KJSEA Integrated Science 905/2: The Practical Based Paper Explained

Integrated Science appears twice on the KJSEA timetable. Paper 905/1 is sat on Thursday 29 October and runs 1 hour 40. Paper 905/2, the practical based paper, is sat on Friday 30 October and runs 1 hour.

Almost all revision goes into 905/1, because it looks like a normal paper. 905/2 is two questions worth 20 marks each, and it rewards a completely different set of skills.

This guide explains what those skills are, shows a full practice investigation written out the way a strong answer looks, and gives a plan for the last weeks before the papers. You do not need a laboratory at home to prepare well for 905/2. You need a pen, paper and a habit of writing investigations in a fixed structure.

How the two papers differ

What a practical based question asks for

A practical based question usually walks through an investigation. The child may be asked to state a hypothesis, identify variables, describe a method, record or interpret results, and then draw a conclusion. Marks are spread across all of those steps, which is why a child who writes only the conclusion scores poorly even when the conclusion is right.

The recurring language is worth learning properly:

• Independent variable. The one you deliberately change.
• Dependent variable. The one you measure.
• Controlled variables. Everything kept the same so the test is fair.
• Observation. What you saw or measured, with no explanation attached.
• Conclusion. What the results mean in relation to the hypothesis.

Children routinely mix observation and conclusion into one sentence and lose the observation mark. Teaching them to write those as two separate lines is worth doing this month.

A full practice investigation, written out

The example below is a practice item written for this guide. It is not a KNEC question, but it follows the structure a practical based answer needs. Read it with your child, then ask them to write their own on a different topic.

Question: Investigate whether the temperature of water affects how quickly sugar dissolves.

1. Hypothesis: Sugar dissolves faster in warmer water.
2. Independent variable: temperature of the water.
3. Dependent variable: time taken for the sugar to dissolve completely.
4. Controlled variables: volume of water, mass of sugar, type of sugar, the same container, stirring the same way.
5. Method:
   1. Measure 100 cm³ of cold water into a glass.
   2. Add one level teaspoon of sugar and start a timer.
   3. Stir gently at a steady pace until no crystals are visible, then stop the timer.
   4. Record the time.
   5. Repeat with warm water and then hot water, keeping everything else the same.

Results table (blank, as it should be drawn before the experiment):

Observation (example): The sugar took the shortest time to disappear in the hot water and the longest in the cold water.

Conclusion (example): The results support the hypothesis. The higher the temperature of the water, the faster the sugar dissolved.

Notice three things. The units sit in the column heading, not after every number. The observation describes only what happened. The conclusion refers back to the hypothesis by name. Each of those is a place where marks are commonly dropped.

Where marks are lost

How to practise without a laboratory

You do not need equipment. Most of what 905/2 tests is the ability to describe and reason about an investigation on paper.

Take any simple household situation and turn it into a written investigation. Which cloth dries fastest. Whether sugar dissolves faster in warm water. How the length of a string changes how fast a weight swings. For each, have your child write the hypothesis, the variables, a numbered method, a blank results table with units, and the conclusion they would expect.

Twenty minutes of that is worth more than an hour of reading science notes, because it drills the exact structure the paper asks for.

More home investigation ideas

• Does the amount of water given to bean seedlings affect how tall they grow in a week?
• Does the type of surface (soil, sand, concrete) affect how quickly a puddle of water disappears?
• Does a heavier object roll down a ramp faster than a lighter one of the same shape?
• Does covering a cup of hot tea slow down how fast it cools?

A parent's only job is to check the five headings are present and that the observation and conclusion are on separate lines. You do not need to know the science to do that.

Do not neglect 905/1

905/1 carries 30 multiple choice questions plus a structured section. The multiple choice part rewards breadth of recall, so it is the one section where working through a lot of short questions genuinely helps.

Sit the two papers close together in practice at least once, because they fall on consecutive days in the real thing and the second day of a five day week is when tiredness shows.

Our free KJSEA Integrated Science sample questions with answers are a quick source of short recall practice for 905/1.

The last weeks: a simple plan

For the wider plan, our six week KJSEA countdown puts Integrated Science in week 3, and reading the marking scheme explains how the separate steps of a practical answer are credited. For the practical side of the week itself, see what to carry and what is not allowed in exam week.

Frequently asked questions

Does my child need to have done real experiments to pass 905/2?

Experience in the school laboratory helps, but the paper is written. What is assessed is the ability to plan, describe, record and reason about an investigation on paper, and that can be practised at home.

What is the single most common mistake?

Mixing observation and conclusion into one sentence. Teach your child to write what they saw on one line and what it means on the next.

How long should a method be?

Long enough that someone else could repeat the investigation. Usually that means a handful of numbered steps, each with one action and any quantities stated.

Should we use predictive papers or past papers?

Use whatever gives full timed practice with a marking scheme. The important part is marking the paper the same day and rewriting the answers that lost marks.

The KJSEA Complete Revision Course includes predictive papers for both 905/1 and 905/2 with a separate answer booklet, and timed mock practice is what turns knowing the structure into using it under pressure. If Integrated Science is the only gap, the KJSEA Integrated Science predictive papers cover it on their own.