Which GCSE science involves the least maths?

[Octocat]

DD is choosing options soon. We are in NI and she has to take a minimum of one science.
She’s thinking of choosing chemistry and biology, am I right in thinking physics is the most maths-y of the three sciences? She hates maths and finds it difficult.

It's unusual to do science at A-level without A-level maths possible with chemistry and biology but most students do maths to.
By this are you regarding Geography as a science, @MigGirl ? ie it's unusual to do A Level Geography without A Level Maths? Surely not, I'd have thought lots of humanities type students take Geography A level alongside things like History and Gov/Pol, or am I completely wrong on that?

science at gcse level has very little math- all can use a calculator and the formulas are provided. let her do combined science so she isn't limiting herself later on

yeh this is not true. can get into medical
school with a levels in 3 sciences- not all unis require math

NO Unis require maths A level to medicine. In fact not all need chemistry and biology, some just one (more options if do both though). And Newcastle don't need any science A levels at all.
Some like psychology as a 2nd science.

And it is very usual to do A level chemistry or biology without maths.

Sorry, and you don't need 3 sciences for medicine. To keep all options open then bio, chem and anything else as a third is best. Drama, Art, PE all acceptable (& in some cases desirable).

Sorry yes didn't mean that you absolutely must have 3 sciences- was just pointing out that maths isn't a requirement

@hangingonfordearlife1 😊

Thanks for clarifying, she definitely is not looking to do medicine.

@Octocat 😊 I only post as there is so much wrong information about medicine. So want to correct if anyone reading is.

Good luck getting school to do the right thing. Do ask them why a decision has to be made this early.

For geography / geology, I’d say it’s a flexible ground where maths a level can certainly be a big help, BUT is not always going to be a necessity. Different university courses have different requirements - lots will say maths a level is helpful but they won’t all say it’s a necessity. It’s always a good idea to get as much maths support as you can so that you’re confident in what you’re doing, but I’ve seen geography combined with eg biology and something else at a level. Geology is somewhat famous for being “not good at maths” and I’ve come across the full range of capabilities when I was doing a masters in it, from people who’d carried maths through as an option at university, to those who thankfully dumped it after gcse and hadn’t looked at a quadratic equation since. You can make your way along whatever path I think.

Biology and chemistry at gcse, or the combined science option where you do all 3 to a lower level, are all likely to give a decent grounding for someone who isn’t planning on a physical sciences degree - but take a look at uni course descriptions and requirements. Talk to the geography teacher if they do a levels in it, and see what they say as well.

Biology has the least maths, physics and chemistry have lots of equations and calculations.

Geology is somewhat famous for being “not good at maths” and I’ve come across the full range of capabilities when I was doing a masters in it, from people who’d carried maths through as an option at university, to those who thankfully dumped it after gcse and hadn’t looked at a quadratic equation since. You can make your way along whatever path I think. This is good to know!

@Octocat, I was referring really to physics, Biology and Chemistry. (I know other subjects can be classed as science)

As far as A-level's, when you get to that point it's wise to check what she would need if wanting to do a degree in a subject. But your not there yet, I'd wait to see how she gets on with her GCSE'S.

Geophysicists will tell you that geologists are only good at colouring things in (because geophysics is essentially maths).

However, I’ve managed undergrad and post grad earth science and engineering degrees without having maths / physics / biology / chemistry above O level. You do need to do some catch up work at times, and (unsurprisingly) I did need to do a fair bit of extra maths for the post grad engineering course.

All sciences require an understanding of maths because the evidence base is quantitative.

It doesn’t mean people need to be studying advanced maths alongside them, but the sort of things covered in GCSE are going to be important.

Equations do come up all over the place - and calculations of various kinds.

Helping the DD here to feel more comfortable and confident in this stuff is always going to be helpful. She doesn’t have to love it, but viewing herself as not good at maths may hold her back in various ways.

My advice would be to separate out the sciences choices from this maths issue and tackle them separately. Extra support to grow her confidence and comfort with maths. And just a discussion about which sciences she finds most interesting and would prefer to learn about. Look at the topics covered - which of those sound most appealing to her in their own right.

Trying to choose sciences as a means of minimising maths is a very odd way to tackle things.

It's unusual to do science at A-level without A-level maths
Really? I know absolutely loads of people who did Biology, Physics and Chemistry A levels and not Maths, myself included. Admittedly that was a long time ago but it still seems to be a fairly common combination amongst my children's friends. I don't recall there being any significant difficulties posed by not doing A level Maths. It took me slightly longer than those who were doing maths to grasp some of the rotational mechanics in A level Physics but that's about it. It certainly had no impact on my grades.

Trying to choose sciences as a means of minimising maths is a very odd way to tackle things. Yes, I see what you mean, good point. It was more about checking that one wasn't substantially more reliant on maths than another, but from what you're all saying, my suspicion that physics is closest to 'maths maths' is about right.

We've had a chat about it today, and she definitely much prefers biology and chemistry to physics, so unless something major changes in the next six months I think she'll go for those.

If she wants to study physical geography beyond GCSE, she needs to get comfortable with maths and stats. Biology is probably the least numerate science at GCSE, but chemistry would really support geography (I employ graduate geographers).

I'd say this is probably true of some specialisms. I'm not actually too sure what. I'm an Engineering Geologist, DH specialises in contaminated land remediation and DBro is a petroleum basin development modeller. All very numerate disciplines! Lots of stats and modelling used in all disciplines.

I agree with those saying doing science A level without maths is not unusual and actually fine. There is a bit of an MN view that everyone should do A level maths but I find that strange. It's deffo not for everyone tho it is the most popular A level (? I think).

A level physics without maths is unusal and probs not a good idea. But friends of DS2's took (say) PE, biology and AN other - business, geography, history, psychology. All fine. A second science at A level is a good idea if you might want to take science at uni (tho it's not essential) - but chemistry, geography, psych etc can all count.

Trying to choose sciences as a means of minimising maths is a very odd way to tackle things.

Totally opposite, but DS chose some of his options to minimize writing. So selected Geography in place of History to reduce the essay requirements. Minimizing maths if it's not playing to your strengths seems equally valid.

Yes, there really is a very broad range. The geomodellers are often pretty numerate, and/or have picked up a lot of coding. Sedimentologists / stratigraphers may not have been near an equation for a while. Reservoir quality can be similar. You can get a long way in mapping software without needing more than a decent numeracy.

Generally the closer you are to having to calculate something for an engineer to use, the more maths is in there. I imagine it’s the same across climate science - anything that can get data heavy benefits from stats. Mineralogy is very mathsy. Field work not much. Mostly it’s best to do geology because rocks are v nice though. It’s all the good bits of physical geography with puzzles and history thrown in!

I agree, rocks are nice!

It’s not quite the same thing, and doesn’t have the context that your DS wanted to study English at university.

Maths is about the content of science based courses. Essay writing is about the presentation of content.