SPM Science Content Domains: Integrated Concepts and Scientific Skills
This domain covers the integrated science content that SPM Science assesses: scientific investigation; cells and human systems; nutrition and transport; respiration and excretion; reproduction and heredity; ecosystems; matter and chemical reactions; force, motion and energy; electricity and magnetism; waves and light; and Earth and space. Questions usually combine recall with application, so you must name the process, choose the correct relationship, and justify it with evidence from the data given.
Core rules and concepts
- Scientific investigation: identify the manipulated variable, responding variable, and fixed variables; write a hypothesis as a testable relationship; use repeated readings and calculate means; distinguish accuracy from precision.
- Biology: relate structure to function-alveoli have thin, moist walls and large surface area; villi increase absorption; root hair cells increase water uptake. Keep photosynthesis (chloroplasts, light, carbon dioxide + water → glucose + oxygen) separate from respiration (mitochondria, glucose + oxygen → energy + carbon dioxide + water).
- Chemistry: use particle ideas to explain diffusion, pressure, and state changes; balance equations; use the reactivity series and pH; calculate concentration or density with consistent units.
- Physics: use F = ma, W = mg, density = mass/volume, speed = distance/time, and electrical power = VI; energy is conserved but transfers may be inefficient. Draw ray diagrams and circuit diagrams with correct symbols.
- Earth and space: link day/night, seasons, phases, and eclipses to relative positions and rotation/revolution.
Worked example
A stone of mass 240 g is lowered into a measuring cylinder. The water level rises from 50 cm³ to 130 cm³. Find its density and predict whether it floats in water. Reasoning: volume of stone = 130 − 50 = 80 cm³. Density = mass ÷ volume = 240 g ÷ 80 cm³ = 3.0 g/cm³. Since 3.0 g/cm³ is greater than water’s 1.0 g/cm³, the stone sinks. Marks are for the subtraction, the formula, the unit, and the comparison-not just the number.
Traps that cost marks
Do not write “amount of water” when you mean volume; do not confuse mass with weight; do not omit units; do not describe respiration as breathing; do not state a conclusion without linking it to the data; and do not change more than one variable in an experiment.