Year 9 Science – Term 2 (WA Curriculum): Atomic Structure and Chemical Reactions

What this unit covers

In Term 2, Year 9 Science in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Atomic Structure and Chemical Reactions”.

Students explore atomic structure, periodic trends, chemical bonding, and conservation of mass in chemical reactions.

Lesson sequence (30 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Discovering the Building Blocks: Protons, Neutrons and Electrons
2. Calculating Atomic Numbers and Mass Numbers
3. Exploring Electron Arrangements in Atoms
4. Understanding Isotopes: Same Element, Different Mass
5. Investigating Hydrogen Isotopes: Protium, Deuterium and Tritium
6. Comparing Oxygen Isotopes and Their Properties
7. Modelling Atomic Structure with Electron Shells
8. Introduction to the Periodic Table: Patterns and Organisation
9. Exploring Group 1: The Alkali Metals
10. Investigating Group 2: The Alkaline Earth Metals
11. Understanding Transition Metals and Their Properties
12. Exploring Metalloids: Elements with Mixed Properties
13. Investigating Non-metals and Their Characteristics
14. Understanding Group 17: The Halogens
15. Exploring Group 18: The Noble Gases
16. Predicting Properties Using Periodic Trends
17. Testing Metal Reactivity with Water
18. Relating Reactivity to Position on the Periodic Table
19. Understanding Ionic Bonding and Electron Transfer
20. Writing Chemical Formulae for Ionic Compounds
21. Understanding Covalent Bonding and Electron Sharing
22. Writing Formulae for Common Covalent Compounds
23. Producing and Testing Oxygen Gas in the Laboratory
24. Generating and Identifying Carbon Dioxide Gas
25. Collecting and Testing Hydrogen Gas Safely
26. Modelling Chemical Reactions with Molecular Kits
27. Understanding the Law of Conservation of Mass
28. Balancing Chemical Equations Step by Step
29. Testing Conservation of Mass Experimentally
30. Representing Chemical Reactions with Balanced Equations

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 2

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 2 runs from Monday 20 April to Friday 3 July — 11 weeks for WA public schools. With 30 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.