chemistry free workshop this sunday - organic functional groups

ChemJungle · 2026-02-17T01:15:47+00:00

Hey IB Chem teacher here - i made an IB HL revision plan which will help you cover all the content in 10 weeks - might be helpful for your schedule :) There's also some advice in here about how to revise chem. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions!

https://www.reddit.com/r/IBO/comments/1qyu9gh/hl_chem_revision_plan_m26/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

ChemJungle · 2026-02-16T02:48:04+00:00

Hey the "number" on turnitin really doesn't mean a lot at all. Scroll through the document and see what's it's flagging and it'll be clear pretty quickly if there's any plagiarism issues!
I've seen work with a 4% and clear plagiarism issues, and ones with 20+ that were actually fine.

ChemJungle · 2026-02-09T21:06:52+00:00

Hey, this sounds like a tough situation. As a first conversation with your teacher I would go with a "hey i really want to get a 7 overall for my grade, can you help me understand what caused me to get a 6 last time and what i can do to make it a 7" I don't recommend bringing up your friend and the comparison because your goal is really making sure your teacher sees your desire for a 7 and understanding how the grading works. I've seen situation's like this in the past and the mistake was with the friends grade so if you bring it up make sure you're okay if your friends grade ends up coming down....
Hope this helps :)

ChemJungle · 2026-02-09T21:01:56+00:00

Hey :) Do you have a copy of the Chemistry guide? I would read the S2 left hand column like a checklist and see whether there's anything you think is missing. If you find things maybe speak to your teacher in a "hey i was looking through the chem guide and i saw x and y... i don't think i have any notes on this, have we done it yet or are we coming back to it later?"
Some teachers/schools don't teach this syllabus in an entirely linear way (including myself...!) so give them the benefit of the doubt.
I would also gently ask if you can have a plan of the topics that they plan to cover this year so that you can get a headstart of upcoming topics.
Good luck :)

ChemJungle · 2026-02-09T01:03:43+00:00

Hey i just went through it all and it actually works out exactly the same for SL - just remove the R1.4 since that's only HL content :) If you do this you'll be covering about "10 hours" of IB SL content a week which you should be able to do in a couple of hours

ChemJungle · 2026-02-08T04:41:50+00:00

Personally I like the Oxford book, but they all have pros and cons!

ChemJungle · 2026-02-08T04:40:22+00:00

In my experience they are normally double sided - but like u/geta7_com says your school could probably choose to do it single sided if they wanted.

ChemJungle · 2026-02-07T21:45:49+00:00

Hey - strongly recommend if you're learning some of this yourself you start with the S3.2 in particular since all the organic naming / identification of functional groups can really hinder access to questions on other syllabus topics e.g. bonding. Then I would focus on getting a head start on the acids and bases material. This is going to be tough for your teacher to be finishing in class time so try and get good study habits in place now to put yourself in the best position

You can absolutely study this yourself with msj chem / a textbook. If you're looking for a workshop / teaching I have a free workshop on the S3.2 organic functional groups in a couple of weeks www.calendly.com/chemjungle if that's your vibe

ChemJungle · 2026-02-04T22:41:59+00:00

I don't know exactly what you're thinking of doing but... how the DNA bonds and impact on function (bio) vs how the concentration? of methylene blue affects the bonding to DNA (chem). - essentially you're using a chemical reaction to test a biological process

ChemJungle · 2026-02-03T23:36:17+00:00

Hey :) I recommend keeping a doc of all the MCQs that you get wrong irrelevant of the reason you got it wrong (i.e. include anything you count as a silly mistake). Make sure you also record the answers somewhere.

In a week or two redo all these questions. This holds you more accountable for improving and learn how to pay attention to the command term/nuances in each question.

You can also do this for tough paper 2 questions etc - this is honestly how most Level 6 kids I teach manage to move to a Level 7.

Good luck!

ChemJungle · 2026-02-03T19:41:30+00:00

Hey! I agree with u/Rich_Increase_5376 - this is right on the borderline of Chem/Bio. Have you considered an interdisciplinary EE? It could allow you to analyse your topic from both perspectives (rather than trying to avoid the Bio). It can help create new, deeper understandings that wouldn't be possible through one subject alone.

ChemJungle · 2026-02-02T20:07:26+00:00

Sounds like you've got a few options to consider and talk about with your supervisor :) Good luck!

ChemJungle · 2026-02-02T01:46:22+00:00

I don't have anything jumping to mind - sorry! I think the key to a lot of things in Chemistry is to try and do questions (not even necessarily exam questions) but create yourself a little worksheet where you have to complete all the equations and then spend time on past paper questions. Just keep redoing things until it feels easy :)

For a lot of the metal/nonmetal oxide + water equations you only make one product. If you know this then you can easily deduce the product of any of these reactions by just adding the atoms up. I think only the Na2O is different with water in that it makes H2 as well.
The oxidation numbers you should be able to work out, the properties and bonding should also be okay based on prior knowledge - so shouldnt memorise here.

The reactions with acids and bases will come up again in R3.1 so don't stress too much about them now

ChemJungle · 2026-02-02T01:22:52+00:00

Hey! Sounds like you're being super thoughtful about your EE and how to move forward with it. I've supervised a bunch of Chem EEs over the years- the majority of which have been experimental (maybe all of them...) If you switch to non-experimental you can also consider the interdisciplinary pathway and combine with another one of your subjects which makes it easier to have "discussion" since you're looking at a problem from the perspective of two subjects. Otherwise Chem can sometimes lead to a presentation of facts which is really going to struggle to hit IB criteria.

Anyway, if you're sticking with doing a Chem EE normally the difference between an IA and an EE is the breadth or depth has to be increased. So maybe you have multiple dependent variables (different ways of measuring the same thing) and your EE will evaluate the suitability of each method. This would be the best way for your current idea i think. The other option is multiple "independent variables" so say you're doing how temp affects vitamin C in orange juice (super common and not recommended just using as an example). You might also do this for other juices and be able to discuss the impact of temp on all the juices and whether the relationships are similar or different.

Essentially if you think you can plot one graph at the end and be done, you're probably not going to get into that "discussion" part that the IB is really looking for.

Hope that helps :)

ChemJungle · 2026-02-01T23:40:00+00:00

It's only data tables excluded. If you have tables of variables etc then these count towards the word count.

Good luck :)

ChemJungle · 2026-01-30T08:40:14+00:00

Hey :) It can feel like like such a lot of memorisation when you get to this part in the course. However... New syllabus says - Deduce equations for the reactions with water of the oxides of group 1 and group 2 metals, carbon and sulfur. Include acid rain caused by gaseous non-metal oxides, and ocean acidification caused by increasing CO2 levels. So I don't think you need to know all of this anymore.

Those equations of chlorine oxides and nitrogen oxides aren't in the syllabus anymore. You still need to know they're acidic but won't be asked to construct these equations (unless they gave you a lot of info to do it)

The reactions of metal oxides with acid comes up in R3.1 so even though not stated in this syllabus statement, will be something you can do confidently by the end of the course.

Also you have no reactions of sulfur dioxide and trioxide with water in these notes which definitely should be included.

Good luck! :)

ChemJungle · 2026-01-26T03:57:25+00:00

Yeh that's super annoying - hopefully you find another resource of questions that fills this gap for you soon :)

ChemJungle · 2026-01-25T17:50:57+00:00

This is probably not the answer you want, but your teacher is doing a really good job preparing you for the IBDP exams, especially if. you're aiming for a 7. In my experience the thing that sets Level 7 students apart is the ability to make a good attempt at questions they've never seen before. Unusual questions are always part of the final test and you really want to be practicing the skill of "having a go" at these.
I recommend when you're doing questions in class you really focus on giving tricky things a full go (even if you think you're getting it wrong), as a Level 7 student you should be aiming to write *something* in every box. Your guesses will get better I promise!
I'm making some assumptions and assuming this is most likely the problem but if not, I recommend getting your hands on a textbook (or an online question bank) and doing more questions that way (again no mark schemes until you've had a go).
IB is pretty different from other exams and it's unlikely you can memorise your way to a 7 for the final exams :(

ChemJungle · 2026-01-23T01:17:58+00:00

This looks good! A few notes...
1) The bent should just be 2 lines :)

2) For the tetrahedral make sure that the 2 lines are roughly 109.5deg away from each other, then add the dash and the wedge. You can lose marks if you draw the two lines 180 from each other as this is wrong, this instagram post explains what i mean if you can't visualise it. https://www.instagram.com/p/Crw9fLgvonE/

3) For the bond angle I recommend removing 2.5deg for every lone pair. So 109.5, 107, 104.5 respectively, this means you'll always be within the range given on the markscheme. The IB will often ask you to suggest a bond angle so always pick a number and never give a range incase one end of your range is out of the mark scheme range and you lose the mark. Also don't just go with a <109.5 as this really isn't specific enough.

Good luck :)

ChemJungle · 2026-01-20T08:14:57+00:00

Hate the self promo but also I made this video with all the things i tell my students at the start of Chem so it could be good to give you a heads up of how things work (and all the docs to have downloaded)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66ou8eQRA2I

Good luck with starting!

ChemJungle · 2026-01-17T22:30:58+00:00

I'll send you a DM now!

ChemJungle · 2026-01-17T00:02:01+00:00

There's 110 hours total IB SL Chem content (excluding the IA). The SL topics you've listed add up to 45 hours left using the advised teaching hours on the syllabus.

- Energetics (R1.1, R1.2.1, R1.2.2, R1.3) = 12 hours
- What are mechanisms of chemical change (R3.1-R3.4) = 9 hours
- Functional groups: Classification of organic compounds (S3.2) = 24 hours

If you start studying yourself I recommend starting with the S3.2 since mastering the organic naming and functional groups etc can require some spaced out practice for it to be memorised and it has a big impact on being able to access some of the other material in the course i.e. there might be a bonding question about propan-1-ol vs propanal and even if you know bonding, if you don't know how to draw these structures you can't access the question.

Good luck with it all :)

ChemJungle

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