Further Help For The Revision Road- (4) Infographics- Miss Sam Holyman (Chemistry)

Miss Sam Holyman (Chemistry) recognises that one of the key elements of revision is the display of information and there are many ways of doing this.

Infographics, for example, are increasing in popularity and are being used in text books and news items; even some Bablake students have adopted them to help with revision. A well designed infographic is visually pleasing and draws the reader in by simplifying a complicated subject and presenting information in a captivating way.

Compound Chemistry is a selection of infographics with a Chemistry focus. Some of them contain information to help A Level Chemistry candidates, like looking at periodic trends in AQA Module 1, while others are chemistry focused but of general interest like crime scene chemistry.

Miss Sam Holyman was introduced to these by Mr Bob Worley (a Chemistry specialist who works for CLEAPSS and came to Bablake to run a microscale chemistry course last year) and shared her enthusiasm for infographics with her U6th Chemists when showing them organic mechanism pathways.  

She commented: 'When Connor Putnam, one of my U6th pupils, was asked to produce a table to compare the period 3 elements and their oxides, he produced something that was astounding. Taking inspiration from Compound Chemistry, he created his own infographic. I was really pleased with his work and it shows how inspiration can be found in passing and make a big impact on a learner.

I have made my own infographic looking at thermodynamic definitions, shown it to the class and asked pupils to consider all the information I was trying to convey. This created a very good auditory revision activity and some great ideas on how I could improve my initial concept.'

Click here for a blog article Miss Holyman has written on how to revise effectively and here for how to maximise examination technique. Her new textbook for OCR A Level Chemistry, which will be published on May 5th, also has a chapter on how to prepare for exams.

Article illustrated by an infographic created by Connor Putnam, working with information from chemrevise.org.