Condensation Polymers: Nylon and Polyester — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)

How do chemists make fibres for clothes, bottles and fishing nets? This 20-slide interactive lesson on condensation polymerisation takes pupils from first ideas to exam-style explanations, with 12 self-marking activities and nothing to prepare beforehand.

Teaching Condensation Polymers: Nylon and Polyester in GCSE Chemistry

Pupils learn that condensation monomers carry two functional groups and that each new link releases a small molecule such as water. They describe how diols and dicarboxylic acids form polyesters, how diamines form polyamides such as nylon, and compare addition with condensation polymerisation.

What Pupils Will Learn

• Describe condensation polymerisation.
• Identify the functional groups needed in each monomer.
• Describe how polyesters and polyamides (nylon) are formed.
• Compare addition and condensation polymerisation.
• State uses of nylon and polyester.

What’s Included

• 20-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.

Love this? You’ll love…

• Addition Polymerisation — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)
• Natural Polymers: Carbohydrates — Interactive Lesson (Ages 14–16)

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FAQ

What year groups is this for? Year 11 and post-16 (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.