Esters and Esterification — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)

That fruity smell in sweets and perfumes is made by joining an alcohol to an acid. This 22-slide interactive lesson on esters takes pupils from first ideas to exam-style explanations, with 14 self-marking activities and nothing to prepare beforehand.

Teaching Esters and Esterification in GCSE Chemistry

Pupils identify the –COO– group, describe esterification with a concentrated sulfuric acid catalyst and name esters by taking the first word from the alcohol and the second from the acid. Practice includes working backwards from an ester name to its reactants, linking volatility to smell and uses, and a reveal on the banana ester found in ripe fruit.

What Pupils Will Learn

• Identify the –COO– functional group in an ester.
• Describe how an ester is made from an alcohol and a carboxylic acid.
• Name esters from the alcohol and acid used.
• Describe the properties and uses of esters.

What’s Included

• 22-slide interactive lesson on esters
• 14 self-marking activities: multiple-choice questions, true-or-false checks, sorting tasks, drag-and-drop categorising and fill-in-the-gap questions
• Step-by-step teaching cards that reveal one point at a time
• A written explanation task with a model answer for self-assessment

Why Teachers Love It

• No prep — open it on an interactive whiteboard, laptop or tablet
• Instant feedback explains every answer, right or wrong
• Examples from both Nigeria and the UK make the chemistry feel real
• Works for whole-class teaching, independent study or revision

Curriculum Alignment

Supports the organic chemistry content of UK GCSE Chemistry (AQA, Edexcel and OCR) and the Nigerian Senior Secondary Chemistry curriculum (SS2–SS3), including WAEC and NECO exam preparation.

Love this? You’ll love…

• Carboxylic Acids — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)
• Addition Reactions of Alkenes — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)

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FAQ

What year groups is this for? Years 10–11 (ages 14–16), and SS2–SS3 in Nigeria.

Is it self-marking? Yes — all 14 activities give instant feedback.

Do pupils need to log in? No. The lesson runs in any modern web browser.

Can I use it for revision? Yes. Pupils can replay it as often as they like, and the results screen shows which questions to review before a test.