Reasonably well-prepared students will have found no difficulty with this year’s higher-level chemistry paper, according to teachers.
Mairead Glynn, a chemistry teacher at Tallaght Community School in south Dublin, said students were well challenged on their knowledge of the curriculum and a wide range of topics were covered.
Tara Lyons, a chemistry teacher at the Institute of Education in Dublin, said the higher-level paper was fair and students would be pleased with it overall. "Some questions appeared quite wordy, so it was really important for students to take a breath and read them carefully. When they did this, they would have found the paper quite manageable. There was a move away from rote learning in section A, with students required to really understand certain topics and interpret data."
Ms Lyons said organic chemistry appeared in 3½ questions in total on the paper, showing just how important it is to prepare well for this topic. She said question two, on the preparation of benzoic acid crystals, was a new experiment but most students would have anticipated the question.
The ordinary level paper was “very doable”, said Ms Glynn. “The questions were wide ranging and students will have been quite happy.”
Women scientists
Opportunities for women in science, technology, engineering and maths have been under scrutiny in recent years, particularly in recent weeks, following comments from Nobel-prize winning scientist Tim Hunt in which he said female scientists in labs are distracting for men and cry when criticised.
While only a quarter of the total number sitting physics are girls, 45 per cent of those taking Leaving Cert chemistry are female.
Ms Glynn said her class has a “nice mix of boys and girls. Once students get into chemistry, they tend to enjoy it as there is a lot of practical work.”
She believes chemistry increases environmental awareness: “They learn about the environment, how to read labels, and generally become more scientifically literate.”
However, she lamented that students are not given a chance to submit their practical experiments in advance of the exam.
Try this at home
(a) What is a catalyst?
(b) Explain how the type of bonding in the reactants influences the rate of a chemical reaction in aqueous solution. How could you reduce the rate of a reaction that takes place in solution?
(From Leaving Cert chemistry, higher level)
