GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
standard grade exam – wednesday 21 may 2008
STUDY NOTES
technical department @ turnbull high school
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . .
Your teachers in the Technical Department have put together this
presentation in an attempt to ensure you stand the best chance of reaching
your full potential in the Graphic Communication exam this summer.
The presentation is full of tips regards how to study for the Graphics exam
plus plenty of useful advice which may also come in handy for your other
subjects.
Things to look out for on the disc are :
presentations which describe all the topics you learned in class;
plenty of Past Papers which show you the level you need to achieve;
answers to Past Papers which let you check how well you are doing;
2003 Credit Answers which show how all the drawings were constructed.
You will really do yourself a lot of good if you follow the advice offered
here and, most importantly, put it into practice.
Good Luck.
CONTENTS . . . . . . . .
GENERAL STUDY HINTS
STUDY HINTS FOR GRAPHICS
KNOWLEDGE & INTERPRETATION – what to expect
DRAWING ABILITIES – what to expect
EXAM TECHNIQUE
USEFUL PRESENTATIONS – including Past Papers with answers
GENERAL STUDY HINTS
Past Papers. We have included a
whole series of them – with answers in this CD. These are an excellent
way of working out if you have the
right level of understanding and
familiarising yourself with the layout
of the questions and the structure of
the paper.
Study Timetable. Work out a
realistic amount that you will be
able to devote to your studies, write
up a plan and stick to it with
determination. Only break the plan
if completely unavoidable.
Study little and often. 20-30 minute
blocks repeated regularly over a lot
of weeks are much more successful
than a couple of days solid study
immediately before the exam. A
proven fact !
Use your course notes. Make sure
you have all of the notes that you
used in class. Do not leave any
folders in class which could be used
for revision.
A good study environment. Get rid of
clutter and distractions from the place
where you are going to do your
studying. This will help maintain
your focus.
Remember to relax. You will
actually get more useful revision
done if you make sure you switch
off from it in between times. Make
time for your usual pastimes.
STUDY HINTS FOR GRAPHICS
What are the bankers ? There will
be certain topics which are more
likely to come up than others. You
will get a good impression of which
ones from looking at as many past
papers as you can. Your teacher will
give you some past papers, others
are available commercially. There
are also some very good clues on
this CD.
Get the right equipment. To study
properly and fully, you will need a
basic set of drawing instruments.
These should be relatively easy to
get. If you have any difficulty, speak
to your teacher.
Revision Booklets. You were given
revision booklets near the end of the
course. Everything which could
come up in the exam is in these
booklets. If you get familiar with
them, you will be well prepared.
When and where. Make absolutely
certain you know which two exams
you are sitting – F/G or G/C. The
exam will be held in the Graphics
rooms on Wednesday 21 May. You
will need to confirm with your
teacher what room your exam is. It
might NOT be the one you usually
use for Graphics. Check in advance.
Drawing Speed. You must get your
drawing speed right up in order to
get through all of the drawing
questions. The ONLY way to do this
is to draw, draw, draw. Even if you
have done a drawing before, you
will get benefit from doing it again.
KNOWLEDGE & INTERPRETATION – what to expect
You will be tested on your Knowledge & Interpretation in the Graphics exam by a
series of questions which are a mixture of written and graphic.
Typically, you will be given a symbol and asked what it represents. You may be
shown a graph and asked to take some information from it. You may be shown an
exploded view of a complicated assembly and asked some questions which would
seek to find out if you could follow how the item is assembled.
Here are some of the topics which may be tested in the Knowledge &
Interpretation section ;
Computer hardware / software
Advantages / disadvantages of CAD
Colour Theory
Questions on Line Types
Computer Generated 3D Models
Computer Processes
Graphs & Charts
Signs & Symbols
DRAWING ABILITIES – what to expect
You will be tested on your Drawing Abilities in the Graphics exam by a series of
questions which require you to draw the answer.
Typically, you will be given a partially completed drawing in a specific drawing style.
You will then have to complete the drawing/s as per the question.
Here are some of the topics which may be tested in the Drawing Abilities section ;
Isometrics with circles / curves
Oblique Views
Planometrics
Orthographics
One Point Perspective
Two Point Perspective
Square Pyramids
Cones
Developments
True Shapes
Sectional Views
Assemblies
Exploded Views
EXAM TECHNIQUE
Start with your banker. By the time
you go into the exam you will know
which question/s you are best at and
most confident with. This is the
question you should tackle first. Do
not automatically do question 1 first.
Read the question ! Sounds obvious
but so many people simply scan the
question without fully understanding
what is being asked. TIP – read every
question, figure out what is being
asked then read the question again to
check your initial thoughts were right.
Then start to draw/answer.
Check your answers. If you are
lucky enough to finish with extra
time, use it to the full. Go back over
and read every question again and
see if you have fully answered every
question. Scrape every last mark.
KI first ? Some people prefer to do
all
of
the
Knowledge
&
Interpretation questions first so they
know exactly how much time they
have left to devote to the drawing
questions. What do you think ?
Manage your time. You must make
sure that you have a go at every
question. Avoid getting bogged
down and spending too much time
on any single question. Try to spend
at least 15 minutes on each question.
Structure of the paper – In the last couple of
years, the SQA have set the paper out so that
there are four KI questions followed by five
DA questions. Do you have a preferred order
to tackle them ? Have you studied the past
papers and worked out a plan ?
USEFUL PRESENTATIONS
Behind every orange box on this page is a presentation which you should watch. They will help you in a
couple of ways.
They could be used to confirm that your understanding of a topic is correct.
They could also be used to guide you in the topics which you found difficult in class the first time round. They
are designed as self help. Go through them slowly and if you still don’t get it, go back to your teacher as soon
as possible.
Our Past Paper section (with answers) will also prove to be a great help to you.
CAD
Isometric Intro
CAG
Iso Info
Hardware
Software
Processes
Iso Circles
3D Models
Cylinders & Cones
Oblique Intro
Oblique Projection
Sectional Views
Planometric Intro
Planometric - Method
Exploded Views
Orthographics
Assemblies
Orthographics Introduction
One Point Perspective
Two Point - Intro
Square Pyramids
Signs & Symbols
Examples
Method
Line Types
Graphs & Charts
Click on a square . . .
Colour Theory
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
standard grade – wednesday 25 may 2005
STUDY
FINISHED
NOTES
good luck
technical department @ turnbull high school