§ Year 7 · Chemistry strand of Science · Australian Curriculum
Year 7 Chemistry.
Where the particle model starts doing real work.
In Queensland, Year 7 students don't sit a separate Chemistry class — they sit general Science with Chemistry as one of four strands inside it. This page is about the chemistry strand of Year 7 Science. If that strand is where your child is struggling (or where they want to push ahead), Pythora can tutor it specifically without trying to cover every part of the subject.
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§ What Year 7 covers
The syllabus, in plain English.
Year 7 Science follows the Australian Curriculum v9. The chemistry-strand content for Year 7 is built around classifying substances and the particle model. Students learn to classify by physical state (solid, liquid, gas), by composition (pure substance vs mixture), and to describe physical changes like changes of state and dissolving. The particle model is used to explain why solids hold their shape, why liquids flow, why gases expand to fill a container, and why diffusion happens. Separating mixtures using physical techniques — filtering, evaporating, distillation, magnetic separation — is the main practical context.
Chemical sciences strand — Classifying substances and the particle model (Year 7 Science)
- States of matter — solid, liquid, gas — and the particle model explanation of each
- Pure substances vs mixtures — recognising and classifying
- Physical changes — changes of state, dissolving — and why they are not chemical changes
- Diffusion in liquids and gases (newly emphasised in v9)
- Separating mixtures — filtration, evaporation, distillation, sieving, magnetic separation, chromatography
- Choosing the right separation technique based on the properties of the components
§ Where Year 7s get stuck
Common pitfalls — and how to dodge them.
Drawing the particle model with no spacing between particles
In a solid, particles are close and held in fixed positions. In a liquid, particles are still touching but can flow past each other. In a gas, particles are far apart and move freely. Year 7 students often draw all three the same way and lose marks for it. We teach the diagram conventions specifically — relative spacing, relative arrangement, arrows for movement where needed.
Calling salt water a pure substance
Salt water is a mixture, even though it looks uniform. The salt and the water haven't chemically combined — they can be separated by evaporation. Year 7 students mix up "pure" (uniform appearance) with "pure substance" (chemically uniform). We drill the distinction early because it underpins everything in Year 8 chemistry.
Treating dissolving as a chemical change
When salt dissolves in water, the salt is still there — it can be recovered by evaporation. No new substance is made. Dissolving is a physical change, not a chemical one. Year 7 students often write "the salt has changed into something new" and lose the mark. We separate physical from chemical change explicitly.
Picking the wrong separation technique for the question
Filtering separates an insoluble solid from a liquid. Evaporation gets back the dissolved solid. Distillation gets back the liquid from a solution. Year 7 questions are scenario-based: "How would you separate sand and salt mixed in water?" Students who can't match technique to property lose marks even when they know the techniques exist. We work through 10–15 scenarios per session until the matching is automatic.
Skipping diffusion as too obvious
The v9 curriculum adds diffusion as a specific Year 7 idea — particles spreading from high concentration to low concentration. It is the particle-model explanation for why you can smell perfume across a room. Year 7s often write "the smell travels through the air" without the particle vocabulary. The vocabulary is the mark.
§ Worked examples
A question. A walkthrough. The marks.
Example 1
Classifying a substance and explaining why
The question
A student is given a sample of clear, colourless liquid. The teacher tells them it is freshly squeezed apple juice that has been filtered. Is the apple juice a pure substance or a mixture? Justify your answer.
Walkthrough
Step 1 — State the answer. Apple juice is a mixture. Step 2 — Define the terms. A pure substance is made of only one type of particle. A mixture is made of two or more substances that have not chemically combined. Step 3 — Justify with the specific example. Apple juice contains water, sugars, acids, vitamins, and other dissolved compounds. Even though it looks uniform after filtering, the components are still chemically separate and could in principle be separated again. Step 4 — Add the test that proves it. If you evaporated the water, you would be left with solid residues (sugars, salts) — that recovery is only possible from a mixture. A pure substance would give back exactly itself. Mark allocation: 1 for the classification, 1 for the definition, 1 for the justification, 1 for the recovery-test reasoning. The recovery test is the line that lifts a B answer into an A.
Example 2
Designing a separation procedure
The question
A student has a mixture containing iron filings, sand and salt. Describe a step-by-step procedure to separate the three components.
Walkthrough
Step 1 — Identify each component's key property. Iron filings are magnetic. Sand is insoluble in water. Salt is soluble in water. Step 2 — Use the magnetic property first. Hold a magnet (covered in a plastic bag for easy collection) over the mixture and lift out the iron filings. Step 3 — Add water and stir. The salt dissolves; the sand does not. Step 4 — Filter the mixture using filter paper and a funnel. The sand is trapped on the filter paper. The salt water passes through into the beaker. Step 5 — Evaporate the salt water over gentle heat. The water evaporates away; the salt is left as a solid residue. Step 6 — State the recovered components. Iron filings (from the magnet), sand (from the filter paper), salt (from evaporation). Year 7 mark allocation: 1 per step, 1 for the property explanation, 1 for the correct order. Students often forget to do the magnetic separation first — if you add water first, the iron rusts and becomes a much harder separation.
§ Why Pythora for Year 7 Chemistry
Not generic tutoring. Specifically this.
Tutors who studied senior Chemistry, working back to Year 7
Every Pythora chemistry tutor sat senior Chemistry in the last few years. They know which Year 7 ideas the Year 11 Chemistry syllabus assumes you already understand — particularly pure-substance-vs-mixture and the particle model — and they teach Year 7 with that scaffolding in mind.
Focused on the strand, not the whole subject
Your child sits Science as one subject, but the issue may be only in the chemistry strand. We can target that strand specifically. The rest of Science — biology, physics, earth science — is the school's job. If the gap is broader, our Junior Science page covers all four.
Diagrams and vocabulary taught the way exams want them
Year 7 chemistry questions are mostly about correct vocabulary (mixture vs solution, physical vs chemical change, soluble vs insoluble) and correct diagrams (particle model with right spacing). We coach both explicitly — the vocabulary in plain English and the diagrams with proper conventions.
Written recap of every session, automatically
You see exactly what was covered, where your child struggled, what was set as homework, and what next session will focus on. In your inbox inside six minutes of the lesson ending.
§ Real student
“I always got confused between dissolving and chemical reactions. After two sessions I stopped mixing them up. Got my first A on a science test.”
§ Where this fits
One step on the path.
Year 7 chemistry — particle model, mixtures, separating techniques — is the foundation for everything that follows. Year 8 brings elements and compounds and formal chemical formulas. Year 9 takes the particle view of atoms and brings in atomic structure. Year 11 Chemistry assumes the particle model is second nature. Gaps left in Year 7 are cheap to fix now and expensive to fix in Year 10.
Builds from
Foundation year — nothing before this
§ Questions
Frequently asked.
My child takes Science, not Chemistry. Why is this page called 'Year 7 Chemistry'?
In Queensland Years 7 to 10, Science is the subject. Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Earth Science are strands within it. This page is about the chemistry strand of Year 7 Science — for parents whose child is struggling with (or excelling at) that specific strand. If you need help across the whole subject, our Junior Science page covers all four strands.
My child finds the chemistry strand confusing but is fine with the rest of Year 7 Science. Can tutoring focus only on chemistry?
Yes — that's the point of having a per-strand page. We can run a short block of sessions during the chemistry unit and pause or rotate afterwards. You don't need to commit to year-round tutoring across the whole subject.
How often should a Year 7 student have chemistry tutoring?
One 60-minute session per week is the sweet spot during the chemistry unit, then pausing or rotating. Year 7 students consolidate best with time to do their own work between sessions. More than once a week tends to crowd out independent thinking.
How much does Year 7 Chemistry tutoring cost?
Year 7 Chemistry (as a strand of Year 7 Science) is $75 per hour as a Junior subject. Billed weekly for completed sessions, no lock-in. Every new family gets a free trial session with their matched tutor first.
Year 7 Chemistry.
Done properly.
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