Primary 6 Science

Miss Veronica Poon (HOD-Science)31 January 2020 (Friday)

Duration of Paper - 1 hour 45 min

PSLE EXAM FORMAT – STANDARD SCIENCE

Booklet Item Type Weighting(%)

A Multiple Choice 56

B Open-Ended 44

Duration of Paper- 1 hour 15 min

Booklet Item Type Marks

A Multiple Choice 36

B Structured

Open-Ended

14

20

PSLE EXAM FORMAT – FOUNDATION SCIENCE

Knowledge with Understanding

• Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of scientific facts, concepts and principles.

Application of Knowledge and Process Skills

• Students should be able to apply scientific facts, concepts and principles to new situations.

Assessment Objectives

Handling Open-Ended Questions (OEQ) (including answering techniques)

AREA OF CONCERN/TARGETED AREA

(CER MODEL)

Reasoning Pattern (RP) in answering Science Open-Ended Questions (OEQ)

1) Make a CLAIM or decision to the question

2) Provide EVIDENCE / data /information

3) Give REASONS to support or explain the claim, and this reason should be a scientific concept

(CER MODEL)

Claim: The water level rises.

Evidence: The metal ball occupies space in the water.

Reasoning: Metal ball and water have a definite volume.

On which tray would the piece of ice cube melt faster? Explain your answer. [2]

Claim: The ice cube on the metal tray would melt faster.Evidence:The metal tray will lose heat faster to the ice-cube, causing the ice cube to melt faster.

Reasoning: The metal tray is a better conductor of heat than the wooden tray.

• Look out for Contextual Clues from the question

1. Important to read and study the question stem carefully as it provides clues to answering the question.

2. Encourage your child to highlight the key words/phrases found in the question stem

3. Take note of data provided in the form of graphs, pie-chart or tabulated findings

4. Context of the question is usually authentic & related to real world situations

His mother advised him to cut an opening on the lid to enable the pancake to be less soggy.

Explain how cutting an opening on the lid enables the pancake to be less soggy?[2]

The hole allows the water vapour to escape from the box [½] and therefore lesser water vapour condenses on the inside of the cover [1], reducing the amount of water from dripping onto the pancake [½].

• Avoid providing general statements when answering open-ended questions

Always answer by making reference to the question. This can be done by citing evidence/data from the question.

For e.g. What’s the conclusion of his experiment?

Substance X speeds up the rate of photosynthesis as more oxygen bubbles can be observed in the set-up containing substance X.

• How much information is required from each open-ended question?

1. Marks allocated to the question determines how much to write.

2. Look out for key words such as ‘Explain’, ‘Describe’, ‘State’, ‘List’

3. Avoid ‘over-answering’ as marks will be deducted for every ‘redundant’ and wrong concept.

4. Important to know spelling of key words (especially in labelling-type of questions)

Leonard tied a metal ball to a string and then hang it on a metal bar as shown in the diagram below.

Describe the energy conversion that takes place as the metal ball moves from

Point X to Point Y and then to Point Z. [2]

When ball A is raised, it gains gravitational potential energy, which is

converted to kinetic energy when it is released, thus making it move frompoint X to Y and then to Z.

Leonard tied a metal ball to a string and then hang it on a metal bar as shown in the diagram below.

State the energy conversion that takes place as the metal ball moves from Point X to

Point Y and then to Point Z. [1]

Gravitational PotentialKinetic Gravitational Potential

energy energy energy

Before attending the Science Lessons:

Encourage your child read up on the topic content from the Textbook or Student Learning Space (SLS) Portal

HOW PARENTS CAN PROVIDE SUPPORT AT HOME

After each Science Lesson”

Ensure your child does periodic revision and assessing

their understanding via verbal/written Science Quiz and

Science Spelling

Thank you