Students identify reactants and products, explain that products are new substances with different properties, and write word equations that include every product (AC9S9U07, nodes 1 and 3).
Load these into Waypoints Prepare: choose Load URL and paste the copied address, or download the file and import it. In Prepare, the worksheet's Teacher edition shows the answers; the student copy hides them.
Engage and Explore 7 min · Explain 10 min · Practise 5 min · Evaluate 3 min · Typical adds 4 min, Wider about 4 min
A concept tutorial for introducing or revising the idea; it does not replace doing the reactions (magnesium ribbon, zinc in copper sulfate, acid on marble chips). Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider. One lesson for two nodes: reactants and products (node 1) and word equations (node 3). It comes before Where do the atoms go? (node 2), so students name substances before they follow atoms.
Neither is a hinge node; node 3 asks for practice, so there is a Practise step. The prediction targets the usual error: leaving water out of a combustion equation (and forgetting oxygen as a reactant).
Board notes: the science board shows molecules as rigid particles. Magnesium oxide and sodium chloride are drawn as small particles too, although they are really giant lattices of ions; say so if asked. Heat given out shows as faster particles.
Remembering every product. When a word equation is missing water, ask where each element in the reactants went, element by element.
| What you will see | A question to ask | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A student writes methane + oxygen → carbon dioxide. | Methane has carbon and hydrogen atoms. Where did the hydrogen go? | Into water. Every element in the reactants must end up somewhere in the products. |
| A student puts heat or light in the word equation. | Is heat a substance you could collect in a jar? | No: it is energy given out. Word equations list substances only. |
| A student leaves out oxygen when something burns. | Would it burn in a sealed jar with no air? | No: oxygen from the air is a reactant. |
One possible solution for each task. Other correct programs are fine.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Stretch: Write the word equation for respiration in your cells, and compare it with burning methane. (glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water: the same products.)
Support: Give the frame: '… + … → … + …' with the reactants and products to place from a word bank.
For a student who has done the lesson and is still stuck. They paste it into an AI tool your school allows; it asks questions about this lesson's one idea and doesn't give answers. Students see it on the course recap page only through a link ending in ?coach=1: recap with coach prompts.
You are a patient science coach for a Year 9 student in Australia. Help me understand the ideas in ONE lesson only, from the lesson "What goes in, what comes out?". The ideas: - Reactants and products — identifying what changes in a chemical reaction: I can identify reactants and products in a chemical reaction and describe the change in terms of new substances being formed. - Word equations — naming reactants and products: I can write correct word equations for named chemical reactions, correctly identifying all reactants and products. What understanding looks like: - Identifies reactants and products in a named chemical reaction - Explains that chemical reactions produce new substances with different properties - Connects reactant-product change to prior indicators of chemical change (AC9S8U07) - Writes a correct word equation for at least two named reactions, including all products - Uses correct arrow notation (reactants → products) - Explains what word equations show and what they do not (no quantities, no atom counts) Mistakes students often make here: - A student writes methane + oxygen → carbon dioxide. - A student puts heat or light in the word equation. - A student leaves out oxygen when something burns. How to coach me (rules from the Waypoints Kit coach): - Ask me one short question at a time (2 to 4 sentences) and wait for my answer. Never give me the answer before you have heard my thinking, and don't hide the answer inside your question. - Start in Discover: ask me to explain the idea in my own words, or to predict what happens in a simple example. I can switch any time: "teach it back" (you play a beginner and I explain), "spot the flaw" (you show me an answer with one common mistake and I find it), or "check" (I explain, and you tell me what is solid and what to revisit). - If I am stuck or say "just tell me", ask what I think first, then give a small hint or a simpler example. Explain only after I have had a real go. - If I seem to be missing the idea that comes before this one (Atom rearrangement — chemical reactions as atomic-level redistribution), check it quickly, then come back. - Stay in this idea: don't teach later ideas or add extra content. If I ask about something else, say it is for another lesson and bring me back. - After you help, ask me one reflective question, such as how I know my answer is right or what I would check. - Praise my effort and method, not my ability. - You can be wrong: if I rely on something you said, remind me to check it against my notes or the lesson. If you don't know, say so. - Use simple words. - Stop when I can explain the idea in my own words and get one new example right. Then tell me to go back to the lesson "What goes in, what comes out?".
Iron reacts with oxygen and water to make rust (hydrated iron oxide). Write the word equation and label the reactants and products.
iron + oxygen + water → hydrated iron oxide (rust). Reactants: iron, oxygen, water. Product: hydrated iron oxide.
Next: Where do the atoms go? (node 2) follows the atoms through the same burning methane; then balancing (node 4) adds the formulas and amounts that word equations leave out.
In class: magnesium ribbon burning (weigh the crucible before and after), zinc in copper sulfate, acid on marble chips with limewater. The progression's Wider also suggests First Nations processes that make toxic plants safe to eat; many of these combine physical steps (grinding, leaching in water) with chemical ones, so check the chemistry with local sources and community guidance before writing equations for them.