ISA HELP BOOKLET
YEAR 11
AQA SCIENCE

NAME: ______________
TUTOR GROUP: _____

YEAR 10 COURSEWORK – THE INDIVIDUAL SKILLS ASSIGNMENTS (ISA’s)
This assessment is worth 34 marks in total and consists of three parts:
A practical investigation and 2 written test papers.
It is worth 25% of the total marks for your GCSE

1
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Planning
You will need to do some research outside of lessons to find different methods that could be used to do a practical
You should also research how the results of the investigation could be used in the given every day context. (E.g. the practical might be related to how things cool down and how the experimental results may help to produce a container that will keep things hotter for longer.)
You have to fill in your research on a special form. Your teacher cannot tell you what to write. They can only tell you that you have too much information or too little.

TOP TIPS FOR PLANNING
 You must make sure you only write in note form on your planning sheet and use key words rather than full sentences.
 Only use the planning sheet that you are given and only write in the spaces provided.
 You might not need to find out about 2 methods. Your teacher will tell you.
 You need to find at least 4 different sources of information. Try and use a mixture of books and the internet. Your teacher might give you some to get started.
 Do your research in rough and then transfer the key points to your planning sheet.
 You MUST write down the full reference for any sources that you use on your planning sheet. So for websites, that is the
FULL web address. (e.g. http://store.aqa.org.uk/sciencelab/AQA-GCSE-SCIENCE-COMMAND-WORDS.PDF) If it is a book, you need to include the title, author/s, publisher, edition, date published and the pages used. (e.g. AQA GCSE Science, Bone,
Broadley, Gardon Hulme, Hocking, Mathews & Newall; Oxford University Press; 2011; pages 24 & 25)

2
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Section 1 test paper - 45 mins (in a double lesson)
This is carried out under test conditions and will ask you questions about your research and your plan.
You will be allowed to take in your special planning form.
The questions will ask you about how to do the experiment, how you found out about the science and whether your sources are any good.
You will also be asked to draw a table for your results.

TOP TIPS FOR SECTION 1 TEST PAPER
 You must make sure that you answer in full sentences and that your writing is clear.
 Make sure that you have a pen, pencil, ruler and calculator.
 When you draw your table, use a ruler and make sure that the headings all have units in them. Your table is completed and marked before you do the experiment.

3
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Practical exam - 80 mins (double lesson)
You will carry out the investigation. You will either use your method or you will be given one by your teacher. TOP TIPS FOR PRACTICAL EXAM
 You must make sure that you are in school. EVERY student MUST contribute some results otherwise you will lose marks.
 You will work in small groups and each person in the group must take a turn at reading off some results from the experiment. Your teacher will be observing you during the practical and will note the marks that you will receive for the practical work.
 Each group will need to collect their own set of results. If you mess about and don’t get a full set of results you will lose marks. All results will be collected and shared amongst the class for section 4.
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4 Processing results – 40 mins (single lesson)
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You will need to draw a graph of your results. You will do this by yourself under exam conditions.
You will need a pencil and a ruler and your results table (which you will get from your teacher).
You MUST hand this in at the end of the lesson for your teacher to mark and for you to have in the final exam. 5 Section 2 test paper - 50 mins (in a double lesson)
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This is carried out under test conditions and will ask you questions about your experiment and your results. You will also be