Lesson plan of Planar Isomerism

Objectives (5-7 minutes)

1. Understand the definition and basic concepts of planar isomerism, including the concepts of structural formula, planar formula and line formula.
2. Identify and classify different types of planar isomerism, including chain, position and function isomerism and tautomerism.
3. Apply acquired knowledge to solve practical problems involving identifying and classifying planar isomers, using practical exercises and case studies.

Secondary objectives:

*Develop analytical and critical thinking skills. *Encourage teamwork and cooperation between the students. *Enhance problem solving skills and logical reasoning.

Introduction (10-15 minutes)

1. Review of previous content:

   • The teacher should start the lesson by briefly reviewing the concepts of molecular structure and structural formula, emphasising the importance of these concepts for the understanding of planar isomerism.
   • Also, it is important to review the concepts of isomerism, which have already been discussed in earlier lessons, so the students are better prepared to connect with the new content.

2. Problem situations:

   • The teacher can introduce two problem situations that encourage students’ reasoning skills. The first one could be the comparison between two compounds with identical molecular formula but with different physical-chemical properties; and the second problem situation could involve the comparison between two compounds that present different structural formulas but the same molecular formula. This should lead students to ask questions and seek answers that will be provided during the lesson.

3. Contextualisation:

   • The teacher should explain the importance of planar isomerism in different fields such as the pharmaceutical industry, in which the isomeric type of a compound may determine its efficacy or safety or in the food industry, in which isomerism can affect taste, color and the texture of food products.
   • Furthermore, it is possible to mention isomerism in natural compounds such as in pheromones, which are chemicals produced by animals in order to transmit information regarding behavior, territoriality, and reproduction.

4. Topic introduction:

   • The teacher should introduce the topic of isomeria planar, explaining that this is a property of certain compounds, that allow these compounds to have the same molecular formula but with different structural formula.
   • Some examples of planar isomer can be provided such as acetic acid or methyl formate, that have the same molecular formula C2H4O2 but different structural formulas.
   • The teacher should mention, in order to arouse the students’ interest that the discovery and the understanding of the concept of isomeria by Friedrich Wöhler and Justus von Liebig in 1827, represented an important turning point for chemistry as it challenged the preconception that all chemical substances were unique and that they could only be obtained through the transformation of inorganic matter.

Development (20-25 minutes)

1. Activity: Creating Isomers (10-15 minutes)

   • Objective: Applying knowledge about planar isomerism playfully and hands on, fostering students’ active participation and understanding of concepts.
   • Description: The teacher will separate the students in teams of maximum 5 students and will give to each team a collection of jigsaw pieces, in which there will be representations for carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, each one of these atoms with the corresponding valencies in order to build molecules by fitting the pieces. Each team should receive a list with molecular formulas that need to be created using the jigsaw puzzle pieces, thus facing the students to the challenge to build the molecular models with different structural formula to match the isomers of the planar isomerism.
   • Step by step:
     • The teacher separates students into teams and distributes material.
     • Students receive a molecular formula and they need to try and build different structural formula that match with the given formula.
     • Once the molecules have been created by the teams, they need to show the rest of their classmates the molecules created, and justify the configuration achieved.
     • The teacher leads a group correction by displaying the correct structural formulas for each molecular formula.

2. Activity: Isomer Hunt (10-15 minutes)

   • Objective: Applying the knowledge of planar isomerism to solve practical problems and scenarios by developing the students’ reasoning and analysis abilities.
   • Description: the teacher will introduce a set of problems or situations that include identifying and classifying planar isomers. Every situation will include some background information, and some hints to guide students’ reasoning. Students will work in their groups in which they need to apply their knowledge, analyze the information provided, and identify and justify the planar isomerism type.
   • Steps:
     • Teacher introduces the first problem, offering the given information and the hints.
     • Students organize themselves in their groups to discuss and try and solve the issue, identify and justify their reasoning on the planar isomer type.
     • Once there’s been a fair discussion time the teacher will ask some groups to share their answers and justify their reasoning.
     • Feedback is provided by the teacher that will offer the right answer, explaining which was their reasoning and process.
     • This process will be followed for the rest of the situations and problems proposed.

These activities will enable students to apply the acquired knowledge in a hands-on and dynamic fashion that fosters critical and logical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving.  Furthermore, the collective feedback provided will allow for classroom discussion and for the resolution of any doubts that could have arisen during these activities, thus strengthening the comprehension of the topic.

Feedback (8-10 minutes)

1. Group Discussion (3-4 minutes)

   • Students gather again with the teacher and engage in a discussion about the solution found by every team, every group will be given a maximum 3 minutes time for sharing the solutions and conclusions.
   • The teacher will promote reflection and the understanding of concepts, by encouraging the participants in justifying the reasoning, the difficulties that they have encountered and possible improvements to the solutions or even new approaches.
   • Questions the teacher can use to encourage students to engage with the activity and think about the process they have followed could include: Why have you selected this approach? Which has been the process followed to reach the conclusion explained and what have you learnt with the activity?

2. Connection with the theory (2 - 3 minutes)

   • In this step the teacher should make the link between practical activities carried out in class, with theoretical concepts introduced at the beginning of the session.
   • Moreover the teacher will highlight and define concepts and terms related with planar isomerism, explaining their connection to the problems and activities carried out in class and reinforcing how important is the understanding these theoretical concepts to understand chemistry itself, but also many other natural or industry related processes and phenomena.

3. Final Reflection (2 - 3 minutes)

   • As a wrap up for the lesson the teacher should ask all the students some questions for an individual reflection, in order to think and answer them individually in one minute:
     • Which is for your understanding, the concept learnt in today’s lesson that has been most significant?
     • Can you identify some issues that have not been covered or solved?
   • Once students have finished their reflection time the teacher will ask some of them to share with their classmates the answers to the above-mentioned questions.
   • The teacher will note all unanswered questions, either on the blackboard or on a separate list, in order to be able to discuss them during the following lessons, or for students’ independent review.

The feedback session is an essential step in this lesson plan as it enables the teacher to assess the understanding the students’ have of the theoretical framework, to detect any knowledge or understanding gaps they might have, and thus to have the chance of planning new activities to tackle these knowledge gaps. Moreover, by fostering classroom discussion and promoting self-evaluation the teacher encourages metacognitive skills in students, which means that the students themselves reflect upon their learning process and identify the areas in which the learning process needs improvement, as a consequence the students will be able to plan and monitor their own studying techniques.

Closing (5 -7 minutes)

1. Recap

   • Go over some key concepts that were covered during the lesson thus reviewing and reinforcing definitions such as planar isomerism or different types of planar isomerism and how important are structural formula to be used in order to classify and identify the isomers.
   • It’s also worth reminding the activities carried out, stressing main topics, and the difficulties that students have encountered.

2. Connecting theory with the practical activities

   • The teacher will make explicit the connection that has been established throughout the lesson, by linking theoretical concepts and practical applications.
   • The teacher can highlight how important is to have a solid theoretical background to be able to solve different practical issues and the practical activities have contributed to the reinforcement and understanding of the theory.

3. Additional resources:

   • The teacher can provide students with some extra materials in case they want to extend the learning of the planar isomeria, these materials could include textbooks, scientific articles, tutorial videos and problem-solving exercises.
   • Websites or apps for chemistry can also be shared since these tools offer great interactive elements to visualize molecules, manipulate these elements, which could be really helpful to foster the understanding of the planar isomerism.

4. Subject relevance:

   • The final step is to highlight the relevance of planar isomerism for our everyday life, and in different areas of study, for example, in pharmaceutical industry or in food and beverages or even environmental science.
   • Some real and practical examples could also be given by mentioning how planar isomeria affects the effectiveness of a determined medication, how it affects the flavor of food products, or even how planar isomeria is related to some natural processes of degradation of substances in our environment.
   • Including real examples and connecting them with planar isomerism can support students’ understanding of how relevant and useful the knowledge they have just learnt can be.
   • This will encourage them to discover and study further about the subject.

This final step is essential to wrap the discussion during this lesson, as the teacher goes through the main information and concepts shared with students, connects theory with practical applications, and suggests additional materials for students who wish to delve deeper into this subject. Moreover, the teacher will reinforce how relevant the subject is both in a practical sense and as an everyday process, thus encouraging curiosity, and fostering further learning and engagement.