Science Extension 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
• communicate ideas and information using appropriate scientific language
• engage with any stimulus material provided and refer to it in their response
• show all working in calculations and include correct units
• present a logical and coherent response that addresses the question
• review their response to ensure that it addresses the question requirements
• review their response to ensure there are no contradictions.

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• link changes with an appropriate cause and support the cause with appropriate reference(s) to the table
• use all columns of the stimulus table in support of their answer
• understand the role of globalised access to data sets as a driving force behind change in scientific inquiry.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding including extraneous information that does not address aspects of the stimulus
• understanding the difference between number of authors of a paper and the peer review process.

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• critically think to identify how the data was problematic and then draw out the implications of the data on supporting a paradigm shift
• weigh up trends in the data against the limitations of the data to make a judgment about the sources ability to support or not support a paradigm shift
• show an understanding of the big picture requirements for a paradigm shift rather than the development of a hypothesis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• being critical about the data instead of just accepting the data at its face value
• drawing conclusions about data sets and their ability to support a paradigm shift
• describing implications, meanings, and trends explicitly from the sources instead of just restating information provided.

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly interpret p-values against the null hypothesis and its significance level
• use all areas of the stimulus table to support their answer
• provide a judgement that is supported by their arguments.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding what standard deviations and p-values indicate
• avoiding statistical analysis that cannot be supported by the data provided
• focusing on a full range of areas in their response, instead of only one area such as, bias
• explaining the significance of the data and statistics rather than reporting the statistics.

Question 4(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide detailed explanations of more than one benefit of using big data sets
• link specific benefits of big data sets to the study of bird migration
• demonstrate the specific benefits of using both the data from weather radar technology and the study of bird migration individually and together.

Areas for students to improve include:

• explaining how the data sets weather radar technology can provide for the study of bird migration is a benefit rather than repeating the information in the stimulus.

Question 4(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly interpret graphs to provide a statement indicating the extent to which the predictions are supported
• correctly identify trends, patterns and specific statistics to support all provided interpretations
• demonstrate an understanding that data and statistics do not lead to definitive outcomes rather suggestions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using all information provided in the stimulus to back up their interpretations
• describing specific trends, patterns and statistics to back up the claims
• providing a statement indicating the extent to which the predictions are supported.

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify all requirements for establishing causal relationships, including temporal precedence, correlation and non-spurious
• provide detailed explanations of each requirement in the context of the relationship between changes in temperature and changes in migration dates
• recognise the challenges in establishing causation between the temperature and migration dates
• provide reasonable strategies and justifications to support the requirements.

Areas for students to improve include:

• differentiating between correlation and causation
• describing all requirements for establishing causation in context
• recognising that not all variables can be controlled but causation can still be established
• understanding that designing an experiment does not necessarily establish causation.

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• evaluate aspects of a scientific proposal identifying relevant examples from the stimulus and their report to clarify their evaluations
• critically evaluate the stimulus using appropriate scientific language against their own understanding of scientific processes
• provide an informed judgement that clearly links to the stimulus and their own research project.

Areas for students to improve include:

• bringing in critical understanding rather than just unpacking aspects of the stimulus or syllabus
• clearly linking aspects of their own research to the stimulus in an informed manner to enhance their arguments
• making connections between their research and the stimulus, rather than only relating it to scientific proposals in general.