Misconception resources
Students don’t arrive at a new topic with a blank slate
They bring years of prior knowledge, half-remembered rules, oversimplified models and misconceptions with them. Chemistry Toolkit is built to find those misconceptions, challenge them and check that the correct understanding has replaced them.
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The research
What students already know shapes everything they learn next
The EEF highlights prior knowledge as one of the most important influences on new learning: pupils interpret new concepts through what they already know, and weaker prior knowledge makes misconceptions more likely. It also states that this principle applies across subject areas, not just science.
Know the difference
A misconception is not a mistake
A mistake
might be a slip. It happens once, and the student can usually spot it when it is pointed out.
Calculate the relative formula mass of carbon dioxide, CO₂.
Mr = 12 + 16 = 28
Forgot the second oxygen.
Calculate the relative formula mass of carbon dioxide, CO₂.
Mr = 12 + 16 + 16 = 44
Pointed out once, fixed for good.
A misconception
is an incorrect mental model that can repeatedly generate the same wrong answer, however many times the answer is marked wrong.
Why does a gas expand when it is heated?
The particles get bigger.
Why does a metal bar get longer in the sun?
The particles get bigger.
Why does the liquid in a thermometer rise?
The particles get bigger.
Three questions, one wrong model. Marking each answer wrong does not change the idea that produced it.
Correcting the answer does not fix the model behind it. We need a solution.
Source: Ofsted, Research review series: science(opens in a new tab)
Misconceptions accumulate
Left alone, they travel with the student
Every key stage builds on the one before. A misconception nobody challenges does not fade away: it is carried into the next stage, and new ideas get built on top of it.
New at KS3
Particles get bigger when they are heated
1KS31 misconceptionNew at GCSE
Current gets used up as it moves around a circuit
Carried from KS3
Particles get bigger when they are heated
2GCSE2 misconceptionsNew at A Level
Nucleophiles are always negatively charged
Carried from GCSE
Current gets used up as it moves around a circuit
Carried from KS3
Particles get bigger when they are heated
3A Level3 misconceptions
A misconception today becomes a barrier tomorrow.
How we fix it
Five steps from wrong idea to secure understanding
Every misconception resource follows the same route, so the correct idea replaces the wrong one instead of sitting beside it.
- 1
Reveal
Diagnostic questions make the classic wrong answer a tempting option, so a hidden misconception shows up in ten minutes rather than in the exam.
- 2
Diagnose
Each misconception comes with a note on where it comes from, often a simplified model from an earlier key stage, so the cause gets unpicked, not just the symptom.
- 3
Rebuild
Clear explanations and worked answers replace the faulty model with the correct one, one step at a time.
- 4
Apply
Exam-style questions put the corrected idea to work in new contexts, so it holds up away from the example it was taught with.
- 5
Re-test
Follow-up questions a little later check that the correct understanding has replaced the old one, instead of hoping it did.
For everyone who helps a student learn
So much to help put misconceptions right
Misconception packs sit alongside worksheets, exam practice, rapid recall and flashcards in one library, so whoever is helping the student has the right resource to hand.
Teachers
Run a diagnostic as a starter, see which misconceptions the class holds, and re-teach from the notes on where each one comes from.
Tutors
Find out in the first session what a student believes, not just what they can recall, and plan the sessions that follow around it.
Parents
Understand why the same wrong answer keeps coming back, and give your child resources that fix the idea behind it.
Students
Test yourself on the classic traps before the exam does, read why each wrong idea is wrong, and check it has stuck.
In every misconception pack
- Built around the errors examiners see most
- Notes on where each error comes from
- Re-test questions to confirm the fix
Real examples
Misconceptions we see every year
Taken from Chemistry Toolkit worksheets and mark schemes. The misconception is in red, the correct idea beside it.
A Level Chemistry
Misconception
Edexcel
Nucleophiles are negatively charged lone pair donors.
Correct idea
A nucleophile is a lone pair donor and does not need a charge. Ammonia is a common nucleophile and it is neutral.
Misconception
Edexcel
Enthalpy of atomisation is for one mole of the element, and the moles of product do not matter.
Correct idea
It is the enthalpy change to form one mole of gaseous atoms, so the equation is balanced to one mole of gas atoms: ½Cl₂(g) → Cl(g).
Misconception
AQA
In nucleophilic substitution with ammonia, the second mole of ammonia is also a nucleophile.
Correct idea
The second mole of ammonia attacks a hydrogen on the nitrogen and removes it, so it is acting as a base.
Misconception
AQA
In free radical substitution, UV light slices the halogen molecule in half like a knife.
Correct idea
UV light provides the energy needed to break the covalent bond in the halogen molecule.
From a Chemistry Toolkit mark scheme
Swipe sideways to see the whole mechanism.
Key Stage 3 Science
Misconception
Particles get bigger when they are heated.
Correct idea
The particles stay the same size. They gain kinetic energy and move faster.
Misconception
Plants get their food from the soil.
Correct idea
Plants make their own food by a chemical reaction called photosynthesis.
Misconception
A force is needed to keep an object moving.
Correct idea
A resultant force is needed to change motion. An object keeps moving at constant velocity if the resultant force is zero.
GCSE Physics
Misconception
Heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.
Correct idea
Without significant air resistance, objects accelerate at the same rate due to gravity, whatever their mass.
Misconception
Current gets used up as it moves around a circuit.
Correct idea
Current is the rate of flow of charge and is the same all the way round a series circuit. Energy is transferred, not current.
A Level Biology
Misconception
Dominant alleles are always the most common alleles in a population.
Correct idea
Dominance describes how alleles are expressed in a heterozygote. It does not decide how common an allele is.
Misconception
Osmosis is the movement of water from a high concentration of water to a low concentration of water.
Correct idea
At A Level, osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region of higher water potential to lower water potential through a partially permeable membrane.
By qualification
Misconception packs at every level
Pick your qualification to see what the library covers there. Every level page links to each resource type.
KS3
47 resources
The chemistry ideas that go wrong first - particles, mass, dissolving - caught before GCSE.
Explore KS3
GCSE
94 resources
The high-frequency GCSE errors - particle diagrams, conservation of mass, electrolysis - diagnosed and fixed.
Explore GCSE
iGCSE
92 resources
Misconception packs matched to iGCSE content, including the extended-tier ideas that get muddled.
Explore iGCSE
AS Level
61 resources
The GCSE-to-AS bridge errors: mole logic, bonding models that need upgrading, energetics sign conventions.
Explore AS Level
International AS Level
63 resources
Bridge errors into International AS: mole logic, bonding models that need upgrading, energetics signs.
Explore International AS Level
A Level
86 resources
Second-year classics - equilibrium reasoning, entropy hand-waving, mechanism arrows that point the wrong way.
Explore A Level
International A Level
90 resources
International A Level classics - equilibrium reasoning, entropy and mechanism arrows that point the wrong way.
Explore International A Level
Find your blind spots this week
Start a 3-day free trial, download a misconception pack and try the diagnostic questions. The answers show exactly what to go back over, for a class or for yourself.
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