Science GCSEs level 1 start this week!

surely tectoic plate movement is geography. Chemistry is about chemical reactions and periodic tables. No?

Hatti- The last section of C1 is about the structure of the earth and atmosphere. Earthquakes and Volcanoes a pretty big part of it as they have to understand tectonic plate movement. As for the government of Haiti, the info was probably in the question and it was a comprehenison/information finding question..............they wouldn't be expected to know this!

One day the kids will realise that studying science is not about 'learning facts' but applying their knowledge............I hope!

my DD said there was a question on earthquakes in Haiti, and 3 reasons the government had not headed warnings about the impending quake.

In chemistry paper. WTF?

What was the question? Have not seen the paper yet?

Is it Carbon Dioxide?

Pat - ds says what is the answer to the limestone and acids question??

Oh dear, hope they are all ok. My Y10 bottom set seemed to think it was alright, although;

'Miss, why didn't you teach us anything about petrol........??????

Yes, that's correct with have been doing weeks of revision on products of oil and I have never once mentioned petrol...!

Have not seen the paper yet as I have to leave quite quickly at lunchtime. Apparently the longer answer question was on Quarrying and they seemed to be able to write something about the advantages and disadvantages (had to explain what those words meant for the hundreth time on monday!).

Top set Y10 said harder than the biology but easier than they thought it would be.....not sure what that means!

I agree though, some of it is sooooooooooooo snoozeville. When they changed the syllabus I was praying they would take it out, but NO all the boring stuff stayed in! At least in class you can liven it up with practical work, revision at home must be mind-numbing, I feel for you all!

aggggghhhhhhhhh

Yes apparently 'it was harder than the biology one'

Chem this morning.

Ds texted it went "horribly badly"

oh good.

And agree Orm SO SO boring.

When Ds was in year 9,(now yr11) they started the science lessons after the exams and when they went back in september studied and took the first part of the science GCSE actually in Novemebr year 10. As I understand it things are changing so I cant make any comment about current yr 9's, but it wasnt as bad as it intially seemed when they did take the first modules.

DS, last thing before bed: "So MMR, that's measles, mumps and rubella, right?"

"yes"

"Oh good. I thought it might be flu."

Right. mflu is that? Or rflu?

Thankfully, I only have one child, so I only have to go though all this once! But my god, the module style exams are hard work!

It's like getting blood out of a stone at the best of times, but she's been coming home from school for about 2 years now, telling me she's done this test/assesment/module. She's had some grades in some subjects, but not in others. French seems to have dragged on and on! I still have no idea if she's actually taken a French exam or not!

Hear, hear to the return of linear!

I don't know why I questioned it tbh! I work in a secondary school and there are 320 yr 11's there, who are incapable of grasping the concept that their exam times and rooms are listed in the foyer for a week prior to sitting them!

My dd is yr 9, she can't decide whether she is pleased or not!

QWC= Quality of written communication (in the old days it was SPG, spelling, punctuation and grammar)

ISA= Investigative skills assessments, now called controlled assessments and they replaced the old practical coursework.

Yes, everything has gone Linear so my current Year 9 cannot sit any exams until Y11 anyway.

why the hell didn't she know when her bloody exams are! She's 16 fgs!

Told the story to my 15yo DD. "I AM NOT ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE!!" she roared.

linear - like the old days, all at the end.

Hullygully - what does linear mean in terms of exams (your comment on p1 of thread)

PatTheHammer what are QWC and ISA - I really don't understand all these exams and the terminology that goes with them.

I did wonder about the maturity aspect for yr 9s taking GCSEs - fortunately my daughter is v mature for her age (despite being one of the youngest in her year), and v science orientated, so think she will have been OK, but my son (one of the oldest in his year) has commented that he feels much better able to cope with exams etc now he is in Yr 10 and I have certainly noticed a difference in his attitude to revision, homework etc this year - he suddenly seems to appreciate the point in it all (although maybe now he is slightly over conscientious), instead of instigating battles over it.

It's all fucking mad.

Interesting that some Year 9's are sitting the exams. In my school our triple scientists start the GCSE in Y9 but do not take any exams until Y10 and Y11. The exam board advised us on this as you have to be really careful that they do not exceed the 40% rule (40% of the assessment at the moment must be terminal at the end of the year you are certificating). I presume those schools must be certificating at the end of Y9 or 10.
Either way, it seemed a little early for Y9 to do a proper GCSE exam so early (in terms of levels of maturity students sitting exams later in KS4 almost always do better for example) so we just built in lots of revision into Y10 alongside teaching them the additional stuff.

God sorry, I meant 4 and 6 mark questions

My brain is mush, as well as exams this week I have had 2 sets of year 11 reports to write and a 3500 case study for my masters (just submitted thank god!).....10 mark question is A Level brain interfering!
the directive came from OFQUAL to swith the QWC marks from the ISA to the exam paper. I know it is all the exam boards as I have attended about 15 meetings over the last 4 years on the process. For those doing the AQA board it is a particular shock to the system after the style of papers beforehand (although literacy wise those did have a reading age of 17, great if you are a 14 year old with reading difficulties!)

Hope all news from DC's sitting the exam today was positive, fingers crossed for you all

Hullygully - in answer to your question 'what board' on p3, mine took OCR B1, 2,3 today. I agree with others that the long written questions this year seem much harder than the tick box papers last year -they now not just need to know the stuff, but to be able to express it clearly and coherently and spell and punctuate - even my Dr sister said she thought it would have been clearer if they were allowed just to used bullet points eg as you might do in a presentation.

My Yr 9 said there wasn't enough space to write the answers in, but then said she hadn't liked to ask for more paper - this was her first GCSE, and they haven't had time to do a proper mock, so I think she didn't quite know what to do. I know several didn't finish, whereas when I invigilated last year, they nearly all finished with plenty of time to spare.