Coaching Centre
Chapter 1: Thinking and Working Like a Scientist Notes
Asking testable questions, writing hypotheses, lab equipment and scientific diagrams, lab safety and hazard symbols, the Bunsen burner, variables and fair tests, observation and inference, measuring accurately, and writing reports with the right graph.
Sections
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1A Asking scientific questions Mastered
Why curiosity drives science, simple and big questions, which questions science can test, spotting pseudoscience, and turning a prediction into an "If … then … because" hypothesis.
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1B Lab equipment and scientific diagrams Mastered
The common pieces of lab equipment and what each is for, the difference between equipment and apparatus, and the rules for drawing neat 2D scientific diagrams of a set-up.
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1C Lab safety Mastered
What to wear in the lab, the GHS hazard pictograms on chemical labels, the lab rules and the reasons behind them, and what to do if there is a burn, a spill, a chemical in the eye or a fire.
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1D The Bunsen burner Mastered
The parts of a Bunsen burner, how to light and turn it off safely, the yellow safety flame and the blue heating flame, where the hottest part of the flame is, and why the flame changes colour.
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1E Variables and fair tests Mastered
Independent, dependent and controlled variables, how to design a fair test, why scientists repeat trials and average them, and what valid and reliable mean.
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1F Observation and inference Mastered
Using your senses and instruments to observe, qualitative and quantitative observations, the difference between an observation and an inference, and why inferences can change when new evidence turns up.
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1G Measuring and recording Mastered
Why science uses standard SI units, the units and instruments for length, mass, volume, time and temperature, metric prefixes and conversions, reading scales and the meniscus without parallax error, and setting out a results table.
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1H Scientific reports and graphs Mastered
The sections of a scientific report and what goes in each, choosing a column graph or a line graph, drawing a graph properly, and writing a discussion and conclusion that use your evidence.
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Review Chapter 1 review and test Mastered
Every skill from the chapter as one checklist for planning an investigation, the key words, and a chapter test with multiple choice, sorting and extended responses with marking guidelines.