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Day 6 · Read a nuclear symbol without guessing massYear 11 Chemistry · T1 W1–2 · Day 6 lesson

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Year 11 / Chemistry / Term 1 / Weeks 01 02

Part of the full two-week lesson sequence. Check the pack guide and taught point before teaching.

Open for this lesson: Pack guide · Daily routes · Worked swaps · Fresh learner checks · Aids and text routes.

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Teacher copy: This page may include teaching prompts or answer keys. Answer keys in this public library can be viewed by anyone. Give learners a clean prompt, use checks as formative evidence, and change a case locally when prior access matters.

Learner prompts

Target: read/write the left A-over-Z symbol as full words and derive a neutral magnesium-26 and sodium-23 count. Prepare: Card C and count mat; give Mg Z 12 and Na Z 11.

  1. Launch · 2 min. Show ^{26}_{12}Mg beside “magnesium-26, Z 12, neutral.” Ask which is isotope mass number versus element identifier.
  2. Model · 4 min. Translate top-left A 26 and bottom-left Z 12; p 12, n 14, neutral e 12. The written convention is a model/notation, not a physical picture.
  3. Guided reading · 5 min. Read ^{23}_{11}Na as sodium-23, Z 11, neutral for this task. Derive p 11, n 12, e 11. Model an accessible spoken sequence: “name, A, Z, charge.”
  4. Practice route · 7 min. Choose Day 6 route; translate both symbols in both directions and check derived counts.
  5. Audit · 4 min. Partner reads 26 as number of protons. Learner identifies position and verifies n = 26 − 12.
  6. Exit · 3 min. “Where does A sit in nuclear notation?” Key: upper left of X; Z lower left.

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