The series of two courses on Chemical Thinking present chemistry as a way of thinking rather than as a static body of knowledge. Both the courses use questions to guide the presentation and discussion of relevant content. A substantial amount of the discussion is centred around student experimentation in the laboratory. Since these are the first rigorous laboratory courses that students take in the program, there is also a substantial focus on experimental practices including experimental design, accuracy and precision, data collection and analysis, and the use of evidence to make conclusions.

The first in a series of two courses on chemical thinking focuses on the development and analysis of submicroscopic models of matter and structure-property relationships to explain, predict, and control physical properties of substances along with analysing how chemical processes are modelled at the submicroscopic level.