Welcome!
So I know we are a very small cohort, but I'm here to help nonetheless.
I had the BEST experience as an Earth and Environmental Science student, not only because I had a brilliant teacher, but because Earth is one of the subjects that relates directly to the world around you. I also did quite well in the HSC, scoring a 95 and coming 7th in the state. So if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them here and I'll respond as quickly as I can :)
Hey there!
I was wondering if anyone has purchased any of the dot point or excel books? I'm looking for practice questions without re doing the past paper questions. :)
Hey Kira,
In my opinion, the best extra resources for Earth are the Keep It Simple Science (KISS) notes. They were given to me by my teacher. I also borrowed a friends excel text book for writing some of the notes, but I found that the information they contained was generally just...wrong. Being such a small subject, there aren't many great resources out there labeled as 'Earth and Environmental Science'. HOWEVER, there are still things you can use! Catalyst, the ABC show, has some great programs for salinity in Caring for Country. David Attenborough's documentaries for Environments through Time are fantastic, as well as Walking with Dinosaurs (may sound a bit basic, but they helped me remember everything!). Your best bet is just to Google some of the dot points. There are lots of resources out there ;D
Thank you so much!! I do have the KISS notes and find they are helpful for basing my notes and reading ahead before class. What would be the best way to practice questions, just do past papers? Is there anything else I could be doing to get that 100%? :)
The great thing about Earth is that the syllabus hasn't changed in a long time. So, there are plenty of past papers you can do! I used to pay special attention to the 8 markers at the end of the exam, as they have started to ask questions about Earth as a subject rather than syllabus dot points specifically. Considering this, I made a massive timeline that I stuck on my roof. It was the geographic time scale you are given in the exam, except blown up so it stretched the length of my bed. I then ordered all of the dot points/key dates on the timeline. This way I could see how the various dot points interacted, and the key themes in the subject. I would definitely recommend this at the end of the year - you could even start now and build on the timeline over the year.
I can post a picture if you're interested in what it looked like :)
YES PLEASE!! I currently have my mass extinctions on my wall!!
I mustn't have taken a photo before I took it all down after the exam :( I had all of the important events/dates written on palm cards, and then ordered them on my roof. This included key species and recent things, such as the Kyoto Protocol and publication of Silent Spring.Sounds awesome!! Thank you so much, I will try to create the ultimate timeline with both ees and biology!!
Your Amazing!!!!
I am currently doing an assignment concerning the dotpoint where I have to "plan and perform a series of investigations to determine the effect of compaction or tracking on a soil" and I need serious help!!!!
The assignment is due next Wednesday (15/3/17)
We were told we have to perform two investigations and were given 5 options of what we could do: infiltration rate, runoff, plant growth, ability to hold water and friability.
I have already completed one investigation using infiltration rate BUT HAVE NO IDEA WHAT DO TO DO FOR MY SECOND EXPERIMENT.
Any suggestions?????
Hey Jess,
I did a similar assignment on compaction. What I did was compact 3 samples of soil with different weights. Each sample had 10 seeds in them. Each day for a week, we would then water the soil with the same amount of water. At the end of the experiment, we then measured the soil moisture content of each sample, as well as the amount of growth. So this experiment could work for infiltration rate, plant growth and the ability to hold water.
Hey! Would it be acceptable to state and write about "Cooksonia" as the first land plants rather than liverworts?
I AM SO SORRY, I SWEAR I REPLIED TO THIS
I would always use Cooksonia rather then liverworts. So much easier to explain in my opinion :)
HAHA NO WORRIES! :)
Thank god I checked today haha! My trials for EES is tomorrow :/
Don't stress! I'm sure you know your stuff. What will benefit you the most now is a good nights sleep :)PREACH.
Hi Emily ☺️ Congrats! I'm just wondering how you memorise the tectonic impacts part of the course? I really struggle with the concept of this part thank you ☺️
Hey! I'm so scared that BOSTES will chuck a random introduced specie and ask us to discuss its impact and all! I think they did that in of the past papers about rats or something and their impacts to the environment. And honestly, if I saw that I would've been so "doomed"!! Lmao...
So if that occurs, what strategies can we do to combat those questions OR how should we prepare for these unexcepted questions?
My teacher told us to know about 1-2 well-known introduced animal and plant species.
Im quite sure they did this last year, actually. In my own Earth class, we studies four introduced species in depth - I would recommend doing this too. From memory, they were the Northern Pacific Seastar, the Rabbit, Prickly Pear and Salvinia. Covering a scope of different animals/plants gives you an all round understanding of what impacts introduced species can have on an environment, and how they succeed in doing so (ie. both Rabbits and Salvinia reproduce faster than they can be removed, meaning that the local ecosystem is particularly susceptible to them). It is very likely that a random introduced species you get given in an exam will have the same advantages, and so, you can apply what you know about the ones you've studied to the ones given.
Hey! I'm confused on the dot point where it is about the growth of the Australian continent.
What is the explanation to how Australia moved away from that deep ocean trench??
Hey! Is it necesary to know a case study for each natural disaster? I.e. tsunami,earthquakes and volcanoes. Or just one is enough?
Hi :)
I was just wondering, in your opinion what would be the best way to study for earth and environment? Would it be plenty of past papers, palm cards, group study etc. I'm at a loss for the best way to tackle this course.
Thanks heaps :)
In my trial I got 54/55 for the short answer section, but since then in HSC/trial papers I've done I've got 48/55. Any tips on improving this for the HSC? My goal is to get 95Where have you been losing marks? Is it because of not knowing content, not understanding what the question is asking, not being specific enough? Is there one or two topics where you usually lose marks? I think identifying why/where you are losing marks is really important to figure out how to improve :)
Where have you been losing marks? Is it because of not knowing content, not understanding what the question is asking, not being specific enough? Is there one or two topics where you usually lose marks? I think identifying why/where you are losing marks is really important to figure out how to improve :)
Edit: I just realised you are doing exactly the same subjects as me!!! ;D ;D
I think it's lacking detail/not being specific enough as well as those general 7 mark qs at the end of the paper. About the subjects, thats awesome! I'm looking at doing a double in science/engineering next yearI think earth is easier than chem for detail, because there are less specific numbers or facts. So I would say it's just a matter of practicing including as much detail as you can and knowing your content well. I don't really have any better tips than that sorry.
When a question asks for secondary sources you could use to research an issue, could I say a textbook?
eg. (2011 Q29) You have been asked to investigate alternatives to the use of pesticides for controlling pests.
a) Name TWO secondary sources of information you could use to research this issue.
Also I always get confused between reliablility and validity of SECONDARY SOURCES, what is the difference?
Thankyou :)
I would maybe say like a government website and scientific journal (like magazine). I don't see why you can't do it but its not ideal I wouldn't think
Reliability = information consistent across other sources
Validity = no outside influence eg bias
This website is good https://hsccoworks.com.au/a-detailed-explanation-on-accuracy-validity-reliability
Validity
To determine if the information you are gathering is valid, you must consider or evaluate the following:
• whether the information relates to the problem or hypothesis being investigated.
Reliability
To determine if the information you are gathering is reliable, you must consider or evaluate the following:
• the author of the article’s credentials (i.e. the author is qualified in this area). For example, was the author a teacher, a scientist in that field etc?
• whether the purpose of the article is not resulting in bias
• whether the site or publication is reputable, i.e. .gov.edu, biology textbook
• whether the data was gathered using an appropriate method and measuring devices
• whether it is current (check date) This means that if your information is current, written by an expert in the area you are investigating, without bias and is in a reputable publication, then your information could be considered reliable.
Thanks :)
This is what makes me confused though, because according to that website, RELIABILITY is about things like bias and the authors credability, whereas VALIDITY is just whether the information answers the aim.
However I agree with what you said, that RELIABILITY should be just about consistency, and VALIDITY refers to other factors like bias?
Ugh why is this so confusing :o
I think a source is valid if its about what you are researching eg if I'm researching salinity a website on mass extinctions would be invalid but something on management strategies would be.Yeah ok thanks, I will do it that way. At least then there will be 2 of us :D
I think of it in what the first hand meanings mean in secondary terms. Validity = testing what you think it will in experiments, so in research it is valid if it relates what you are trying to find out
Anyone know how to answer this?Wow 7 marks is a lot for that question, so I would say you would have to go pretty in depth for a few methods. I would do biological control, physical removal of plants or killing animal pests, then I don't know but maybe rehabilitating sites with natives?
"Justify methods, other than quarantine, for controlling the spread of introduced animal species in Australia" (7 marks)
It's from the 2006 paper
Wow 7 marks is a lot for that question, so I would say you would have to go pretty in depth for a few methods. I would do biological control, physical removal of plants or killing animal pests, then I don't know but maybe rehabilitating sites with natives?
I was going to talk about biological control (prickly pear) and herbicides (lantana) but it says specifically animals. In which case I did cane toads and their methods are pretty trashOh yeah, didn't see that whoops. You could talk about biological control of rabbits (myxomatosis), and mechanical methods of hunting rabbits, which were largely unsuccessful.
Heyy! So I'm in year 12 now and I'm coming up to my trials, I've really been focusing on EES, although my problem is although I love studying and working on this subject really hard and I know the content well, I just can never get the marks I need. I'm aiming for a 85 ATAR, so I really need to get a grip on the whole subject so I can go into these exams confidently. Now I'm sitting at around 40-60% for assignment results and 30-60% for exam results. so really if anyone has advice to improve these results up to 90% I'm open to all ideas!! :))