4 x 1 hour lessons  

This module is designed to prepare you for Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and Evaluation, the written examination that assesses higher-order experimental skills. Unlike Paper 3, this paper does not involve hands-on laboratory work during the exam, but success requires a deep understanding of practical chemistry and extensive laboratory experience from your A Level studies.

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Across four lessons, you will practise with structured and extended-response questions that replicate the demands of Paper 5. You will learn how to design experiments, analyse complex data sets, and critically evaluate procedures — all core skills that examiners reward highly.

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1. Planning Experimental Investigations

• Identifying independent, dependent and control variables in experimental design.

• Expressing aims clearly as testable hypotheses (in words or predicted graphs).

• Designing safe, efficient, and reliable methods, including choice of apparatus, reagents, and measurement techniques.

• Writing detailed methods with step-by-step instructions, supported by diagrams, flow charts or data tables.

• Justifying how variables are controlled and why the procedure will generate valid results.

• Incorporating risk assessment into plans (e.g. fume hoods, heat sources, corrosive chemicals, irritants).

2. Method and Experimental Detail

• Specifying suitable volumes, concentrations, and apparatus for accuracy and precision.

• Describing how to record data in correctly headed tables and how results should be presented.

• Demonstrating standard laboratory practices in written form: weighing by difference, heating to constant mass, concordancy of titres, preparation of standard solutions, taking extra readings near end-points.

• Explaining how to vary the independent variable systematically and how to measure the dependent variable accurately.

• Suggesting control experiments to confirm that the dependent variable is affected only by the independent variable.

3. Analysis of Data

• Practising calculation skills: means, gradients, intercepts, percentage errors, concentration values, molar ratios, enthalpy changes.

• Using appropriate significant figures and units throughout.

• Presenting data in suitable tables and graphs, following Paper 3 conventions (clear axes, best-fit lines, anomalies identified).

• Handling equations of the form y = mx + c to extract constants from graphs.

• Dealing with complex or “noisy” data to identify underlying trends and patterns.

4. Drawing Conclusions

• Linking data analysis to scientific explanation, showing how results support or refute hypotheses.

• Providing detailed reasoning for conclusions, referencing chemical principles where appropriate.

• Suggesting further predictions or extensions of the investigation.

• Distinguishing between errors caused by limitations of method, incorrect use of apparatus, or natural variability in data.

5. Evaluation

• Identifying weaknesses and limitations in given experimental procedures.

• Proposing improvements to accuracy and reliability (e.g. improved apparatus, extended range of values, more repeats).

• Assessing whether data are valid and reliable enough to support a conclusion.

• Discussing the impact of anomalous values and how to handle them.

• Making evidence-based judgements about the confidence in results and conclusions.

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By the end of this module you will be able to:

• Plan safe, efficient, and valid experimental investigations in written form.

• Express aims and hypotheses clearly, in both descriptive and graphical terms.

• Design detailed methods with justified apparatus, reagents, and measurements.

• Analyse data sets using calculations, tables, and graphs with correct precision.

• Draw scientifically sound conclusions and extend them to new predictions.

• Evaluate procedures critically, suggesting realistic improvements and assessing the reliability of data.

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CIE Syllabus Reference (9701): Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and Evaluation — planning, method, analysis of data, drawing conclusions, evaluation.