Fermentation: Making Ethanol — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)

Yeast, sugar and patience: the chemistry behind palm wine, bread and bioethanol fuel. This 21-slide interactive lesson on fermentation of glucose takes pupils from first ideas to exam-style explanations, with 12 self-marking activities and nothing to prepare beforehand.

Teaching Fermentation: Making Ethanol in GCSE Chemistry

Pupils write and balance the equation C₆H₁₂O₆ → 2C₂H₅OH + 2CO₂, state the conditions yeast needs and explain why air is kept out and why high temperatures denature the enzymes. They see why fermentation stops at about 15% ethanol, how fractional distillation concentrates it, and compare fermentation with the hydration of ethene using renewable versus finite raw materials.

What Pupils Will Learn

• Describe how ethanol is made by fermentation.
• State the conditions needed for fermentation.
• Write the word and symbol equations for fermentation.
• Compare fermentation with the hydration of ethene.
• Explain how distillation produces a more concentrated ethanol solution.

What’s Included

• 21-slide interactive lesson
• 12 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.

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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 12 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.