Leaving Cert Maths Paper 2
Nathan - Ordinary Level
Well to say that was a horrible paper would be the understatement of the year. I opened the paper and honestly don't think I've ever felt so nervous about an exam paper it was just horrible. Project maths why do you hate me! Thank god I never have to sit another Maths paper ever again wooooo!
John - Higher Level
Despite the controversy, I see no-one’s blogged on this paper here yet. Well, better change that, eh? So, the teachers get their revenge on project maths. They took their punishment over the last couple of years. They had to teach courses that were totally foreign to them. They scratched their heads like the rest of us at the bizarre questions that were thrown up, while trying to reassure us that ‘nothing like that’ll come up on the leaving cert’. And now that the enemy has displayed a chink in its armour, they pounce. In the SEC’s defence, the error in Q8 (a) would have had a minimal impact on any student’s approach to the exam (I certainly didn’t notice it, nor did any of my friends). The way the question was set up, you used your trigonometric ratios/sin rule/cosine rule to find the missing sides and you moved on. Only if you were paranoid enough to attempt to verify your calculations using an alternate method would you have discovered any discrepancy. I had more of a problem with how part (i) was phrased. Without the word ‘perpendicular’, there were a range of distances possible. Still, it’s sloppy. If the SEC can’t design a triangle that can exist in the real world, it hardly fills you with confidence, does it? Apart from that, I thought it was a fairly nice paper. I think I managed to conquer ‘that fecking arbelos’ (as it’s now affectionately known), and the long stats/prob question was almost therapeutic. That wasn’t my opinion exactly when I opened the paper however. The very first question had me cursing the new course. ‘Explain a sample space.’ Well, it’s kinda......y’know... To add insult to injury there was a perfect example of what I was trying to define staring at me from the bottom of the page. I think I ended up writing something along the lines of ‘that yolk down there’ to supplement my shaky definition. Question 2 on plants and growth hormones was typical of project maths: weird. It was less than crystal clear what they wanted you to do with their normal distributions, but I think I gave them what they wanted. Overall, I’m delighted with how the two papers went, and I must admit, a small part of me will be sad to see the back of the weird and wonderful world of project maths. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, see the question in the edco sample paper on the cup of tea/telephone). Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Junior Cert Maths Paper 2
Asha - Higher Level
A great finish to maths after that paper 1, it was even better. Not a single theorem came up, I had to check, double check and triple check before I was sure. Annoying the way you got a fraction of a person but meh. It was so easy I finished in an hour and a half and looked over it for an hour. :) Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Leaving Cert Maths Paper 1
John - Higher Level
What a relief! This was the unknown element, the paper that had never been examined before, and that never will be examined again in this exact format. Thankfully, and somewhat unusually for Project Maths, the SEC decided not to serve us any curveballs in what I found to be a very approachable paper. The material matched that of the sample papers (apart from one sequence/series question), which was fortunate.Any initial nerves I had were settled by a fairly straightforward complex numbers question, which helpfully asked you to verify provided answers, rather than find your own. This was followed by questions on algebra and logs that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the junior cert a few years ago. Many people (myself included) were apprehensive about financial maths, which reared its ugly head in q4. This surprised me, given that the sample papers appeared to point to it being examined as either q5 or 6 (which are worth twice as many marks as each of the first four questions). As a result, it was a reassuringly basic task that didn’t ask too much of the student. The two questions in the ‘Contexts & Applications’ section were on algebra and sequence/series respectively, and required significantly more attention than the other questions. The first required you to examine the effect of ticket pricing on attendances, and went some way to explaining why Croke Park keep their prices so high at the expense of empty seats. I managed to battle my way through that one (was it me, or did we need to use differentiation there?), until the last part, which I came frustratingly close to working out before the time elapsed. The sequences question required some looking at from various angles, and I was delighted with myself when I finally cracked parts (c) and (d). The calculus section of the paper was quite friendly (I thought so anyway), particularly the integration.Overall, I’m delighted to have paper 1 out of the way, and I can only hope its relative lack of surprises doesn’t mean we’re in for a stinker of a paper 2!
Sheila - Ordinary Level
I felt that I needed to blog about the Ordinary Maths paper because to my absolute shock I was able to answer every question on the paper. As maths is my only pass subject I completely sidelined it for the past two years doing minimal work and just counting on my junior cert honours maths knowledge to get me through. But some one out there was feeling very nice this year. Not only were the English style question approachable but they often spoon fed you formulas and offered alternatives to attacking the question if you were unsure. I really felt quite spoon fed. I'm not complaining though the easier ,the better, for all of us ! I only need to pass maths but if paper two is as nice as paper one I may do a lot more than pass it as I'm sure many other people will. Please be nice to us in paper two, some constructions would be great! Fingers crossed. Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Junior Cert Maths Paper 1
Asha - Higher Level
Quite enjoyed this paper. Maths being one of my favourite subjects and all I was glad to start it. The parts a were well easy this year a percentage to start! And c was a good old start interest and end, question 2 I got through fine, 3 and 4 as well as 5 and 6. Although I'm told that some found 6 difficult not sure why, it was straight forward really. Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Leaving Cert Geography
Jessica - Higher Level
Geography was the subject that I was completely confident about and somewhat expected to fly through the paper - oh how I couldn't have been any more wrong! It was a total disaster! From the stupid short questions - anyone know what the hell plucking means from the glaciation question?? To the confusing geoecology questions. I'm so disappointed with how it turned out except I have to say that I was delighted erosional landforms and human interaction with rocks were there on the same physical question! I'm just banking on project to bring me up now!
Sheila - Higher Level
The Geography exam this year was a tough paper , however it did have aspects that were fair and manageable. The short questions covered all areas of the course . If you had practised short questions from previous years the section would have been fine. The physical geography was the best section on the paper and the easiest with broad and non specific questions asked allowing you to chose many areas. In question 2 it asked for a feature of erosion and did not specify fluvial so that left the question open to many answers. The regional was difficult this year because of the phrasing of each question. They were put in such a way it was often hard to desipher what the question was looking for. I chose the last regional question and they asked about interaction between the economic political and cultural activities in any region. I managed to tackle it but planning it took considerable valuable time. The economic section with human processes was fine it was not as difficult I felt as 2012 had been but was not completely straight forward as the questions focused on more minor sections of the chapters. For the essay style question I had studied Geoecology and I feel this was the section that really let me down. The questions were constructing and I feel they were unfair as they didn't allow me to show all the preparation I had done. The second question only allowed the discussion of vegetation soil and climate in relation to the biome. Even if they had added the animals it would have been more manageable. Overall it was tough but fair. I feel the last section let me down and I had hoped for a high grade. But you never know :) Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Junior Cert Geography
Asha - Higher Level
Such a nice paper, like always. Volcanoes made an appearance in the short questions as did rivers, unexpected but doable. The expected question on precipitation also made an appearance. Took about twenty minutes to do section 1 and check over it.Section 2 had good choices. The ever reliable limestone and the Burren related question along with mass movement was a great first, flew through it. I did the geographical mix A-C. Got to practise my history question on plantations when they asked for an organised migration and it's results. Usually I avoid the OS map this time though I gave it a go as it was a handy little thing that could be done quickly. Still had five minutes to spare at the end. Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.