Structure and bonding: exploding exam questions | 14–16 years

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Example pages from teacher notes and example slides from the presentation that make up this resource

Source: © Royal Society of Chemistry

Present and practise a technique to help learners understand the language used in extended-reponse questions and improve their answers

If learners do not understand the language used in questions, they may struggle to present their answers clearly, lose marks for contradictions, use the wrong key words or miss key information. 

In the exploding question technique, learners annotate the question, or associated diagrams, with important facts relevant to the topic. Using this technique, learners essentially create a plan for answering extended-response exam questions.

The resource includes a presentation and teacher notes with marking guidance and suggestions for differentiation. A past-paper GCSE exam question is used as a worked example and a further exam-style questions is offered for practise.

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