Science in Society Specification

The contexts
The contexts provided in the tinted boxes for each of the six topics provide examples of interesting topical issues that could be used to illustrate the ideas about how science works and science explanations in the specification. Students are not required to recall specific details of these contexts but they are expected to be familiar with these or similar contexts to allow them to appreciate how the science explanations are applied to real problems. They also need to be able to provide examples from the contexts to illustrate or explain the significance of the ideas about how science works.

It is also worth noticing that the AQA specification is not really as long as it looks. Most of the ideas about how science works appear at least twice in the A2 topics so there is considerable repetition. Sections 3.5 and 3.6 of the specification set out concisely the main things that students are expected to know, understand and be able to exemplify.

Science explanations
This is not a course in neuroscience, psychology, earth system science or ecology. Specialist knowledge of advanced science is not required. In this course students are examined on the assumption that they have studied the science in only as much detail as is needed by a well informed member of the public to understand the important issues. In other words, this is a course to prepare lay people to make sense of what scientific experts have to tell them about themselves and their environment.

The science explanations in the A2 course go beyond concepts met in GCSE courses but as in the AS course the emphasis is on understanding broad principles. Section 3.6.2 of the specification sets out the new science to be covered in the A2 topics. This summary is explicit about the extent and depth of knowledge expected. It is important to resist the temptation to read between the lines and add details that might be expected in a specialist science course.

Reference to the specification of the A2 topics shows that some of the AS science explanations should be revisited in the new contexts.

How science works
Ideas about how science works are the core of this course. All the ideas introduced in the AS course are revisited at A2. Students are expected to add depth to their understanding of these ideas. This means that they should become more sophisticated in their analysis of information and in the arguments they put forward to support their opinions.

The summary of the how-science-works ideas in section 3.5 of the specification uses bold type to show that the A2 topics add some additional ideas. These include:

• some more specific statistical concepts (but no requirement to carry out statistical tests)
• dynamic modelling of complex situations
• cost benefit analysis
• international aspects of decision making.

With each of the six topics there is a list of ideas about how science works that can be appropriately introduced or applied in that topic. However ideas about how science works may also be assessed in other contexts within the specification.

Last updated: 3 December 2009