Some teaching points to consider

It is quite easy to relate Chemical kinetics to all the other ten topics during your teaching of Topics 6 & 16. Even so, Topic 6 & 16 is a relatively 'standalone' topic so it does not really matter where in the two year programme you teach it. In fact even though it is the sixth topic on the core programme most teachers tend to leave it until quite late in the second year for two main reasons. The first is that there is some mathematical understanding required so the more maths they do beforehand the better. The mathematical content has decreased in recent years. Prior to 1996 Higher Level students were required to be able to integrate the first and second order rate expression to obtain the integrated forms of the rate equations. This was so they could work out what graphs to plot in order to determine the order of reaction. This is now no longer on the syllabus. However Higher Level students are still required to understand how to use the logarithmic form of the Arrhenius equation to find the activation energy and even at Standard Level a knowledge of graphing techniques (see Topic 11) is required including being able to explain why the area under the Maxwell-Boltmann distribution curve remains constant at different temperatures. The second reason is that Chemical kinetics provides a wonderful opportunity to do much practical work. It not only includes one of the Mandatory laboratory components but also provides a rich area for students to consider for their individual scientific investigation. Kinetics experiments also provide an excellent opportunity to use data loggers and simulations. By leaving it until the second year students will be more familiar with experimental techniques and the assessment requirements.