English Medium Science
A pupil who understands the experiment can still lose the marks in the write-up. Here is the official material, and the English that goes with it.
Official Science courses in English, Grades 6 to 11
The Ministry of Education's e-thaksalawa carries a full English medium branch. Each course holds the Smart Text Book, the Teacher's Instructional Manual and material arranged by competency. Some items open straight away; others ask you to log in with a free account.
| Grade | Science course |
|---|---|
| Grade 6 | Science, Grade 6 |
| Grade 7 | Science, Grade 7 |
| Grade 8 | Science, Grade 8 |
| Grade 9 | Science, Grade 9 |
| Grade 10 | Science, Grade 10 |
| Grade 11 (O/L) | Science, Grade 11 |
Past papers and Teachers' Guides
O/L past papers
The official source. Choose the year and the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination, then take the English medium Science paper.
Grade 11 Science Guide
The Teachers' Guide for Grade 11 Science, in English.
Grade 10 Science Guide
The Teachers' Guide for Grade 10 Science, in English.
What the science question word is telling you to do
Each instruction asks for a different shape of answer. Learn these and a pupil stops writing the wrong kind of answer to a question they actually understood.
| The paper says | It wants | So the answer begins |
|---|---|---|
| State / Name / Write down | One fact. No reason, no sentence needed. | The boiling point is 100 °C. |
| List | Several facts, one after another. Still no reasons. | The three states are solid, liquid and gas. |
| Describe | What happens, in order. Still no reasons. | The water is heated. Bubbles form at the base, then rise ... |
| Explain / Why | The reason. This is where because belongs. | The warm water rises because it is less dense. |
| Compare | Both things in one sentence, with a linking word. | Copper conducts heat well, whereas plastic does not. |
| Define | A complete sentence naming the thing and its key feature. | Density is the mass of one unit of volume of a substance. |
| Give a reason for | One sentence with because. | ...because the gas expands when heated. |
| Draw / Label | A diagram with words on it. No sentence needed. | A ruled diagram, each part named in English. |
| Suggest | A sensible answer using what you know, even if not in the book. | The plant may have received too little light. |
Writing up an experiment
The write-up has the same five parts every time, and each part has its own grammar. The method is written in the passive: nobody's name appears in it.
| Part | What goes in it | The English it uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aim | One sentence saying what you are finding out. | To find out how temperature affects the rate of dissolving. |
| Apparatus | A list. No sentences. | Beaker, thermometer, stopwatch, stirring rod |
| Method | The steps, in order, in the passive and the past tense. | The water was heated to 40 °C. The salt was added and the time was recorded. |
| Observation | What you saw or measured. A table if there are numbers. | The salt dissolved in 25 seconds. |
| Conclusion | What it shows, linked back to the aim. | Therefore the salt dissolves faster at a higher temperature. |
Science words pupils mix up
Pairs to teach together, never apart
Each pair feels the same in conversation and means something different in Science. Put both on the board and make pupils say one sentence with each.
- Mass and weight - how much matter, and the pull of gravity on it
- Heat and temperature - the energy, and how hot something is
- Melt, dissolve and evaporate - three different changes
- Speed and velocity - velocity has a direction
- Transparent, translucent and opaque
- Solute, solvent and solution
- Reflection and refraction - bouncing back, and bending
- Respiration and breathing - the reaction in the cell, and moving air
Diagrams worth labelling in English until it is automatic
Labels are marks, and they are the easiest marks on the paper to practise.
- The human digestive system and the heart
- A plant cell and an animal cell
- The parts of a flower
- A simple electrical circuit, with its symbols
- A ray diagram through a lens or prism
- The apparatus for a common experiment: filtration, distillation
Units, and where marks are lost
A number without a unit is not an answer. Write the unit every time, including in the working.
- Length cm, m, km; mass g, kg; time s, min
- Area cm²; volume cm³; capacity ml, l
- Temperature °C; force N; energy J; power W
- Speed m/s; density g/cm³
More help
The English both subjects need
Sentence shapes, the mistakes that cost marks, and five minutes for teachers.
English Medium Mathematics
The same again for Maths, with word problems.
O/L English
The English paper itself, question type by question type.