Primary Science Olympiad
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coast\" post_id=\"2076311\" time=\"1658903727\" user_id=\"38933:
I think some people last year claiming no limit on number of participants for SPSO (RSO was limited to 5 per school so in some cases everyone went SPSO, only some RSO). I don't know for sure what the case is (with SPSO).
Is it still restricted to 9 participants per primary school?
21 Gold, 41 Silver and 62 Bronze for SPSO 2017.
Thanks for sharing. -
My DS took part in both RSO and SPSO this year. RSO is limited to 5 per school and SPSO has no limits. The school sent invitation to all parents/students for SPSO. However not all schools will choose to send so many. I am of the view that the science teacher of your child should be able to let you know if they are setting any limitations on the participants. I believe this year the SPSO has a higher number of participants this year and the gold medals have increased (my own view).
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How do you prepare for SPSO/RSO?
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Zeal mummy\" post_id=\"2076370\" time=\"1658925284\" user_id=\"58173:[quote=\"Zeal mummy\" post_id=2076370 time=1658925284 user_id=58173]
There are a couple sets of books in Popular you can buy. SPSO also lists the topics online.
How do you prepare for SPSO/RSO?[/quote]
My personal opinion is that the test books or training courses (some run in schools) won't do much by themselves if the student is only ramping up a couple of months before the event. I think there is a better chance if one is reading/exploring science topics on their own beyond the primary school syllabus for a couple of years. I.e. if you have a copy of the lower Sec or O Level Bio/Chem/Physics textbooks just let the kid read those and see what they are interested in / can process.
Some of the questions appear to be very technical in nature. I.e. they are not hard but you need to know the terminology (and maybe relationships/conversions). Others are more concept related and some kids can probably just figure out what is going on when they look at it. -
There are actually training centres for Science Olympiad, however I do not know the effectiveness since we didn’t sign up.
First and foremost, your kid needs to have a keen interest in science and be a logical thinker. The RSO and SPSO, in my kid and my perspective/opinion are very different. The method to study will also be very different. Do note that SPSO this year only consist of theory (1 round) and next year NUSH may bring back the second round of practical to determine medal winners.
The RSO tests on lower secondary science/some questions bordering on O level science, hence if you do not study for it, it will be tough. This year was according to my DS, more physics then chemistry/biology. Calculator is allowed in so be prepared to calculate. I got o level textbooks (some science Teachers recommend lower sci sec guidebook) for my boy to read but I did a simple run through so he understood the concepts, the physics formulas and also used the science Olympiad assessment books from Popular. Those were useful. RSO set by RI really test levels beyond primary level, my view is that they are looking for advanced learners. Btw, prior to the real online exam in school, there is a mock online exam of 10questions while doing the test run in school. The score is immediately generated on the spot and your kid will see the results. That could be a good gauge of your kid’s potential. Saying that, my kid told me the 10 mock questions were more chemistry/bio based and more straight forward. But also note that the real exam will contain general knowledge history questions as well (who was the first black woman on the moon? Etc)
Now for the SPSO. After my boy took it, I am of the view that it is absolutely possible to do well without studying, as long as your kid is a logical thinker and is exposed to some astronomy and read widely. 40 mcq which is over 30 pages long. A lot of comprehension skills involved. They will give you a few long paragraphs and the information is all there for the question and then the options are for u to analyse and make sense of. What the SPSO tests is inference and analytical skills. A lot of graphs.There will be 50% straightforward questions (which is why a lot of kids will walk out and say easy) but there will be tricky questions, this year there was robotics, radioactive decay half-life and binary logic questions. No calculator allowed. Do you need to study these? My kid said no, why? Information all in the question, u just need to visualise and figure it out. He did spend 15min on one question (robotics) because he didn’t understand it, but eventually got the answer by using logical inference (cross checked with his friend whom studied robotics). So my view that SPSO is looking for logic, analytical and able to think out of box folks.
Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope it will help those who will be taking the Olympiads next year. It’s been interesting for me as a parent to go through these 2 Olympiads and some understanding of the difference between what the schools are looking for. All the best! -
Mewowo\" post_id=\"2076389\" time=\"1658930565\" user_id=\"54276:
Thank you. Much better than my attempt above :rotflmao:
There are actually training centres for Science Olympiad, however I do not know the effectiveness since we didn’t sign up.
First and foremost, your kid needs to have a keen interest in science and be a logical thinker. The RSO and SPSO, in my kid and my perspective/opinion are very different. The method to study will also be very different. Do note that SPSO this year only consist of theory (1 round) and next year NUSH may bring back the second round of practical to determine medal winners.
The RSO tests on lower secondary science/some questions bordering on O level science, hence if you do not study for it, it will be tough. This year was according to my DS, more physics then chemistry/biology. Calculator is allowed in so be prepared to calculate. I got o level textbooks (some science Teachers recommend lower sci sec guidebook) for my boy to read but I did a simple run through so he understood the concepts, the physics formulas and also used the science Olympiad assessment books from Popular. Those were useful. RSO set by RI really test levels beyond primary level, my view is that they are looking for advanced learners. Btw, prior to the real online exam in school, there is a mock online exam of 10questions while doing the test run in school. The score is immediately generated on the spot and your kid will see the results. That could be a good gauge of your kid’s potential. Saying that, my kid told me the 10 mock questions were more chemistry/bio based and more straight forward. But also note that the real exam will contain general knowledge history questions as well (who was the first black woman on the moon? Etc)
Now for the SPSO. After my boy took it, I am of the view that it is absolutely possible to do well without studying, as long as your kid is a logical thinker and is exposed to some astronomy and read widely. 40 mcq which is over 30 pages long. A lot of comprehension skills involved. They will give you a few long paragraphs and the information is all there for the question and then the options are for u to analyse and make sense of. What the SPSO tests is inference and analytical skills. A lot of graphs.There will be 50% straightforward questions (which is why a lot of kids will walk out and say easy) but there will be tricky questions, this year there was robotics, radioactive decay half-life and binary logic questions. No calculator allowed. Do you need to study these? My kid said no, why? Information all in the question, u just need to visualise and figure it out. He did spend 15min on one question (robotics) because he didn’t understand it, but eventually got the answer by using logical inference (cross checked with his friend whom studied robotics). So my view that SPSO is looking for logic, analytical and able to think out of box folks.
Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope it will help those who will be taking the Olympiads next year. It’s been interesting for me as a parent to go through these 2 Olympiads and some understanding of the difference between what the schools are looking for. All the best! -
Parents, I am wondering does this SPSO award helps in DSA application to NUSH?
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Parents, I am wondering does this SPSO award helps in DSA application to NUSH?
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Shirley98\" post_id=\"2076882\" time=\"1659186822\" user_id=\"124780:
The no. 1 FAQ in SPSO website
Parents, I am wondering does this SPSO award helps in DSA application to NUSH?
1. Is SPSO related to Direct School Admissions?
It is not related to the Direct School Admissions Exercise. However, participants who show outstanding performance will be taken note of.
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Wondering how many SPSO Golds this year since now it is open to all P5 students without any limit per school. So should be same as NMOS Golds? If that’s the case, then an SPSO Gold might not hold the same weight as earlier in DSA.
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