STATE EXAMS 2015: Science papers address relevant issues for teens

Junior Certificate science papers contained many issues relevant to teenagers and the modern world, but were also a real test for even the strongest students.

This was Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokeswoman Pauline Nagle’s view on exams at both levels.

She said the exam for higher-level students had questions about charging mobile phones and on damaged water pipes. But she thought a lot of questions were geared to students at the top of the ability scale.

One question about an experiment to show air is a mixture, not a compound, was worded in a way Ms Nagle thought would have been difficult for students. Other questions, she said, were asked quite differently to previous years, and she thought it was almost like a practice-run for the new junior cycle science syllabus.

For ordinary-level students, she thought there was good use of topical issues, but some questions might even have been difficult for higher-level students.

Many topics were similar to those at higher level and there was some quite difficult language, Ms Nagle said. She gave as an example the reference to anhydrous copper sulfate in a chemistry question which also referenced cobalt chloride, which has been removed from schools for health and safety reasons.

In the afternoon, almost 28,000 students of religious education were examined and ASTI’s Jane Craig Elliott said the higher-level paper had a good comprehension piece about searching for the meaning of life. The phrasing of some questions was demanding, asking them in one place to assess the role of political and religious leaders in the death of Jesus.

While essay questions were challenging, she said students had good choice of questions. In places, she felt it may have been difficult for students to ascertain what they were being asked.

She said the ordinary-level paper was very fair but a question about truth, choice, and freedom was a bit harder than usual at this level.