1. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 The ISA Exam How to succeed!

2. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 Answer fully – mention the independent and dependent variables (2 marks – 2 key points!)

3. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 The control variables are the ones you keep the same! – not the ones you control and change!

4. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 Don’t say you haven’t a clue how to conduct an experiment! That won’t gain you marks!

5. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 - Only say you repeated it if you recorded repeat readings – the examiner has your table of results! - Average results indicate your results are more reliable and help identify anomalies

6. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 Mention both the independent and dependent variables in your answer and describe the relationship between them – describe the graph line – use mathematical language.

7. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 Make sure you know: What the independent and dependent variable you chose was – and what type it was … What the control variables were… Why you chose the range and number of values of the independent variable – remember if they showed a general trend the experiment was a success – you could always improve on it – but it was a success!

8. Garfield Graphics used with kind permission of PAWS & Co. – All rights reserved - LJ - 2009 Answer Fully… Always explain why anomalies occur in as much detail as possible – just ‘human error’ is not good enough… human error in not reading the thermometer at eye level (parallax) or not allowing time for the thread to settle at the length corresponding to the temperature would be a good answer… but ‘human error’ – NO MARK!