Exam Study Skills and advice for Science KS5 KS4

Vocabulary for Exams in Science

Do these words look familiar? Have you seen them on tests before? Use these
terms when creating summary questions from your notes.

●Account for: Explain the process or reason why something is the way it is

●Agree, Disagree: Take a definite stand; state an opinion on the question on an issue
or statement contained in the question. Explain persuasively, and in some detail, why
you agree or disagree.

●Analyse: Break down a topic into its parts and discuss the relationships that exist
between the whole (topic) and the parts. Be specific.

●Argue: Give your personal point of view – facts, beliefs, opinions.

●Calculate: show what formula you are using, show your calculations, and show the
result with the correct units.

●Classify: Divide into groups or types so that things that are similar, are in the same
group

●Comment: Discuss, criticise or explain

●Compare, Contrast: Show, in detail, the similarities, the differences, or the similarities
and the differences between the two topics stated in the question. Point out or show
both similarities or differences. Give common characteristics/attributes – how are
people, events, concepts or objects alike/ similar.

●Conjecture: Guess, estimate, infer

●Contrast: Give characteristics or attributes about how people, events, concepts or
objects are different

●Deduce: Draw conclusions

●Define: Give the exact meaning of a word, phrase or concept. Be specific; use details
and give examples. Give meanings in your own words.

●Demonstrate: Write how to do something step-by-step

●Describe, Discuss: Explain, in detail, what the question asks about the topic. Provide
all the pertinent information you can about the topic, using examples to illustrate your
statements. Explain so the reader can visualise/understand the object, concept or
events. Use adjectives to show size, shape, characteristics, colour and use.

●Discuss: Write/talk as if you were sharing your knowledge with someone else. Use
details and examples to explain the topic

●Effect

: As in what is the consequence/result of an action

●Evaluate: Make a judgement on the topic in question based on the information at
hand and your own values and experiences. In an evaluation question you are
expected to present a careful appraisal of the problem stressing both advantages and
limitations. Express an opinion based on your findings.

●Explain: Examine the topic in question based on the information at hand and your own
values and experiences. Make it clear and simple to show your interpretation and
understanding. Give simple descriptions based on what you know. Describe, giving
reasons.

●Extract: Choose relevant details

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●Factors: Give reasons, features, causes, influences

●Forecast: Say what you think will happen in the future

●Identify: Mention the two or three most important facts about a person or subject area.
Watch for directions that ask you to identify and explain briefly. These require more
than a few facts. Name the essential characteristics.

●Give a reason: Give examples to explain why something is the way it is

●Give/ provide: Write down only facts

●Hypothesis

: An opinion/theory/assumption to be proved

●In terms of…: using the words that follow in your explanation.

●Indicate: Point out, make something known

●Illustrate: Provide five concrete examples to clarify or explain a general statement.

●Infer: Read between the lines – the answer is not in the passage. You make meaning
from information or clues the author provides

●Interpret: Give your opinion of the information based on your experiences and
information you find in the text

●Justify: Give evidence to support your point of view

●Label: add names on the correct places on a diagram. Use arrows to point at the
exact place where the label should be.

●List: Write a list of items

●Mention: Refer to relevant points

●Motivate: Give reasons and explain your answer

●Name: State something – give, identify or mention

●Outline: Organise the main points and give supporting statements or details. Organise
important data/information in a logical way. Use numbers or letters to organise the
information sequentially.

●Plot: Organise your thoughts and write on a piece of paper. Use a grid, graphic
design, picture, chart, or matrix

●Predict: Make a suggestion based on the information available of what the outcome
would be

●Prove: Through support and/or illustration, show why the statement is correct. Use
persuasion, logic and reason. Give evidence, facts which explains why an argument is
true.

●Sketch: Draw a rough outline, plan or picture to explain or show something

●State: Explain important information clearly. Give reasons and examples if necessary

●Suggest: Offer an explanation or solution

●Summarise: Give an overview of the subject. Give the meaning in as few words as
possible. Retell the most important facts and essential details in as few words as you
can.

●Support your answer: Give examples, reasons or an explanation

●Trace: Describe the steps or process that brought some event to pass. Put events,
experiences or thoughts in order or on a timeline.

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Example of writing comprehension question:

Underline the difficult words.
Suggest (say) a possible device (thing) to store energy when a moving vehicle (car)
slows down. For this device (thing), state (say) the change that occurs (happens)
as more energy is stored.

Write the information (numbers, data, names) in a list.
Say a thing
Store energy
When car slows
Say the change

Write what the question asks in one/two words (eg explain diagram, calculate
density, classify resources, etc).
Say a thing and the change

Identify what concepts need to be explained or connected.
-Energy storage thing
-What changes

Count how many points are in the question. This is the number of ideas you have to
write down.
2 points

Think of scientific vocabulary that can be useful in this question.
Speed, energy, kinetic energy Ek, store, deceleration, electrical
energy.

Write a draft.
Battery captures the movement, it captures the movement the battery gets energy.

Incorporate the vocabulary.
Battery captures stores the movement energy, it captures stores the movement
energy the battery gets stores energy electrical energy.

3

You can add or repeat ideas in different words. Sometimes different vocabulary
gives points.
Battery stores the kinetic energy, it stores the kinetic energy, the battery stores Ek
as electrical energy.

If you don’t have enough ideas, describe each idea in greater detail.
Battery stores the kinetic energy, it stores the kinetic energy of the car, the battery
stores this Ek as electrical energy, it charges up.

Use good English: connector words, scientific vocabulary, and a logical order to the
ideas.
A battery stores the kinetic energy, and when it stores the kinetic energy of the car
the battery stores this Ek as electrical energy, so it charges up.

Do not use colloquial English, contractions, symbols or acronyms in sentences.
A battery stores the kinetic energy, and when it stores the kinetic energy of the car
the battery stores this kinetic energy as electrical energy, so it charges up.

Final result:

A battery (1point) stores the kinetic energy, and when it stores the kinetic energy of
the car the battery stores this kinetic energy as electrical energy (1point), so it
charges up.

2 out of 2marks

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Example of a Calculation question:

1)Calculate the speed of a car that covers 2km in 10s.

Underline and rewrite in your own words the difficult words.

Calculate the speed of a car that covers (moves) 2km in 10s.

Write the information (numbers, data, names) in a list.

Distance=2km
Time=10s

Convert all units to SI.

Distance=2km=2km·1000m/1km=2000m
Time=10s

Write what the question asks in one/two words (explain, calculate, etc).

Calculate speed (v)

Write down formulas you use.

v=d/t

Write down calculations you do. Calculate it twice in case you made a mistake with
the calculator.

v=d/t=2000m/10s=200m/s

Write down the answer with the correct unit.

Speed=200m/s

Complete exercise:

1)Calculate the speed of a car that covers (moves) 2km in 10s.
Distance=2km=2km·1000m/1km=2000m

Time=10s
Calculate speed (v)

v=d/t
v=d/t=2000m/10s=200m/s

Speed=200m/s

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Tips for studying at home:

Before starting to study at home, a study timetable and an exam calendar should already have been done
previously (see example). This will save time and help you to be more efficient.

Prepare your working space.

Prepare your working table: empty except stationary (pens, calculator, paper, etc) and your
agenda, timetable and study calendar. Textbooks and notebooks put them in a different
place.
Phone away. Computer away (at least to start with).
Sit on a comfortable chair.

Take your agenda and calendar:

Make a list of what you need to do today.
Order from more urgent to less. If two are equally urgent, put the most unpleasant or
difficult first. This will be the order in which you do things today.
Place on your timetable each item, in pencil. If something will take a longer time, fill more
slots with this item.
If you have free slots, fill them up with medium or long term items, or extra revision. It is
never true that “I have nothing left to do”.

Start studying:

Warn people in the house you are going to be studying. No music. You need silence!
Turn the volume AND vibration of your phone off, and put it somewhere you can´t reach
from your chair.

Have the computer on the table ONLY if it NECESSARY for work. No music, no chats, no
games, nothing else. Remove it from the table when not necessary. Be responsible.

Take the notebooks / textbooks you need for the first subject.
During study, if you have doubts, write them down to ask the teacher the next lesson.
Study intensely - earn your break! Time is ticking - don´t waste your time!

Make sure you respect the rest periods, or you will get too tired and give up.

For every 50 min of work, it is recommended to take 10 min to rest.

If you didn't have time to finish an urgent item, or something unexpected interrupted your
study, replan the timetable and shift the less urgent items to later or to another day.

If you finish all the work of the day and are satisfied with yourself, give yourself a hug!

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Tips for exams:

Write your name. Make a first quick look at the whole exam.

How long is it?
Are there questions that look more complicated? Leave them for the end.
Check you don’t miss any questions eg in the back side of a page.

Check how much time you have for the exam. Locate how many questions are half the
exam - so half the time.

Reading a long complicated heading:

Underline and rewrite in your own words the difficult words.
Write the information (numbers, data, names) in a list.

Write what the question asks in one/two words (eg explain diagram, calculate
density, classify resources, etc).

Calculations:

Convert all units to SI.
Write down formulas you use.
Write down calculations you do. Calculate it twice in case you made a mistake with the
calculator.

Write down the answer with the correct unit.

Graphs:

Add axis, their scale, and the names of the axis with the unit.
Make dotted lines to place a point.

Diagrams:

Don’t forget labels, if needed.
Use arrows or lines to place the labels.
Make simple drawings.

Multiple choice:

Cross out the ones that are obviously false.
Identify the differences between possible answers.

Choose the most probable or the most correct answer.

Multiple mark (long writing) question:

Identify what concepts need to be explained or connected.
Count how many points are in the question. This is the number of ideas you have to write
down.
Think of scientific vocabulary that can be useful in this question.
Write a draft and incorporate the vocabulary.
You can add or repeat ideas in different words. Sometimes certain vocabulary gives points.
If you don’t have enough ideas, describe each idea in greater detail.
Use good English: connector words, scientific vocabulary, and a logical order to the ideas.
Do not use colloquial English, contractions, symbols or acronyms in sentences.

At the end of an exam:

Multiple choice: go back and reread it in case you change your mind.
If a question was too difficult, you leave it to the end. Now go back and try it again.
Did you answer every question? Go back and check.

Re-check that you wrote your name!

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STUDYING METHODS

●Read and underline/highlight the book.

●Read and make shorthand notes. Shorthand: very compact language with symbols,
acronyms, word contractions… Example: “One example of energy is aeolic energy, which
is wind energy.” transforms into “1 eg E = aeolic (wind)”.

●Read and make prose summaries. Not so useful in Science.

●Read and make bracket or/and bullet-point summaries. Example:

1.

Energy resources

1.

Renewable

1.

Wind

2.

Sun

2.

Non-renewable

1.

Fossil fuels

2.

Nuclear

●Read and make drawings: diagrams with labels, important
graphs, apparatus you need to know, etc.

●Read and repeat out loud/chanting/in your head until you
know it off by heart. Definitely not useful in Science.

●Copying the text as it is. Not useful in Science.

●Downloading explanatory audios from youtube or recording
yourself and listening to it when travelling or in bed. Not easy
but it is a way of studying during moments that you normally
would not be able to. Some studies suggest that the last
things you listen to in a day are more easily imprinted in your
subconscious brain.

●Making mind/concept maps. Example see the picture: Canva.com is useful but you waste
time… best to do it simply with a pen and paper. Useful when the topic has many
interrelated ideas.

●Making songs or acronym mnemonics to remember lists of things (example: order of the
planets = My Very Excellent Mom Just Served Us Noodles = Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).

●Making flashcards: small pieces of paper with on one side the name or question leading to
a specific concept, on the other side the explanation/examples/answer. Then using them
later on to ask questions to yourself.

●Reducing all the information you need to remember into 1 piece of paper. Usually done
when you have already been studying the contents for some time. It is useful to know what
is important, plus having a quick summary to look at when you do not have much time to
study.

●With the help of a friend:

○Cross-question each other thinking of questions by looking at the book.

○Prepare questions or flashcards and run them at each other.

○Practising questions and helping each other when blocked.

○Doing exam simulations together to feel a more serious atmosphere.

○Correcting exams/questions together to interpret markschemes.

●Having a private tutor / older sibling / knowledgeable parent.

●Watching youtube videos. Careful not to waste time: not all videos are useful, and it is very
easy to get distracted with other videos…

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9

●Doing assimilation questions (the ones usually in each of the pages of the textbook).

●Doing further comprehension-revision questions (the ones usually at the end of the
chapter in a textbook).

●Doing exam questions in exam conditions. VERY useful in Science.

○Quiet atmosphere, no distractions, no phones/computers.

○Deciding on a limit of time to answer ~1 minute per mark.

○Not looking at the answers.

○If you are confident or have been studying this topic for some time, not looking at
the book.

○Then afterwards correcting the questions using the official markscheme.

●Scanning exams to locate the most frequent questions, and writing down 1 representative
example of each kind.

●Reading other textbooks or other examination board questions. Not recommendable
unless you have time left over. Some of the information may be unnecessary or explained
in other ways that can be confusing.

●Of course, making sure your class homework is up to date!

●Every day that you have a lesson making a short revision of it in the evening.

●Making a weekly timetable: what days at what times do you study what subjects.

○Respect your free time.

○Make study breaks. Out of every hour, most people need 10 or 15 minutes of these
free to rest. During rests walk around and change scenery completely.

○Avoid studying when tired (eg late at night). You are not efficient and waste time, if
you plan in advance this should never be necessary.

○Be realistic. Not many teenagers can consistently study 6 hours a day every day
after school without a nervous breakdown.

○Be flexible. If it is not working, reevaluate the timetable and modify it.

●Making a calendar plan: find out when the exams are, plan what topics to study what
weeks, make priorities in your studying (what subjects or what topics need more studying),
be ambitious in your objectives (plan to be prepared a bit BEFORE the exam day, plan to
get a good mark). If unexpected things come up, shift things in the plan as necessary.

●Study often in the same controlled environment:

○Comfortable upright chair.

○Lots of light to read well.

○No music (many studies have demonstrated we learn worse with music!)

○No noises. If noise is unavoidable, you can use “white noise” recordings on the
computer or white noise apps on your phone to cover distracting noises.

○No phones/computers close (and turn off the sound - notification rings interrupt your
thinking!) EXCEPT when you are expressly using them. Printing things is a good
idea to reduce screen time.

○Public libraries can be a good idea when at home it is difficult to concentrate.

●ASKING THE TEACHER ANY DOUBTS!
KEY IDEAS:
➔Be organised and methodical from day 1.

➔Be ambitious and make a big effort until the last day.

➔Always ask for help and use the resources you have.

10

M

Tu

W

Th

F

Sa

Su

8

9

LATIN

PE

PHYSICS

PSHE

PE

Study

Scuba
diving

every week

Study

10

KNITTING

GERMAN

PE

PE

GERMAN

Rest

Study

11

COOKERY

KOREAN

GERMAN

GERMAN

KNITTING

Study

Rest

12

Study

PHYSICS LATIN

KOREAN

KOREAN

LATIN

Study

Study

13

Rest

Study

KNITTING

KNITTING
LATIN

LATIN
PHYSICS

Study

Rest

14

Study

Study

Rest

Study

15

Lunch

Lunch

CHEMISTRY

BIOLOGY

CHEMISTRY

CHEMISTRY

CHEMISTRY

16

BIOLOGY GREEK

BIOLOGY

BIOLOGY

BIOLOGY

17

Study

Study

REST

Tennis

every week

REST

REST

REST

Study

Study

18

Study

Study

Study

Study

Free evening!

Rest

Study

Study

Study

Study

Study

19

Rest 15´,
wash dishes

Rest 15´,
wash dishes

Rest 15´, wash
dishes

Rest 15´, wash
dishes

Study

Study

Study

Study

Study

Rest

20

Study

Study

Study

Study

Study

Film and pizza

night

Supper

Study

Supper

Supper

Out with friends

21

Supper

Supper

Supper

Supper

Out with friends

Study

Supper

Study

Study

Out with friends

22

Study

Study

Study

Out with friends

Out with friends

TO DO LIST (change as needed)

Short
term
(must
do it
today)

Revise
biology
lesson

Revise
german
lesson

Revise
physics lesson

Revise korean
lesson

Revise knitting
lesson

Check
homework to
do

Plan the week

Revise
physics
lesson

Revise
korean lesson

Revise korean
lesson

Revise german
lesson

Revise physics
lesson

Revise
knitting
lesson

Revise greek
lesson

Revise biology
lesson

Revise latin
lesson

Plan the
weekend

Medium
term
(this
week)

Study U1 biology

Summary of biology

Study U1 greek

Vocab list of greek

Study U1 knitting

Practice knitting

Long
term
(this
month)

Study U1,2,3 for first exam of biology

Study U1,2,3 for first exam of greek

Study U1,2,3 for first exam of knitting

11

12

Scientific experiment vocabulary:

●Independent variable: I decide what values

●Dependent variable: measure as consequence

●Control variables: keep constant / shouldn’t affect

●Resolution: smallest unit of apparatus

●Precision: unit of your measurement

●Accuracy: how well your apparatus works

●Anomalous result: very different, to be discarded.

●Uncertainty: error due to resolution (eg ±1mm). % uncertainty=±𝛥x/x

●Systematic error: inaccurate, error always done (due to method or apparatus not
working/used well eg parallax error), changes intercept in graphs.

●Parallax error: same error always done = mistake in reading the scale.

●Zero parallax error: error because of incorrect calibration of apparatus.

●Random error: imprecise, due to low precision measurements, can change gradients in
graphs.

●Reproducible: same data, same methods. Same results=fair analysis.

●Replicable (repeatable): same methods, new data. Same results=reliable conclusion.

●Evaluate= compare (% of 𝛥), then say if significant/not (<5% is not).

Graphs REMEMBER: y=a+bx

●Put axis titles, units, and scales adjusted to the data!

●A best fit line/curve is smooth going through the middle of the data.

●The Y-intercept (when x=0) is a.

●The gradient (𝛥y/𝛥x) is b, or the derived.

●The area underneath is the integral or sum of all values.

●Exponential decreases (eg N=Ne-𝜆t) never get to 0.

●Use at least 2 significant figures (non-zeros) eg 0.0071 not 0.007

●In 3D: “x”= into the page, “·”= out of the page.

Experimental logic:

●If the result is obviously wrong (eg Mars is closer to the Sun than Earth) then your
calculations/reasoning must be wrong.

●Imagine/sketch experiments that you don´t understand.

●Remember conservation laws: things/energy can´t just appear/disappear.

Use of English

●No colloquialisms or inexactitudes: “is like” “way more” “kind of” “more or less” “around”.

●Write formulas - often they are worth marks.

●Order your mathematical operations or ideas: first at the top, and continue downwards.

●Order your sentences in logical order if there are several (X so Z).

●If you are not sure the way you explained it, repeat in other words.

●PLEASE good grammar (thirds persons, “it”, coherent tenses and numbers, correct verb
tenses…).

●Scientific vocabulary!!! (high speed not “quick”, big height not “very up”, big distance not
“far”…).

13

M

Tu

W

Th

F

Sa

Su

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

TO DO LIST (change as needed)

Short
term
(do it
today)

Medium
term
(this
week)

Long
term
(this
month)

MY WEEKLY TIMETABLE

14