collect another set of data about discontinuous variation in your class –

for example – can each girl roll her tongue or not or does each girl have a

large ear-lobe or not. Draw a pie chart to show this data.

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Homework 6

Year 10 Science

Numeracy in Science

Some pupils did a survey on the size of the fruit from the foxglove plant.

Here are their results…

Length of

fruit (mm)

Number

collected

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

4 6 14 22 30 26 18 12 12 3

a. Draw a bar chart of their results.

b. What sort of variation does this bar chart show?

Activity

Numeracy in Science

Now that you have had some practice in displaying data about variation you will

display data for your class for the following types of variation…

Left handed or right handed

Shoe size

Length of index finger

Hair colour

First collect the data (the teacher might help with this), then display the data

in the most appropriate way – bar chart, pie chart etc.

Homework 7

Numeracy in Science

Continue and finish the bar charts / pie charts for the data you collected in

class.

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Year 10 Science

Extension Homework

Numeracy in Science

Look at the bar chart below for the different heights in a class and answer the

questions which follow…

a. What is the most common height range in the class?

b. How many pupils are at least 150 cm tall?

c. What is the least common height range in the class?

d. How many pupils are in the range between 135 cm to 139 cm?

Next you are going to learn about why there is such variation between us.

First you should know that all the information about us is actually present

in every single cell of our bodies.

Earlier in the unit you learned about the parts of an animal cell. The

nucleus contains information about you – eye colour, blood group etc.

Basically the nucleus contains all the genetic information about all your

inherited characteristics.

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Year 10 Science

The diagram below shows the cell and also a close up of the nucleus and

the chromosomes inside it…

So the nucleus of every cell contains chromosomes

which, in turn, are made of genes.

You have 23 pairs of chromosomes and each pair

contains millions of genes.

Each pair of genes gives information about one of your characteristics –

for example – you have a pair of genes to determine your eye colour, a

different pair of genes determines whether or not you have large earlobes

etc.

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Year 10 Science

The diagram below shows the 23 pairs of chromosomes that each human

has inside the nucleus of every cell.

So chromosomes are basically thread-like structures made up of lots of

individual genes which contain information about your features.

You get these from your biological parents. The instructions for a new

baby are found in two places – the egg cell of the mother and the sperm

cell of the father. In both cases the instructions are in the nucleus of

these cells.

Although all other cells contain 46 chromosomes in their nuclei, sperm

cells and egg cells only contain 23 each. This is because they will join

together during fertilisation to make the embryo that grows into a new

baby.

23

23 chromosomes

in an egg cell

46

46 chromosomes

in a fertilised

23

23 chromosomes

in a sperm cell

egg cell

Activity

Look at the image of chromosomes above and answer these questions…

1. Are all the chromosomes the same size and shape?

2. How many are there?

3. What do you think the x and y chromosomes are for?

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Year 10 Science

Homework 8

1. Copy and complete…

Inside the nucleus of each cell there are thread-like structures called

_________. These are made up of _______. These ______ contain

instructions to control how the ____ works. They also contain information

which is _____ from one generation to the next.

2. How many chromosomes are there in a human sperm cell or egg cell?

How many are there inside other human cells?

Why do you think these numbers are different?

Extension Homework

Research what genes are, what they do and what they are made of. Write your

findings in a paragraph in your exercise book.

Find out what DNA stands for?

Next you are going to learn more

about genes and how your

characteristics are passed on to

you from your biological parents…

In the nucleus of each of your cells are 23 pairs of

chromosomes.

Each chromosome is made up of lots of sections called

genes.

Every gene holds one piece of information about you – for example – eye

colour might be on one gene, hair colour on a different gene, tonguerolling

ability on another gene.

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Year 10 Science

Remember though that you have 23 pairs of chromosomes.

This means that for every feature you actually have two genes – one

passed on to you from your mother and another one from your father.

So what happens if the eye colour gene from your mother gives different

information from the eye colour gene from your father?????

What do you think would happen if a blue eyed woman has a baby with a

brown eyed man?

Does their child have one blue eye and one brown eye?

The answer is No.

One of the genes has to ‘get its way’ and be dominant. This gene is called

the ‘dominant’ gene. The other gene (the one which doesn’t get its way) is

called the ‘recessive’ gene.

Let’s look at an example to make things more clear…

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Year 10 Science

Aobhe’s mum has blue eyes. Both of her mum genes for eye colour indicate

blue eyes. We use the symbol b (lower case letter b) for the blue eye gene.

Aobhe’s dad has brown eyes. One of his eye colour genes indicates brown

eyes (B for brown eye gene) and his other eye colour gene indicates blue eyes

(b).

Numeracy in Science

So why or how does Aobhe have blue eyes?

To answer this we need to look at the possibilities.

A punnet square can help us do this.

If Aobhe’s mum has blue eyes, then both her genes for eye colour must

indicate blue eyes (because the blue eye gene is recessive and if a brown eye

gene was present it would dominate and she would have brown eyes). So

Aobhe’s mum’s eye colour genes are b and b.

Aobhe’s dad has brown eyes but we know that he has a blue eye gene and a

brown eye gene so he has B and b.

We now use a punnet square to look at the possibilities for their children…

Dad

B

b

b

Bb

bb

Mum

b

Bb

bb

So if you look at each section

within the punnet square, you can

see the 4 different possibilities

for combinations of genes from

mum and dad. Bb means that the

brown gene will dominate and that

child will have brown eyes but bb

means that the child has two blue

eye genes and so will have blue

eyes.

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Year 10 Science

Now look at another example…

Orlaith has dyed her hair orange for a Hallowe’en party. You have to try to

figure out what colour(s) her hair could have been originally.

Orlaith’s mum has two genes for hair colour – one of these is a gene to

indicate red hair and this gene is recessive. We give it the symbol b.

Her mum’s other gene for hair colour indicates brown hair and has the

symbol B.

Orlaith’s dad also has two different genes for hair colour – b and B.

(These different types of gene are called ’alleles’).

We can use a punnett square to figure out the different possibilities for

Orlaith’s original hair colour.

Like in the previous example look at

each section within the punnet

Dad

Mum

square, you can see the 4 different

B

b

possibilities for combinations of

genes from mum and dad. BB means

B

that the child would have 2 Brown

BB Bb

hair genes and so would have brown

hair. Bb means that the brown hair

b Bb

bb gene will dominate over the red hair

gene and that child will also have

brown hair but bb means that the

child has two red hair genes and so

will have red hair.

The different types of genes for a feature are called ‘alleles’.

The combination of the two alleles is called your Genotype – for example Bb

or bb.

The actual feature you have – for example – brown hair or blue eyes is called

your Phenotype.

Homozygous means the two alleles are the same type – eg. bb or BB

Heterozygous means the two alleles are different – eg. Bb

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Year 10 Science

Homework 9

1. The Black fur gene (B) in guinea pigs is dominant over the white fur gene

(b). Complete a punnett square to find out the chances of the baby

guinea pigs have black fur and white fur when the parents have the

genes BB and Bb.

2. The tongue rolling gene (T) is dominant over the non-tongue rolling gene

(t). If Nicola’s mum has the genes Tt and her dad has the genes tt what

is the chance of Nicola …

a. Being able to roll her tongue

b. Not being able to roll her tongue

3. In purple people eaters, one-horn is dominant and no horns is recessive.

Draw a Punnet Square showing the cross of a purple people eater that is

hybrid for horns (2 different types of gene) with a purple people eater

that does not have horns.

Extension Homework

1. Black fur (B) in guinea pigs is dominant over white fur (b). Find the

probability of a baby guinea pig having white fur if one of its parents is

homozygous white fur and the other is heterozygous black fur.

2. Now find the probability of a baby guinea pig having white fur if both its

parents are homozygous white fur.

3. Let's say that in seals, the gene for the length of the whiskers has two

alleles. The dominant allele (W) codes long whiskers & the recessive

allele (w) codes for short whiskers.

a) What percentage of offspring would be expected to have short

whiskers from the cross of two long-whiskered seals, one that is

homozygous dominant and one that is heterozygous?

b)

b) If one parent seal is pure long-whiskered and the other is shortwhiskered,

what percent of offspring would have short whiskers?

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Year 10 Science

Activity

Now you can use the knowledge you have gained about using punnett squares to

try this task…

Your task is to discover the identity of Georges’ parents.

First, however, a few necessary pieces of information for you to complete your

task…

You will be completing punnett squares on three characteristics: number of eyes,

fur colour, and number of horns.

Three eyes are dominant (E), and two eyes are recessive (e).

Blue fur is dominant (F), and purple fur is recessive (f).

Two horns are dominant (H), and one horn is recessive (h).

Georges’ characteristics are: blue fur, three eyes, and one horn.

Below you will find the names of each of the families, the characteristics of each

of the parents, and blank punnett squares to copy into your exercise books and

then fill in.

Good Luck!

Possible Family Number 1: The Venetians

• The mother is Ee, ff, and Hh.

• The father is ee, ff, and Hh.

Eyes Fur Horns

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Year 10 Science

Possible Family Number 2: The Neptunes

• The mother is ee, Ff, and hh.

• The father is EE, Ff, and Hh.

Eyes Fur Horns

Topic 2 – Force Possible and Movement Family Number 3: The Plutonians

1) The mother is Ee, ff, and Hh.

Topic

• The

3

father

Materials

is Ee,

and

FF,

Energy

and HH.

Eyes Fur Horns

Topic 4 – Chemical Reactions

Topic 5 – The Atom

Only one of these families could possibly be

Georges’ true parents.

Which family is it?

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Year 10 Science

Extension Questions…

1. In cats, long hair (L) is dominant over short hair (l).

Complete a punnett square to show a cross between two short-haired

cats.

What is the probability that the parents will produce a short-haired

kitten?

2. For Flower colour in roses Purple is dominant (P) and White is

recessive (p)

Draw and fill in a punnett square to show the different possibilities for

the offspring of a PP father and a PP mother.

What colour(s) are the parents?

What colour(s) are the children?

3. For dimples in humans the Dimples gene is dominant (D) and the Nodimples

gene is recessive.

Draw and complete a punnett square to show the probabilities for the

children of parents where the mum has no dimples and the dad is

heterozygous for dimples.

Homework 10

1. In Noombats, yellow bellies (Y) are dominant over green bellies (y).

a. Complete a punnett square to show a cross between a purebred yellow

bellied noombat and a noombat that is a hybrid for belly colour.

b. What is the probability that the parents will have yellow bellied

offspring?

c. Is it possible for two yellow bellied noombats to have a green bellied

child?

d. Can the yellow bellied parents produce a green bellied child?

e. If yes, explain how and identify what the probability would be.

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Year 10 Science

Activity

1. For Fur colour in Amazon caterpillars Yellow is dominant (Y) and Green

is recessive (y)

Draw a punnett square to show the different probabilities for the

offspring of a yy father and a YY mother

What colour(s) are the parents?

What colour(s) are the children?

2. For Eye colour in Wombats Green is dominant (G) andYellow is

recessive (g)

Draw and complete a punnett square to show the different

possibilities for the offspring of a Gg father and a GG mother

What color(s) are the parents?

What color(s) are the children?

3. In snapdragon plants red flowers are dominant and white flowers are

recessive.

Draw a punnett square to show the probabilities for the offspring of

two heterozygous parent plants.

Homework 11

1. In pea plants the allele for round seeds (R) is dominant and the allele

for oval seeds (r) is recessive. Complete punnett squares for a cross

between two pea plants with round seeds (homozygous and

heterozygous).

What is the percentage probability of the offspring having round

seeds? Oval seeds?

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Year 10 Science

Next you are going to learn about how scientists classify living things…

First of all can you answer this…

What do the ox-eye daisy, the dog daisy and the marguerite have in

common?

The answer is… that they are all the

exact same plant!

The name of this plant is different

in different areas.

Can you imagine how this could be

confusing.

very

Imagine if dogs were known by a different name in other places – how

confusing would that be?

Luckily scientists do not normally use the ‘common’ names for living

things.

Instead they use a special system of naming called the ‘binomial system’.

This system gives everything 2 names – the first is called its ‘genus’ and

the second name is called its ‘species’.

Let’s look at an example… how we classify the brown bear…

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Year 10 Science

This diagram shows the

complete classification

of the brown bear –

from the Kingdom of

animals right down to

its genus and species.

Normally we only state

the genus and species

when naming a living

thing as this is enough

to be clear and avoid

confusion.

This time we are

classifying the leopard.

It is in the animal

Kingdom, its phylum is

Vertebrate or Chordata,

it is a mammal, a

carnivore, a member of

the cat family.

Then finally its genus is

Panthera and it species is

Panthera Pardus.

It is known by scientists

as Panthera Pardus.

Living things are classified because of their shared features.

The more shared features they have the more classes they share.

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Year 10 Science

If you have time your teacher might allow you to play a naming game for

animals…

Playing in pairs one girl holds the cards and looks at each one in turn. Her

partner asks questions about the animal on the card and the only allowed

answers are Yes and No.

Homework 12

Use the internet to carry out research to find out the correct scientific

names for the following animals…

Giraffe, chimpanzee, great white shark, bottle-nose dolphin, ostrich

The next thing you need to learn about is ‘vertebrates’ and ‘invertebrates’

A ‘vertebrate’ is any animal which has a backbone (or an internal

skeleton).

Vertebrates can be split into 5 main categories which can be remembered

by using the name Mr. Fab

Mammals

Reptiles

Mammals

Fish

Reptiles

Fish

Amphibians

Birds

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Year 10 Science

Here is a summary of the main features of each of

the groups of vertebrate…

Mammals… have fur, feed their young on milk and give

birth to live young (not eggs)

Reptiles… have dry scaly skin, are cold blooded and lay

eggs with hard shells

Fish… have scales and breathe through gills

Amphibians…live on land but lays eggs with soft shells

in water

Birds…have feathers and lay eggs with hard shells

Homework 13

Choose one reptile, fish, amphibian and bird and write a biography of each

using the guidance in the homework above.

Careers in Science

Clinical Geneticist

A clinical geneticist is a type of doctor who specialises in diagnosing and

treating patients with inherited health problems such as Alzheimer’s

Disease, Cystic Fibrosis or Sickle Cell Disease.

A geneticist has to do a degree in Biological Science or Physical Science and

it normally takes about 8 years to be fully qualified.

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Year 10 Science

Literacy in Science

Here is a list of the key words from this topic along with their meanings…

Cell – the small structures of which all living things are made

Nucleus – the part in the middle of a cell which controls the function of the

cell

Chromosome – the string-like structures in the nucleus made up of genes

Gene – the structures in chromosomes made of DNA which contain our

genetic information

Variation – the range of difference between living things

Inherited – passed on from your biological parents

Environmental – obtained through your environment

Continuous – type of variation with lots of possible values (measurable)

Discontinuous – type of variation with only a discreet number of values

Vertebrate – an animal which has a backbone

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Year 10 Science

Topic 2: Forces and Movement

The distance between Derry and Belfast is roughly 115 Kilometres.

But the displacement between Derry and Belfast is 115 Kilometres South-

East.

Basically Displacement is just Distance is a specific direction.

The direction of a displacement is represented by the direction of an

arrow and the length of the arrow represents the distance.

For example:

represents a displacement of 5 Km East

and

represents a displacement of 10 Km West

because the arrow is twice as long and the opposite direction.

Derry

Belfast

The arrow represents a distance of 115 Km

but because it is a specific direction (South-

East), it is called a displacement of 115 Km

South-East.

If you travelled from Derry to Belfast and

back again, the distance is 230 Km but the

displacement is O Km (because you have not

moved in any direction from your starting

point.

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Year 10 Science

The average Speed of a car can be calculated by using the equation:

Av. Speed = Distance moved

Time Taken

If we measure the distance in metres and measure the time in seconds,

then the units for the Speed are metres per second or m/s for short.

For example:

A car travels from Derry to Belfast (a distance of 115 Km) and it takes 2

hours.

The average Speed is…

115 km

= 57.5km/h

2 hours

Remember: this is just the average speed and the speedometer in the car

would not read 57.5 Km/h all the time during the journey. The car might

slow down or stop at times and might travel even faster at other times.

If we want to know the actual speed at a certain moment we would need

to do the same calculation but do it over a very short distance and time –

say 50 metres over 2 seconds.

0 seconds

2 seconds

36

50m


Year 10 Science

So Speed is the distance travelled in a certain time.

Velocity is the distance travelled in a certain time and in a specific

direction.

In other words, Velocity is the displacement in a certain time.

Displacement (distance

in a specific direction)

Av.Velocity =

Time Taken

(Average speed

in a specific direction)

30 m/s 30 m/s

The red car has the same speed as the green car but it has a different

velocity – because it has a different direction.

Speed is called a scalar quantity because it only has size but Velocity is

called a vector quantity because it has size and direction.

The red car in the picture is

going round the round-about.

Its direction is constantly

changing so its velocity is

changing even though it travels

at the same speed the whole

time.

Velocity depends on the

direction as well as the size of

the speed.

37


Year 10 Science

Now try these questions…

1. A car travels 800 metres in 40 seconds.

a. What is its average speed?

b. Why is its actual speed probably different from its average speed?

2. A car has a steady speed of 10 m/s.

a. How far does it travel in 9 seconds?

b. How long would it take this car to travel 220 metres?

3. Calculate the average speed of these objects…

a. A runner who travels 400 metres in 45 seconds

b. A car which travels 175 miles in 3 hours

c. A Space shuttle which travels 45,750 Km in 2.5 hours

d. A snail which slithers 2 metres in 4 hours

4. A train sets off from Derry at 9am in the morning. It reaches Belfast

which is 150 Km away at 12pm (midday). What is the average speed of

the train?

5. Usain Bolt runs 100m in 10 seconds. David Rudisha runs 800m in 110

seconds. Who has the faster average speed? Who do you think would

win a race over 400 metres? Why?

Homework 1

1. A train has an average speed of 45 Km/h over a three-hour journey.

How far is the journey?

2. A woman in Derry has three hours to make it to an appointment in

Dublin. She gets the bus which travels at an average speed of 60 Km/h.

The distance from Derry to Dublin is 225 Km. Will she make it to her

appointment on time?

Extension Homework

Explain the difference between Distance and Displacement and the

difference between Speed and Velocity?

38


Year 10 Science

Acceleration

When the velocity of an object changes, we say that the object is

accelerating (even if it is only the direction of its travel that changes and

not the actual speed).

Change in Velocity

Acceleration =

Time Taken to change

Acceleration is a vector quantity which means that it has direction as well

as size.

For example:

A car travels from rest (its velocity at the start is 0 m/s) and

accelerates until it is travelling at 5 m/s. It takes the car 2 seconds to do

this. What is its acceleration?

Change in Velocity

Using the equation

Notice the units

of acceleration

are m/s/s or

m/s 2

Acceleration =

Time Taken to change

5 –0 m/s 5m/s

Acceleration = 2s = 2s

Acceleration =

2.5 m/s/s

Another way of writing the equation for acceleration is to write the ‘change in velocity’ as the

final velocity minus the initial velocity.

The equation then looks like this…

v - u

where v = final velocity

Acceleration = t u = initial velocity

and

t = time taken for velocity to change 39


Year 10 Science


1. A train has an acceleration of 3 m/s/s. What does this tell you about its

velocity?

2. A bus has a deceleration of 2 m/s/s. What does this tell you about the

velocity of the bus?

3. A car takes 8 seconds to increase its velocity from 3 m/s to 30 m/s.

What is its acceleration?

4. A motorbike, travelling at 25 m/s takes 5 seconds to come to a halt.

What is its deceleration?

5. An aeroplane has an acceleration of 4 m/s/s. What is its velocity after 5

seconds if it starts from rest?

Homework 2

1. A car starts at a speed of 20 m/s and accelerates up to a speed of 30

m/s. It takes 5 seconds to do this. What is its acceleration?

2. A bus which is travelling at a speed of 25 m/s makes an emergency stop

and comes to a halt in 3 seconds. What is its deceleration?

Extension Homework

1. Carry out research on how the following things help protect you in the

event of a car crash…

a. A seatbelt

b. An air-bag

In particular find out how these things affect the deceleration of the

driver or passenger.

40


Year 10 Science

Now try this activity…

Using a run-way investigate how the slope of the run-way affects the speed

of the trolley which rolls down it.

Method…

1. Set up the run-way on the floor

with one book (from a set of

textbooks) under one end of

the run-way.

2. Hold the trolley at the higher

end and let go.

3. Using a stop-watch time how

long it takes the trolley to

reach the bottom of the run-way.

4. Repeat this process but each time with another extra book under the

end of the run-way.

5. Record all results in a table like the one below…

Number of books under end

of run-way

Time for trolley to reach

bottom of run-way

Homework 3

Write a title, equipment list, method, results table and conclusion for the

experiment you did in class.

Extension Homework

Describe how you could calculate the average speed of the trolley as it

moved down the run-way each time. Do this and add another column to your

results table for Average Speed.

Do you think it went at a constant speed the whole way down? Why/Why not?

41


Year 10 Science

Motion Graphs

We can draw simple graphs of Distance travelled during a certain time.

Different shapes of line on the graph tell us different things about the

movement of the object.

Distance

Distance

Moving with a

steady speed

Not moving

Time

Time

We can also draw graphs of Speed during a certain time.

Speed

Speed

Moving at a steady speed

Accelerating

Time

Time

Notice that a horizontal line means something different depending on if it is a

Distance –Time graph or a Speed –Time graph.

42


Year 10 Science

Practice: Look at the following Distance-Time graphs and for each one describe

the motion of the vehicle from the start until the end of the journey:

A

B

C

D

E

F

A Speed –Time graph can be made up of different types of movement

43


Year 10 Science

For example: A car starts from rest, accelerates for a while, then goes at a

steady speed for a while and finally slows down to rest again. The graph of its

movement will look like the one below.

Speed

Accelerating

Moving at a

steady

Slowing down

Time

When you have got a Speed – Time Graph the steepness (gradient) of the line

can tell you the acceleration.

Look at the Speed – Time graph below.

25 m/s

0 m/s

50 150 secs

Time

The speed has increased from 0 m/s up to 25 m/s during the first 50 seconds.

The acceleration can be worked out from the change of speed and the time

needed to change the speed.

The distance travelled can also be found from a Speed-Time graph.

44


Year 10 Science

The distance is equal to the area under the graph.

To calculate the area you might have to split it into sections like the three

coloured sections below.

25 m/s

0 m/s

50 150 secs

200 secs

So in the graph above the distance travelled is the area under the graph…

Area of purple triangle = ½ base x perpendicular height

= ½ x 50 x 25

= 625 m

The add the area of the green rectangle = length x breadth

= 100 x 25

= 2500 m

The add the area of the orange triangle =

½ base x perpendicular height

= ½ x 50 x 25

= 625 m

Finally add all three together to get the total area = 3750 m or 3.75 Km

So the distance travelled was 3.75 Km.

45


Year 10 Science

Homework 4

Look at the graph below showing the motion of a car and answer the

questions…

Speed (m/s)

50 m/s

0 m/s

150

50 100 Time (s)

a. Describe what is happening during the first 50 seconds of the journey.

b. Describe what is happening from 50 seconds until 100 seconds.

c. Describe what is happening from 100 seconds until 150 seconds.

d. What is the acceleration during the first 50 seconds?

e. What is maximum speed of the car?

f. What is the deceleration of the car during the last 50 seconds?

g. How far does the car travel during the first 50 seconds of its journey?

Now have a look at these Distance-Time graphs. For each one describe the

h. What is the total distance travelled by the car?

Now look at this Speed-Time graph and answer the questions…

Extension Homework

Distance (m)

a. Describe the motion of

the car in the first 8

seconds?

18

b. How long is the

journey?

c. Describe the motion of

0

8

20

Time (s)

the car from 8 seconds

until 20 seconds.

46


Year 10 Science

A

a. What is the speed of the

car in the first 3 seconds

of its journey?

b. What happens between 3

and 5 seconds?

c. What is the acceleration

between 3 and 5 seconds?

d. What is happening between

5 and 8 seconds?

e. What is the total distance

travelled by the car?

Now look at the next Speed-Time graph and again answer the questions that

follow…

a. What is maximum speed the car reaches during its journey?

b. How long does the journey last?

c. What is happening in the first 10 seconds?

d. What is the deceleration of the car?

47


Year 10 Science

Homework 5

Describe in a paragraph the journey of the car shown by the Distance-Time

graph below…

Extension Homework

Describe in a paragraph the

journey of the car shown by

Velocity-Time graph to the right.

the

48


Year 10 Science

Extension Activity

Choose one of the situations described below and draw a Speed-Time graph

to show what is happening…

Then use the graph to find out the total distance travelled and the

acceleration during the different parts of the journey.

a. A bus accelerates from rest (starting speed = 0) up to a speed of 25

m/s in a time of 10 seconds. It then ravels at this steady speed for 50

seconds before slowing down to a stop in the next 20 seconds.

OR

b. A cyclist starts form rest (initial speed = 0) and accelerates to a

speed of 5 m/s in 10 seconds. She then travels at this speed for 10

seconds before accelerating again up to a speed of 15 m/s. She travels

at 15 m/s for 30 seconds before coming to a halt suddenly in 2

seconds.

OR

c. A car is travelling at a steady speed of 40 m/s for 20 seconds and

then slows down to a speed of 30 m/s in a time of 25 seconds as it

enters a town. Finally the car slows down again to a halt in a time of 15

seconds.

OR

d. A woman starts running from a rest position and reaches a speed of 4

m/s in a time of 5 seconds. She then runs at this speed for 50 seconds

before accelerating again up to a speed of 8 m/s in a time of 5

seconds. She runs at this speed for a further 45 seconds before

coming to a stop in a time of 5 seconds.

49


Year 10 Science

Friction

You studied Friction in Year 9 so hopefully that will help you with this work.

A car is made to move forward by the force of the engine. But there is also the

force of the air hitting it as it moves. This is called ‘Air resistance’ or ‘Drag’

When the car is accelerating, then the force of the engine must be bigger than

Drag.

When the car is going at a steady speed, then Engine force and Drag must be

equal.

Diagram A

Forward Force of

Engine

Backward Force of

Drag

Diagram B

Forces Balanced =

car travelling at

steady speed

Forward Force of

Engine

Backward Force of

Drag

Forward force of

engine bigger = car

accelerating

There also has to be a force of ‘Friction’ between the tyres of the car and the

ground to allow the car to ‘grip’ the road for steering around corners and for

braking.

Note: The amount of drag on a car or any moving object depends on its surface

area and shape – rockets and jets are ‘streamlined’ with a smoother shape to

reduce the amount of air hitting them so to reduce Drag.

50


Year 10 Science

Homework 6

Copy and complete the table below in your exercise book…

Times when Friction is a

nuisance

Times when Friction is useful

Extension Homework

Use your knowledge of friction to answer the following questions…

(Write out the full sentences in your exercise book)

1. A car driver has to be more careful when driving in winter when it is

icy because the road is more slippery than in summer. This is because

the friction on the road in winter is more than/ less than the

friction in summer.

2. A carpenter finds maple wood easier to cut than oak. This is because

there is… less friction between the maple and the saw / more

friction between the maple and the saw.

3. When a woman pushes a trolley on the tiles it moves more easily than

it does when she pushes it on the carpet. This is because there is

more friction / less friction between the tiles and the trolley.

Do you remember…

There are several ways of reducing friction – for example - lubricating,

stream-lining.

You could research these for more information.

51


Year 10 Science

Mass and Weight

Lots of people say ‘weight’ when they should say ‘mass’ and vice-versa.

For example – people say they want to lose ‘weight’ but really they want to lose

‘mass’.

Mass is the amount of matter (stuff) in an object. It is measured in Kilograms

(Kg).

Mass it a scalar quantity – it has no direction!

Every object has a mass and, as you learned earlier in this unit, masses don’t

move unless a resultant force makes them accelerate. In other words objects

are sort of lazy – this is called ‘inertia’ which means ‘laziness’!

Weight is a force – it is the force of the gravity on an object.

So on earth your weight is the size of the earth’s gravity on your mass.

Our earth’s gravity has a force of 10N on every Kg of mass of an object so we

say the earth’s gravity is 10N/Kg.

Notice how

The equation for weight is…

this equation

is like the

Weight = Mass x gravity (acceleration due to gravity)

equation for

(N) (Kg) (m/s/s)

Force, mass

and

acceleration

– so Weight

is a force!

Mass

Size only, no direction

Measured in Kilograms

Never changes

Weight

Size and direction

Measured in Newtons

Changes form planet to planet

52


Year 10 Science

Example:

What is the weight of a man whose mass is 70Kg when he is on the earth

(earth’s gravity = 10N/Kg) and when he is on the moon (moon’s gravity =

1.6N/Kg).

Weight = Mass x acceleration (due to gravity)

So on earth gravity = 10N/Kg

so the man’s weight is

The moon’s gravity is 1.6N/Kg so the

man’s weight is

= 70 x 10 = 70 x 1.6

= 700N = 112N

Now try these questions before you continue…

1) Aoife says her weight is 35 Kg. What is wrong with this statement

and what is her weight really?

2) Explain why a parachute slows down a falling parachutist.

Homework 7

Copy and complete the table below…

Mass of object (Kg) Acceleration due to Weight of object (N)

gravity (N/Kg)

75 10

200 500

140 9.8

27 2700

53


Year 10 Science

Forces

Forces are vector quantities – that means that forces have a size and also a

direction. Forces are measured in Newtons (N)

The size of a force is shown by the length of an arrow and its direction is shown

by the direction of the arrow.

Large force to the right

Small force

upwards

Normally objects have more than one force on them and some of the time the

forces on them are balanced.

So none of the objects in these diagrams move or accelerate.

If there are no forces on an object or if the forces on the object are balanced,

then the object will stay as is – either it will stay still as in the diagrams above

or it will continue to move at the same speed like the car below. This is Newton’s

First law!

An object stays at rest or continues to move in a straight line with a constant

speed (uniform velocity) unless an unbalanced force makes it behave

54

differently.


Year 10 Science

This car is travelling at a steady

speed because the forces on it

are balanced.

But what happens if there are two or more forces acting on an object and these

forces are not balanced?

Forward Force of

Engine

Forward force of

engine bigger = car

accelerating

Backward Force of

Drag

The force of the engine is bigger than the force of drag so the car is

accelerating.

When objects are moving, the force of friction (the object rubbing against the

surface it is moving on) always slows down the movement and eventually stops it

altogether.

So friction always opposes (works against) movement).

So we know now that objects do not accelerate (speed up or slow down) on their

own.

They only change their speed if some sort of Force makes them.

Forces cause things to accelerate.

55


Year 10 Science

This is also described in the equation for force, mass and acceleration.

Force = Mass of object x acceleration of object

Or

This

equation is

known as

newton’s 2 nd

Law.

F = m a

Example 1:

What is the force needed to make a train with a mass of 250,000 Kg

accelerate with an acceleration of 0.5 m/s/s?

F = m x a

F = 250,000 x 0.5

F = 125,000 Newtons

So the force needed to

make the train

accelerate at 0.5 m/s/s

is 125,000 Newtons.

Of course a smaller

force could still make

the train move but at a

smaller acceleration

56


Year 10 Science

Example 2:

The mass of the rock is 500 Kg.

The acceleration of the rock is 2

m/s/s.

So the force the girl must be

putting on the rock = mass x

acceleration.

The mass of this rock is only 200

Kg.

The acceleration is still 2 m/s/s.

So this time the girl only needs a

force of 200 x 2 = 400 N.

If the girl wanted to make the rock have a bigger acceleration, she would have

to push it with a bigger force.

If she wanted to give a bigger rock the same acceleration, she would also need a

bigger force.

It is important that we always use the overall resultant force when using the

force, mass, acceleration equation.

Look at the example below.

Forward Force of

Engine = 10,000N

Forward force of

engine bigger = car

accelerating

Backward Force of

Drag = 6000N

A car has a mass of 1000Kg.

What is its acceleration if the force of the engine is 10,000N and the force of air resistance

(drag) is 6000N?

The overall resultant force on the car is 10,000 – 6000 N = 4000N

So we use this resultant force in our equation.

F = m x a

4000 = 1000 x a s

so the acceleration = 4000 ÷ 1000 = 4 m/s/s

57


Year 10 Science

Now try this question…

A bicycle and rider have a total mass of 90Kg and travel along a flat road at a steady speed.

The forward force exerted by the cyclist is 40N.

a) Explain why the cyclist is not accelerating.

b) If the rider increases the forward force to 70N, what is her acceleration?

Summary of balanced and unbalanced forces

Balanced forces have no effect on the movement of an object. If it is still it

will stay still; if it is moving it will continue moving at the same speed and in

the same direction.

Unbalanced forces do affect the movement of an object – unbalanced forces

can cause the object’s velocity to change – it accelerates. The bigger the

resultant force the bigger the acceleration.

The bigger the mass of an object the bigger the force needed to make it

accelerate.

Homework 8

1. A train has a forward force of 200,000N and the mass of the train

is 4000Kg. What is its acceleration?

2. A car’s engine has a driving force of 8,000N and the mass of the

car is 1000Kg. What is its acceleration?

Extension Homework

1. A train is being pushed forward with an engine force of 100,000N. If

the force of air resistance is 20,000N, what is the resultant force on

the train? If the train has a mass of 8000Kg what is the acceleration

of the train?

58


Year 10 Science

Work

Work is done when a force causes something to move.

If you stand and push against a wall it will make you tired but you have not done

any work because there has been no movement.

Or it you hold a pile of books you have not done work unless you have moved

them.

The amount of Work done can be calculated by using this simple formula:

Work Done = Force used x Distance moved in the direction of

force

(Joules) (Newtons) (metres)

This can be shortened to…

W = F x d

You might notice that the unit for ‘Work Done’ is the same unit as for ‘Energy’ –

Joules.

When you do work (use a force to move something) you use up energy.

The more work you do, the more energy you use.

59


Year 10 Science

Look at this example…

How much work is done when a heavy box is dragged 4 metres across the floor

against a frictional force of 45 Newtons.

How much energy is needed to do this work?

4 metres

45 Newtons (friction)

Forward force pulling the

Now look at this question…

A crane does 1200 Joules of useful work when it lifts a load straight up (vertically)

by 60cm.

How heavy is the weight?

Remember… Work Done = Force x Distance moved in the direction of

force

Remember we need to use

metres so we have to

change the 60cm into

metres)

Therefore…

1200 Joules = Force (Weight of load) x 0.6 metres

So if we rearrange the equation…

Force = Work Done ÷ Distance

Force = 1200 ÷ 0.6

Force = 2000 Newtons

60


Year 10 Science


1. How much work is done by an electric motor pulling a 130 Newton load 6.5

metres up the slope if the tension in the string is 60 Newtons.

Tension in string = 60 N

Electric Motor

Energy and Work are closely related. Energy can be described as the ‘ability to

do work’

So if a machine has 500 Joules of stored energy, this means that it can do 500

Joules of work. Energy and Work are both measured in Joules (J)

You can carry out an experiment to measure the work you do when you walk up

the stairs. Copy and complete the table for your results…

Measurements

Mass of pupil in Kilograms

Weight of pupil in Newtons

(Weight = mass x 10)

Height of each stair

Number of stairs in staircase

Total height of staircase

Calculations

Work Done (=Force x Distance)

or

Work Done = Weight x total height of

staircase

61


Year 10 Science

Homework 9

1. The force from the engine of a car is 25,000N and the car

travels 20,000m. What is the work done?

(Remember to use the equation for Work Done)

2. A crane lifts a load of 10,000N up to a height of 40m. What is

the Work Done?

3. A girl goes up a flight of stairs which is 3m high with her

schoolbag. Her weight is 400N and her schoolbag weighs 25N.

How much work has she done in walking up the stairs?

Extension Homework

1. A man lifts 100 crates of apples from the ground floor up a flight

of 12 stairs.

Each crate has a mass of 25 Kg and each stair is 15 cm high.

How much work has the man done?

Literacy in Science

Here is a list of the key words from this topic along with their meanings…

Displacement – the distance travelled in a specific direction

Velocity – the speed in a specific direction

Acceleration – how quickly an object is changing its speed

Friction – a force between surfaces which always opposes motion

Mass – a measure of the amount of matter (stuff) in an object

Weight – the mass of an object multiplied by the force of gravity

Work – a measure of the amount of energy used to d move an object

(found by multiplying the force needed by the distance the object is

moved)

62


Year 10 Science

Careers in Science

If you study Physics

at A-level and then

at university you

could go on to

become a flight

engineers in the

aerospace industry.

This would involve

figuring out how to

make planes fly more

efficiently and

One job that is connected with the science of force and motion is in the

faster.

aerospace industry. Aerospace engineers help design planes to make

them more efficient and able to fly faster and with less fuel. They need

to know about friction and streamlining as well as balanced forces and

gravity. Salaries for this type of work vary but can reach well over

£60,000 Another per job year. that

you could do that is

connected with

forces and

movement is Sports

Coach.

A coach needs to be

able to calculate

speed and

acceleration and

work out how the

Many athlete sports can be coaches more also need to understand friction and streamlining

in efficient order to and help their athletes run, swim or cycle faster. In fact many

coaches streamlined study . a subject called Sport Science – the science of sport!

63


Year 10 Science

Topic 3: Materials and Energy

Nothing happens or works without ‘Energy’.

You need to be very clear about the difference between ‘forms of energy’ and

‘sources of energy’

‘Forms of energy’ are the different ways which energy can appear – for example

– light energy, heat energy etc.

‘Sources of energy’ are the different places and things that give us energy – for

example – coal, oil, wind and solar.

The table below summarises the main ‘forms of energy’

Form of Energy What is it? Examples of resources (or uses)

Light

Heat

The energy coming out of a

glowing object

The energy coming out of a hot

object

Sun, Stars

Sun, Stars

Sound The energy of particles vibrating Any sound or noise

Movement

(Kinetic) (KE)

Electrical

The energy of any moving object

The energy of moving electrons in

a circuit

Wind, Waves, Tides

None – we have to make it from

other forms of energy

Stored Chemical

Gravitational

Potential

(GPE)

Elastic potential

The energy stored in a substance

that is then released when the

substance is burned

The energy an object has if it is

high above the ground

(because gravity will pull it

downwards and it will then move)

The energy in a stretched spring

or elastic band that then makes it

move when you let it go

Coal, Oil, natural gas, peat (turf)

wood, food, battery

Stored energy in the water in a

dam or reservoir (Hydroelectric)

Clockwork toy, wind-up watch

64


Year 10 Science

This next law is possibly the most important law in all Science. It is called the

‘Law of Conservation of Energy’

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it be changed from

one form into a different form / different forms.

Energy Changes can be shown in a diagram called an ‘Energy Transfer Diagram’

Here are some examples…

Chemical

Energy

Kinetic Energy

when she

stretches the

elastic cord

Useful Elastic / Strain

Potential

Energy in the stretched

elastic cord

Stored Chemical

Energy

Useful Heat

Energy coming out

of the lit match

inside the chemicals

in

the head of the

match

Wasted Light

Energy coming out

of the lit match

Stored

Chemical

Energy in

the battery

Kinetic

Energy in

the Moving

hammer

Useful Sound

Energy from the

gong

Stored

Chemical

Energy in the

gas

Useful Heat Energy

coming out of the

Bunsen Burner

Useful Light Energy

coming out of the

Bunsen Burner

65


Year 10 Science

These ‘Energy Transfer Diagrams’ show how one form of energy can be changes

into other forms but they do not show how much of the energy that goes in is

changed into each form that comes out.

For example - in the diagram for the Bunsen Burner we do not know how much of

the Stored Chemical Energy in the gas is actually turned into heat energy and

how much is turned into light energy.


In your exercise book draw ‘energy transfer diagrams’ for these

situations.

A) A television

B) A gas cooker

C) A roller-coaster

D) A light-bulb

E) A wind-up toy

Remember that

each diagram will

have one arrow

going in but possibly

more than one

coming out!

Homework 1

Draw and fully label Energy Transfer Diagrams for the following

situations…

a. A bow and arrow

b. A loud-speaker

c. A toaster

d. A torch (with a battery inside it)

e. A coal fire

66


Year 10 Science

Sankey Diagrams

Sankey Diagrams are similar to Energy Transfer Diagrams but they are able

to show how much of the energy input is turned into the different types of

energy output.

For example – the Sankey diagram above shows how energy is transferred in a

light bulb. The thickness of each arrow represents the amount of energy

described – ie. the thicker the arrow the more energy it represents.

You can actually draw these Sankey diagrams to scale..

To do this you could decide how many centimetres represents a certain

amount of energy and draw the arrows accordingly.

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Year 10 Science

Examples to try…

1. Draw a Sankey diagram to represent the following situations…

a. A light bulb turns 100 Joules of electrical energy into 80 Joules

of heat energy and 20 Joules of light energy.

b. A television turns 500 Joules of electrical energy into 200 Joules

of light energy, 100 Joules of sound energy and 200 Joules of

heat energy.

c. Copy the Sankey diagram below into your exercise book. Do you

think this is an ordinary light bulb or an energy efficient light

bulb? Explain your answer.

Homework 2

1. Draw a Sankey diagram for a Bunsen burner which transfers 200

Joules of Stored Chemical energy into 140 Joules of heat energy, 40

Joules of light energy and 20 Joules of sound energy.

68


Year 10 Science

Sources of Energy

‘Sources of energy’ are the different places and things that give us energy – for

example – coal, oil, wind and solar.

Sources of Energy can be put into groups (classified).

One way of doing this is to split them into ‘renewable energy sources’ and ‘nonrenewable

energy resources’

This table summarises what is meant by ‘renewable’ and non-renewable’

Type of Energy

Source

Renewable Energy

sources

Non-renewable

Energy sources

What does this mean?

Can be replaced by

nature within a human

lifetime

Are used faster than

nature can replace them

Examples

Wind

Solar

Wave

Tidal

Geothermal

Hydroelectric

Biomass

Fossil Fuels (Coal, Oil &

Natural gas)

Nuclear Fuel (Uranium)

The tables on the two next pages summarise the main ‘renewable’ and ‘nonrenewable’

energy sources and how they work.

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Year 10 Science

First look at the renewable energy sources:

Name of energy source

Solar Energy from Solar cells

How it works

Solar cells turn sunlight (solar energy) into electricity.

A lot of solar cells joined together is called a ‘solar

array’

Hydroelectric Power Station

The water is high above the ground so it has

‘gravitational potential energy’. As it flows downhill it

turns a turbine which then turns a generator. The

generator then makes electricity.

Tidal Barrage (Tidal Energy)

A barrier is built in a river estuary (opening to the

sea).

When the tide rises and falls every 12 hours a gate is

opened in the barrier and the water flows through and

turns a turbine as it does. The turbine turns a

generator which makes electricity.

Wave Energy

The wind causes waves on the surface of the water. A

wave machine floats up and down on the waves and this

turns a turbine (by hydraulics) which turns a generator

which then makes electricity.

Wind Turbine

The wind turns the blades which then turn a turbine

which turns a generator. The generator makes

electricity.

Lots of wind turbines in the same area is known as a

wind farm.

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Year 10 Science

Geothermal Energy

The rocks far below the earth’s surface are hot. Cold

water is pumped down a pipe into the earth. This water

is heated by the rocks and is then pumped upwards

again. When it comes back up it is now hot (sometime

even steam).

Biomass

Some types of plant / tree are fast growing – such a s

willow. These can be harvested (cut down) every 3

years or so and dried out and turned into woodchip

which can be burned instead of fossil fuels.

Another way to use them is to let crops ferment to

make alcohol which can be added to fossils fuels such

as petrol or diesel to make then last longer (gasohol)

Remember:

Sources of energy which cannot be used more than once and which will

eventually run out are known as ‘non-renewable’ energy sources.

Here are the main Non-renewable energy sources…

The fuel is burned in a power station

to make water turn into steam which

then turns a generator which makes

electricity.

Uranium nuclei in a reactor are hit by

neutrons and split (nuclear fission).

This gives out huge amounts of energy

which then turns water into steam

which turns a turbine and then a

generator which makes electricity.

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Year 10 Science

Advantages and Disadvantages of different energy resources

Energy

Resource

Advantages Disadvantages Other Information

Fossil Fuels

(Coal, Oil,

Natural Gas,

Lignite,

turf)

Nuclear Fuel

(Uranium)

Wind

Turbines /

Wind Farm

Relatively cheap to start

up

Only moderately

expensive to run

Large amount of coal left

in the world (not so much

oil or gas)

Do not produce Carbon

Dioxide (so no

Greenhouse effect)

Do not produce Sulphur

Dioxide (so does not

cause acid rain)

Renewable

Low running cost

Does not use up fossil

fuels

Waves Renewable

Low running cost

Does not use up fossil

fuels

Tides Renewable

Low running cost

Does not use up fossil fuels

Non-renewable

Produces carbon

Dioxide when burned

so contributes to

Global Warming

Produces Sulphur

Dioxide which causes

acid rain

Waste products stay

radioactive for years

afterwards

Expensive to store

nuclear materials

safely

Non-renewable

Dangerous – an

accident could

contaminate an area

for many years

Unreliable

Eyesore / Ugly

Noisy

Can harm birds

Unreliable

Eyesore / Ugly

Dangerous for ships /

boats

Causes problems for

shipping

Destroys habitats for

birds and other

organisms

Coal is the worst

for releasing

Carbon Dioxide and

Natural gas is the

least bad of the

fossil fuels.

Removing Suphur

Dioxide from the

smoke etc is really

expensive

Quite cheap to get

Uranium

Building the actual

Nuclear Power

Station is very

expensive

Shutting down a

Nuclear power

station is very

expensive

Needs a lot of land

Need a lot of

turbines to make

electricity

Tides, unlike the

wind and waves, are

predictable but

they do changes

from day to day and

month to month

Ireland has not got any coal or oil. We do have lots of turf but, if we take that

from out of the ground it damages the environment. We do have Natural gas in

the Irish Sea and we also have Lignite which is sometimes called ‘Brown Coal’.

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Year 10 Science


1. Name three fossil fuels.

2. Which of the following are forms of energy? Sound, Pressure, Force,

Electricity, Heat, Weight

3. Which of these energy resources are renewable? Gas, Hydroelectricity,

Oil, Coal, Wind, Tides

Homework 3

1. A solar powered model aircraft uses solar cells to turn the propellers

and to charge a battery. Complete the following paragraph to describe

how it works…

The solar cells change _________ energy into _________ energy. The

battery then stores __________ energy. As the propellers turn they

change __________ energy into useful __________ energy. As the

model aircraft gets higher it gains more _________

__________energy. The model aircraft crashes to the ground and as it

does it produces wasted heat and _________ Energy.

2. Explain what is meant by ‘renewable energy’.

3. Name the polluting gas that contributes to global warming and is

produced by burning fossil fuels.


1. For each of the devices or situations shown below, draw an energy

transfer diagram to show the main energy change that is taking place.

Device / Situation

Microphone

Loudspeaker

Electric Iron

Coal in a fire

A weight falling to the ground

Battery powered electric drill

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Year 10 Science

Efficiency

The efficiency of a machine or device is basically how god it is at doing its job –

changing one type of energy into another useful type.

Calculating the efficiency of a device is a bit like calculating your exam scores –

what percentage of the questions you got right!

For example…

If a light bulb is a 100 Watt bulb, this means that it can change 100 Joules of

electricity per second. (remember:- Watt = Joule per second)

But not all of the 100 Joules of electricity will actually be turned into light. A

lot of it is turned into heat which is really just a waste. It is a bit like the

lightbulb getting it wrong!

Let’s say the lightbulb turns 40Joules into Light and the other 60Joules into

heat energy.

We say that its efficiency is

40/100 (40 Joules out of the 100 Joules of electricity

were turned into useful Light)

which is 40%.

Useful Energy Output

Efficiency =

Total Energy Input

Notice that Efficiency does not have any units – it’s just a percentage (%)

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Year 10 Science


1. An electric kettle has a power rating of 2500W

(it produces 2500 Joules of heat per second)

The kettle takes 160 seconds to boil some water and in this time 360,000

Joules of heat is passed from the kettle into the water.

Calculate the efficiency of the kettle.

Efficiency =

Useful Energy Output

Total Energy Input

The Useful energy output is the energy is the energy that is passed into the

water which is 360,000 Joules.

The total energy input is the 2500 Joules per second for 160 seconds which is

2500 x 160 = 400,000 Joules

360,000

So the efficiency = = 0.9

400,000

To make this a percentage we multiply it by 100

So the Efficiency = 90%

Homework 4

A motor has a power rating of 40 Watts. It lifts a load of 80 Newtons up to a

height of 90cm in 4 seconds. Find its efficiency.

Hint – First find the work done, then the power, then divide the power (useful)

by the power rating (total)

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Year 10 Science

Gravitational Potential Energy

When any object is lifted upwards, it is being moved against Gravity.

If is then let go, it will move (fall downwards) because of gravity.

So when it is still being held up in the air (before you let it go) we say that it

has the potential to move because of gravity which will pull it down when you let

go.

It has ‘Gravitational potential Energy’ - or GPE for short

The heavier the object the more GPE it has.

The higher up it is the more GPE it has.

Gravitational Potential Energy = Mass x Gravity x Height

(Joules) (Kg) (m/s/s) (m)

Remember before you look at the questions that…

a mass of 1 Kg on earth has a weight of 10 Newtons because Gravity on earth is

10 Newtons per Kg.


1. Find the gravitational potential energy of a mass of 500 grams when it

is raised to a height of 240cm.

Hint – be careful about units here

500 grams is 0.5 Kg so the mass is 0.5 Kg

240cm is 2.4m so the height is 2.4 m

Gravity on earth is 10 m/s/s or 10 N/Kg

So…

GPE = 0.5 x 2.4 x 10

So GPE

= 12 Joules

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Year 10 Science


Some of them will help you revise earlier work too!!

2. A man pushes a lawn mower with a force of 60 Newtons. How much work

does he do when he pushes the lawn mower 20m?

3. The electrical energy used by a boiler is 1000kJ (Hint: 1 kJ = 1000 Joules)

The useful energy output is 750 kJ.

a. Calculate the efficiency of the boiler.

b. Suggest what might have happened the energy wasted by the boiler.

4. A car engine has an efficiency of 0.28. How much input chemical energy

must be supplied if the total output useful energy is 140,000 kJ?

5. The power of a motor in an electric car is 3600W. How much electrical

energy

is changed into other forms of energy in 5 minutes?

(Hint: remember to use correct units!!)

Homework 5

1. A crane can produce a maximum output power of 3000W.

It raises a load of mass 1500kg through a vertical height (straight

upwards) of 12 metres.

a. What is the weight of the load?

b. How much useful work does the crane do when it lifts the load up 12m?

c. How long does it take the crane to raise the load 12m?

d. What is the speed of the load as it rises?

(Hint: think back to another equation for speed you studied earlier!!)

2. A barrel of weight 1000N is pushed up a ramp. The barrel rises vertically

40cm when it is pushed 1m along the ramp.

a. Calculate how much useful work is done when the barrel is pushed

along the ramp.

b. Pushing the barrel along the ramp needs 1200 Joules of energy.

Calculate the efficiency of the ramp.

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Year 10 Science

Kinetic Energy

Kinetic Energy is another way of saying ‘Movement Energy’

Kinetic Energy of a moving object is the energy it has because it is moving.

Kinetic Energy = ½ x mass x velocity 2

This equation can be written in short version as…

K.E. = ½ m v 2

Kinetic Energy is measured in Joules (like all forms of energy).

Now look at these examples of questions…

1. A car which has a mass of 800kg is travelling at a speed of 15 m/s.

What is its Kinetic Energy?

K.E. = ½ m v 2

= ½ x 800 x 15 2

= 90,000 Joules

2. A bullet has a mass of 20g and is travelling at 300m/s.

What is its Kinetic Energy?

K.E. = ½ m v 2

= ½ x 0.02 x 300 2

= 900 Joules

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Year 10 Science


1. Find the speed of a boat if its mass is 1200kg and it has a Kinetic Energy of

9600J.

2. A satellite in space has a mass of 120kg and it orbits the earth at a speed of

3000m/s. Calculate its Kinetic Energy.

3. An oil tanker has a mass of 100,000 tonnes (1 tonne = 1000kg).

Its Kinetic Energy is 200MJ. Calculate its speed.

4. The input power of a small hydroelectric power station is 1 MW

(1,000,000W)

If 18,000,000 kg of water flows past the turbines every hour, find the

average speed of the water.

Homework 6

1. A ball of mass 2kg falls from rest (it is still at the start) from a height

of 5m above the ground. Copy the table below and complete it to show

the gravitational potential energy, the kinetic energy, the speed and the

total energy of the falling ball at different heights above the surface.

Height above the

ground (m)

Gravitational

Potential Energy (J)

Kinetic

Energy

(J)

Total

energy

(J)

Speed

(m/s)

5 0 100 0

4 4.47

64

1.8 64

0 0

2. On planet X an object of mass 2kg is raised 10m above the surface.

At that height the object has a gravitational potential energy of 176J

Details of three planets are given below. Which of these is planet X?

Planet Mercury Venus Jupiter

Gravity on planet (N/kg) 3.7 8.8 26.4

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Year 10 Science

Materials, their properties and their uses

Now that you have learned about energy you need to learn about some of the

materials we use, what we use them for and how we decide to use certain

materials for certain things.

For example- you probably know that we use glass to make window panes but

have you ever thought about why we use glass for this?

Look at the objects above. Each is made from a different material. Can you

explain why each object is made from the chosen material?

Now look at the following descriptive words and see if any of them appeared in

your explanations…

Literacy in Science

transparent shiny flexible strong

light-weight

hard

doesn’t rust

tough

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Year 10 Science

The words in the box on the previous page are all ‘properties’ of materials – they

are describing words to describe what the materials are like.

Here is a list of lots of ‘properties’ of materials along with the meanings of the

words…

Literacy in Science

Hard – difficult to scratch

Soft – easily scratched

Tough – does not break easily

Brittle – breaks or shatters very easily

Strong – can hold or carry a lot of weight without breaking

Weak – cannot hold or carry a lot of weight without breaking

Conductor – allows heat or electricity to pass through easily

Insulator – does not allow heat or electricity to pass through easily

High density – particles tighly packed making a small piece of it heavy

Low density – the opposite of high density

Transparent – light can pass through it

Opaque – light doenot pass through it at all

Translucent – some light passes through it (like a bathroom window)

Lustre – shininess

Flexible – bends easily

Rigid – does not bend easily

Malleable – can be shaped easily

Non-malleable – cannot be shaped easily

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Year 10 Science

Activity

Use the words on the previous page to explain why each of the following

materials is used for the purpose given…

a. Glass is used in window panes

b. Wood is used to make furniture (like science benches)

c. Steel is used to build bridges

d. Plastic is used to make shopping bags

e. Gold is used for jewellery

f. Plastic is used to make rulers

g. Iron is used to make saucepans

h. Copper is used to make electrical wires

Homework 7

Use the ‘properties’ of materials you have learned about to explain why

these materials are used for the purpose given…

a. Rubber is used to make car tyres

b. Iron is used to make magnets

c. Diamond can be used to cut glass or tiles

d. Aluminium is used to make aeroplanes

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Year 10 Science

Testing the properties of materials

We can carry out experiments to test certain properties of materials.

You will now carry out some of these tests over the next few science lessons.

Experiment 1: Testing the hardness of materials

The test for the hardness of a material is called the ‘scratch test’.

The method is as follows…

1. Hold the material to be tested firmly in one hand.

2. Use an iron nail to scratch the surface of the material (trying to

maintain a steady force).

3. Note the depth of the scratch (if there is a visible scratch).

4. Record results in a table (describing the depth of the scratch)

Name of material

Depth of scratch (none,

shallow, deep, very deep)

The hardness of a material can be more accurately measured in

industry where very precise instruments can measure the depth of

even very small scratches. Materials can then be placed on the Mohs

Hardness Scale

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Year 10 Science

The next Material test is for strength.

Experiment 2: Testing the strength of materials

1. Attach material to a retort stand.

2. Attach a weight holder to the other end of the material.

3. Hang weights, one by one, onto the weight holder until the material

snaps/ breaks.

4. Record results in a table…

Name of material

Thread

String

Paper

Human hair

Number of weights held

before material snapped

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Year 10 Science

The strength of a material can

be extremely important.

For example - a bridge must be

made of a very strong material

because it has to be able to hold

a lot of weight without breaking.

Steel used in building skyscrapers

must also be strong so

they don’t collapse.

Homework 8

In an experiment

to test the

strength of

materials the setup

to the right was

used. What things

would need to be

done to ensure the

experiment was

fair.

85


Year 10 Science

Extension Activity Building Bridges

86


Year 10 Science

Next you are going to test materials for electrical conductivity.

Experiment 3: Testing the electrical conductivity of materials

1. Build an electrical circuit with two batteries, one bulb, connecting

leads, crocodile clips and leave a gap in the circuit between the two

crocodile clips.

2. Connect various materials between the crocodile clips and see if the

bulb lights or not.

3. Copy and complete the results table below..

Name of

material

Does the bulb

light up?

(Yes/No)

Is the material a

conductor or an

insulator?

Homework 9

Write up the experiment you did in class – with a title, equipment list, risk

assessment, method, variables, fair test, results and conclusion.

Extension Homework

An ammeter is a device which measures the amount of electrical current

flowing. Explain how you could use an ammeter to improve the experiment you

did in class.

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Year 10 Science

The next materials test is for thermal conductivity.

Experiment 4: Testing the thermal conductivity of materials

1. Use Vaseline to attach thumb

tacks at the ends of each of the

arms of the thermal conductivity

apparatus.

2. Place the Bunsen Burner

underneath the centre (where all

the arms meet).

3. Light Bunsen Burner and adjust

air-hole to get hot flame.

4. Start stop-watch and time until

the thumb tacks fall off (due to

the Vaseline melting).

5. Record all times in a table.

Material Time for thumb

tack to fall (s)

Homework 10

Write up the experiment you

did in class – with a title,

equipment list, risk assessment,

method, results table and

conclusion.

Extension Homework

Explain why cooking pots have to be made of a metal such as iron or copper

but their handles are usually made of plastic or wood.

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Year 10 Science

Next you need to investigate how we test the flexibility of materials.

Experiment 5: Testing the flexibility of materials

1. Clamp a metre ruler to the edge of the bench making sure that 80cm

of the ruler extend over the edge.

2. Attach a weight holder to the very end of the metre ruler using

string and blue-tac.

3. Measure the deflection (how far downwards the ruler bends) with the

weight holder attached.

4. Add a weight to the weight holder and again measure the deflection.

5. Repeat when adding 2, 3 and 4 weights to the weight holder.

6. Record all results in a table like the one below…

Number of weights added

(remember that the holder

counts as one weight)

Deflection (cm)

Homework 11

Plot a graph of your results of the experiment you carried out in

class…

Plot the number of weights on the x-axis and the deflection in cm on

the y-axis.

Numeracy in Science

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Year 10 Science

You have now finished your study of Energy and Materials and you need to

prepare for your End of Unit Assessment…

You can use the revision list below to help you study.

Energy and Materials Revision List

What is energy?

What is the law of conservation of energy?

What are the different types of energy?

What are renewable and non-renewable sources of energy?

What are the equations for Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy?

What are Sankey diagrams?

What is meant by ‘efficiency’ and how is it calculated?

What is meant by the ‘properties’ of a material?

What are the tests for the different properties of materials?

Careers in Science

There is a new course at the University of Ulster in Derry called

‘Renewable Energy Engineering’. To do this course you would need

to study either Science or Technology at A-level or preferably

both! Pupils from St. Mary’s have already done this course and

have really enjoyed it!

90


Year 10 Science

Topic 4: Chemical Reactions

In this topic you will be learning about lots of chemical reactions and why

certain chemicals react. You will also learn about chemical equations.

To start with you need to know that ‘chemical reactions’ are also known as

‘chemical changes’. However, there are two types of ‘change’ – Chemical and

Physical and the first thing you need to know is the difference between them.

Chemical Changes…

Make a new substance

Cannot be easily changed back

Normally show signs of a change

Physical Changes…

Do not make a new substance

(the same substance is just in a

different state or form)

Can be quite easily changed back

Don’t show many signs of a change

apart from perhaps a change of

state

Examples of Chemical changes…

Something burning

Two substances reacting

Examples of Physical Changes…

Something melting, evaporating,

freezing or condensing

Something dissolving in a liquid

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Year 10 Science

Now try to decide if each of the following changes is a Physical Change or a

Chemical Change.

Copy and complete the table with the title ‘Physical or Chemical Change’ and

then put ticks in the correct boxes…

What is happening? Physical Change Chemical

Change

Chocolate melting on a hot day

Turf burning in a fire

Steam rising from the spout of a kettle

An apple going bad and rotting

An ice lolly melting

Sugar dissolving in a cup of tea

Making toast

Making ice cubes in the freezer

An iron nail rusting

Bread going mouldy

Now look at the pictures below and decide if the changes are physical or

chemical.

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Year 10 Science

Homework 1

1. Which of these are Physical changes?

a. Adding water to dilutable orange juice

b. Burning petrol in a car engine

c. Getting salt from sea water

d. Making plastic from crude oil

2. Name 5 examples of a Physical change and 5 examples of a chemical

change.

Extension Homework

Explain why each of the following is a chemical change…

a. Burning coal in a fire

b. An iron nail rusting

c. Acid and alkali reacting to form salt and water

Famous Scientist…Leo Baekeland

Leo Baekeland was a Belgian scientist who specialised in Chemistry.

His first invention was a new type of paper for

making photographs. He made a lot of money

selling this and was able to spend time developing

a new material which is considered to be the

world’s first plastic. He spent 3 years and

thousands of failed experiments perfecting this

but his perseverance paid off in the end.

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Year 10 Science

Before you move on and learn about ‘Chemical Changes’ you should first take a

little while to remind yourself about ‘Physical Changes’.

Take the example of ice melting – this is a physical change.

This means that the ice changes shape or state but that the actual substance

remains the same – water!

The particles that make up the ice may have rearranged themselves because

they have more energy but they have not joined with any other particles from a

different substance – No new substance is made in a Physical change!

So the mass remains the same and the properties of the substance remain the

same.

There is actually a pair of experiments you can do to see for yourself whether

or not the mass of the substance changes during a Physical Change and a

Chemical Change.

Method 1… To see if there is a change of mass during a Physical Change

1. Place an ice cube in a beaker

2. Place the beaker on a mass balance

3. Take a reading for the mas of ice and beaker

4. Leave until half of the ice cube has melted

5. Take another reading for mass

6. Wait until all the ice cube has melted

7. Take another reading for mass

Method 2… To see if there is a change of mass during a Chemical Change

1. Half fill a test tube with Lead Nitrate

2. Pour some Potassium Iodide into a flask

3. Place test tube upright inside flask

4. Put rubber bung on top

5. Tip flask

6. Place flask upright on mass balance

7. Record mass every minute.

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Year 10 Science

So now you should have noticed that there is no change of mass during a

Physical Change or a Chemical Change

So we can improve our earlier summary…

Chemical Changes…

Make a new substance

Cannot be easily changed back

Normally show signs of a change

NO CHANGE OF MASS

Physical Changes…

Do not make a new substance

(the same substance is just in a

different state or form)

Can be quite easily changed back

Don’t show many signs of a change

apart from perhaps a change of

state

NO CHANGE OF MASS

Examples of Chemical changes…

Something burning

Two substances reacting

Examples of Physical Changes…

Something melting, evaporating,

freezing or condensing

Something dissolving in a liquid

Homework 2

Copy and complete…

In a ______ change no new substance is made. In a _____ change a new

substance is made. In a chemical change the total mass ____ ____ ____. In a

physical change the mass ____ ____ ____. Melting is a _____ change. Burning

is a _____ change.

95


Year 10 Science

So you now know that a CHEMICAL CHANGE is totally different from a Physical

change – IN A CHEMICAL CHANGE A NEW SUBSTANCE IS MADE!

There are certain signs of a chemical change – signs that a chemical reaction

has taken place and that a new substance has been made…

Bubbles

released

Change in

temperature

A smell or gas

released

Difficult to

reverse

Colour

change

A solid precipitate

is formed

You do not see these signs when a Physical Change happens.

So it should not be too hard to spot when two chemicals have reacted with one

another.

Activity

What is the sign of each of the following chemical reactions (chemical

changes). You may give more than one answer for each reaction.

a. Coal burning b. Iron rusting c. making toast from bread

d. Magnesium burning in air e. Potassium Iodide and Lead Nitrate

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Year 10 Science

Homework 3

Decide which of the following are chemical changes and for each chemical

change write down the signs that it is happening…

a. Making soap from vegetable oil

b. Boiling water

c. Burning natural gas

d. Making aluminium cans from aluminium metal

e. Making coffee by adding water to coffee powder

f. Making glass from sand

g. Baking clay to make pottery

Extension Homework

In an earlier topic you studied ‘Matter’.

Describe what happens the particles in ice when it melts into water.

What happens these particles if the water is then boiled.

Now explain why the mass of ice, water and steam is always the same.

Finally explain why you think this is different from a chemical change.

Summary of the main things you have learned so far…

Substances can undergo two types of change – physical and chemical

Physical changes involve the particles rearranging themselves because of a

change in the amount of energy they have.

Chemical changes involve particles of a substance swapping places or joining

with particles from a different substance.

In a physical change – no new substance is made.

In a chemical change a new substance is made.

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Year 10 Science

In these next lessons you are going to be learning about lots of different

examples of chemical reactions. You will also get the chance to learn about

chemical equations – which we use to help explain what is actually happening.

First let’s look at one of the most common types of chemical reaction / chemical

change – OXIDATION

Oxidation simply involves Oxygen being added to a chemical (or Hydrogen being

removed).

For example –burning Magnesium in air

Method… Burning Magnesium

1. Cut a length of

Magnesium ribbon of

about 2 cm.

2. Hold the 2cm strip of

Magnesium ribbon in a

pair of tongs.

3. Light a Bunsen Burner

and adjust collar to

open the air-hole.

4. Hold the Magnesium

strip in the hot flame

of the Bunsen Burner

until you see it ignite

into a bright white

light.

5. Observe the substance

that remains after the

burning has stopped.

In this experiment you have made Magnesium react with the Oxygen in the

air. The particles of Magnesium have joined with particles of air to make a

new substance called Magnesium Oxide. This new substance is different from

Magnesium and is also different from Oxygen. It truly is a brand new

substance with its own properties. It even looks completely different – it is a

white powder whereas Oxygen is an invisible gas and Magnesium is a grey

solid.

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Year 10 Science

Now you are going to do the same experiment again but in a slightly different

way…

Method … Burning Magnesium in a crucible (Combustion)

1. Set up the equipment like in the diagram below…a heat-proof mat

with a tripod on top of it, a ceramic triangle on the tripod and then a

crucible on the ceramic triangle.

2. Weigh a 2cm strip of Magnesium ribbon on a mass balance and then

place it in the crucible.

3. Light the Bunsen Burner and adjust the air-hole to get the hot flame.

4. Place Bunsen Burner under crucible and begin heating strongly.

6. When the Magnesium has

become Magnesium Oxide, leave

the crucible to cool and then

scrape out the Magnesium Oxide

and weigh it again on a mass

balance.

7. Record the new mass.

99


Year 10 Science

From you last experiment you should have found that the mass of the

Magnesium is less than the mass of the Magnesium Oxide. This makes sense

because there are more particles in this new substance – magnesium Oxide than

there are in plain old Magnesium.

+

+

Magnesium Oxygen Magnesium Oxide

You can see from the particle diagram above that Magnesium Oxide should be

heavier than just Magnesium because there are more particles.

Now let’s look at the chemical equation for this ‘chemical reaction’

Mg is the chemical symbol for Magnesium

(You might remember this from Year 9)

O is the chemical symbol for Oxygen

Magnesium Oxide has the formula MgO because each Magnesium atom is now

joined together with one Oxygen atom.

So the chemical equation is…

Mg + O MgO

Extension Work

There is a slight problem with the equation above. Oxygen atoms do not float

about in the air on their own. They are always found in pairs – in molecules.

An Oxygen molecule has the formula O 2

But if we put this formula in the equation, the equation is not balanced.

Mg + O 2 MgO

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Year 10 Science

Extension Work (continued)

Mg + O 2 MgO

You can see that, in this equation, there are two Oxygen atoms on the left hand

side but only one on the right hand side – this cannot happen – atoms cannot just

disappear!

So we have to balance the equation…

We can’t change the O 2 on the left hand side because Oxygen gas is made up of

molecules of 2 atoms and we can’t change that so instead we make two Oxygen

atoms on the right hand side by putting a 2 in front of the MgO.

Mg + O 2 2MgO

Problem… now the number of Magnesium atoms doesn’t match up – there is only one

atom of Magnesium on the left hand side but there are 2 on the right hand side. So

we now put a 2 in front of the Magnesium atom on the left hand side.

2Mg + O 2 2MgO

Now the equation is completely balanced – the same of number of Oxygen atoms on

both sides and the same number of Magnesium atoms on both sides.

+

+

2 Mg O 2 Mg O

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Year 10 Science

Homework 4

Grainne heated some magnesium ribbon in air. She measured the mass of solid

before and after heating. Here are her results…

Mass of solid before heating = 0.24 g

Mass of solid after heating = 0.4 g

a. Copy and complete the word equation for this reaction.

Magnesium + _________ = Magnesium Oxide

b. Name the reactants in this reaction.

c. Name the product in this reaction.

d. Explain the results of Grainne’s experiment – mass of solid before and

after heating.

Now you are going to look at another ‘Oxidation’ chemical reaction.

This time it is the oxidation of iron.

Method… Investigation into the rusting of iron

1. Place two small iron nails in

each of three boiling tubes.

2. In one boiling tube place a

pinch of Calcium Chloride

powder. Label this boiling

tube C.

3. In another boiling tube pour

some boiled water to cover

the nails and then pour some

oil on top. Label this boiling

tube B.

4. In the third boiling tube

pour some tap water and

label this boiling tube A.

5. Put rubber bungs in all

three boiling tubes and wait.

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Year 10 Science

Method… Rusting of Iron (continued)

6. Record your results in a table like the one below…

Boiling

Tube

A

B

C

Conditions (set-up)

Tap water covering half

of nails

Boiled water covering

nails with layer of oil on

top of water

No water and powdered

calcium Chloride

present

Conditions

(Presence of

water/Air)

Water and air

present

Water but no air

Air but no water

Description of

nail after 1 week

You should have noticed that the nails needed both air and water present in

order for the iron in them to ‘react’ with Oxygen and become ‘oxidised’.

The actual reaction that took place when the nails rusted was as follows…

Iron + Oxygen Iron Oxide

This is called a ‘Word Equation’ and is used to state the reactants (the

substances which reacted together) and the products (the new substances that

were made).

Preventing iron from rusting

Iron is a very strong material which is useful for buildings and other

structures such as bridges and even parts of cars and lorries. However, when

it rusts it ‘changes’ into Iron Oxide which is not so useful – Iron Oxide is

flaky and weak.

So it is important sometimes to stop iron from rusting in the first place – to

do this we simply have to keep the Oxygen in the air and water away from it.

There are several ways of doing this.

You should carry out some research to find out 4 ways of preventing rusting.

Then decide which way would be best for preventing the rusting of…

Bicycle chain Iron fence Iron water taps Body of a car

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Year 10 Science

Homework 5

1. Match up the method of preventing rusting with the situation in which

you would best use this method..

Bicycle chain

Iron fence

Car body

Jewellry

Water tap

Chromium plating

Oiling

Silver plating

Painting

Zinc plating

Extension Homework

Carry out research to find out about how much the ‘Titanic’, which sank

around 100 years ago, has rusted. Write a paragraph on your findings.

Now you are going to learn about a different type of ‘chemical reaction’ called

‘Thermal Decomposition’.

Thermal means ‘to do with heat’

Decomposition means ‘breaking down’ or ‘breaking apart’

So ‘Thermal Decomposition’ means ‘heating a substance and making it break

apart into other new substances’.

Carbon

Copper

Oxygen

+

Copper Carbonate molecules are made

up of one Calcium atom, one Carbon

atom and three Oxygen atoms all

joined together

When heated strongly Copper

Carbonate breaks apart to form

Copper Oxide and Carbon Dioxide.

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Year 10 Science

You can now carry out an experiment to see the thermal decomposition of

Copper carbonate.

WARNING – Danger

Method… Thermal Decomposition of Copper Carbonate

of Suck-Back

1. Put two spatulas of Copper Carbonate powder into a boiling tube.

2. Place rubber bung with delivery tube on top of boiling tube.

3. Fill another boiling tube about half full of Limewater.

4. Hold the two boiling tubes in retort stands so that the delivery tube

leads right into the Limewater.

5. Position the boiling tube of Copper Carbonate at a slight angle to

reduce the risk of suck-back.

6. Place a Bunsen Burner under the boiling tube of Copper Carbonate and

light it.

7. Heat the Copper carbonate strongly and observe.

You should find that the Copper carbonate changes colour (think of the signs of

a chemical change) from green to black and that the Limewater also changes

colour (from clear to cloudy).

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Year 10 Science

Explanation of Thermal decomposition of Copper Carbonate

Copper is a brownish orange solid, Carbon is a black solid and Oxygen is a

colourless gas but Copper carbonate is a green powder.

It is a different substance than any of the substances that make it up!

When we heat Copper Carbonate it changes colour from green to black.

This is because it is no longer Copper Carbonate –the solid powder you are

seeing in the boiling tube has changed into Copper Oxide (which is black)

Copper

Carbon

Oxygen

+

Copper Carbonate Copper Oxide Carbon Dioxide

A gas is given off which is Carbon Dioxide. We know it is Carbon Dioxide

because it goes into the Limewater and turns it cloudy – only Carbon Dioxide

turns Limewater cloudy!

Homework 6

Write up the experiment you did in class on the thermal decomposition of

Copper Carbonate.

Include a title, equipment list, risk assessment, method and conclusion.

Extension Homework

What substances would be formed by the Thermal decomposition of…

a. Calcium Carbonate

b. Sodium Carbonate

106


Year 10 Science

So far you have learned about two types of ‘Chemical Reaction’…

1. Oxidation is the addition of Oxygen to another substance. There are two

types of Oxidation – burning and rusting.

2. Thermal Decomposition is the breaking apart of a complicated substance

into other substances when it is heated strongly.

Now you will be learning about some more types of chemical reaction.

The next few reactions you will be learning about all have one thing in common –

they all have some sort of salt as a product.

What is Salt?

Lots of people think that ‘salt’ is the name of one particular substance.

Actually the word ‘salt’ refers to a whole family of substances.

There are lots of different ‘salts’.

For example - the salt that you put on your dinner is called ‘Sodium Chloride’.

However, there are other salts that you eat too – like Potassium Chloride.

All salts are made up of some sort of metal (like Sodium or Potassium) in a

compound with at least one non-metal (like Chlorine or Sulphur).

Here are some examples of the names of some salts…

Sodium Chloride Sodium Sulphate Sodium Carbonate Sodium Nitrate

Potassium Chloride Potassium Sulphate Potassium Carbonate

Magnesium Nitrate Magnesium Sulphate Magnesium Chloride

You can see that every salt contains a metal and a non-metal or combination of

non-metals.

107


Year 10 Science

Making Salts

Method 1 - Reacting acid with metal to make a salt

1. Place 5 test tubes in a test-tube rack and fill each one half full with

dilute Hydrochloric acid.

2. Place a small sample of each of the metals in the test-tubes – one

metal for each test-tube… magnesium, zinc, iron, tin and copper.

3. Observe any changes.

4. Put your results in a table like this one…

Name of metal

Magnesium

Zinc

Iron

Tin

Copper

Reaction with acid

You may have noticed that a gas came out of some of the test-tubes where a

reaction took place.

You can test to confirm which gas this is by lighting a splint and holding it near

the opening of the test-tube as the gas escapes. You can see this on the next

page.

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Year 10 Science

Testing for Hydrogen Gas

There is a very simple test to confirm if a gas is actually Hydrogen.

Simply collect some of the gar as it comes out of the test-tube (of metal and

acid) and then, still holding the test-tube of gas upside-down, hold a lighted

splint at the opening. If it is Hydrogen gas, you will hear a squeaky pop.

There is also a slightly more complicated way to collect Hydrogen gas which

your teacher might show you.

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Year 10 Science

Homework 7

Copy and complete…

Acids have a pH number _____ than 7. An acid added to a metal will make a

____ and ____. Hydrogen gas ____ with a ____ splint. Sulphates are made

from ____ acid. Chlorides are made from ____ acid. Nitrates are made

from ____ acid. To make Zinc Chloride we use ____ and ____ acid.

You have now carried out the experiment to make salts by reacting metals with

acid. You should now have a look at the chemical equations for these reactions.

First look at the reaction between Magnesium metal and Hydrochloric acid…

The word equation is as follows…

Magnesium + Hydrochloric Acid

Magnesium Chloride + Hydrogen

The symbol equation is…

Mg + 2HCl MgCl 2 + H 2

Magnesium Chloride is the name of the salt that is produced and hydrogen gas is

also produced and given off.

The equations for the reactions between the other metals and the acid are very

similar.

Also you could use different types of acid to make different types of salt. For

example – if you use Sulphuric acid the salt will be a ‘sulphate’; if you use Nitric

acid the salt will be a Nitrate and if you use Hydrochloric acid the salt will be a

Chloride.

You might have noticed some signs of a reaction when you carried out the

last experiment – bubbles of Hydrogen gas forming, the metal fizzing,

perhaps even some heat being given off. However, the salt that was produced

was actually dissolved in the water from the dilute acid and so you probably

couldn’t actually see it.

Next you are going to make a salt by reacting a metal and acid but you will

then filter and evaporate so you actually obtain the solid salt.

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Year 10 Science

The salt you are going to make is called Zinc Sulphate.

You might be able to work out which acid and which metal you need to react

together to make this salt….

Zinc metal reacting with Sulphuric acid will make the salt ‘Zinc Sulphate’.

Making Zinc Sulphate using the metal and acid method…

111


Year 10 Science

You should now have made Zinc Sulphate. You should be able to see it as a

powder left behind in the evaporating dish.

Can you answer a few questions about this experiment using the knowledge you

have gained so far in this topic…

Questions…

1. What are the reactants in this reaction?

2. What are the products in this reaction?

3. What are the signs that a chemical reaction has taken place?

Harder Questions…

4. Why do you think you should keep adding the Zinc powder until no more

dissolves?

5. Try to write a word equation for this reaction.

6. Try to write a balanced symbol equation for this reaction.

Homework 8

Name the salts that you would make in the following reactions…

1. Hydrochloric acid with Copper

2. Sulphuric acid with Magnesium

3. Nitric acid with Silver

4. Sulphuric acid with Copper

Extension Homework

1. Write word equations for the reactions in the homework above.

2. Write balanced symbol equations for the reactions also.

112


Year 10 Science

There is another way to make a salt.

This other way is to react an acid with an base. You actually did this in year 8

(although it is so long ago that you might not remember).

You will now carry out this second method.

Method 2 – Reacting an acid with a base to make a salt

1. First add Copper Oxide

to the acid and stir.

2. When no more Copper

Oxide dissolves, filter

the mixture.

3. Carefully evaporate the

filtrate to about half of its

original volume and leave it

to cool.

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Year 10 Science

Homework 9

1. What are the signs that a chemical reaction has taken place?

2. What substance is left behind in the filter paper?

3. What is the name of the product in this experiment?

4. What are the reactants in this experiment?

Extension Homework

1. Why should you keep adding Copper Oxide until no more dissolves?

2. Write the word equation for this chemical reaction.

Extension Work

The word ‘base’ in science means a certain compound of a metal.

For example any metal oxide (Copper Oxide, Zinc oxide) is a base.

Also any metal Hydroxide (Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide) is a base

Finally any metal carbonate (Copper Carbonate, Calcium carbonate) is a base.

To summarise – a base is the oxide, Hydroxide or the Carbonate of a

metal.

Bases neutralise acids – just like alkalis do.

In fact many bases are also alkalis.

The reactions for bases with acids can be describes as below…

Acid + Metal Oxide Salt + Water

Acid + Metal Hydroxide Salt + Water

Acid + Metal carbonate Salt + Carbon Dioxide + Water

114


Year 10 Science

Next you are going to learn about the chemical reactions between alkali metals

and water…

Demonstration – Alkali metals reactions with water

The teacher will fill a trough with tap water, then add a few drops of an

indicator called Phenolphthalein (which turns pink if an alkali is present).

Next the teacher will add a small piece of the first alkali metal – Lithium.

This will be repeated for some of the other alkali metals including Sodium

and Potassium.

The last three alkali metals cannot be shown to you because they are too

dangerous but you can watch a video showing how they react with water.

Potassium in water is shown

in the image below

This results table describes the reactions

of the first three alkali metals with water.

If Caesium is placed in water the result can be

pretty explosive

Scan the QR code to

watch a video about the

reactions of Caesium,

Rubidium and Francium

with water

115


Year 10 Science

You should now have seen how the ‘alkali metals’ react with water. Hopefully you

also noticed that they all react in a similar way although the reactions do vary in

how violent they are.

You might even have noticed that there is a pattern to how violent the reactions

are. The least reactive is Lithium which is at the top of the ‘Alkali metal’ group

on the Periodic Table. The most reactive is at the bottom of the group.

In other words the alkali metals get more reactive the further down the group

you go.

The word equations for these reactions are all very similar…

Can you write the word equations for Caesium, Rubidium and Francium?

Lithium + Water Lithium Hydroxide + Hydrogen gas

Sodium + Water Sodium Hydroxide + Hydrogen gas

Potassium + Water Potassium Hydroxide + Hydrogen gas

Homework 10

Write a paragraph to describe the reactions of each of the alkali metals –

the first three from your observations of the demonstration carried out by

the teacher and the last three from the video.

Extension Homework

Write balanced symbol equations for the reactions of each of the alkali

metals with water. The first one is done for you.

2 Li + 2 H 2 O 2 LiOH + H 2

116


Year 10 Science

Next you are going to learn about the ‘Reactivity Series’. You have actually

learned a little bit about it already without knowing it – Remember in the last

lesson when you learned that the alkali metals vary in the violence of their

reactions with water; some alkali metals are more reactive than others!

You already know that an iron nail rusts when it is in contact with air and

water. However this reaction takes quite a long time – it is a slow reaction.

On the other hand Magnesium ribbon burns in air very quickly. It is all over in

a few seconds. The reaction between magnesium and Oxygen is very fast.

Some substances are more reactive than others!

To help us remember which elements are more reactive scientists have made

a list of elements in order of their reactivity. This list is called the

‘Reactivity Series’

The ‘Reactivity series’ is a bit like a league table in football.

The league table for the English Premier league for 2016 is below. Leicester

were the best team so they are top of the league. Aston Villa were the worst

team so they are bottom of the league.

In the ‘Reactivity series’ the element at the top is the most reactive and the

one at the bottom is the least reactive.

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Year 10 Science

Below is the ‘Reactivity Series’ along with a pneumonic (rhyme) to help you

remember it in the correct order…

Try to learn it off by heart.

Now answer these questions…

Which is more reactive from each pair of elements?

a. Sodium and Iron

b. Potassium and Lead

c. Hydrogen and Aluminium

d. Gold and Zinc

e. Magnesium and Lithium

f. Calcium and Sodium

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Year 10 Science

So what is the point of the ‘Reactivity Series’? How does it help us when doing

chemical reactions?

As well as telling us about how fast elements might react and how ‘reactive’

they are, we can use the positions of the elements in the series to predict

which reactions might actually happen in the first place…

For example - what if we added a piece of Magnesium to a solution of Copper

Sulphate?

The ‘Reactivity Series’ can help us figure out if these two substances would

react or not…

Magnesium and Copper are both metals. Only one of these can be part of a

Sulphate compound. So which one gets to be in the compound? Whichever

one is more reactive and wants it more!!

Magnesium is above Copper in the ‘Reactivity Series’ and so it will ‘displace’

Copper in the Sulphate compound.

Therefore the following reaction will take place…

Magnesium + Copper Sulphate Magnesium Sulphate + Copper

This type of reaction when one metal is ‘displaced’ by another is called a

‘displacement’ reaction.


A piece of Zinc metal is added to a solution of Magnesium Sulphate.

Will a chemical reaction occur and, if so write the word equation for it?

Answer…

Magnesium is above Zinc in the reactivity series so zinc is not reactive

enough to ‘displace’ Magnesium. Therefore no reaction will take place!

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Year 10 Science


1. A piece of Zinc is added to a solution of Copper Sulphate. Does a

chemical reaction take place and, if so, write the word equation.

2. Look at the following pairs of chemicals which are added together. In

each case decide if a reaction will take place and if so, write the word

equation…

a. Magnesium added to Potassium Iodide

b. Copper added to Zinc Sulphate

c. Sodium added to Iron Sulphate

d. Calcium added to Magnesium Sulphate

Extension Work

Decide in each case if a chemical reaction will take place and, if so, write the

word equation. Also decide for each reaction if it is likely to happen quickly or

more slowly. Explain your answers.

a. Calcium added to Sodium Iodide

b. Magnesium added to Zinc Sulphate

c. Sodium added to Copper Sulphate

d. Calcium added to Magnesium Sulphate

Now you will carry out an experiment to see for yourself how displacement

reactions happen and how they can be predicted (even how quick and violent

they will be can be predicted)…

Fill 12 testtubes with the 4 solutions provided – 3 testtubes of each solution.

Then add a piece of each metal provided to each solution and observe what

happens. Use your observations to fill in the results table below…

Zinc Metal Iron Metal Magnesium Metal Copper Metal

x

x

x

x

Copper

Sulphate

Magnesium

Sulphate

Iron

Sulphate

Zinc

Sulphate

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Year 10 Science

Homework 11

Write a method for the experiment you carried out in class.

Draw a diagram of the equipemtn as you set it up.

Mention 2 risks during this experiment and what you did to keep yourself and

others safe.

Extension Homework

1. Name the products in each of these chemical reactions…

a. Iron + Sulphuric acid

b. Zinc Carbonate + Sulphuric acid

c. Magnesium Oxide + Nitric acid

d. Sodium Hydroxide + Hydrochloric acid

2. Chemical reactions don’t always happen. Think about the reactivity

series and predict if a reaction will take place in each case…

a. Magnesium + Iron Oxide

b. Zinc Oxide + Copper

c. Copper Sulphate + Zinc

d. Magnesium Sulphate + Copper

Nest you are going to start learning about ‘Rates of reaction’.

The rate of a chemical reaction basically just means how fast it happens.

Some reactions are naturally quicker than others.

However there are things we can do to speed up or slow down chemical

reactions.

Your teacher will show you how to carry out some experiments to see how to

speed up chemical reactions.

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Year 10 Science

Topic 5: The Atom

Everything is made up of tiny particles called ‘atoms’

We now know that even atoms are made up of even smaller particles inside

them.

You could research the development of our ideas about the atoms – look up the

‘plum pudding model of the atom’ and the ‘Rutherford-Bohr model of the atom’

and see the difference between what we used to believe and what we now know

to be true.

Atoms are actually made up of three even smaller particles inside them –

electrons, protons and neutrons

The planetary model of the atom

(also known as the Rutherford-Bohr model)

An atom is actually made up of three

even smaller particles inside it called

electrons, protons and neutrons.

The way they are arranged is shown in

the diagram to the left – protons and

neutrons bunched together in the centre

in a bundle called the ‘nucleus’ and the

electrons orbiting around this ‘nucleus’.

The table on the next page tells you the

masses and electric charges of each

type of particle within the atom.

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Year 10 Science

Name of particle

Whereabouts is

Mass of particle

Electric Charge

in atom

it in the atom

(Atomic Mass Units

– AMU)

Proton

Neutron

In the nucleus

(centre bundle)

In the nucleus

(centre bundle)

1 +1

1 0

Electron

Orbiting around

1

-1

the nucleus

1840

All atoms are electrically neutral overall which means they have to have the

same number of + charges as – charges. This means that all atoms have to have

the same number of protons and electrons always!

The number of neutrons is quite often the same too but not always!

Atomic Number and Mass Number

As you may know there are lots of different types of atom and the full list of

all the atoms can be found in the periodic table – you have one in your school

diary.

Homework 1

Learn the mass

and electric

charge of

protons,

neutrons and

electrons.

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Year 10 Science

All atoms have protons and electrons (and all have the same number of protons

and electrons too!).

Almost all atoms have neutrons – only Hydrogen doesn’t have any neutrons.

The number of protons in an atom is called the ‘Atomic Number’

This will also be the number of electrons because it is always the same as the

number of protons.

The number of particles in the centre bundle – the nucleus – is called the ‘Mass

Number’ – so this is the number of protons + the number of neutrons

Here is an example of one the boxes in the Periodic table:

Mass Number

16

(Number of

particles in

the nucleus)

Symbol of

the atom

Name of

the atom

Oxygen

8

Atomic Number

(number of

protons which is

also the number

of electrons in

the atom)

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Year 10 Science

The Mass number is given the symbol A

Atomic number is given the symbol Z

So every atom can be written in this way…

A

X

Z


1. Use the periodic table to find out how many protons, neutrons and electrons

each of the atoms in the table below has.

Name of atom Number of

protons

Number of

electrons

Number of neutrons

(Mass Number – Atomic Number)

(Atomic Number)

Hydrogen

Carbon

Magnesium

Plutonium

Homework 2

Use the periodic table in your school diary to write out the numbers of protons,

neutrons and electrons in all of the first 20 elements – from Hydrogan up to and

including Calcium.

125


Year 10 Science

Isotopes

Normally a particular type of atom – say a Carbon atom – always has the same

number of particles inside it. In fact this is always true for protons and

electrons. But sometimes you can find atoms of Carbon that have a different

number of neutrons from what is usual.

An atom with a different number of neutrons from normal is called an ‘Isotope’

For example - Helium has two different isotopes… Helium - 4 and Helium - 3

4

3

He

He

Helium – 4 Helium – 3

Another example of an atom which has an isotope is Carbon.

12

14

C

C

Carbon - 12 Carbon - 14

How many protons, neutrons and electrons does each isotope of Carbon have?

Homework 3

Use the internet to research 5 elements which have isotopes and write out

the mass numbers of all their isotopes.

126


Year 10 Science

Radiation

The difference between all the atoms listed in the periodic table is basically

their size – how many protons, neutrons and electrons they have in them. Atoms

range in size from the very smallest type which is a Hydrogen atom (only 1

proton and 1 electron) to the very heaviest Actinium which has very many

protons, neutrons and electrons.

Imagine building a tower of building blocks.

When there are only a few blocks in the tower, it is very stable and

doesn’t topple over easily.

But what if there were lots more blocks in the tower?

The tower would start to become quite unstable

and might actually topple over at any time.

Atoms which are very heavy and are therefore unstable are said to be

‘radioactive’

These ‘unstable’ ‘radioactive’ atoms can become stable by getting rid of some of

the particles in their nucleus.

They might ‘fire out’ some particles from their nucleus and when they do, what

comes out is called ‘Nuclear Radiation’

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Year 10 Science

We now know that there are actually three different types of ‘Nuclear

radiation’ – three different combinations of particles that radioactive atoms

might fire out (emit).

They are called alpha α ,

beta β and

gamma γ

When heavy, radioactive atoms emit this ‘Nuclear Radiation’ is always completely

random – at random times – and we can do nothing to affect this at all.

A heavy, unstable nucleus emitting an alpha particle

There is always some radiation all around us coming from rocks in the ground,

gases in the air and from Space – this is known as ‘Background Radiation’.

When nuclear radiation hits other materials (including living things like us) it can

cause the atoms in that thing to turn into ions (lose electrons).

For this reason Nuclear Radiation is described as being ‘ionising’

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Year 10 Science

The table below gives more details about the three types of Nuclear radiation.

Type of

Nuclear

Radiation

What is it?

Mass

(AMU)

Charge

Penetrating

Power

Deflection

Ionising

Power

(and symbol)

alpha α

(particles)

A bundle of 2

protons and 2

neutrons

4 +2 Absorbed by

paper (or even

a few cm of

Deflected

slightly by a

magnetic field

Strongly

ionising

air)

beta β

(particles)

Fast moving

electrons 1/1840

-1 Absorbed by

a few mm of

aluminium

Deflected a

lot by a

magnetic field

Slightly

ionising

gamma γ

(waves)

High frequency,

high energy EM

waves

0 0 Only

absorbed by

thick lead

Not deflected

at all

Very weakly

ionising

The diagram below shows clearly the penetrating power of each type of Nuclear

radiation.

Homework 4

Use the information above to explain why the containers which hold

radioactive materials are made of lead.

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Year 10 Science

Uses of Nuclear Radiation

We have quite a few uses for Nuclear radiation in industry, hospitals and even in

our homes.

Here are a few…

Treating cancer – the radioactive isotope Cobalt – 60 is used to treat

cancerous tumours

Gamma Radiation can be used to irradiate food to keep it fresh – basically

the radiation kills bacteria which would cause the food to go off

Gamma radiation is also used to kill bacteria and other germs on surgical

equipment

Carbon dating – radiation can be used to figure out how old rocks and

fossils are

Beta radiation can be used to measure the thickness of paper or thin

sheets of aluminium

Radiation can be used to monitor the flow of liquids – such as blood in the

blood vessels or water/sewerage in a pipe

Homework 5

Choose one of the

uses of radiation

above and carry

out research into

it and make notes.

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Year 10 Science

Electronic Configuration

You have now learned about the nucleus (the centre) of atoms. Next you need to

learn a little bit more about the electrons and how they are arranged.

Firstly you should know that the number of electrons in orbit around the nucleus

is always the same as the number of protons in the nucleus.

So an Oxygen atom has 8 protons and 8 electrons.

Next you need to understand that the electrons are not all simply flying around

in the one circle around the nucleus…

Instead the electrons are arranged in specific rings called shells and there are

rules for how many electrons are allowed in each shell.

In the first shell (the one closest to the nucleus) there are only 2 electrons

allowed maximum. In the second shell there is a maximum of 8 electrons allowed

and the same for the third shell.

Below are diagrams showing the electronic configuration of Sodium (Na) and

calcium (Ca).

Notice that the nucei do not show the protons and neutrons (this is just for

handiness)

In a Sodium nucleus, there are 11

protons so there are 11 electrons in the

shells. Look how these are arranged.

In a Calcium nucleus, there are 20

protons so there are 20 electrons in the

shells. Look how these are arranged.

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Year 10 Science

Class Activity

Use the periodic table in your diary to find the atomic number and mass

number of each of the first 20 atoms and darw a diagram of each one.

You do not have to actually draw the protons and neutrons – just draw a

circle to represent the nucleus and write the number of protons and

neutrons inside it. Then draw in the elctrons in the correct electronic

configuration.

An example is shown here for Sodium

Homework 6

11p

12n

You should

finish all 20

drawings of

atoms for

homework.

For handiness, here is a copy of the part of the Periodic table you need…

H 1

1

He

4

2

Li

7

3

Be

9

4

B 11

5

C 12 6

N 14

7

O 16

8

F 19 9

Ne

20

10

Na

23

11

24

Mg

12

27

Al

13

28

Si

14

31

P

15

S 32

16

37

Cl

17

Ar

40

18

39

K

19

Ca

40

20

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Year 10 Science

How atoms bond

Think about this –

everything is made out of atoms,

there are around 100 different types of atom listed in the Periodic table,

yet there are thousands of different types of material.

How is that?

The answer is that different types of atom can be joined together to make new

materials!

But how do atoms join together or ‘bond’?

It is all about their electrons.

Remember the rules for electron shells – 2 electrons in the first shell, 8 in the

second and third.

But atoms really like to have their outermost shell full to maximum if possible.

For example an Oxygen atom has 8 electrons so the first shell has 2 and the

second shell has 6.

However, an atom

can have up to 8

electrons in its

second shell so

Oxygen’s second

shell is not full to

maximum

It would be better if

Oxygen could fill its outer

shell – to do this it could

either get rid of the 6

electrons in the second

shell or get two more

electrons from some other

atom to fill its second shell.

It is easier to find two more electrons than to get rid of ( and have to find

ahome for) 6 electrons!

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Year 10 Science

So where does the Oxygen atom get two more electrons from?

It would be great if it could find an atom that needed to get rid of 2 electrons,

wouldn’t it?

Can you find an atom among the first twenty that you drew that could fill its

outer shell by getting rid of 2 electrons????

Magnesium has 12 electrons which gives an electronic configuration of

2 : 8 : 2

First shell Second shell Third shell

This means that Magnesium could achieve a full outer shell by getting rid of the

2 electrons in its third shell – then its second shell would be its outer shell and

would be full!!

So it would help Magnesium and Oxygen if Magnesium just gave 2 electrons to

oxygen.

Both atoms now have full outer shells as long as they remain together – as long

as they are bonded.

This is called an ionic bond because the atoms have now turned into ions.

An ion is just an atom that has gained or lost electrons.

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Year 10 Science

If an atom gains an electron, it has gained a negative charge so the atom

becomes a negative ion.

If an atom loses an electron, it has lost a negative charge so the atom becomes

a positive ion.

An atom thought it had lost

an electron and said I will

have to keep my ion that!

Two atoms were walking

down the street and one says

‘I think I’ve lost an electron’.

The other atom asks ‘Are

you sure?’

The first atom says ‘I’m

positive’

You should note that ionic

bonding always happens

between the atoms of a

metal and the atoms of a

non-metal.

Homework 7

Draw diagrams like the one on the

previous page to show how the

following atoms bond…

Calcium and Oxgen

Sodium and Chlorine

Magnesium and Chlorine

Now you have learned about ionic bonding.

There is also another way for atoms to bond.

It is called covalent bonding and it happens between the atoms of 2 nonmetals.

135


Year 10 Science

Covalent Bonding

Remember in ionic bonding how one atoms basically gave electrons to the other.

This was because one atom needed to get rid of an electron to make its outer

shell full and the other needed to gain an electron to make its outer shell full.

But what if both atoms need to gain electrons to make their outer shells full?

The atoms can ‘share’ the electrons…

Let’s look at the example of two Fluorine atoms bonding with each other…

Fluorine atoms have 9 electrons.

(The diagram to the left only

shows the 7 electrons in their

outer shells).

Because the Fluorine atoms have

7 electrons in their outer shells,

they both need one more to

make these outer shells full.

So they simply share one of the electrons – this means both atoms have a full

outer shell (if they both count this shared electron as belonging to each atom.

This is called covalent bonding and it is how the atoms of 2 non-metals bond

with each other.

This diagram to the left shows

how an atom of Hydrogen bonds

with an atom of Fluorine.

They both need one electron to

fill their outer shell (Hydrogen’s

first shell of 1 electron needs to

have 2 and Fluorine’s second shell

of 7 electrons needs to have 8).

So they share an electron which

gives both atoms a full outer shell

of electrons.

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Year 10 Science

Sometimes an

atom can bond

with two other

atoms in a

covalent bond.

For example –

Oxygen needs two

more electrons to

fill its second

shell.

It can bond with 2 Hydrogen atoms. Each Hydrogen atom has one electron in its

outer shell but if they both share an electron with Oxygen then all three atoms

have full outer shells.

Covalent bonds can happen

between even more than 3 atoms.

The diagram on the left shows

how 4 Hydrogen atoms can bond

in a covalent bond with one carbon

atom. Can you explain how this

covalent bond works.

(Remember – only the outer

electron shell is shown for the

Carbon atom)

So you have now finished your study of how atoms bond. There are a few key

words you should know when talking about atoms.

A group of two or more atoms bonded together is called a molecule.

If the atoms are of the same type, then it is a molecule of an element. If the

atoms are different, then it is a molecule of a compound.

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Year 10 Science

Topic 6 – Numeracy in Science

You now need to spend some time practicing how to write up experiments

properly and firstly how to deal with data (results).

Dealing with results

Section A – Putting results into tables

You should try these activities for making results tables to deal with data…

1. Here are some results from an

investigation into springs. The

spring was 5cm long at the start

(when there were no weights

hanging on it). When the mass on

the end of the spring was 10g,

the spring was 6cm long. With

20g it was 7cm, with 30g it was

8cm and with 40g it was 9cm

long. The last reading was for 50g. The spring was then 10cm long.

Put these results into a table. There should be two columns in your table.

You should decide the headings for the 2 tables.

2. Draw your own results table to show

the results below…

When the length of the flaps was 2cm,

it took the spinner 1.9 seconds to fall.

Whe they were 2.5cm, it took 2.1

seconds; 3cm took 2.4 seconds and

3.5cm took 2.5seconds. The last result

was 4cm and 2.7 seconds.

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Year 10 Science

3. Saoirse’s group did an investigation looking at the

effect of temperature on dissolving Copper

Sulphate. Unfortunately they did not design a

results table for their results before starting.

When they temperature was 20 o C it took 205

seconds to dissolve. At 50 o C it took 30 seconds, at

40 o C it took 50 seconds, at 30 o C it

took 110 seconds and at 60 o C it took

20 seconds. Draw a suitable results

table and put in Saoirse’s results.

4. Saoirse’s group then decided to make their results more reliable by

repeating their tests. They took three readings at each temperature.

Results:

20 o C 205 seconds, 220 seconds, 200 seconds





Sort out these results and present them in a table. Make sure that your

table shows….

All the results

The average time taken to dissolve the Copper Sulphate

Now you have had some practice drawing results tables to make results clearer.

Next you need to practice drawing some graphs to display results in another

format.

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Year 10 Science

Section B: Drawing Bar charts

1. Put the results in the table on to a bar chart on the squared paper or

graph paper that your teacher gives you.

Type of surface Height ball

bounced (cm)

Carpet 30

Tiles 85

Concrete 80

Wood 70

Felt 40

2. Put the following results on to a bar chart

Number of

paper clips

1 1.9

2 1.6

3 1.3

4 0.8

5 0.6

Time to fall

(seconds)

Now you have finished drawing bar charts.

Next you are going to practice drawing lines of best fit.

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Year 10 Science

Section C: Line of Best Fit

A line of best fit is not done by joining the dots!!!!!

It is a line that shows us where the perfect results would be if we had done the

experiment perfectly without any errors. Look at the LOBF below to see.

You will notice that the line

is completely straight (not

zig-zag joining up with all the

dots).

You will also notice that it

actually misses some of the

points. This is okay!! The

points are possibly wrong and

the line of best fit shows us

where the points should be.

A line of best fit might be a straight line but it also might be a curve…

The points in this graph clearly need a curved

line of best fit

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Year 10 Science

Sometimes the line of best fit will miss some of the points – this is okay.

In fact it helps us see which results were not as accurate.

Now you are going to practice plotting graphs, including drawing lines of best

fit.

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Year 10 Science

Section D: Drawing graphs with lines of best fit

1. Draw a line graph of the results below on the paper your teacher gives

you. (Don’t forget to label the axes)

Load (grams) Extension (cm)

0 0

10 2

20 4

30 6

40 8

50 10

2. Draw a line graph showing the results below.

Remember to use a line of best fit.

Time (seconds) Temperature ( o C)

0 23

60 33

120 42

180 54

240 63

300 74

3. Show the results below on a line graph.

Time (seconds) Volume of gas (cm 3 )

0 0

10 21

20 38

30 52

40 62

50 66

60 68

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Year 10 Science

Section E: Interpreting graphs

Now you have finished practicing drawing line graphs you will need to learn about

how to interpret and draw conclusions from experiment results and graphs.

The first stage in doing this is to be able to spot patterns from graphs..

Here is an example of how to describe the pattern in a line graph…

Length of spring (cm)

Pattern:

As the load increases, the

length of the spring

increases steadily

Load (g)

Now write the pattern for each of these line graphs…

Acceleration (m/s/s)

Height of bounce (cm)

Force (N)

Height ball is dropped from cm)

Extension (cm)

Load (g)

Volume of gas (cm 3 )

144

Time (s)


Year 10 Science

Section F: Reliability of results

Next you are going to think about the reliability of results.

Sometimes the results from an experiment are not correct and so the pattern

they give you is not reliable.

One way to lessen the effect of bad results is to repeat experiments several

times so that, hopefully, you get good results most of the time.

Look at the examples below and see if you can spot the anomalous (bad) results

which do not fit the pattern.

Question A

1. A group did an investigation to find out

which car rolled best down a slope.

Look at the results they got and work

out the correct order from best to

worst.

Car Distance rolled (cm)

Blue 50

Green 75

Red 60

Black 80

2. The group repeated their tests.

Work out the average and find the order now – from best to worst.

Car Distance rolled (cm) Average

1 st try 2 nd try

Blue 50 80

Green 75 75

Red 60 50

Black 80 60

Has the order changed?

Which order do you think is more reliable – more likely to be correct?

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Year 10 Science

3. The group did their tests a third time.

Again work out the averages and find the order – from best to worst.

Car Distance rolled (cm) Average

1 st try 2 nd try 3 rd try

Blue 50 80 Car crashed

Green 75 75 75

Red 60 50 55

Black 80 60 75

Has the order changed?

Which car has the most reliable results? Why?

Which car has the least reliable results? Give two reasons why.

How could you make the results for the car in the previous question more

reliable?

Question B

1. Ellie did an experiment to find out which

trainers had the best grip. She raised

the height of the ramp until the trainer

slipped.

Look at her results below and then put

the trainers in order from best grip to

worst grip.

Trainer Height of rampl

before trainer

slipped (cm)

Nike 50

Addidas 46

Puma 44

Air-Max 47

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Year 10 Science

2. Ellie repeated her tests. Now work out the averages and again put them in

order from best grip to worst grip.

Trainer

Height of rampl before

trainer slipped (cm)

1 st try 2 nd try

Average

Nike 50 45

Addidas 46 44

Puma 44 47

Air-Max 47 49

3. Ellie repeated her tests a third time.

Again work out the averages and put the trainers in order from the best

grip to the worst grip.

Trainer

Height of rampl before trainer

slipped (cm)

1 st try 2 nd try 3 rd try

Average

Nike 50 45 46

Addidas 46 44 44

Puma 44 47 47

Air-Max 47 49 48

Looking at these results which order would you now out the trainers in?

Explain why you have chosed this order.

Now choose two results from the third table that you think are wrong.

What would you advise Ellie to do about these results?

How could Ellie make her results even more reliable?

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Year 10 Science

Section G: Evaluating evidence and drawing conclusions

The last part of handling data is being able to draw conclusions – this is a bit

like spotting patterns but in this section you have to explain the pattern too.

Try these two questions…

1. A group investigated which material was the best insulator of heat.

Look at their results below

Type of

material

Temperature

of water at

start ( o C)

Temperature

of water after

2 minutes ( o C)

Wool 68 66 2

Cotton 70 68 2

Metal Foil 70 67 3

Polystyrene 72 71 1

Fall in

temperature

( o C)

What conclusion could you make based on these results?

2. A group investigated the effect of temperature on the evaporation of

water from a beaker. As the water evaporated, they measured its mass

on a mass balance.

Look at their results below…

Temperature

of water

( o C)

Mass of water

at start (g)

Mass of

water after

2 minutes (g)

20 50.38 50.38 0.00

21 51.23 51.22 0.01

22 48.32 48.32 0.00

23 49.99 49.98 0.01

24 50.53 50.51 0.02

Loss in mass (g)

Whatb conclusions could you make from these results?

How could you improve the evidence to make a more valid conclusion?

148


Year 10 Science

Experimental write-ups

Now you are going to learn more about how to write up experimental reports

properly.

All reports start with a title.

Mostly the titles begin with… ‘Investigation into how….. ‘

Activity…

Try to write titles for the following experiments…

1. Seanna is try to find out if the steepness of a ramp changes how far a

car will roll on the flat ground after it has gone down the ramp.

2. Erin is doing an experiment where she changes the temperature of

water and dissolves sugar in the water at different temperatures.

She is timing how long it takes the sugar to dissolve in each beaker of

water.

3. Aoife is carrying out an experiment to see if longer wires or shorter

wires let more electrical current pass through them.

Next you need to write the ‘aim’. This is a short statement about what you hope

to find out. Often the ‘aim’ sounds quite like the ‘title’…. My aim is to find out

how….

Activity…

Write aims for the three experiments outlined above.

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Year 10 Science

Next in an experimental write-up you need to consider what equipment you will

need to use and list all the pieces of equipment and describe what each one is

used for.

Activity…

Write equipment lists for experiments 1 and 2 on the previous page.

At this point you normally write a risk assessment.

There are some different ways to do this but all have certain things in common.

Below is an example of the headings you might use…

Hazard

Type of

risk

How serious

is the risk/

How likely is

it to happen

(Scale: 1-5)

How bad

would it be

if it

happened

(Scale: 1-5)

Steps you

will take

to prevent

it from

happening

Steps you

will take if

it does

happen

anyway

Activity…

Write risk assessments for experiment 1 and 2 on the previous page.

At this point you should consider the variables in the experiment.

‘Variables’ means any factor which can change or be changed – either things you

can control or things you deliberately keep unchanged (Fair test) or things you

measure.

You need to identify all the variables in your experiment to help you decide how

to plot a graph after you have completed the practical work.

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Year 10 Science

Next you will practice writing a method. This is essentially like a recipe for

cooking – it is an instruction list on how to carry out the experiment.

To write a good method you need to remember to do some key things….

A method should start with an equipment list.

The method should be written impersonally – this means do not say things

like ‘I will collect the equipment…’ or ‘We will heat the beaker of water…’

Instead say it like this ‘The equipment will be gathered’ or ‘The water in

the beaker will be heated’.

A method should always be written in the future tense ‘This will happen’

and That will happen’ – never ‘This happened’.

Be thorough – include every step in the procedure.

Activity…

Write a method for either experiment 1 or 2 on the previous page.

At this stage you would normally actually carry out the practical work.

Your teacher will help you do this and you can collect the results.

However as you learned earlier you really should prepare for this by

designing a results table beforehand.

Activity…

Design a results table to record results for either experiment 1 or 2 on the

previous page.

The next step is to plot a graph to display your results.

You will need to decide which variables to put on the axes.

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Year 10 Science

Nearly done now… you now need to evaluate your results and use them and your

graph to draw valid conclusions. You practiced this earlier so hopefully you can

now do this for your own experimental results.

Finally you need to evaluate how reliable your results are. You can do this by

looking at your graph to spot anomalies and how close your averages are to each

of the actual results.

You should also evaluate your method now to identify any things you could

improve on if you were to repeat this experiment.

Finally you should use the check list below to ensure you have written up the

experiment properly…

Title

Aim

Equipment List

Risk Assessment

Variables

Fair Test

Method

Results Table

Graph(s)

Discussion of results and Conclusion

Evaluation of results and method

At GCSE level you will have to write experiments up like you have just

done.

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Year 10 Science

Topic 7 – Careers in Science

Welcome to your last topic in Year 10 Key Stage 3 Science – Careers in Science.

You have done some work on this at the end of each topic in Years 8, 9 and 10

but now you will have a closer look at what opportunities are out there for you if

you study science at GCSE and A-level.

By the end of this chapter you should be able to..

Understand the importance of science as a subject

Understand the topics covered in GCSE and BTEC science and

how they are assessed

Be aware of how science goes well with certain other subjects

Be aware of the range of interesting careers which are

directly related to science

Know of the skills that are developed in Science that are

useful for any career

Know about some of the university courses and career

pathways that St. Mary’s College pupils have followed

Activity 1

Copy out and answer these questions…

What did you want to do as an adult when you were in Year 8? Do you

still have the same ambition? If not, what do you want to do as an adult

now? Do you know what qualifications and skills are needed for this job?

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Year 10 Science

Why should you study science?

Next year you will be studying science as it is compulsory for all pupils at St.

Mary’s College. This is because we recognise how important it is to have some

knowledge of science.

Science is vital for various reasons…

Health:– scientists make all the medicines, imaging devices and

treatments which keep us healthy and help us fight disease. Nurses and

doctors look after us when we are unwell -they have also studied science.

Communication & Leisure:– scientists invented Television, radio, mobile

phones, i-pads, the internet. Touch screen technology

Food:– scientists help grow our food and figure out ways to grow more

and healthier food, they help us make food last longer and they even

invented the microwave oven to help us cook our food faster!

The survival of our planet:– scientists are currently working on ways to

remove Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere to help stop our planet from

warming up which could avoid floods and other extreme weather

conditions

To put it simply science is our future!

There are more job opportunities in the areas of Science and STEM

thatn any other area.

(Remember: STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)

Science helps us understand the world we live in. and it helps us

understand and solve the big problems like Global warming, Energy for the

world, what is our place in the Universe, disease and cures etc.

Activity 2

Research one of the Big questions in science – how to meet the world;s

energy needs; how to slow or stop global warming; how to meet the

world’s food needs; how to prevent disease (or another big question)

154


Year 10 Science

Science…

Helps develop skills such as team work, time management

and presentation

Helps you understand your own body

Helps you develop skills such as interpreting graphs which

are also useful in Maths

Combines well with lots o other subjects such as

Geography, Technology, Maths, Engineering, ICT and even

P.E.

Covers a very wide range of topics

Provides an opportunity for carrying out practical work

and field work

Activity 3

For each of the skills listed above, give one example of something you

have learned in science this year which you think helps develop the skill.

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Year 10 Science

What does GCSE science involve?

St. Mary’s College offers two different science course in Key Stage 4…

1. Level 2 BTEC Science or

2. Double Award CCEA Science

Both these courses are Double Award.

This means that, if you pass them, you actually get 2 GCSEs or the equivalent of

2 GCSEs.

The only group of girls who don’t do Double Award Science are the Gold Pathway

group who do the Single BTEC – so it is equivalent to 1 GCSE.

More detail on each of the courses is given below…

1. Level 2 BTEC Science

This course is actually 2 separate courses. In year 11 you will do a course

called Level 2 BTEC First Award in principles of Applied Science. This is

worth 1 GCSE.

In year 12 you will then do another course called Level 2 BTEC First award in

Application of Science which is worth a second GCSE.

If you pass both courses you will have the equivalent of 2 GCSEs.

These can be used, just like normal GCSEs to apply for university.

Many of our Level 2 BTEC pupils have gone to university to study courses like

Nursing, Pyschology, Child Care, Helath Science and many other courses.

It is possible to pass one of the courses but not the other.

This would just mean that you get 1 GCSE instead of 2.

(Remember: to get back into 6 th Form at St. Mary’s College, you normally need 5

GCSEs or equivalent)

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Year 10 Science

The big advantage for some pupils of doing BTEC science is that most of the

course is assessed by portfolio rather than by exams.

In fact 75% of each of the 2 courses is assessed by your portfolio work which

you do every day in class. Only 25% is assessed by exams.

This means that it is possible to PASS the BTEC courses even if you FAIL the

exams.

Below are outlines of the 2 BTEC courses…

Level 2 BTEC First Award in Principles of Applied Science (done in Year 11)

Number / Name of Unit Type of assessment How much is

it worth?

1. Principles of Science By exam (1 hour long –

normally done in

March)

2. Chemistry and our Earth By portfolio (like

coursework)

3. Energy and our Universe By portfolio (like

coursework)

4. Biology and our Environment By portfolio (like

coursework)

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

Level 2 BTEC First Award in Application of Science (done in Year 12)


it worth?

5. Applications of Chemical

Substances

6. Applications of Physical

Science

7. Health Applications of Life

Science

By portfolio (like

coursework)

By portfolio (like

coursework)

By portfolio (like

coursework)

8. Scientific Skills By exam (1 hour long,

normally done in

March)

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

25% of the

total marks

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Year 10 Science

The other option is the Double Award CCEA GCSE.

This course is a Double Award course – you can’t finish after one year and get 1

GCSE!

However you can get a mixed grade – for example: you could get a CD which

means you have one GCSE at grade C and another GCSE at grade D.

An outline of this Double Award CCEA course is given below…

In Year 11…


it worth?

Biology Unit 1:

Living Processes and Diversity

Chemistry Unit 1:

Structures, trends and Chemical

reactions

Physics Unit 1:Force and Motion,

Energy, Moments and Radioactivity

By exam

By exam

By exam

11% of your

total DA GCSE

11% of your

total DA GCSE

11% of your

total DA GCSE

In Year 12…


it worth?

Biology Unit 2: Body Systems, By exam

Genetics, Micro-organisms and

health

Chemistry Unit 2: Further By exam

Chemical reactions and Organic

Chemistry

Physics Unit 2: Waves, Sound and By exam

Light, Electricity and the earth

and Universe

Practical Skills By carrying out 3

practical experiments

(one each for Biology,

Chemistry and Physics)

and then doing a short

exam about them.

14% of your

total DA GCSE

14% of your

total DA GCSE

14% of your

total DA GCSE

25% of your

total DA GCSE

158


Year 10 Science

The grade boundaries for the exams for CCEA are as follows…

A* = 90% or above

A = 80% - 89%

B = 70% - 79%

C = 60% - 69%

D = 50% - 59%

E = 40% - 49%

U = Below 40%

The exams in year 11 are marked out of 70 so you normally need to get around

42 out of 70 to get a grade C.

In year 12 the exams are marked out of 90 so you normally need around 54

marks out of 90 to get a grade C.

Activity 4

Listen to a talk by Year 12 students – one who does BTEC science and one

who does CCEA science.

159


Year 10 Science

What are the results like for GCSE and BTEC science?

The science results in St. Mary’s College are normally very good and well above

the average for similar schools.

Last year the results were as follows…

CCEA Double Award Science

% of pupils achieving grade C

or higher in St. Mary’s

College

90%

(100% achieved at least one

GCSE grade C or higher)

Average for similar schools

in N. Ireland

74%

Level 2 BTEC Science

% of pupils achieving grade C

or higher in St. Mary’s

College

98.4% N/A

Average for similar schools

in N. Ireland

Only 2 pupils last year did not achieve at least one GCSE or equivalent in

Science and both of them had an attendance of less than 70%.

160


Year 10 Science

Jobs in Science

The following jobs which are all related to science are currently listed as High

Demand by the government.

This measn we don’t have enough people to do these jobs and if you decided to

do one of these, you have a great chance of finding a good job.

Why not do some of your own research on one or more of these jobs to find out

more about them…

Astronomer

Aviation Inspector

Chemical Technician

Chemistry Teacher

Climate Change Analyst

Electrician

Environmental Scientist

Food Science Technician

Forensic Science Technician

Geo-scientist

Hydologist

Meterologist

Nuclear Monitoring Technician

Nurse

Physics Teacher

Radiographer

Soil Scientist

161


Year 10 Science

Did you know?

Read the following quotes by some people you might have heard of and how

important they think science is…

“Science is the key to

our future, and if you

don’t believe in science,

then you’re holding

everybody back.”

Bill Nye (TV presenter)

Any spare time I

have, I bury my

head in a science

book. It is how you

understand the

word.

Ann Hathaway

(actress)

Life is not easy for any of us. But so

what? We must have perseverance

and above all confidence in ourselves.

We must believe that we are gifted

for something and that this thing

must be science.

Marie Curie (scientist)

Activity 5

Research one job in science that sounds interesting to you.

162


Year 10 Science

163


Year 10 Science

I have not failed. I have successfully discovered 10,000 things that do not work!

Thomas Edison

Somewhere, something

incredible is waiting to be

known

If at first you don’t succeed, try

two more times so that your failure

is reliable.

The 3 stages of scientific research…

1. It’s completely impossible.

2. It is possible but it’s not worth

doing.

3. I said it was a good idea all along.

Unlike protons, I don’t deal with

negativity.

Nothing travels faster than light…

except Year 10 St. Mary’s College

girls at 3.10pm on a Friday afternoon!

Being a scientist is like doing a jig-saw

in a snow-storm at night with some

pieces missing and no idea what the

finished picture looks like!

When you are with a lovely person an hour is like a second and when you

are standing on burning coal a second is like an hour – that is relativity!

Albert Einstein

Teamwork is essential when

carrying out science

experiments – that way you

always have someone else to

blame.

If an experiment works, something

has definitely gone wrong!

Does a radioactive cat have 18 halflives?

If we are all made of atoms, then a

scientist studying atomic physics is

basically a group of atoms studying

themselves!

The optimist sees the glass half

full. The pessimist sees the glass

half empty. The chemist sees the

glass completely full, half with

liquid and half with air.

Let us now pause for a moment of science.

164

Year 10 Textbook

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