Wallace Hall Academy

Faculty of Science

Literacy & Numeracy in Science

1. Ellie completes an experiment to measure the heart rate of different pupils in the class.

The results are listed in the table below.

Pupil name Heart rate (beats per minute)

Alice 65

Holly 52

Michael 78

Sean 64

Kerry 55

Euan 67

Izzy 81

a. Calculate the average heart rate of the pupils listed above.

b. The pupils then go outside and complete a range of exercises to raise their heart

rate. Holly’s heart rate increases by 20%. Calculate Holly’s new heart rate.

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2. A new solar system has been discovered which has a star at its centre surrounded by

five exo-planets as listed below.

Planet Distance from the star (millions of km)

Radius of exo-planet (millions of m)

Arad 65 51

Frin 124 32

Jiod 150 11

Brex 198 7

Edig 265 39

a. Draw a bar graph showing the name of each exo-planet and the radius of each

exo-planet.

b. For an exo-planet to be habitable it must have liquid water and oxygen. The

distance of the planet from the star helps decide if it has liquid water. The radius

of a planet helps decide if it has oxygen.

To have liquid water an exo-planet must be between 95,000,000 km and

185,000,000 km from the star.

To have oxygen an exo-planet must have a radius between 29,000,000 m and

52,000,000 m.

State the name(s) of any exo-planet(s) listed above which could have liquid water

and oxygen.

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You will only be

able to do this

questions if you

have graph paper

or can print this

page out but

don’t worry if you

can’t complete

this question.

3. A range of new resources need to be ordered for the S1 Science course at Wallace Hall.

Lists of prices from Philip Harris are shown below.

Product Number in packet Cost per packet

Bunsen burner 5 £43.20

Newton balance 8 £62.10

Thermometer 25 £31.20

We need to order 20 Bunsen burners, 8 Newton balances and 100

thermometers for our S1 Science course.

a. Calculate the total cost of this order from Philip Harris.

A second company called Timstar have also given us prices. In addition to the

prices listed below Timstar also offer a buy one, get one free deal on Bunsen

Burners.

Product Number in packet Cost per packet

Bunsen burner 10 £98.40

Newton balance 4 £22.80

Thermometer 50 £66.30

b. Determine which company, Philip Harris or Timstar provide us with the best deal.

You must show all of your working.

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4. The passage below is about space exploration. Read the passage and answer the

questions below.

There are three main ways of exploring space. The first is by direct observation using telescopes which can see deep into space. The second is unmanned space travel - we send satellites, rockets or other space crafts into space to send information back to us. The third method is manned space travel - when astronauts are sent into space.

All three methods provide us with valuable information. Unmanned space travel in particular is very useful. Satellites above the Earth help us understand the world we live in by predicting the weather. They also help us to communicate. However, satellites can be expensive. It can cost many millions of pounds even to put a small satellite in orbit around the Earth. Sometimes companies are happy to pay this price as it helps them to make more money in the long run. However, not everyone agrees that governments should spend public money on space travel. Many people think that this money should be spent on things that would help families and communities instead. It can also be very dangerous to send people up into space. If something goes wrong it can be very difficult to help them.

Space exploration is one of humanity’s biggest achievements but it does have drawbacks.

a. Give in your own words one advantage of space exploration mentioned in the

passage above.

b. Give in your own words one disadvantage of space exploration mentioned in the

passage above.

c. State the two methods of space exploration which do not require astronauts to be

sent into space.

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5. Write a revision guide for pupils in an S1 class on ONE of the following topics.

You should write in full sentences taking care with vocabulary, connectives,

openings and punctuation (VCOP).

You may add diagrams if you wish or you could make a poster.

Choose one of the following topics or select a Science topic of your choice:

Cells: All living things including plants, animals and humans are made up of cells.

Elements, Mixtures and Compounds: Atoms can be on their own or joined in different

ways.

Solids, Liquids and Gases: There are three types of matter (solids, liquids and gases).

Friction: Friction is an example of a force which can sometimes be helpful and

sometimes unhelpful.

Space: There are lots of things in space including stars, planets and moons.

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