Astronomy GCSE

[Cheeseandhamtoast]

Has anyone had a DC take Astronomy GCSE? My DS is in year 9 and deciding his options. He is probably going to be taking 10 GCSEs including triple science. His school also do Astronomy GCSE as a lunchtime club, taking the GCSE at the end of year 10, and it is obviously taught well as they have had good results in the past. My DS really wants to do the Astronomy, but I am worried that it will add too much to his workload in year 10, particularly towards the summer. And I'm not sure how hard the GCSE is, as my DS's maths is good, but not great.

Any advice on this would be appreciated!!

[sablepoot]

yes, one of mine did it. Mathematically tougher than physics GCSE I'd say, though there is scope to avoid some of the more mathematical elements and concentrate on picking the marks up elsewhere. The coursework (controlled assessment) part can be onerous, but its also really interesting as long as you are interested! It's a nice GCSE for the right child IMO and if its well taught then that's half the battle.

[Essexmum69]

DS did astronomy in year 10 as an after school club. Not too difficult for a child with an interest in the subject. The data required for the controlled assessment can be time consuming to collect though, make sure he chooses his tasks carefully as trying to get sun shadow readings at midday in February isnt easy! When DS sat two years ago, the controlled assessment was before easter and the exam in mid may so it didn't affect his preparation for year 10 exams which weren't until June.
Is he taking any other gcses in year 10? If he already has several to prepare for the extra subject may be too much, but if he takes the rest in year 11 then it may be useful to take one in year 10 for the experience.

[Leeds2]

No advice, but just wanted to say that I had no idea that some schools offered Astronomy as a GCSE. Sounds fabulous!

[TooHasty]

Yes both my boys did it and really enjoyed it.Some of the stuff comes in for A2 physics too

[TooHasty]

There are no specific revision texts or online resources for it though

[Essexmum69]

The advised textbook when DS took it was:
www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Astronomy-Guide-Pupils-Teachers/dp/0953634574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422280599&sr=8-1&keywords=gcse%20astronomy&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
And this free website was great:
www.astronomygcse.co.uk/AstroGCSE/New%20Site/IndexNew.htm

[TheFirstOfHerName]

My friend's daughter does it. In order to get on to the course, you had to be a strong level 7 Maths in Y9.

[Cheeseandhamtoast]

Thank you everyone. I didn't expect so many comments!!

It would be the only GSCE that my DS would be doing early. But I know that Geography has some controlled assessment/project work in the summer of year 10. They only need level 6 maths to do it, so I hope my DS would not find it too difficult.

Essexmum - thanks for the info on assessments and sun position ! Sounds quite a lot of work!

[Cheeseandhamtoast]

And thanks for the recommendation of website and book - I have bookmarked it just in case!

[LeapingOverTheWall]

DD2 did astronomy GCSE in Y9 and loved it - helped that it was a very motivated class and a brilliant teacher. She didn't find it especially difficult, and it was quite a nice "ease in" to the standard needed for GCSE. Her school now only offer it as an option in Y10/Y11 rather than as an extra in Y9, due to the changes in science GCSEs (previously science top sets had covered KS3 in years 7-8, spent y9 doing astronomy, then started the main science GCSE courses after the astronomy exam).

I don't recall the controlled assessments being especially time consuming - although my input was passing mugs of hot chocolate out the back door and buying the Star Walk app for my phone .

[morehelpneeded123]

at my DD school they offer GCSE astronomy in 6th form (aswell as a levels). DD wants to do it and i am going to encourage her as she is interested in physics and the stars and think it will be a lovely thing for her to study.

[deerdeer]

Oddly enough, I did this GCSE as an adult when I worked in a planetarium many years ago. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't particularly mathematical and it had a good mix of topics. There were also various projects which were coursework. I considered doing an astronomy degree at one point because I found it fascinating.