AQA ISA A quick guide to success. Sections – click to jump straight there Paper 1 Paper 2 Keywords

AQA ISA A quick guide to success

Sections – click to jump straight there

Paper 1

Paper 2

Keywords

Paper 1

Always questions

Sometimes questions

Always in paper 1

Identify 2 sources that you used for your research.

You need to write urls for web-based resources of book title + author for paper based.

You must have this information written on your candidate sheet 1 mark gained

Always in paper 1

Compare the usefulness of the two sources

You need to write about both sources. Which was the best? Why?

You must have planned your answer – you know that this question is coming!

2 marks gained

Always in paper 1 (additional/triple)

What was your hypothesis?Explain why you made this hypothesis.

Write your hypothesis e.g. the higher the…, the higher the…

Explain why you thought this would happen – e.g. my textbook says that…And this happens because…

You must have planned your answer – you know that this question is coming!

2 marks gained

Always in paper 1

From the research that you have done, describe in detail how you are going to do your investigation.

This section is worth 9 marks! You must practise your answer! Make sure that you have enough notes on your candidate sheet to answer it fully.

Write it in the sections described in the question. Give each section a subheading.

More on the next 5 slides

Always in paper 1

The equipment that you plan to use

No reason to struggle here – should all be on your planning sheet. Check that you have not missed anything out.

A bullet pointed list is fineMore on the next 4 slides

Always in paper 1

How you will use the equipment

This means a method of how you will carry out your practical, not a list of what each piece of equipment is for.

You should have enough information on your student planning sheet to be able to write a step by step method


Always in paper 1

The measurements that you are going to make

What are you going to record in your results table? These will include the measurements that you are making in your experiment – be clear on what you are doing. E.g. in my experiment I am changing… (independent variable) and will record …. (dependent variable)

You should have this information on your student planning sheet!


Always in paper 1

How you will make the investigation a fair test

What are you going to keep the same in your experiment (control variables) ? I will make my experiment a fair test by…


More on the next slide

Always in paper 1

A risk assessment

How are you going to make the experiment as safe as possible?What are the hazards in the experiment? E.g. Bunsen flameWhat are the risks caused by the hazards? E.g. burnsWhat are you going to do to minimise risk? E.g. tie hair up


Watch your spelling and grammar 9 marks gained

Always in paper 1

Make sure that you hand in a blank table of results

You must have clear headingsYou must have your independent and dependent variableYou must include units (e.g. temperature would be in 0C, time might be in seconds)

This is done before the exam – no excuses not to get it right

2 marks gained

Always in paper 1

14 marks!!!!!

You can do really well in paper 1 if you get prepared. Make sure that you can score as many marks as possible in the questions that are on every ISA.

14 marks on the whole paper would put you on target for a B grade

Sometimes in paper 1 – they seem to be on a rotation!

Which measurement will be the most difficult to measure in your experiment and why?

What will be difficult to measure accurately? Why might you not be able to do this as well as you would like?

Think about this as part of your method planning. We often have limitations because of the equipment we use.2 marks gained – more on next slide!


Suggest what you could do to reduce the effect of any errors in this experiment?

This means how could you measure it more accurately? This does not mean “I could be more careful” – it is about changing your experiment somehow.

You could suggest using equipment even if the college doesn’t have it! E.g. I could record the bounce of a ball with a video camera, so I could use the slo-mo to judge height better.

1 mark gained


Why are repeats a good idea? What should you do with repeats to obtain a more accurate answer?

Check how precise the results are/spot anomalous resultsCalculate a meanBy discarding anomalous resultsAdding up repeats and dividing by number of results

1 mark gained


What values do you plan to use?e.g. what actual temperatures, concentrations will you test?What is the smallest interval in your values?Difference between your valuesWhy did you choose these values for your range and interval?Range + interval should be enough to see a big enough to see a difference in the results, but still practical to do in a lab.

1 mark gained


Name one variable you would need to control.Something that you kept the same to make it fairDescribe a preliminary investigation to help you find a suitable value for your control variable. – carry out your experiment but with different values of the control variable and the highest + lowest values of your independent variable.How will the results of this preliminary investigation help you to decide the best value to use?Looking for value of control variable that give the best difference in the preliminary test

3 marks


Explain the advantages of comparing your results with those of other groups.Check if other groups get the same patternCheck if it is reproducibleCan be more/less confident that the hypothesis is correct

3 marks


What was your hypothesis?

What results would you expect if your hypothesis is correct?

The bigger the …, the bigger/smaller the…

3 marks


What is the resolution of one measurement you are taking?

When I measured the…I could only measure to the nearest…

3 marks

Paper 2

Always questions

Sometimes questions

Always in paper 2

Hand in your charts or graphs. You will be awarded up to 4 marks for your chart or graph.

A graph of your results:• Clearly labelled axis• Suitable scale• Plotted correctly• Line of best fitYou should get full marks on this. Draw a practice graph first, before completing your real graph under high control.

4 marks gained

Always in paper 2

What were the variables in the experiment you did?

Independent variable – what did you change?Dependent variable – what did you measure?Control variable – what did you keep the same?

You should get full marks on this. Make sure you know the answers for your experiment!

3 marks gained

Always in paper 2

Do your results support the hypothesis that you investigated? You should use any pattern that you see in your results to support your answer. You should include examples from your results.

• Start with “The results did/did not support the hypothesis”

• Because the trend of the graph is… or there is no pattern in the results

• Quote some of your data – e.g. at 20oC… but at 60oC…

You must include all 3 points to get full marks3 marks gained

Always in paper 2

Draw a sketch graph of the results from Case study 1

• Label the axis• Draw the shape of the graph • just the shape – no numbers needed – does it

go up or down? Straight line (linear) or a curve (non-linear)?

You will get nothing if you don’t label the axis!2 marks gained

Always in paper 2


• Try these for practice

Light intensity (lumens)

Amount Oxygen produced by plant per hour (ml)

100 10

200 18

300 25

400 28

500 29

Mass added (g) Extension of spring (cm)

100 2

200 4

300 6.5

400 8

500 10

Always in paper 2


• Try these for practice

Temperature (oC) Time taken for reaction (s)

20 120

40 80

60 60

80 50

100 45

Number of people in house

Time a toilet roll lasts (days)

1 10

2 8

3 6

4 4

5 2

Always in paper 2

Explain whether or not the results in Case studies 1, 2 and 3 support the hypothesis. To gain full marks, your explanation should include appropriate examples from the results in Case studies 1, 2 and 3.

• Write about each case study separately. Include example data to support your ideas. E.g. case study 1 supports the hypothesis because the higher the temperature, the higher the bounce. It bounced 50cm at 60oC, but only 20 at 25oC.

• Look carefully at the results – mention any anomalous results! Check that the experiment is valid – i.e. are they changing the right variable?

• Have they calculated the mean correctly – discard anomalous results and record the mean to the same level of accuracy as the results

• Linear or non-linear?

You won’t know what the Case studies are, but you should make sure that you know what to do!

3 marks gained

Always in paper 2

Hypothesis: Paint dries faster at higher temperatures

• Try these for practiceCase study A

Temperature (oC)

Drying time (min)

20 120

40 100

60 58

80 60

100 40

Case study B

Temp. (oC)

Drying time (hours)

mean

10 10 9 8 8

20 8 7 7 7.3

30 6 4 5 5

40 4 3 3 3.350 2 1 2 1.6

Case study C

Paint Drying time (min)

A 220

B 180

C 160

D 18

E 64

Always in paper 2

A question about case study 4.

• You are given a statement.• You need to use the data for case study 4 to answer

the question.• Check – does the data support the statement? Or

not? Explain your answer carefully, quoting data to support your argument.

You won’t know what the statement or data will be, but apply your skills and don’t panic!

3 marks gained

Always in paper 2

How could the results from your investigation be useful in the context you have researched? (use your candidate research notes)

• What was your context?• How could you apply what you have found out to

this situation?• Include enough detail!

Prepare your answer – you know this question is coming!

3 marks gained

Always in paper 2

Up to 26 marks!!!!!

You can do really well in paper 2 if you get prepared. Make sure that you can score as many marks as possible in the questions that are on every ISA.

26 marks on the whole paper would put you on target for an A* grade

Sometimes in paper 2

Most investigations contain uncertainties. Suggest one cause of uncertainty in your experiment. How could you reduce the size of this uncertainty if you were to repeat the experiment?

• Think about what you couldn’t control fully or measure carefully enough

• How could you improve the method next time?

Plan for this question!3 marks gained


Did you repeat any of the trials in your experiment. Explain why you did or did not repeat your trials. Include examples from your results.

• If yes – to check repeatability, show with examples how repeatable experiment was

• If no, then say why e.g. lack of time or all points close to line of best fit

Plan for this question!3 marks gained


Explain how you would use repeated readings to get more accurate results

• Calculate the mean• By discarding anomalous results• Add together repeated readings and divide by

number of results

Last bullet point often gets missed3 marks gained


You have been given results from other people. Do these other results show the investigation to be reproducible?

• Show that you know what reproducable means!

• Yes – similar trend in results or no, different trend

• Quote data from their results and yours

Prepare for this question! Do you have an answer? 3 marks gained


You have been given results from other people. Do these other results show the investigation to be reproducible?

• Show that you know what reproducable means!

• Yes – similar trend in results or no, different trend

• Quote data from their results and yours



Did you get any anomalous results?

• Show that you know what anomalous means!• Yes – not close to line of best fit or a very

different repeated value• No – all repeats similar or close to line of best

fit



What was the range of the independent variable? Was this a suitable range?

• From… to…• Yes – obvious difference between lowest and

highest values or no, difference too small• Quote from your data!



Other people trying to repeat your investigation might get results that are different to yours. Suggest one reason and explain why they would get different results.

• What might they have done that was different?

• How would their results be different as a result



If you were to repeat your investigation would you make any changes to your method?

• No – results had clear trend, data repeatable, test was fair.

• Yes – how would you improve it? E.g. repeat data, larger range, change to practical



What was the resolution of one piece of equipment that you used to make a measurement in your experiment? Do you think that this resolution was appropriate?

• Resolution : measured to the nearest…• No – results not clearly different, may

overlap• Yes – clear trend in results, don’t overlapPrepare for this question! Do you have an answer? 3 marks gained

Keywords

Key word What does it mean?

Hypothesis

A statement that can be tested

Accurate The more accurate a result is, the closer to the correct answer it is

Precise When you get almost the same answer again and again. The answer may be accurate or not

Repeatable

When you do an experiment again and get similar results

Reproducible

When the experiment is done again using different equipment or methods, or done by another person and you get similar results

Keywords


Objectivity A experiment is objective when the people doing it are not trying to get a certain result

Variable Things that can change in an experiment

Independent variable The thing that you change in an experiment

Dependent variable The result that you measure in an experiment

Control variable Something that you keep the same to make sure that your experiment is fair

Keywords


Categoric variables

These kinds of variables are best described by labels, e.g. eye colour, where each eye colour is one category

Continuous variables

These kinds of variables are best described using numbers, e.g. number of pupils in each classroom.

Resolution How accurate you can measure with a piece of equipmenti.e. Measuring to the nearest…

Range The highest and lowest values you test

Values What actual measurements you test e.g. 10oC, 20oC etc.

Documents

AQA ISA A quick guide to success. Sections – click to jump straight there Paper 1 Paper 2 Keywords