Science tip: “The weight of an object is also its mass.” This is really awkward to explain because we use kg to measure both weight and mass. -Weight is the pull of the Earth’s gravity on mass and is dependent on the gravity experienced (so an object will have a different weight on the moon).[…]
Several parents wrote to the Straits Times recently to express their concern about how the Science open-ended questions are structured. Despite the MOE’s good intentions to move towards a more inquiry-based learning, and to cultivate inquisitiveness, it does sometimes seem like the exam format is penalising those who do not memorise and regurgitate model answers.[…]
“The cold travelled from the ice into the drink.” Yes, the drink is cold because of the ice, but for exam purposes, remember that heat only travels from hot to cold, and there is no such thing as “coldness”. While awkward to explain sometimes, it’s best to say that the heat from the drink was[…]
“The white mist coming out from a kettle is called steam.” Remember: this is inaccurate for the PSLE. While most people won’t argue with this in the layman world, it’s not accurate for PSLE. Steam is hot water vapour, that is, water in the gaseous state, and it is invisible. The white mist is formed[…]
Can you guess what these are for? I was teaching my P3/4 students fractions last Saturday and it was easier to illustrate how they work if the children can visualise the concepts. You can use materials found in your home for such experiments too! Every week I try to use different games and such tests[…]
While going through some questions for my students, I find some questions are not very well set. Take this for example. Ans a) is he wants to show that a plant takes up water through its roots. But b) isn’t a good question at all. The model answer is C, by the way. First, kids are[…]
Examination tips Manage your time You have 1hr 45mins for the Science paper. 56% of the marks are in the MCQ and 44% in the open-ended section. This means you have roughly 1min per mark (2 mins per question on the MCQ). The MCQ is the biggest component with 56% of the marks, and with each[…]
Science tip: It’s very important to use and spell keywords correctly! Marks cannot be given for a keyword that isn’t used or spelled incorrectly. Example: Q: Explain why a durian higher up in the tree will fall and land with a louder thud than a durian lower down in the tree. Poor ans: The durian[…]
Science tip: Many schools have workshops for parents of P5 and P6 students. Here are two presentation slides that may be useful. http://www.rivervalepri.moe.edu.sg/wbn/slot/u1724/Dept/Science/P5n6%20Science%20parents%20workshop%202%201.pdf http://www.radinmaspri.moe.edu.sg/wbn/slot/u3201/Presentations/Answering%20Science%20Process%20Skills%20Questions%20(P5%20%26%20P6).pdf
Science tip: For open ended questions, look at the first word of the question. It tells you a lot about what is the expected answer and what you need to do.