Six-mark questions
Six-mark questions are often the questions that people find the most difficult. In all longer answer questions, but especially the six-mark ones, it is important that you plan your answer and not just rush into it. After all, you would plan an essay or short story before starting. Without a plan it is easy to stray away from the key point and lose marks, get steps in a process in the wrong order or forget key bits of information.
Six -mark questions will start with command words such as 鈥楧别蝉肠谤颈产别...鈥 or 鈥楨虫辫濒补颈苍...鈥. The command words 鈥楧别蝉肠谤颈产别...鈥 and 鈥楨虫辫濒补颈苍...鈥 can be confusing. If you are asked to describe a graph, you will be expected to write about its overall shape, whether it is linear or curved, the slope of gradients etc. If you are asked to explain why a pattern or trend is seen in a graph, you will be expected to use your science knowledge not just say what you see (which is a description), eg 'The graph shows the number of radioactive nuclei decreases as time increases. It does this because...'
'Explain how' and 'why' questions often have the word 鈥榖ecause鈥 in their answer. 'Describe' questions don鈥檛.
The number of marks per question part is given in this form '[6 marks]'. It is essential that you give as many different points in your answer as possible, linking these together. Often, you will be asked to compare two things - make sure that you include both in your answer otherwise, you are likely to limit your score to two marks out of six marks.
This page contains AQA material which is reproduced by permission of AQA.
Writing six-mark answers with Dr Alex Lathbridge
Listen to the full series on 大象传媒 Sounds.
How to write six-mark answers in your science GCSE exams.
Sample question 1 - Foundation
Question
Describe what happens to a star much bigger than the Sun, once the star reaches the end of the 鈥榤ain sequence鈥 period of its life cycle.
Your answer should include the names of the stages the star passes through. [6 marks]
As the star runs out of hydrogen, it cools and expands to form a red supergiant. The red supergiant will eventually explode as a supernova, forming heavier elements and becoming a neutron star. If the mass is large enough, the core will collapse to form a black hole.
You will need to describe in detail what happens to the star and the names of at least three stages. The description should be logically ordered to match the process the star goes through. You could include the following ideas:
- (the core of the) star runs out of hydrogen
- (the star) expands (to form)
- (the star) cools (to form)
- the core shrinks
- helium starts to fuse to form other elements
- a red supergiant
- (outer layers) explode
- fusion of lighter elements to form heavier elements (up to iron)
- as a supernova
- becoming a neutron star
- if mass is large enough (core collapses)
- (to form) a black hole
- core shrinks
Sample question 2 - Foundation/Higher
Question
Describe, in as much detail as you can, the life history of a star like our Sun. [6 marks]
A star like our Sun is formed from dust and gases pulled together by gravity. As the mass increases, large gravitational forces act, fusing hydrogen into helium and releasing large amounts of energy. There is a long 鈥榤ain sequence鈥 period where the forces produced by fusion balanced the gravitational forces pulling inwards. When the hydrogen runs out, the star will cool and expand to form a red giant. As the rate of fusion reactions decrease, the star will contract to form a small white dwarf star.
You will need to describe, in detail, the formation and development of a medium-sized star. The description should be logically ordered to match the process the star goes through. You could include the following ideas:
- formed from dust/gases
- pulled together by gravity
- massive so very large gravitational forces (pulling inwards)
- hydrogen 鈫 helium / fusion releases energy (not fission or just 鈥榥uclear鈥)
- high temperature creates high pressure (pushing outwards)
- long period when forces balance
- then expands 鈫 red giant / red star
- then contracts to (dense) white dwarf / white star
Sample question 3 - Higher
Question
Explain, in as much detail as you can, the scientific evidence for the 'Big Bang' theory of the origin of the Universe. [6 marks]
Observations of galaxies show a red-shift - light appears to be shifted towards the red end of the spectrum. More distant galaxies show a bigger red-shift. The red-shift shows that the galaxies are moving away from each other, and more distant galaxies are moving away faster. Therefore, the Universe is expanding. If this is the case then all matter in the Universe once started from a single point.
A strong answer will be clearly worded with good use of scientific key words. It may be helpful to plan out which key words are going to be used and use these to help structure the answer, eg galaxies, red-shift, expansion.