Earth and Environmental Science 2020 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they do not miss important components of the question
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question and recognise the intent of the question and its requirements
• plan the response to assist in the logical sequencing of information
• integrate relevant scientific terms into their responses
• engage with any stimulus material provided and refer to it in their response
• show all working in calculations and include correct units and significant figures
• present a logical and succinct response that addresses the question
• review their response to ensure that it addresses the question requirement.

Question 21

In better responses, students were able to:

• outline what an index fossil is
• link the index fossil to the relative dating of strata
• demonstrate an understanding that the presence/absence of the index fossil is key to determining new time zones in the Geologic Time Scale by highlighting major changes in flora and fauna such as mass extinctions at key boundaries
• provide examples with the relevant period associated with the example.

Areas for students to improve include:

• reading the question thoroughly to ensure they understand the key information that they must include
• using examples to demonstrate their understanding
• showing a clear link to the development of the Geologic Time Scale
• demonstrating knowledge of relevant scientific vocabulary.

Question 22

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify the appropriate effects on the atmosphere and biosphere
• link the effect with the resulting consequences of the impact
• provide key information such as, naming gases produced or volcanic products or appropriate characteristics of eruptions
• link the cause and effect statement with a ‘how’ the effect actually affected the atmosphere and biosphere
• organise information into a well-designed table to present their answer
• relate the named volcanic event with the correct products of the named volcano.

Areas for students to improve include:

• reading the question more thoroughly to ensure they understand the key information that they must include as they unpack the question
• identifying appropriate resulting volcanic features and products of specifically named volcanic events
• linking the features or products of specific volcanic events to a correct specific effect on either the biosphere or atmosphere
• elaborating on the consequences rather than just providing a list of effects
• greater use of relevant scientific terms.

Question 23

In better responses, students were able to:

• focus on the scenario given, rather than trying to justify why using the Darling River would have been a better option for the pipeline
• discuss both advantages and disadvantages for the water management strategy
• relate the water management strategy to the availability of water (regular supply of water) in the town of Broken Hill
• state specific impacts such as ‘decreased flow rates downstream which will impact plant communities along the river bank that rely on environmental flows’, rather than making broad statements such as, ‘habitats will be impacted’.

Areas for students to improve include:

• knowing the difference between sewage and water pipes
• clearly demonstrating an understanding of the impact that was stated and describing the impact, rather than just listing the potential impacts with very little detail.

Question 24

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a link between ocean currents and climate (a)
• describe the circulation of heat around the planet via warm and cold ocean currents, bringing in understanding that was not in the stimulus. Some indicated that this keeps our current climate stable (a)
• include detail into their explanation and also address the effects of a change of currents by giving examples of the consequences of stopping that heat flow, for example, moving towards an ice age if heat stopped reaching the poles from the equator due to plate tectonic supercycle movement of the current or the effect of low density freshwater from North Atlantic ice melt on the gulf stream (a)
• engaged with the term ‘flow-on’ in the question (b)
• give examples that were clearly flow-on effects of changing ocean currents to the biosphere, for example, species migrating or dying out due to changes in the water temperature of their habitat. Other common examples were warm water moving to the poles causing ice caps or sea ice to melt (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating an understanding of what climate means and avoiding general statements about the weather changing by getting warmer, colder or windier (a)
• describing the changes in the weather (short term) with details such as, increased rainfall, more intense storms and flooding or loss of evaporation and decreased rainfall/drought (b).

Question 25

In better responses, students were able to:

• clearly outline the two factors separately
• effectively relate the factor to the challenge associated with living on land
• use terminology specific to each factor
• use effective linking language between the cause and effect for each factor.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making links to cause and effect obvious in their response
• avoiding the use of general comments regarding the movement onto land
• identifying the challenges of moving to land
• ensuring that they have a depth of knowledge for this content area.

Question 26

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide a clear judgement as to the effectiveness of the image (a)
• support their judgement with multiple factors provided in the infographic such as, tick, colour, bolded text, photos (a)
• clearly outline the two aspects of sustainability separately (b)
• use terms specific to each aspect (b)
• use effective linking language between the cause and effect for each factor and how it addresses sustainability (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• engaging with the stimulus material provided to guide the response, explicitly referencing aspects (a)
• providing a clear judgement as to what extent the communication is effective (a)
• making links to cause and effects obvious in their response (b)
• ensuring that the terms ‘organic waste’ and ‘recycling’ are not used interchangeably, which illustrates a misconception (b)
• clearly separating the two aspects of sustainability (b).

Question 27

In better responses, students were able to:

• link an identified safety precaution with an identified risk (a)
• clearly distinguish between accuracy and reliability and provide separate strategies and justifications (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding of how reliability can be checked and ensured
• distinguishing between validity, and reliability and accuracy.

Question 28

In better responses, students were able to:

• name a specific mine and the resource being mined
• identify the traditional owners of the land on which the mine stands by name
• refer to specific involvement of traditional owners in both the mining operations AND the restoration of a mine site.

Areas for students to improve include:

• knowing the case study of traditional owners involvement in a named mine in detail
• engaging with all parts of the question
• selecting an appropriate mining case study
• distinguishing between a mine site and a mining company.

Question 29

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify and account for two trends in the presented data (a)
• recognise the role of technology in increasing the number of reported volcanoes over the past 200 years (a)
• realise the impacts that different world events had on the reporting of small volcanic eruptions (a)
• recognise the missing elements of the presented data and suggest these as modifications to improve the interpretation of the graph (b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• identifying multiple trends (a)
• accounting for trends in observed phenomena (a)
• being descriptive when identifying modifications to aid interpretation of data (b)
• knowing the critical elements of a graph such as a key, axis labels and a title.

Question 30

In better responses, students were able to:

• determine the correct sequence of cause and effect, that is, the development in the biosphere that resulted in geosphere change
• correctly identify appropriate changes in the biosphere that resulted in changes in the geosphere
• identify what the changes caused that enabled the changes in the geosphere to occur
• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the processes and describe the resulting changes in the geosphere
• select a relevant example such as, the evolution of cyanobacteria and the resulting Banded Iron Formations form the reaction between oxygen and iron
• provide at least word equations for key processes of photosynthesis and oxidation of soluble iron
• annotate diagrams/flowcharts with very useful information which showed evidence of thorough understanding
• clearly demonstrate an understanding of both the geosphere and the biosphere
• demonstrate a clear understanding between cyanobacteria and stromatolites
• provide evidence of planning.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring they understand the key information that they must include as they unpack the question
• understanding of differences between the geosphere and atmosphere
• describing the detail in their responses such as the chemical reaction that resulted in the oxidation of iron to form Banded Iron Formations
• providing detail to describe the subsequent layering of the sediment/strata in oxygen poor/rich waters and the composition of the layers (if this example is used)
• showing evidence of planning to ensure that the response is cohesive and demonstrated a logical progression
• knowing alternate examples to Banded Iron Formations.

Question 31

In better responses, students were able to:

• use terms and details to describe the method
• use a clear sequence of causes and effects of a specific method
• explain one method in greater depth
• make a judgement about the extent of the effectiveness and support it with reasoning or historical evidence.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring they can explain how one specific method minimised the impacts of one natural disasters
• using specific details to explain how the methods worked
• ensuring they can explain the effects of a natural disaster.

Question 32

In better responses, students were able to:

• plan their answer around the table and use data (numbers) in their response
• clearly relate the production of specific greenhouse gases to a change in land use and how these greenhouse gases enhanced the greenhouse effect
• use several different sets of data and relate it to the enhanced greenhouse effect, rather than focusing on one change
• clearly show the change in land cover (native vegetation) prior to settlement.

Areas for students to improve include:

• reading the question clearly as it refers to ‘changes’. This required reference to multiple changes as well as showing that there has been a change in land use
• understanding that forestry relates to areas of land that are used purposely to grow vegetation that will be cut down and used
• clearly linking the land use with a named greenhouse gas.

Question 33

In better responses, students were able to:

• include a well annotated diagram
• provide a diagram clearly showing a process in the plate tectonic supercycle that has a direct affect on the evolution of species
• include key terms such as, ‘rifting’, ‘separation’, ‘diverging’, ‘converging’, or ‘mountain building’
• link changes in climate of separated continents to icehouse and greenhouse phenomena
• include examples of species which display divergent evolution such as the Ratite family of flightless birds
• engage with the process of evolution.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making clear links between the diagram and the written response
• using specific terminology rather than using generalised information, especially when referring to geologic time
• demonstrating a clear understanding of the plate tectonic supercycle.

Question 34

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify and describe in some detail specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practices that were used to maintain/sustain the environment
• draw on specific examples or case studies to support their answer
• linking the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practice in a clear way to a related modern management plan, for example, modern bush fire management.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using examples to support claims and arguments
• planning their responses to ensure a flow of logic and reason
• provide details about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practices to show their depth of knowledge and understanding
• distinguish between traditional and current practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Question 35

In better responses, students were able to:

• drawing a curve of best fit for boundary A (a)
• writing a clear title that included both distance and depth (a)
• labelling the axes with correct units and an appropriate scale (a)
• clearly state the type of convergent boundary (ocean-ocean or ocean-continental) and justify their response using data from the table (for boundary A) (b)
• relate boundary A to a convergent plate boundary with a subduction zone (b)
• use the data given in the tables to support their answers (b)

Areas for students to improve include:

• plotting points accurately (a)
• using a clear key to show the difference between both lines (avoid using the difference between pen and pencil) (a)
• avoiding the use of multiple scale breaks (a)
• using data in their responses (b)
• knowing specific boundary types and their features (b)

Question 36

In better responses, students were able to:

• describe multiple examples with additional detail for both human and climate impacts and tended to address frequency and magnitude independently
• separate examples that either increase or decrease magnitude or frequency
• separate their judgements to address human and climate impacts individually and are clear in their use of terms that are value statements
• demonstrate logic and coherency in their writing that systematically progresses through the question and address each of the criteria in detail, showing deep understanding and broad knowledge of both human and climate impacts to bushfires
• explain the interconnected relationships between factors, and make comparative value judgements of both factors.

Areas for students to improve include:

• showing the ability to comment independently on human impacts and climate impacts on bushfires
• avoiding the reversal of the cause and effect in the question as some candidates talked about impacts of bushfires on humans (loss of houses, death, air quality) and to the natural world (habitat destructions and koalas dying) or recounted the news from the 2019-2020 summer bushfire season.