ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
Summary of the Specification Content:
By the end of this component, students should know:


How plant oils can be used.
What changes have occurred in the Earth and its atmosphere.
OUTCOME 1
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
Crude oil is a raw
material used to make
polymers such as
poly(ethene),
poly(propene) and
PVC.
Polymers are
waterproof and
resistant to chemicals,
so they have many
useful applications
 Recall what a polymer
is.
 Know that polythene is
an example of a
polymer.
 Name some of the
properties of polymers
that make them useful.
 Give some examples of
artefacts that are made
from polymers.
Version 1.0
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
An excellent website that
students could use as a
starting point is
http://pslc.ws/macrog/kids
mac/wiap.htm
Starter: What is a polymer?
Main: How are polymers made?
Features of polymers.
What are the advantages and disadvantages
of polymers?
Plenary: List as many things as you can that
are made of polymers.
1
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 2
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
Many polymers are
not biodegradable, so
they are not broken
down by microbes.
This can lead to
problems with waste
disposal.
 Understand the term
‘biodegradable’
 Name some items that
are made of polythene
 Understand the term
‘recycling’
 List some advantages
and disadvantages of
using polythene
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: How many everyday items can you think of
that are made of polythene?
Main: Show some examples of objects made from
polythene.
 What property of polythene makes it useful
for making these items?
 What are the disadvantages of using
polythene?
Plenary: Look at the items you have been shown
that are made of polythene. If polythene didn’t exist,
what else could they be made from?
Resources & ICT
Health
&
Safety
Some facts for teachers
could be obtained from
the website
http://www.plasticisgreen
.com/usage3.htm
To give a balanced view,
and the other side of the
story, try the website
http://messagengo.blogs
pot.com/p/shockingfacts-about-polyethylenebags.html
This gives some points
against the overuse of
polythene
Version 1.0
2
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 3
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
Vegetable oils are
important foods and
fuels as they provide a
lot of energy.
Oils do not dissolve in
water. They can be
used to make
emulsions.
 Understand why
vegetable oils are
important.
 Explain that oils release
energy when they are
burned.
 Name some different
types of vegetable oil
 Explain what is meant
by an emulsion
 Give an example of an
emulsion.
Version 1.0
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Name as many plants as you can that
provide us with vegetable oils.
Main: Why are vegetable oils important?
You could try extracting some oil from orange peel.
Explain what is meant by an emulsion.
Try making an emulsion with oil, water and egg yolk.
Health &
Safety
Resources & ICT
Website
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=7NEJdJTUcY
gives an
introductory video
on how vegetable
oils are extracted.
.
Plenary: How many different examples of an
emulsion can you list?
3
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 4
Learning objective
Vegetable oils have
higher boiling points than
water and so can be used
to cook foods at higher
temperatures than by
boiling.
Using oil produces
quicker cooking and
different flavours but
increases the energy that
the food produces when it
is eaten.
Version 1.0
Learning Outcomes
 Describe the
difference in boiling
points between water
and oils
 Describe the
advantages and
disadvantages of
using oil for cooking.
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Why are some foods boiled and others are
fried?
Main: Demonstrate heating water and cooking oil,
and measure the temperature reached in each
case.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
cooking in oil as opposed to cooking in water?
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
Take great
care when
heating
cooking oil,
and do not
allow it to
boil.
Plenary: List all the foods that you could not have if
you were not allowed to use oil for cooking.
4
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 5
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Learning
objective
Learning
Outcomes
The Earth’s
crust and the
upper part of
the mantle are
cracked into a
number of
large pieces,
called tectonic
plates.
 Know the terms
crust, mantle and
core..
 Recall that the crust
is made of sections
called tectonic
plates
Version 1.0
Starter: Give a simple diagram of a section through the Earth,
together with labels. Students should join each label to the
correct part.
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
A good map of the major
plates can be found on
http://www.moorlandschool.
co.uk/earth/tectonic.htm
Main: Explain the basic structure of the Earth.
Show a map of the Earth showing the major plate boundaries.
Plenary:
5
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 6
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
Convection currents
within the Earth’s
mantle cause the
plates to move at
speeds of a few
centimetres per year.
The movements can
be sudden and
disastrous. Earthquake
and/or volcanic
eruptions occur at the
boundaries between
these plates.
 Describe how convection
currents can cause the
tectonic plates to move
 Recall that these movements
normally take place very
slowly
 State that sudden movements
of the plates can cause
earthquakes or volcanos.
 Know that these normally
occur near the edges of
plates
 Describe some of the effects
of volcanos and earthquakes
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Show students a video of a volcano
erupting, or a newspaper report of a volcano.
Ask “What is happening here to cause this?”
Main: Explain what is happening when a
volcano erupts.
Explain how convection can move the plates.
Explain that earthquakes occur when two plates
move over each other.
Plenary: List what could happen as the result
of a sever earthquake.
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
A good website to start with
is
http://www.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/Homewor
k/mountains/volcanoes.htm
National Geographic has
several good video clips of
volcanos erupting, e.g.
http://video.nationalgeograp
hic.com/video/player/enviro
nment/environment-naturaldisasters/volcanoes/volcano
-eruptions.html
There are some good
diagrams explain
earthquakes on
http://www.age-of-thesage.org/tectonic_plates/bo
undaries_boundary_types.h
tml
Also BBC Bite size
http://www.bbc.co.uk/school
s/gcsebitesize/geography/n
atural_hazards/
a lot of useful material on
Version 1.0
6
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
this site.
OUTCOME 7
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
During the first billion years of
the Earth’s existence, there
was intense volcanic activity.
This released the gases that
formed the early atmosphere
and water vapour that
condensed to form the oceans.
The early atmosphere was
mainly carbon dioxide.
 State the origin of the
early gases in the
formation of the Earth’s
atmosphere
 State the main gas in the
early atmosphere
 State how the oceans
were formed.
Version 1.0
Possible Teaching & Learning
Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Ask students if the Earth’s
atmosphere has always been as it is today.
Main: Use BBC Bite size to explain how
the atmosphere has changed.
Plenary: Ask students “Do you think the
atmosphere is still changing? If so, in what
way?”
7
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
BBC Bite size is useful here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/school
s/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_
gateway/rocks_metals/6_cle
an_air1.shtml
as is
http://www.moorlandschool.
co.uk/earth/earthorigin.htm
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 8
Learning objective
Plants and algae
produced the oxygen
that is now in the
atmosphere, by a
process called
photosynthesis.
Most of the carbon
from the carbon
dioxide in the early
atmosphere gradually
became locked up in
rocks as carbonates
and fossil fuels.
Version 1.0
Learning Outcomes
 Know that plants and
algae are responsible for
producing oxygen in the
atmosphere
 Recall that this process is
called photosynthesis.
 Write a word equation for
photosynthesis.
 Recall that the carbon in
carbonate rocks and
fossil fuels came from
carbon dioxide in the
early atmosphere.
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Say to students: “We would not be able to
survive without green plants. Is this true?”
Main: Explain the term photosynthesis, and that this
process can only be carried out by green plants and
algae. (Note, more than half the oxygen produced
by photosynthesis comes from algae)
Explain that most of the carbon from the carbon
dioxide in the early atmosphere became locked up
in carbonate rocks and fossil fuels.
Plenary: Draw a simple flow chart to show how
carbon from carbon dioxide in the early atmosphere
ended up in fossil fuels.
8
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
A useful site for fossil fuel
formation is
http://www.discoveringfossils
.co.uk/fossilfuels.htm
also
http://www.grantowngramma
r.highland.sch.uk/subjects/P
eak%20Oil%20web%20site/
Formation%20of%20Fossil%
20Fuels.html
Examples of carbonate
rocks
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 9
Learning objective
Learning Outcomes
The proportions of
different gases in the
Earth’s atmosphere
are about four-fifths
(80%) nitrogen and
about one fifth (20%)
oxygen, with small
proportions of other
gases, including
carbon dioxide, water
vapour and noble
gases..
 Recognise the different
gases in the atmosphere
when shown
proportionately in a pie
chart.
Version 1.0
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Ask students to name all the gases in the
atmosphere.
Main: Distribute a pie chart showing the proportions
of gases in the atmosphere.
Explain what is meant by the term ‘noble gas’ and
give some examples.
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
A useful pie chart can be
found on
http://www.barrygray.pwp
.blueyonder.co.uk/Tutorin
g/AtGas.html
Plenary: Match the names of some noble gases to
their uses, using a worksheet.
9
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX
ELC Component 4 – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere Scheme of Work
OUTCOME 10
Learning objective
Nowadays, the release of
carbon dioxide by burning
fossil fuels increases the
level of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere.
Learning Outcomes
 Recall that burning fossil
fuels releases carbon
dioxide
 Describe some of the
effects of global warming
Possible Teaching & Learning Activities
Starter, Main, Plenary
Starter: Ask students “What is global
warming?”
Main: Discuss the increase in level of carbon
dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels
Plenary: List as many effects of global warming
as you can.
Version 1.0
10
Resources & ICT
Health &
Safety
A good website to start
with is
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbb
cnews/hi/find_out/guides/
world/global_warming/ne
wsid_1575000/1575441.s
tm
also
http://library.thinkquest.or
g/CR0215471/global_war
ming.htm
Copyright © 2011 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved
The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723).
Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX