# H13. uses terminology reporting styles appropriately and successfully to communicate information and understanding (Chemistry)

 BikiCrumbs: H13. uses term…ing (Chemistry)

## 13.1 present information by:

#### a) selecting and using appropriate text types or combinations thereof, for oral and written presentations

Written presentations in Chemistry use the report text type. As such a physics paper or report should contain features such as an abstract, body and references. If the paper or report is presenting information on an experiment, then features such as procedure, results, conclusion, etc. should be present. Appendices may also be used to present information, especially the raw data collected, that may be not be necessary to understand the report or the data may be too long and too great.

Oral presentations, such as seminars, lectures or talks, may also contain visuals such as a slide show that accompanies the talk. This allows people listening to also see any visuals such as graphs that are related to what the speaker is talking about.

#### b) selecting and using appropriate media to present data and information

Information can be presented though conferences, magazine articles, journal publications, newspapers, online articles, published reports, etc.

#### c) selecting and using appropriate methods to acknowledge sources of information

When writing a report it is important to acknowledge sources of information. This is done in the references/bibliography section. There are many conventions on how to acknowledge a source, one method is shown below.

Yang, Y., (2003) “Dimensions of Socio-economic Status and Their Relationship to Mathematics and Science Achievement at Individual and Collective Levels”, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 47, 1, 21-41

#### d) using symbols and formulae to express relationships and using appropriate units for physical quantities

This involves using formula and equations to represent relationships among variables. See H12.4 (b) and H11.1 (d).

#### e) using a variety of pictorial representations to show relationships and present information clearly and succinctly

This involves using graphs and illustrations to represent relationships among variables, without any ambiguity.

#### f) selecting and drawing appropriate graphs to convey information and relationships clearly and accurately

Different types of graphs are used for different purposes. Some of the different types of graphs are shown below. The scatter graph is the most common graph type in physics.

Some key things to remember when drawing graphs include: (they frequently ask you to draw graphs in the exam and these are some of the things that you are assessed on)

• Always place the independent variable on the horizontal axis (x) and the dependent variable on the vertical axis (y).

• Mark each axis with the quantity that is being changed/measured and include the units.

• The axis should be labelled with a scale. This scale should be linear.

• Points from the data should be represented on the graph as dots. You should also join these dots.

• You should also draw either a line or curve of best fit (line is the safest option in the exam). Even if the question did not ask for a trend line1. Outliers should be ignored in the line of best fit.

• Depending upon what the data you are collecting is, the graph usually passes though the origin (0,0).

#### g) identifying situations where use of a curve of best fit is appropriate to present graphical information

Depending upon what data you are representing and what the point you have collected look like sometimes a curve of best fit is needed rather than a line of best fit. Some common types of regression are listed below.

 Type Equation Linear y = mx + b Exponential y = Aex Power y = xn Sine/Cosine $y = a \sin \left ( nx + \alpha \right )$ Polynomial $y=Ax^n + Bx^{n-1} + \cdots$

1 2006 Chemistry HSC Exam + Marking Guidelines, Question 25 (a); 2005 Chemistry HSC Exam + Marking Guidelines, Question 22 (a); 2003 Chemistry HSC Exam + Marking Guidelines, Question 28 (a)