Command words
By the end you can: tell what State, Describe, Explain, Suggest, Compare, Calculate and Evaluate ask for, and answer to match.
Starting here
The command word tells you the job. Same science, different job, different marks.
State: a fact. Describe: what happens, often with numbers. Explain: why. Suggest: use what you know on something new. Compare: both things in one sentence. Calculate: show working, give a unit. Evaluate: for, against, then a judgement.
Key ideas
- Underline the command word first
- Describe = what. Explain = why
- Compare needs -er than or whereas
- Evaluate must end with a judgement
Worked example
Amylase digests starch faster at 40 °C than at 20 °C. One context, four command words:
- State. Name the product of starch digestion by amylase: maltose.
- Describe. The starch is digested in less time at 40 °C than at 20 °C.
- Explain. At 40 °C the enzyme and substrate molecules move faster, so they collide more often, so more enzyme-substrate complexes form each second.
- Compare. Digestion at 40 °C is faster than at 20 °C, whereas at 70 °C it stops because the enzyme is denatured.
Answer: Four jobs: a fact, what happens, why, and two things side by side.
Activities
0 of 4 done
Opens when you finish the stage above.
Now we’ll build those skills by…
…answering the same context with different command words, and fixing answers that do the wrong job.
Opens when you finish the stage above.
Check
6 questions. One try each: get 5 right to complete the module.
Opens when you finish the stage above.