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GCSE AQA ISAs how to do well

hey
well basically i have a gcse aqa chemistry isa coming up and i have to do well in this one since we do 2 papers and the best one contributes as 25% of our final gcse grade and in my last paper i got 26/40 which is a C. :frown: but the problem is that i have no idea how to do well in them. its very frustraing because as much as i look through books and doing past papers i just end up psyching myself out and doing badly. i just can't get the hang of how to answer the questions :frown: anyone got any advice ? any tips? much would be appreciated :biggrin:

thank you so much for the help :smile:
Reply 1
Avatar for matty123
matty123
9
Learn what the key words mean- Independent Variable etc.
Are you year 10 or year 11?

Practice, practice, practice. For starters you should be getting 6 marks on the graph and table. A lot of the questions are formulaic, eg "how do you increase reliability" "do more repeats, so you can identify and exclude anomalies and calculate a mean", likewise the 4 marks for conclusions for your experiment "As X went up Y went up/down" using your graph/table to support it you just need to put some values in from your experiment. That's 12 marks right there.

The rest, make sure you are SPECIFIC. If they ask for sources of error, don't just say "human error", say "not reading the measuring cylinder at eye level" or such like. If they ask for how to increase precision, make it relevant to your experiment "using a measuring cylinder that measured to 0.1cm3" or such. Know your key words, use correct units ALL THE TIME and read the questions carefully!
Reply 3
Avatar for amirlad
amirlad
12
take a look at all of the past isa papers, the first section, every single year, 90% of the questions are the same, then that's half of the marks in the bag if you do it correctly. Then ask your teacher what the topic is going to be on for the second section (they can tell you that) then revise the material. E.g. i have my chemistry one next week and it's on acids and bases, and i'll have to conduct a titration, so i'm brushing up on those topics.

best of luck
Original post by amirlad
take a look at all of the past isa papers, the first section, every single year, 90% of the questions are the same, then that's half of the marks in the bag if you do it correctly. Then ask your teacher what the topic is going to be on for the second section (they can tell you that) then revise the material. E.g. i have my chemistry one next week and it's on acids and bases, and i'll have to conduct a titration, so i'm brushing up on those topics.

best of luck


Hi, do you know an alternative to electroplating?
Reply 5
Avatar for abirami10
abirami10
no
Hello, I am doing my ISA in a few days and I would like to know the best tips and advices from former A* students and I would like to know how to achieve the best possible marks.

Thank you
Reply 7
Avatar for joeharis
joeharis
I got a D and now I am the leader of playstation and xbox so its ok

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