One of the worst styles of revising for Science exams, particularly Physics questions, is to blindly memorising the concepts, formulas, or past questions and going into the exam to apply this knowledge. Examiners will more often than not change the questions from existing older questions, and a memorising approach will not do the student any favours as they will not be equipped to deal with novel situations.
The best approach to prepare for Science exams is to break down the question into its many parts and know what each piece of the question represents. It is highly important for the student to understand what is being and which topics the question is about. If the student knows which topic it involves, the student must then analyse the question to see which formulas apply.
Another important aspect to look out for is the units used in questions, as different questions in science papers often try to mix SI units. Mass is measured in kilograms (kg), while forces are measured in Newtons (N). Physics questions especially, will often trick the student with a whole mix of different SI units, and students must convert their answer into the appropriate units at the end, or lose marks. Students should check their answers at least once to make sure that they do not rush through the process of presenting a proper final answer, as that can cost them unnecessarily.
Lastly, students should strive to make sure they fully understand a concept surrounding a science formula. A formula will contain different elements which the student must plug in the appropriate figures for. For example, to calculate the work done formula, work done is obtained by multiplying force (f) by the distance (d). Students should not blindly memorise the formula, and should understand that for work done actually represents moving a box, using a specified force which then moves the box by a certain distance. The “work done” refers to the underlying concept that a specific amount of energy is required to create a force that can move the box by a certain distance.
