Exploring the maths required to teach A level science
Meeting the demands of A level science can be a challenge for students. Here at STEM Learning, we're supporting teachers of science to help ensure that the mathematical content found in the Key Stage 5 science curriculum is not a barrier to student progress.
Mathematical skills make up 40% of physics, 20% of chemistry and 10% of biology A-level marks. With that in mind, here’s a quick outline of some of the key topics students will encounter when studying A-level science - and links to some valuable courses and other resources to ensure that this content is taught successfully.
Rearranging and solving equations
Students will start A-level science with varying degrees of success in GCSE mathematics. One area of mathematics science teachers consistently tell their students find challenging is algebra: rearranging equations; substituting numbers into an equation or just solving equations. Students will be required to work with relatively simple equations, like F=ma, before tackling trickier examples such as deriving the constant acceleration equations and even more advanced examples involving indices and exponentials, such as the Arrhenius equation, k = Ae(-Ea/RT).
Logarithms and exponentials
Most students will not have covered logs and exponentials before. To understand them, students need to be confident using the rules of indices. They will know how to explain the meaning of 23, but what about 23.4? They may be able to sketch the graph of y = 2x but are unlikely to be able to explain why log28 = 3. What methods can teachers use to enable this new, unfamiliar mathematical content to be taught with confidence?
Statistics
The A level biology specification includes mathematical content that is not covered in the mathematics specifications at GCSE or A level. This includes Chi-squared, Student’s t-test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Here at STEM Learning, we work with teachers of biology to devise techniques and resources to help students understand which statistical test should be used in which situation, and how the results of these tests are to be interpreted.
Our “Maths for…” suite is designed to improve teachers' knowledge and understanding of this. Each course is designed to improve knowledge of the mathematical topics required for A level and to identify pedagogies and resources to help support students’ learning.
Our face to face courses are available in your local area - check them out:
