This 50-minute GCSE Chemistry practical lesson explores complete and incomplete combustion in a clear, structured, and SEN-friendly way.

Created for Year 10 students in an SEN Secondary School (Autism provision).

This lesson helps students understand combustion through direct observation, allowing them to compare flame types, observe soot formation, investigate different fuels, and link practical evidence to scientific theory.

Lesson Structure:

Starter – Fire Triangle Retrieval

Safety in the Lab: Students review practical safety expectations before completing an risk assessment task, selecting hazards and matching appropriate precautions.

Practical Part 1 – Complete vs Incomplete Combustion: Students compare the orange safety flame and blue roaring flame by heating water in a boiling tube.

They record starting and ending temperatures, note observations (including soot formation / black carbon deposits), identify which flame represents complete vs incomplete combustion, complete combustion equations, explain their reasoning using practical evidence

Explicit Teaching – Combustion Reactions: Students learn the products of: Complete and Incomplete combustion.

Practical Part 2 – Comparing Fuels: Students investigate which fuel transfers the most energy by heating water using: ethanol, propanol, butanol, paraffin

Students record: starting temperature, final temperature, temperature change, Conclusion & Evaluation [scaffolded via slide information]

Plenary – Exit Ticket: Reflection task.

Included:
2 worksheets (print slides 1 and 2 single-sided)
Requisition list
Safety in the lab guidance
Structured practical investigations
Results tables included
Scaffolded conclusion/evaluation support
Exit ticket plenary

Perfect for GCSE Chemistry, Combined Science, SEN classrooms, practical lessons, intervention, and lower-attaining learners.