scholarlab.KS3 Science
Logic Lab route
LOGIC LAB · MODULE 1

Command words

By the end you can: tell what State, Describe, Explain, Suggest, Compare and Evaluate each ask for, and answer to match.

Starting here

The first word of a question is the command word. It tells you what kind of answer earns the marks. Two answers with the same science can score very differently if one does the wrong job.

State wants a short fact. Describe wants what happens, often with data. Explain wants why, joined with "because" or "so". Suggest asks you to use what you know on something you have not seen before. Compare wants both things, side by side. Evaluate wants points for and against, then a judgement.

Underline the command word before you start writing, and check your answer does that job.

Key ideas

  • What? State, Describe
  • Why? Explain (because… so…)
  • New situation? Suggest
  • Two things? Compare (-er than, whereas)
  • Judge? Evaluate (for, against, so overall…)
Six steps rising from left to right: State (give a fact), Describe (say what happens), Explain (say why), Suggest (apply to the new), Compare (both, side by side) and Evaluate (weigh up, judge).More thinking, longer answersStategive a factDescribesay what happensExplainsay whySuggestapply to the newCompareboth, side by sideEvaluateweigh up, judge
Each step up asks for more: a fact, then what happens, then why, then using what you know on something new, then two things side by side, then a judgement backed by evidence.

Worked example

Ice cubes are put on a metal tray and on a plastic tray. The ice on the metal tray melts first. How would you answer each command word?

  1. State. Which tray is the better thermal conductor? The metal tray.
  2. Describe. The ice on the metal tray melts faster than the ice on the plastic tray.
  3. Explain. Metal is a better thermal conductor, so energy is transferred from the room to the ice faster, so it melts first.
  4. Compare. The metal tray conducts energy faster than the plastic tray, so its ice melts sooner, whereas the plastic tray insulates its ice.

Answer: Same science, four different jobs: a fact, what happens, why, and both side by side.

Activities

0 of 4 done

Opens when you finish the stage above.

Now we’ll build those skills by…

…turning facts into because-so chains, upgrading answers that lose marks and planning an evaluation.

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.