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GCSE Astronomy? (especially people who are doing/have done A6 Shadow Stick)
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For the people who are doing it or have done it:
1) How did you find it/ how are you finding it?
2) Which coursework? (I'm doing A6 and B11)
3) Best way to revise? (loads of tiny obscure facts)
And also with the A6 Shadow Stick coursework or any EOT question, if the time of the shortest shadow is say 12.08 (taking into account the EOT) would the longitude be 2 degrees E or W?
Thank you
xxx
1) How did you find it/ how are you finding it?
2) Which coursework? (I'm doing A6 and B11)
3) Best way to revise? (loads of tiny obscure facts)
And also with the A6 Shadow Stick coursework or any EOT question, if the time of the shortest shadow is say 12.08 (taking into account the EOT) would the longitude be 2 degrees E or W?
Thank you
xxx
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#3
I did GCSE Astronomy last year and absolutely loved it; just a really enjoyable and interesting subject to do - plus there was some fantastic banter in our class! Most of our lessons mainly consisted of watching lots of documentaries with quite a lot of Brian Cox which we all ended up loving. We have so many running jokes about the Brian Cox stuff which no one else will ever understand. 
Aside from that, we did some really cool practical activities which included going to the local observatory with its damn awesome telescope!
I did the shadow stick experiment too, and also the sunspots one. The coursework was a bit of a pain to do to be honest, but I still found it really exciting. Seeing a large image of the Sun projected onto a screen when we observed it with a telescope was just beyond amazing! For all the time related stuff, just remember "East is early". In the case of your experiment it is 8 minutes LATER than 1200, so it will be 2 degrees West.
I've always had a really good natural ability at remembering raw facts, so this subject suited me perfectly and I didn't need to revise much at all to get a top grade. The only revision method that I could really recommend is to make notes from the textbook and keep looking over them. I found that watching the documentaries helped massively as it gives you plenty of background knowledge on the subject and helps you to understand it more. They also tend to be littered with some of the facts that you need to know. I would seriously recommend watching the full series of Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe and the Wonders of the Solar System. Those documentaries really made me love Astronomy and Physics. They are just absolutely brilliant!
Anyway, Astronomy is a wonderful subject to take and was certainly one of the most rewarding for me. I wish you good luck with it!
Aside from that, we did some really cool practical activities which included going to the local observatory with its damn awesome telescope!I did the shadow stick experiment too, and also the sunspots one. The coursework was a bit of a pain to do to be honest, but I still found it really exciting. Seeing a large image of the Sun projected onto a screen when we observed it with a telescope was just beyond amazing! For all the time related stuff, just remember "East is early". In the case of your experiment it is 8 minutes LATER than 1200, so it will be 2 degrees West.
I've always had a really good natural ability at remembering raw facts, so this subject suited me perfectly and I didn't need to revise much at all to get a top grade. The only revision method that I could really recommend is to make notes from the textbook and keep looking over them. I found that watching the documentaries helped massively as it gives you plenty of background knowledge on the subject and helps you to understand it more. They also tend to be littered with some of the facts that you need to know. I would seriously recommend watching the full series of Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe and the Wonders of the Solar System. Those documentaries really made me love Astronomy and Physics. They are just absolutely brilliant!
Anyway, Astronomy is a wonderful subject to take and was certainly one of the most rewarding for me. I wish you good luck with it!
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(Original post by MatOnMotors)
I did GCSE Astronomy last year and absolutely loved it; just a really enjoyable and interesting subject to do - plus there was some fantastic banter in our class! Most of our lessons mainly consisted of watching lots of documentaries with quite a lot of Brian Cox which we all ended up loving. We have so many running jokes about the Brian Cox stuff which no one else will ever understand. Aside from that, we did some really cool practical activities which included going to the local observatory with its damn awesome telescope!
I did the shadow stick experiment too, and also the sunspots one. The coursework was a bit of a pain to do to be honest, but I still found it really exciting. Seeing a large image of the Sun projected onto a screen when we observed it with a telescope was just beyond amazing! For all the time related stuff, just remember "East is early". In the case of your experiment it is 8 minutes LATER than 1200, so it will be 2 degrees West.
I've always had a really good natural ability at remembering raw facts, so this subject suited me perfectly and I didn't need to revise much at all to get a top grade. The only revision method that I could really recommend is to make notes from the textbook and keep looking over them. I found that watching the documentaries helped massively as it gives you plenty of background knowledge on the subject and helps you to understand it more. They also tend to be littered with some of the facts that you need to know. I would seriously recommend watching the full series of Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe and the Wonders of the Solar System. Those documentaries really made me love Astronomy and Physics. They are just absolutely brilliant!
Anyway, Astronomy is a wonderful subject to take and was certainly one of the most rewarding for me. I wish you good luck with it!
I did GCSE Astronomy last year and absolutely loved it; just a really enjoyable and interesting subject to do - plus there was some fantastic banter in our class! Most of our lessons mainly consisted of watching lots of documentaries with quite a lot of Brian Cox which we all ended up loving. We have so many running jokes about the Brian Cox stuff which no one else will ever understand.
Aside from that, we did some really cool practical activities which included going to the local observatory with its damn awesome telescope!I did the shadow stick experiment too, and also the sunspots one. The coursework was a bit of a pain to do to be honest, but I still found it really exciting. Seeing a large image of the Sun projected onto a screen when we observed it with a telescope was just beyond amazing! For all the time related stuff, just remember "East is early". In the case of your experiment it is 8 minutes LATER than 1200, so it will be 2 degrees West.
I've always had a really good natural ability at remembering raw facts, so this subject suited me perfectly and I didn't need to revise much at all to get a top grade. The only revision method that I could really recommend is to make notes from the textbook and keep looking over them. I found that watching the documentaries helped massively as it gives you plenty of background knowledge on the subject and helps you to understand it more. They also tend to be littered with some of the facts that you need to know. I would seriously recommend watching the full series of Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe and the Wonders of the Solar System. Those documentaries really made me love Astronomy and Physics. They are just absolutely brilliant!
Anyway, Astronomy is a wonderful subject to take and was certainly one of the most rewarding for me. I wish you good luck with it!
Thank you for the clarification, I thought so but different people say different things… :/
Brian Cox just makes us laugh so idk if I’ll be able to take the documentaries seriously enough… but I’ll try watching them anyway
In terms of revision, you’re so lucky… wish I could memorise facts so easily
And well done on achieving a high grade, I've heard that's hard in astronomy! 
Thank you, this really helped!
x
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(Original post by Major Wilson)
I didnt even know this subject existed!!
I didnt even know this subject existed!!
x
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#6
(Original post by pinkstarfish)
I think it’s quite new, and not many people do it (only 10 in our year) but if you get the opportunity, I’d recommend it! x
I think it’s quite new, and not many people do it (only 10 in our year) but if you get the opportunity, I’d recommend it!
x
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#7
I'm doing it after school, in a very small group of other 'gifted' students. It's a lot of hardwork. I'm doing my coursework on Lunar features.
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#8
(Original post by Obiejess)
I'm doing it after school, in a very small group of other 'gifted' students. It's a lot of hardwork. I'm doing my coursework on Lunar features.
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I'm doing it after school, in a very small group of other 'gifted' students. It's a lot of hardwork. I'm doing my coursework on Lunar features.
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#9
(Original post by pinkstarfish)
Ahahaha XD
Thank you for the clarification, I thought so but different people say different things… :/
Brian Cox just makes us laugh so idk if I’ll be able to take the documentaries seriously enough… but I’ll try watching them anyway
In terms of revision, you’re so lucky… wish I could memorise facts so easily
And well done on achieving a high grade, I've heard that's hard in astronomy! 
Thank you, this really helped! x
Ahahaha XD
Thank you for the clarification, I thought so but different people say different things… :/
Brian Cox just makes us laugh so idk if I’ll be able to take the documentaries seriously enough… but I’ll try watching them anyway
In terms of revision, you’re so lucky… wish I could memorise facts so easily
And well done on achieving a high grade, I've heard that's hard in astronomy! Thank you, this really helped!
xI got an A in the end, but was going for an A* but the exam didn't go perfectly for me. I was admittedly still a bit lazy when it came to revision during my GCSEs. The full course had to be done in just a single year for us, so only 2 of us in the whole year got above a D (that other person was on a low B). The others really struggled to memorise the facts and they all ended up with Es and Fs.
The way it seems to be with Astronomy is that you will get a high grade if you have a good natural academic ability, but if not you may have a lot of issues with it. If you aren't so naturally gifted, you should start revising as soon as possible.
If you need a hand with anything, don't hesitate to drop me a message!
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(Original post by Obiejess)
I'm doing it after school, in a very small group of other 'gifted' students. It's a lot of hardwork. I'm doing my coursework on Lunar features.Posted from TSR Mobile
I'm doing it after school, in a very small group of other 'gifted' students. It's a lot of hardwork. I'm doing my coursework on Lunar features.Posted from TSR Mobile
It is a lot of hard work, but hopefully it should pay off (I was also considering doing lunar features btw) x
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(Original post by MatOnMotors)
Haha, yeah. We never took the Brian Cox documentaries seriously either, but that's what made them so fun. Its clear to see that Brian doesn't take himself too seriously and there's some subtle jokes in there!I got an A in the end, but was going for an A* but the exam didn't go perfectly for me. I was admittedly still a bit lazy when it came to revision during my GCSEs. The full course had to be done in just a single year for us, so only 2 of us in the whole year got above a D (that other person was on a low B). The others really struggled to memorise the facts and they all ended up with Es and Fs. The way it seems to be with Astronomy is that you will get a high grade if you have a good natural academic ability, but if not you may have a lot of issues with it. If you aren't so naturally gifted, you should start revising as soon as possible.If you need a hand with anything, don't hesitate to drop me a message!
Haha, yeah. We never took the Brian Cox documentaries seriously either, but that's what made them so fun. Its clear to see that Brian doesn't take himself too seriously and there's some subtle jokes in there!I got an A in the end, but was going for an A* but the exam didn't go perfectly for me. I was admittedly still a bit lazy when it came to revision during my GCSEs. The full course had to be done in just a single year for us, so only 2 of us in the whole year got above a D (that other person was on a low B). The others really struggled to memorise the facts and they all ended up with Es and Fs. The way it seems to be with Astronomy is that you will get a high grade if you have a good natural academic ability, but if not you may have a lot of issues with it. If you aren't so naturally gifted, you should start revising as soon as possible.If you need a hand with anything, don't hesitate to drop me a message!
In that case, well done on the A, especially considering the other marks! We do it in 2 years and so far nobody has got anything below a B ...so fingers crossed! I think I should be ok since my strength is in sciences (not History and English and stuff *shudder*)Will do! x
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#12
(Original post by pinkstarfish)
Haha 'gifted students'It is a lot of hard work, but hopefully it should pay off (I was also considering doing lunar features btw) x
Haha 'gifted students'
It is a lot of hard work, but hopefully it should pay off (I was also considering doing lunar features btw) x
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(Original post by Obiejess)
We're doing in one year, with no teaching but 1 hour a week after school. Might not enter for the exam - it's very stressful.Posted from TSR Mobile
We're doing in one year, with no teaching but 1 hour a week after school. Might not enter for the exam - it's very stressful.Posted from TSR Mobile
x
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#15
(Original post by pinkstarfish)
How do you manage to fit everything in?! Those must be pretty intensive astronomy sessions...Depends how you feel in May, although I might just do the exam regardless because I've wasted so much time on astronomy already... x
How do you manage to fit everything in?! Those must be pretty intensive astronomy sessions...Depends how you feel in May, although I might just do the exam regardless because I've wasted so much time on astronomy already...
x
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(Original post by AstroNandos)
I wish I could've done GCSE AstronomyAnd about Brian Cox, he is a lad
I wish I could've done GCSE Astronomy
And about Brian Cox, he is a lad
Haha, the lad part made me laugh his documentaries remind me of the Horrible Histories spinoffs from Greek and Roman times... Don't tell me I'm the only one who remembers XD x
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(Original post by Obiejess)
Well as I said we're supposedly 'gifted' students, so we're given sheets and whiz through most of the facts. Then he'll sit and explain the more complicated things to us. Also requires a lot of self-teaching.
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Well as I said we're supposedly 'gifted' students, so we're given sheets and whiz through most of the facts. Then he'll sit and explain the more complicated things to us. Also requires a lot of self-teaching.
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#18
(Original post by pinkstarfish)
AwwHaha, the lad part made me laugh his documentaries remind me of the Horrible Histories spinoffs from Greek and Roman times... Don't tell me I'm the only one who remembers XD x
Aww
Haha, the lad part made me laugh his documentaries remind me of the Horrible Histories spinoffs from Greek and Roman times... Don't tell me I'm the only one who remembers XD x
Yeah I remember them haha
I'd also like to point out that I can do a pretty good Brian Cox impression
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(Original post by AstroNandos)
He makes any space documentary all the more interesting (if that's even possible)
Yeah I remember them haha
I'd also like to point out that I can do a pretty good Brian Cox impression
He makes any space documentary all the more interesting (if that's even possible)
Yeah I remember them haha
I'd also like to point out that I can do a pretty good Brian Cox impression
Now that would be something to hear
x
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#20
(Original post by Obiejess)
We're doing in one year, with no teaching but 1 hour a week after school. Might not enter for the exam - it's very stressful.
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We're doing in one year, with no teaching but 1 hour a week after school. Might not enter for the exam - it's very stressful.
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I love giving the Brian Cox impressions too - his accent is pretty easy to imitate. Using his classic hand gestures make it even more believable! We often quote some bits like "hundreds of billions of staaaaars" and "if this rock represents Earth and this rock represents Maaaaars..." etc. The trick is in the extended 'a' sound
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