Guide

How to succeed in your Junior Cycle Science CBA 1

By Conor Eivers - 13 minute read

Conor is a science teacher and in this guide, he shares his tips and tricks for the Junior Cycle Science CBA 1.

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Introduction

The first Classroom-Based Assessment (CBA 1) for Junior Cycle Science is called the Extended Experimental Investigation (E.E.I.). Over three weeks, you will follow the scientific method to form a hypothesis on a question you have developed. You will then plan and conduct an experimental investigation to test your hypothesis. From this experiment, you will generate and analyse primary data and reflect on the process with support from your teacher. The E.I.I. has four sections:

  • Questioning and predicting

  • Planning and conducting

  • Processing and analysing

  • Reflecting and reporting

Your report can be completed in various ways. For example, you could complete a written report (by hand or typed), submit a PowerPoint or produce a poster (remembering that this will need to include significant detail). You could also make a podcast or video.

When completing your report, you will need to make sure that you have covered all of the Features of Quality for the level of achievement you aim to receive for your E.I.I. The report you submit will be graded into one of four levels of achievement, called descriptors (outlined below).

Descriptors

Your teacher will use a document entitled Features of Quality to decide the level of achievement your report receives. There are four different levels of achievement:

Exceptional
Investigating
  • You decide on a question to investigate.
  • You include a hypothesis or prediction for your investigation with justification.
  • You discuss the reliability and fairness of your investigation.
  • You discuss the independent, dependent and controlled variables.
  • You describe a detailed method, which could be easily repeated, to collect your data including detailed safety considerations.
  • You use an original approach that adds to your investigation.
  • You record a sufficient amount of good-quality data.
Communicating
  • Your tables, charts or graphs and calculations (if any) are neat, accurate and fully correct.
  • Your data is presented in the most suitable way using the correct terminology.
  • You discuss the relationship between the variables in your investigation.
Knowledge and understanding
  • You discuss the investigation and provide a detailed conclusion which refers to the data collected.
  • You use relevant scientific knowledge to assess and describe whether the hypothesis has/has not been supported.
  • You discuss all strengths and weaknesses of your investigation.
  • You discuss improvements to your investigation or explain how your investigation was of sufficient quality.
Above expectations
Investigating
  • You decide on a question to investigate.
  • You include a hypothesis/prediction for your investigation and justify your thinking.
  • You discuss the independent, dependent and controlled variables for your investigation.
  • You describe a reliable method for collecting data including detailed safety considerations.
  • You record a sufficient amount of good-quality data.
Communicating
  • Your tables, charts or graphs and calculations (if any) are neat, accurate and fully correct.
  • You discuss the relationship between the variables in your investigation.
Knowledge and understanding
  • You discuss the investigation and provide a conclusion referring to your hypothesis.
  • You discuss all strengths and weaknesses of your investigation.
  • You discuss improvements to your investigation or explain how your investigation was of sufficient quality.
In line with expectations
Investigating
  • You decide on a question to investigate with help from your teacher.
  • You describe a safe method to collect your data. Your steps are understandable but lack some detail.
  • You collect most of your data correctly.
Communicating
  • Your tables, charts or graphs contain small errors but are drawn correctly.
  • You discuss the variables present in your investigation.
Knowledge and understanding
  • You discuss the investigation and provide a conclusion.
  • You identify some errors in your investigation.
  • You discuss future improvements to your investigation.
Yet to meet expectations
Investigating
  • You are given a question to investigate by your teacher.
  • You use a method given to you by your teacher to collect your data.
  • You collect your data incorrectly.
Communicating
  • Your tables, charts or graphs are unfinished and drawn incorrectly.
Knowledge and understanding
  • You discuss the investigation but do not include a conclusion.

Teacher breakdown

Exceptional

This describes a piece of work that discusses all of the Features of Quality for the CBA to a very high standard. Your CBA does not need to be perfect but the strengths of the work far outweigh its weaknesses, which are minor. You suggest improvements clearly.

Above expectations

This describes a piece of work that discusses the Features of Quality for the CBA very well. You have shown a clear understanding of how to complete each area of the investigation and your work contains a lot of detail. Feedback from your teacher includes comments on small sections of your report that need further attention or polishing but on the whole, your work is of a high standard.

In line with...

This describes a piece of work that reflects most of the Features of Quality for the CBA well. You have shown a good understanding of the task and your work is free from significant errors. Feedback from your teacher includes comments on sections of your report that need further attention or correction but your work is generally competent and accurate.

Yet to meet...

This describes a piece of work that falls short of the demands of the CBA and its Features of Quality. You have made a good attempt but you might not have grasped the task clearly or have left out large sections of the report. Feedback from your teacher includes comments on the fundamental errors that need to be addressed.

This describes a piece of work that discusses all of the Features of Quality for the CBA to a very high standard. Your CBA does not need to be perfect but the strengths of the work far outweigh its weaknesses, which are minor. You suggest improvements clearly.

Scientific terminology

Have a look at some important definitions below, followed by examples of using this terminology in experiments.

Investigation A task for which a student may not immediately see an answer or provide a routine method for finding it.
Primary data Data you collect yourself.
Secondary data Data collected by others.
Quantitative data Data that consists of numbers.
Qualitative data Data that does not consist of numbers.
Fair test An investigation where only one variable is changed at a time. All other variables stay the same.
Variable Something in an experiment that can be changed, measured or controlled.
Independent variable What you change in an experiment.
Dependent variable What changes when you change the independent variable in an experiment.
Controlled variable Variables that are kept constant in an experiment.

Examples

Experiment 1

A group of students want to investigate if water is needed for the growth of cress seedlings. The students place cotton wool in the base of two Petri dishes. 5cm3 of water is added to the cotton wool in Dish A and no water is added to the cotton wool in Dish B. Five cress seeds are added to both Dish A and Dish B. The students will then observe the growth of the cress seeds in both dishes for two weeks.

Independent variable
  • The amount of water
Dependent variable
  • The growth of seeds
Controlled variables
  • 5 cress seeds in both dishes
  • Cotton wool used in both dishes
  • Both left for two weeks
Experiment 2

A group of students want to investigate if the same amount of jelly will melt faster in one block or in smaller pieces. The students will place a 10-gram solid block of jelly in Beaker A. They will break up another 10 grams of jelly to make smaller pieces of jelly and these will be placed in Beaker B. Both beakers are the same make and size. The students place both beakers over a Bunsen burner and time how long it takes the jelly in each beaker to melt.

Independent variable
  • The size of jelly pieces
Dependent variable
  • The time taken for the jelly to melt
Controlled variables
  • The same amount of jelly
  • The same size and type of beaker

Scientific method

Carry out the following steps for your scientific method:

Step 1

Identify a question to investigate.

Step 2

Carry out background research.

Step 3

Form a hypothesis.

Step 4

Test the hypothesis.

Step 5

Analyse the results.

Step 6

Form a conclusion.

Examples

Example 1
Step 1 How much lunch do I need to bring to school?
Step 2 I investigate the amount of food in my house, how much time I have to eat lunch in school, what type of food I should bring to school, etc.
Step 3 I make an educated guess based on the background research on how much lunch I should bring. I decide I should bring a sandwich, yoghurt and a packet of crisps to school for lunch.
Step 4 I bring a sandwich, yoghurt and a packet of crisps to school. I make note of my hunger levels throughout the day.
Step 5 Based on my hunger levels, I did not bring enough food to school.
Step 6 I conclude that I must bring an apple in addition to all of the other food to ensure that I am not hungry during the day in school.
Example 2
Step 1 What show should I watch on Netflix?
Step 2 I investigate the different shows on Netflix and make note of the types of shows that I enjoy watching.
Step 3 I make an educated guess based on the background research on the show I should watch on Netflix. I choose to watch Friends.
Step 4 I watch Friends and make note on whether I am enjoying watching the show.
Step 5 Based on my investigation, I did like watching Friends.
Step 6 I conclude that I should continue watching Friends.

Deciding on a question to investigate

You may find deciding on a question to investigate challenging. It might take some time as you must come up with a question that is original and easily investigated. The most interesting questions come from things that you like to do in your spare time. For example, think of your hobbies, sports or chores at home when trying to decide on a question to investigate with an experiment. You can use Google or look at newspapers and magazine articles for inspiration too. The best thing to do is get a sheet of A4 paper and brainstorm ideas. Ask your partner(s), classmates, friends, teacher and parents to help you decide on the best question to investigate for your CBA.

Use the following questions to help you decide if the question you have chosen would be suitable for an experimental investigation:

  • Would you be able to carry out the experiment in the laboratory?

  • Would you have enough time to complete the investigation?

  • Would you have access to all of the materials/equipment needed?

  • Would you be able to collect data from your experiment?

  • Would you be able to create a fair test?

  • Would the investigation be safe to carry out in a laboratory?

  • Is your experimental question original? If not, could you change it slightly to make it more original?

Sample questions

Check out these sample questions to get you thinking about your CBA:

  • Which indigestion remedy is best at neutralising excess stomach acid?

  • What type of drinking cup can best retain the heat of a hot liquid?

  • How do fruit juices compare with each other in vitamin C content?

  • Which fabric keeps you warm longer?

  • How do household substances compare with commercial flower food to prolong the life of cut flowers in a container of water?

  • How does the voltage produced between two different metals depend on the type of metals used when placed in a fruit or vegetable?

  • How do light and temperature affect the uptake of water by a plant?

  • What pH changes take place during the neutralisation reaction between an acid and a base?

  • How does the angle between a solar cell and the light source affect its output?

  • What is the frequency of several named plants in a local habitat?

  • How does the weight of a block of wood affect the force needed to keep it moving at constant speed?

  • If some seeds were placed in a hot press and other seeds were placed in a fridge before sowing, what effect would this have on (i) the speed of germination and (ii) the percentage of seeds that germinate?

  • Which brand of antacid is best at neutralising stomach acid?

  • Does changing the temperature of a tennis ball affect how high it bounces?

  • Does the shape of an ice cube affect how fast/slow it melts?

  • Does temperature affect your ability to squeeze a soft ball?

  • Does the incline of a ramp affect how fast a toy car will travel?

  • Do different sizes or masses of a ball affect how quickly it will roll?

  • Does the temperature of water affect how quickly salt dissolves?

Report checklist

There are many elements to include in your report. Feel free to use the template below to help you keep track:

Have I... Tick when complete

Included a title?

  
Carried out background research?  

Written a justified hypothesis (supported by my background research)?

  
Given the independent variable?  
Given the dependent variable?  
Listed the controlled variables?  
Included detailed safety precautions?  
Included a detailed method with enough detail that anyone could repeat it exactly the way I did it?  
Displayed the results from my investigation in a table?  
Fully labelled the table of results so anyone could understand the results without reading the method?  
Included averages of my results table (if possible)?  
Included a graph/chart of my results (if possible)?  
Analysed my results to explain their meaning to anyone reading my report?  
Explained how the variables were related in the experiment (how the dependent variable changed when the independent variable was changed in the experiment)?  
Made note of any anomalies in the results?  
Explained any anomalies in the results?  

Useful links

By Conor Eivers

Teaching chemistry, maths and science at Temple Carrig School, Greystones, Conor has experience correcting exams and helps Studyclix with our content around science and maths.

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