Maths P1 - #JC2017 - Maria Hayes
Maria Hayes - Scoil Ruain KillenauleHigher Level
LC Music
Owen (Higher Level)
Well, well I'm finally free and about time... wooooo!!After having a whole week to 'compose' myself and prepare for music, I was already feeling like I was on my summer holidays so it honestly didn't feel like I still had an exam left at all!However, this morning was a different matter, the nerves were flowing and the adrenaline was rushing but maybe it was just the excitement of finally being finished!!Got into the exam hall pretty early to run over some last minute stuff and get ready!Exam starts and the first question, the one worth the most marks, was the horrid Sea Changes by Raymond Dean... the first time EVER it had come up in question 1 and this was completely unexpected....none the less we managed to fight through it!Question 2 was Berlioz and there was nothing too unexpected here and the same with Mozart who featured in question 4 and finally the Beatles’ “She's leaving home” appeared in question 4!Irish music was very much approachable and we all found ourselves jigging away and bobbin’ our heads so it turned out to be a very enjoyable question...and lucky for me my chosen essay on Sean-nós singing even came up! :DThe aural skills didn't prove to be too difficult either and it was nice to hear a bit of Tom Jones! :DOur composition paper was also very nice as well, thankfully all the minor and tough stuff was avoidable and everything else was very manageable! :DAnd that's it!! I'M FREE!!! NO MORE EXAMS!! :DNow it’s time to put into use what we really learned in school...the function of the liver and some real 'music'!! :D Bring on the summer of 2010!!Thanks and best of luck!Owen
JC Technical Graphics
Roisin (Higher Level)
Today I had tech graph, my last exam! I felt it went well too, and it was a nice way to end the exams. I was able too answer the ten required short questions without too much trouble, and the four required long questions. For the long questions I picked question 1, 3, 5 and 6. I didn't run into any problems with them, except for the tangent in question six, which I'm not sure if I did the right way. All together I think the paper went well, and it feels great to be finally finished!I'm really glad to be finished, and I don't think it was as bad as I thought it was going to be! I think it is made out to be far worse and a bigger deal than it actually was, really it was just like summer exams. I think maybe if there wasn't so much build-up about it by schools, then it wouldn't be as big a deal for students going into it. I didn't find the exams as stressful as I thought I would, and I think it was because of the long breaks in between, where I was able to revise with my friends, and some days even in the sunshine! I think throughout the year, particularly at the beginning, I could have done more consistent revision, instead of just taking out the books for an hour on a Sunday afternoon so I didn't feel guilty! It might have saved me some late nights of frantically trying to revise an entire subject in one go!I think that the Junior Cycle could use a level in between higher and ordinary. I know lots of people that feel that they can't tackle subjects at higher level but find ordinary level too easy and frustrating, or don't want to do ordinary level but struggle with the higher level course. I think the only paper that should be changed is the maths papers. I think there should be a choice within the paper instead of having six set questions, I think it would make the paper less daunting for students. Other than that, I don't think there was much else that needs to be changed!My friends and I are officially starting summer today because we all finished today or yesterday so we are going to Eddie Rockets to celebrate our freedom! It feels great to be finished and I really enjoyed doing this blog!Happy Holidays!Roisin
James (Higher Level)
Today was the final day of my Junior Certificate Examinations. This morning I had my Technical Graphics exam. This exam was three hours long and consisted of short answer questions and four long answer questions. I felt that this was a tough exam and that the final long answer question (Q6) was particularly difficult. However, I answered every question and think all my answers were decent and relevant.
JC Science
Roisin (Higher Level)
Today we had science in the morning and religion in the afternoon. Science went well, I think, I was able to answer all the biology and chemistry questions fairly easily. The physics was a little bit harder, and I wasn't sure about a few of the questions, but all in all I felt the paper went pretty well.
James (Higher Level)
This morning I had my Science exam. I thought this exam would be quite tough and I was trying to put the nerves to the back of my head before the exam started. However, as I read through the paper, I was surprised not to see too many tough questions. It was challenging but equally satisfying when I filled in all answers with good detail. I finished the exam with some time to spare and was satisfied coming out of the school. This is the start of my long weekend before my Materials Technology (Wood) exam and my Technical Graphics exam on Monday. Talk then, James.
LC Biology
Ailbhe (Higher Level)
ONE MORE EXAM TO GO!!YEEEHHAAAWWWWBiology, biology, biology… where do I start? Needing a much sought after A in this subject, I subjected myself to a heavy night of studying. Thanks God this is my favourite subject or those 11 hours at work yesterday would have been rather tiresome. I fell into bed at 1am and rose at 7.30. “Just. Two. More. Chapters.”I was ready to drop as I sat myself into the chair. In my state of hazy drowsiness, I had forgotten to bring a ruler and calculator into the hall with me. They were sitting comfortably in my schoolbag outside the door. Great. No capture recapture method for me then. No graphs either by the looks of it.Opened the paper. All predictions rang through. There were no nasty surprises lurking in the depths of the pink booklet. My confidence was greatly restored as I began to write. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Surprisingly all the experts were wrong. You can cram. And cram I did.What I loved about this paper was that it had evolved (geddit) from its earlier ancestors. Now that the species of question has grown more complex, a new breed has developed. I like to call it homo-think-for-yourself-erectus.The second short question was a fine specimen all together. Instead of employing the old genetics-for-Long-Q3 method, genetics were slipped into the short questions. This caused a slight ripple of surprise but calm waters were restored after I realised it was easier than it looked.Ecology moved to a whole new (trophic) level. There were graph-like creatures roaming the territory of long Q3. These questions really exemplified the whole concept of what biology is about - applying your knowledge. You had to read, understand, interpret and apply your knowledge to the graph in order to answer the question.I was disappointed to see that Protein Synthesis had devoured the usual inhabitant of long Q1 but the question's bark was worse than its bite and was easy enough to pin down.The final long question was another of the new generation progeny. You had to give reasons for statements. I know that questions like this have come up before but this year, they really broke through their endosperms of dormancy and made a remarkable comeback. Another breed of this organism was in the Ecology Question where taxonomy had to be applied. Sentences had to be declared true or false.The experiments were as predicted. I have always hated that experiment on the heart. The day we did this I spent more time butchering my heart with the scalpel than I did admiring the tricuspid valves. Once the green food dye came out to highlight the coronary arteries, I was a lost cause.....FOOD DYE FIGHT ANYONE??My other pet hate, plant mumbo jumbo, snarled at me from its lair in the third experiment question. I tried to slip in the key words here and there serial dilution, indolacetic acid, growth stimulators blahblahblah hopefully my point crossed the synapse.Once again, the second experiment question was crawling with homo-think-for-yourself-erectus. Instead of giving a question on one experiment it was based on almost every experiment on the course. This was great as it resurrected the ghost of the late night cramming session within me and really rewarded the student who had a good knowledge of the whole course rather than just relying on predictions. You had to apply your knowledge to the question once again.I think my ATP has just about been restored from last night. Let’s hope the adrenalin starts pumping to increase my mental alertness while I study for accounting. Homeostasis will be put to the test keeping me cool and calm during the weekend heat wave by the books. I'll test out my hypothesis "I will get my results, if I fight the temptations of the beach for the next three days". I'm sure it will work; I can feel it in my (spindle) fibres. ;)
Owen (Higher Level)
Ah Biology… the study of all living things!! Seeing as we are living, it should prove to be a nice exam and it being one of my favourite subjects, I was quite looking forward to getting it done!Short questions were a good way to warm up the brain cells which were quite nice and very much approachable… a good few marks to be seized in this section!Experiments and they weren't my favourite ones on the course so I wasn't very happy with this choice!I avoided the heart dissection as it is very particular and 'nitty gritty' so I moved on to the second and third choice, a nice variety in the second choice with questions ranging from all the experiments. Next was plant growth regulation and the use of IAA, an in depth experiment and you really needed to know your stuff here so lucky for me I gave it a bit of last minute revision this morning so it was quite fresh in my head!Long questions, again a nice variety from ecology to enzymes to the nervous system!I found myself doing questions 11, 13, 14 and 15 which were very manageable. However, I did find a few bits and pieces here and there that proved to be a challenge but I did give them a fairly decent attempt and used every ounce of information I knew on the topic to pick up most of the marks! As one of my friends said, 'I was basically vomiting up all the stuff that I knew onto the page just to be safe'.Everyone seemed to be quite content with how the exam went. As for me, I found myself questioning how well it had gone after the exam and whether or not I had done enough to secure the high grade which I had been banking on. However, after analysing the paper a bit further, I feel reassured that it was a very do-able paper and hopefully the generous marking scheme will work in my favour to gain the majority of marks with the 'nitty gritty' bits.Now off for a week… I'm already feeling the Freedom, on the other hand there's still study to be done for music but hey, only one exam left!! :D
JC History
Roisin (Higher Level)
This afternoon, we had history… probably my worst subject. I was lucky in that the paper was fairly simple, and I think I'll have done okay. The picture and documents questions were fine, and I was able to answer the required ten out of twenty short questions. For my people in history question, I chose an archaeologist and Robespierre. I was able to answer question 5 pretty well, I think, and I chose questions A and B for question 6, the Renaissance and Social Change. All in all, history went better than I thought it would, so I was pleased with that! On tomorrow's schedule is science in the morning and religion in the afternoon.
James (Higher Level)
This afternoon, I had History. I answered all six questions and felt I was spoiled for choice as all the chapters and notes that I had studied came up on the paper. This was a nice exam and I'm happy with the way it went for me. I have my Science exam tomorrow morning so I'll keep studying for that one tonight.