Picking the right option and writing a full explanation are different skills. A claim, evidence and reason frame gives a short route from one to the other.
This page supports SPM Science. The Science glossary helps with the question words, and this page focuses on the shape of the written answer.
What does this look like in your words?
You might say: “I score well on objective questions, but my structured marks are low.” Or: “I know the answer is conduction, but I do not know what else to write.” Or: “My answer is one line, and the teacher writes give a reason.”
This happens after a long habit of objective practice. That habit trains you to recognise answers, but the structured paper asks you to write them.
What causes it?
Objective practice gives you the answer in a list, so you never write the fact, the evidence or the link. Three gaps follow.
- You know the reason but never put it into words.
- You read the data but do not quote it in the answer.
- You stop after the first correct idea.
The claim, evidence and reason frame
Use three short sentences.
- Claim: the answer to the question, in a full sentence.
- Evidence: a number or observation from the data.
- Reason: because, then the science idea.
Each sentence is worth about one mark, so the frame fits a three-mark question.
Worked example: two spoons
An original question with a table. A metal spoon and a plastic spoon stand in hot water. After 40 seconds, the top of the metal spoon is 60 °C and the top of the plastic spoon is 25 °C. The water is at 80 °C, and the room is at 25 °C.
The objective version: “Which spoon conducts heat better?” Answer: metal. One word, and no marks for reasoning.
The structured version: “Explain the difference in temperature.”
Claim: the metal spoon conducts heat better than the plastic spoon.
Evidence: the top of the metal spoon reached 60 °C, while the plastic spoon stayed at 25 °C, a difference of 35 °C.
Reason: this is because metals allow heat energy to pass through them quickly, but plastic is a poor conductor.
The frame turned a one-word answer into a three-mark answer.
Turn an option into a sentence
Use any objective question you answered correctly.
- Write the correct option as a full sentence.
- Find one piece of evidence in the question and write it with its number.
- Write because and a reason.
- Write one line for why the best wrong option is wrong.
Do this for three questions a week. Use the claim evidence and explanation revision desk if you want a place to rewrite and compare your answers.
Practical things to try this week
- Rewrite two structured answers that lost marks, using the three sentences.
- Count the marks, then count your points. They should match.
- Always quote a number when the question gives one.
- Record repeated gaps in your mistake log.
For more on writing from data, see writing Science experiment answers from supplied evidence.
When might one-to-one tuition be worth considering?
Self-practice works if you can judge your own answer. The difficulty is that a thin answer looks complete to the person who wrote it, because the missing idea is still in your head.
A teacher can read the answer as a marker does, and show which sentence is missing. If that would help, see online one-to-one Science tuition and mention your form and the topics where structured marks slip.