Replace Vague Words in PSLE Science Answers
Part 1 of 3 of the PSLE Science OEQ Guide: writing the answer is its own skill, and it is rarely taught. Here are the seven ways marks go missing in Booklet B.
Some everyday words sound like they do the job. "Disappeared." "Gone." "Gets bigger."
Let's see what they actually say.
"The water disappeared" says the water stopped existing. That is not what happened. The water changed into another form and moved somewhere else. None of it was lost.
"The water evaporated" says where it went and how. It turned into water vapour and went into the air.
So this isn't about fancy vocabulary. The everyday word describes the science concept imprecisely. The precise word describes it correctly, and it usually names an idea you already know.
Why the precise word earns the mark
The mark is for showing correct understanding, so the word has to say the thing you actually mean.
A vague word also hides what you know. You may know exactly where the water went, but if you write "disappeared", none of that reaches the page.
Let's see what the vague word leaves out.
When it is only convention
Some exam wording is just habit, with no science behind it. "Fair test" is one — nothing in the science says it must be called that, and "keeping everything else the same" says exactly the same thing.
"Disappeared" isn't one of those. It doesn't fully describe what happened, so it's more than a casual choice of word.
That is all seven. Next time you meet an open-ended question, keep them in mind — the full list is here. Two or three of them are usually doing most of the damage.
Once you can name them, the OEQ study plan turns fixing them into a weekly routine.
If you want to try this on real questions, MCQ.SG marks open-ended questions point by point and gives feedback on every answer.
For more tips on improving your answers—from avoiding common mistakes to using precise science language—explore the complete PSLE Science OEQ Guide.