Year 7 Science
Parent Workshop
.
Top Ten Revision Tips
1.
Short bursts of revision (30-40 minutes) are most effective. Your concentration
lapses after about an hour and you need to take a short break (5-10 minutes).
2.
Find a quiet place to revise - your bedroom, school, the library - and
refuse to be interrupted or distracted.
3.
Make sure you don't just revise the subjects and topics you like.
Work on your weaker ones as well.
4.
Make your own revision notes because you will remember what you have written
down more easily. Stick key notes to cupboards or doors so you see them everyday.
5.
Rewrite the key points of your revision notes; read them out loud to yourself. We
remember more than twice as much of what we say aloud than of what we merely
read.
6.
Use different techniques. Make your own learning maps, use post-it notes to write
key words on, create flash cards. Record your notes on tape and listen to them
back on your Walkman. Ask friends and family to test you. Use highlighter pens to
mark important points. Chant or make up a rap song.
7.
Practise on past exam papers or revision tests available on the web Initially
do one section at a time and progress to doing an entire paper against the
clock.
8.
You will need help at some stage, ask parents, older brothers and sisters, teachers
or friends. If there is a teacher with whom you get on well at school ask for their
e-mail address so you can clarify points you are unsure of whilst on study leave.
Use websites specifically designed for revision.
9.
Don't get stressed out! Eat properly and get lots of sleep!
10. Believe in yourself and be positive. If you think you can succeed you will; if you
convince yourself that you will fail, that's what will probably happen.
Know how you learn best and then you can revise in ways that suit your
style.
Visual learners prefer to:
 Draw pictures and diagrams
 Colour code their work
 Use different coloured paper, pens etc
 Use their own system of symbols etc
 Create images and scenes in their minds
Auditory learners prefer to:
 Say their work aloud
 Give presentations to an imaginary audience
 Record notes on a tape recorder
 Use silly noises to remember things
Kinaesthetic learners prefer to:
 Do actions when learning key facts
 Walk about when learning
 Find it harder to sit at a desk
 Add emotions and textures to exaggerate information
 Try to experience what they are learning
How should I revise?
Try one of these……
A: MIND MAPS: Make mind-maps or association maps rather than taking linear notes.
Mapping your notes by radiating key words out in a pattern of links from a central point
will make best use of your memory. If you use colour and images on the maps, you'll be
harnessing the power of both sides of your brain - creative and logical.
How to mind map:
1. Start with the theme in the middle of the page.
2. Then develop your main
idea.
3. Each branch must relate
to the branch before it.
4. Use only key words and
images.
5. Key words must be written along the branches.
6. Printing your key words makes them more memorable.
7. Use highlighters and coloured markers to colour code branches.
8. Make things stand out on the page so they stand out in your mind. (This
doesn’t show up well on a black and whole photocopied booklet! You should
use a different colour for each main branch and all its sub-branches)
9. Brainstorm ideas. Be creative.
10. Design images you can relate to which will help you remember key
information.
B: Read intelligently. Spend five minutes flipping through a book
or your notes looking at headings and summaries. Then attempt
to mind map what you have spotted and what you can remember.
C: Use cards. Write questions on one side
answers on the other. Then get your family to test you.
creating the cards will help your recall. You can also use
to test yourself when faced with 'dead' time at bus stops or
for someone.
and
Merely
them
waiting
D: Condense. Fitting notes onto one side of paper makes them easier to stomach, so
rewrite and cut down as you go.
E: Highlight. Target key areas using colours and symbols. Visuals help you remember
the facts.
F: Record. Try putting important points, quotes and formulae on tape. If you hear
them and read them, they're more likely to sink in.
G: Talk. Read your notes out loud, it's one way of getting
them to register.
H: Test. See what you can remember without notes, but
avoid testing yourself on subjects you know already. Why not
ask someone else to test you?
I: Time. Do past exam papers against the clock, it's an excellent way of getting up to
speed and of checking where there are gaps in your knowledge.
How to draw good scientific graphs
One of the most important ways that a scientist can show data to other people
is by graphing it, they provide a good view of what the trends are in the data.
Step 1: Give your graph a title
“The effect of independent variable on dependent variable.”
The independent variable in an experiment is the variable you change and the
dependent variable is the outcome (usually what you have observed or
measured).
Step 2: Finding each axis of your graph
The x-axis of your graph (the one on the bottom) should always represent your
independent variable. The y-axis on your graph (the one that goes up and
down) should represent your dependent variable.
If you’re not sure which variable is which :- Ask yourself “What did I actually do
in this experiment?” (x-axis) “What did I measure in this experiment?” (y-axis).
Step 3: Label each axis
If you don’t label the axis of a graph, nobody will have any idea what you’re
talking about.
Always quote the units e.g. Time (seconds).
Step 4: Always use a line graph
In science, we usually use line graphs. This is because graphs are used to see if
there are any correlations or trends between the two variables. We are looking
for causal relationships, where one thing causes another to happen.
Step 5: Never connect the dots!
The idea of a graph is to figure out how two variables are related to one another
and to make it possible to predict what will happen at any given point. If you
connect the dots, this won’t be possible.
Step 6: Fill all available space
Draw the scales of the axis so that it fills the page, it doesn’t do anybody
much good if the graph is too small to see.
You Tube Video: 15min Tutorial on how to draw graphs in
science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDlN2zQb1HY
Typical Exam style questions
 Make sure you carry out the instructions given in the question.

A common mistake is to describe a trend in a graph, when the question
actually asked you to explain!
 If asked to explain, you have to give reasons, or say why something has
happened.
 If a question asks you to describe a trend from a graph; this is easy if there
is one mark allocated. If there are two marks then you must describe the
initial trend, then the change to the trend.
An example might be a graph of enzyme activity plotted against
temperature. Your answer should be something like this:
"As temperature increases, the enzyme activity increases up to the peak.
Beyond the peak, increase in temperature causes a decrease in enzyme
activity."
 Graph questions may also ask you to pick out the part where the increase
is the greatest. Here you have to look for the steepest part of the graph.
 It is always good to include figures / data from the graph in your answer
to score more marks.
Graphing Practice
YEAR
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Professor X’s Mass (Kg)
94
93
98
105
107
109
112
112
110
102
Draw a graph of the data and explain any trends observed.
In science we prefer line graphs with lines of best fit to show the relationship
between two variables. The line on the graph can be extended to allow us to
make predictions. This can be very useful when evaluating experiments.
However, sometimes, it is not always possible to draw a line graph.
When there is no linear / numerical relationship between the categories of the
independent variable (X axis), then a bar graph is more appropriate.
Bar Graphs / Charts
Bar charts or bar graphs represent data as vertical blocks or columns.
The X axis shows what type of data each column represents, and the Y axis
shows a value for that type of data.
Percentages
Percent is really two words in one: per cent. A cent is a
hundredth (compare: centi) so per cent means in every
hundred.
You will no doubt have been given back work or exams with a
mark written as a percentage. What does it actually mean?
100% = all correct
75% = three-quarters correct
50% = half correct
and so on.
This means that tests that might have a different number of
marks can be correctly compared.
e.g. 42/60 and 45/80. The last mark is higher, but its percentage
is lower!
Question: Fraser scored 75% on a physics test. If there were 80
marks in total, how many marks did he lose?
Well, 75% means 75/100. So 25/100 would be wrong, which is 1
in every 4 marks - in other words one quarter.
One quarter of 80 is 20.
In general, we can solve questions like this by making the
percentage equivalent to a decimal and multiplying it by the
total.
e.g. 30% of 50 is 0.30 × 50 = 15.
As we've seen before, percentages can always be written in
decimal form. Here's some more detail:
100% is everything there is: the whole thing, for example. One
whole is 1, so in decimal form: 100% = 1. Similarly 1% is one
hundredth, so 1% = 0·01.
We can write any other percentage as a number in between:
Percentage Decimal Equivalent
80%
0·80
66%
0·66
33%
0·33
25%
0·25
Note that 33% is not quite one third, whilst 66% is not quite two
thirds.
As well as writing percentages in decimal form, it's also possible
to think of them as fractions. Starting with 1% (one hundredth)
we can write 1% = 1/100.
Similarly we can write any percentage as a fraction out of a
hundred, but we can often simplify the fraction:
Percentage Equivalent Fraction Simplest Fraction
80%
8/10
4/5
50%
5/10
1/2
25%
25/100
1/4
33·3%
333/1000
1/3
Note that in the last example, 1/3 would be a recurring decimal.
Averages
This section looks at averages.
Mean
There are three main types of average:



mean - The mean is what most people mean when they say 'average'. It is found
by adding up all of the numbers you have to find the mean of, and dividing by the
number of numbers. So the mean of 3, 5, 7, 3 and 5 is 23/5 = 4.6 .
mode - The mode is the number in a set of numbers which occurs the most. So
the modal value of 5, 6, 3, 4, 5, 2, 5 and 3 is 5, because there are more 5s than
any other number.
median - The median of a group of numbers is the number in the middle, when
the numbers are in order of magnitude. For example, if the set of numbers is 4, 1,
6, 2, 6, 7, 8, the median is 6
Moving Averages






A moving average is used to compare a set of figures over time. For example,
suppose you have measured the weight of a child over an eight year period and
have the following figures (in kg):
32, 33 ,35, 38, 43, 53, 63 ,65
Taking the mean doesn't give us much useful information. However, we could
take the average of each 3 year period. These are the 3-year moving averages.
The first is: (32 + 33 + 35)/3 = 33.3
The second is: (33 + 35 + 38)/3 = 35.3
The third is: (35 + 38 + 43)/3 = 38.7, and so on (there are 3 more!).
To calculate the 4 year moving averages, you'd do 4 years at a time instead, and
so on...
Mode
The mode is the number in a set of numbers which occurs the most. So the
modal value of 5, 6, 3, 4, 5, 2, 5 and 3 is 5, because there are more 5s than any
other number.
Range



The range is the largest number in a set minus the smallest number. So the
range of 5, 7, 9 and 14 is (14 - 5) = 9. The range gives you an idea of how spread
out the data is.
The Median Value
The median of a group of numbers is the number in the middle, when the
numbers are in order of magnitude. For example, if the set of numbers is 4, 1, 6,
2, 6, 7, 8, the median is 6:
1, 2, 4, 6, 6, 7, 8
(6 is the middle value when the numbers are in order)
If you have n numbers in a group, the median is the (n + 1)/2 th value. For
example, there are 7 numbers in the example above, so replace n by 7 and the
median is the (7 + 1)/2 th value = 4th value. The 4th value is 6.
Common Conversions
mm to m
/1000
cm to m
/ 100
microm to m
/100000
km to m
x 1000
mg to g
/1000
g to kg
/1000
microg to kg
/100000
Change in
Velocity
(m/s)
Acceleration
(m/s2)
Time Taken
(s)
Weight
(N)
Mass
(kg)
Gravitational
Field
Strength
(N/kg)
Resources
Websites
BBC Bitesize
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zng4d2p
Scibermonkey
http://www.scibermonkey.org/
Science Active
http://www.science-active.co.uk/
Planet Science
http://www.planet-science.com/
S-Cool
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/
Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/
Books
CGPBooks
https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/
Exploring science
http://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Secondary/Science/AssessmentforLearning/Explori
ngScienceHowScienceWorks/Exploring_Science_How_Science_Works.aspx