[Archive] Support and Resources for Medium of Instruction (MOI) Policy

S1 Science ELA Modules

Science Curriculum Unit / Topic

Student Ability Level

Language Objectives

Mode of ELA

Unit 1: Introducing Science

1.

Dos and don’ts: Laboratory safety rules

All

Understand and use the English terms related to laboratory safety rules and use imperative sentences for writing them.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

2.

Using a Bunsen burner

All

Understand and use the English terms related to the major parts of a Bunsen burner in speaking and writing; give oral instructions to classmates to light a Bunsen burner and state the colour of the Bunsen flame when the air hole is open/closed.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

3.

Apparatus and the tortoise game

All

Understand and use the English terms for common scientific apparatus in speaking and writing; use an appropriate action verb to describe the use of an apparatus, and comprehend the instructions and choose the proper apparatus for carrying out science activities and for playing the tortoise game.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 2: Looking at Living Things

4.

Seven characteristics of living things

All

Understand and use the English terms related to the characteristics of living things in speaking and writing; comprehend short written descriptions about the activities of an animal; state the seven common characteristics based on the activities of an animal described in a worksheet, and describe the activities of another animal which displays the common characteristics of living things.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

5.

Observing animals and using keys

Average to High

Understand and use, orally and in writing, the English terms for describing the types, external features, body parts, feeding habits, movements and habitats of selected animals, birds and fish; understand and use the English terms for animal identification; comprehend a simple identification key in English, and explain orally their animal identification.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

6.

Classifying animals

High

Understand and use common English terms for animal classification; read and comprehend three short texts about three kinds of vertebrates, and extract relevant information from the texts to a classification task providing supporting reasons in answering questions about classification.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 3: Cells and Human Reproduction

7.

Using a microscope

All

Understand and use the English terms related to the major parts of a microscope; state the correct way of carrying a microscope from one place to another; state the steps for using a microscope to observe a specimen, and describe the features of an image formed in a microscope.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

8.

The basic structure of a cell

Average

Understand and use the English terms related to the basic structure of a cell; understand and use the English expressions for describing the functions of the different parts of a cell, and complete a gap-fill writing task explaining why a plant cell has a regular shape but an animal cell does not.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching it at at a higher level

Unit 4: Energy

9.

Energy and generating electricity

High

Understand and use the English terms for describing different forms of energy; use an appropriate verb to connect an object to an energy form; describe energy changes in complete sentences using the passive voice; show understanding of energy change by answering questions; understand and use the English terms related to electricity generation in Hong Kong; read and understand an information text on generating electricity; discuss and extract relevant information from the text to complete two concept maps and answer questions using the key terms from the concept maps; understand and use the English terms related to renewable and non-renewable energy sources; read and understand an information text on energy sources; discuss and extract relevant information from the text to complete two concept maps; use the key terms in the concept maps to answer questions related to renewable and non-renewable energy sources.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

10.

Energy

All

Understand and use the English terms related to energy forms and for explaining different forms of energy; discuss examples of objects or activities shown in pictures that involve different forms of energy; understand and use the English terms related to energy changes, follow simple instructions on experiments on energy change and describe the process of energy changes using a sentence pattern beginning "When…; understand and use the English expressions for explaining energy conversion and the English terms related to electricity generation; answer questions concerning electricity generation and global warming.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 5: The Wonderful Solvent – Water

11.

Water purification and water cycle

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to water purification, water treatment and the water cycle; understand and use the English expressions for describing methods of water purification; discuss appropriate methods for separating the components in liquid mixtures; name the substances or treatments that can be used to kill the micro-organisms in water; state the purpose of each type of water treatment, and describe the water cycle in simple English.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

12.

Water purification and dissolving

Average to High

Understand and use the English vocabulary and word formation principles related to water purification methods and dissolving; understand and use the English expressions for discussing appropriate purification methods and their key features; give daily examples of soluble things and insoluble things in English, and understand and use appropriate English expressions for discussing factors affecting the rate of dissolving.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 6: Matter as particles

13.

States of matter and the particle model

All

Understand and use the English terms related to states of matter; name the three states of matter in English with common examples; understand and use appropriate English expressions for describing the macroscopic properties of matter in the three states, changes in states of matter and the particle model for the three states of matter, and understand instructions in English on how to play the ‘Connect-four’ game.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

S2 Science ELA Modules

Science Curriculum Unit / Topic

Student Ability

Level

Language Objectives

Mode of ELA

Unit 7: Living Things and Air

1.

Composition of air and gas properties

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms, expressions and phrases related to air composition, gas properties and water vapour; name the main gases in air; understand and use the comparative terms more than and less than to describe the differences in gas content between breathed and unbreathed air.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

2.

Say goodbye to cigarettes

High

Understand and use the English terms related to smoking; discuss in small groups in English "why a smoke-free environment is so important to the public" after viewing two English video clips, and then report the results of their group discussion to the whole class in English; comprehend an English passage and use the information from it to answer questions, and draw on their prior knowledge to respond to two open-ended prompts in English using the sentence patterns: I would + infinitive and I suggest that somebody + bare infinitive.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

3.

How polluted is our air?

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to air pollution; draw on what they have learned about air pollution to understand a reading passage; answer a set of questions related to the passage using the key ideas from the text, and suggest some ways to reduce the air pollution caused by vehicles.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 8: Making Use of Electricity

4.

Making use of electricity

Low to Average

Understand English terms related to electricity and electric circuits and use them to label a set of pictures and diagrams; understand and use English expressions for explaining the key concepts related to these topics orally and in writing.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 9: Space Travel

5.

Living in space

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to living in space, and understand and use the English expressions for discussing, orally and writing, problems and solutions related to astronauts living in space.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 10: Common Acids and Alkalis

6.

How can you tell an acid from an alkali?

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to acids and alkalis appropriately; state and explain (verbally and in written form) whether a substance is acidic or alkaline based on its pH value; read and understand a passage on the topic, extracting information from it to complete two concept maps, and read out the key terms in the concept maps and answer the related questions verbally.

From re-teaching to Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

7.

Common acids and alkalis

Average to High

Name common household substances in English; understand and use the correct English expressions for discussing the acidity or alkalinity of these substances, and understand and use correct English expressions for asking and answering questions orally related to the acidity and alkalinity of household substances.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

8.

Daily use of neutralization

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to neutralization, and write answers, in complete sentences, demonstrating their understanding after reading a passage about everyday uses of neutralization.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Unit 11: Sensing the Environment

9.

Eye structure

High

Understand and use the English terms related to the topic of eye structure; name in English the main parts of the eye; describe orally and in writing the accommodation of the eye to different degrees of brightness and to different distances of objects from the eye, and understand the instructions for playing the Bingo game.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

10.

Sense organs

Low to Average

Understand and use the English terms related to the topic of the sensory organs, name the main parts of the eye, ear and tongue and describe their functions.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

11.

Ear

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms for describing different parts of the ear; use simple English to describe how the ear works; understand and use the English terms related to the concepts of audible frequency ranges, ultrasound and infrasound, and understand and use orally and in writing the correct English expressions for discussing the key concepts.

Teaching a new topic through the medium of English

S3 Science ELA Modules

Science Curriculum Unit / Topic

Student Ability

Level

Language Objectives

Mode of ELA

Unit 12: Healthy Body

1.

Food substances and balanced diet

Low to Average

Understand and use the English terms and correct English expressions related to the topic of food substances and a balanced diet and use them for discussing key ideas about the topic.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

Other topics

2.

Chemical analysis

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms and expression related to chemical analyses; understand and use them for discussing the key ideas; use the imperative and the passive voice to describe chemical analysis procedures; use an IF clause to state the unknown substances identified from test results, and write a short description to show how to identify calcium carbonate powder.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

3.

Comparison and contrast

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to comparing and contrasting; understand and use correct English expressions for discussing the similarities of and differences between the main types of food substances, and understand and use correct English expressions for discussing the similarities of and differences between red blood cells and white blood cells.

Re-teaching topics originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and using them to practice the linguistic functions of comparison and contrast

4.

Life straw

High

Understand and use the English terms related to the topic of water filtration; comprehend and use the English expressions for discussing the problem of shortage of safe drinking water in developing countries, and understand and use the English expressions for describing the function, structure, and design of a LifeStraw, a portable water purifier.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

5.

Elements, mixtures and compounds

High

Understand and use the English terms related to the topic of elements, mixtures and compounds ; read an English text and use the information from the text to discuss the characteristics of elements, mixtures and compounds; draw on their prior knowledge and suggest in English some physical methods suitable for separating the constituents of a mixture and some chemical methods for decomposing a compound; practise using the sentence pattern: may + infinitive + by + present participle.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

6.

Classification

All

Understand and use English terms related to classification, and understand and use the English expressions for discussing classifications of food substances, matters and plants.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

7.

Heat Pack

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to latent heat and undercooling; understand and use English expressions for explaining how a heat pack works, and understand and use English expressions orally and in writing for discussing the working principles of heat packs.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

8.

Causes and Effect

All

Understand and use the English terms and phrases related to discussing cause-and-effect relationship between some key concepts, and understand and use appropriate English expressions for discussing the cause-and-effect relationship of the key ideas such as food and growth, wavelengths and light.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic

9.

Heat Transfer – Radiation (Physics)

Average to High

Understand and use the English terms related to heat transfer and radiation; understand and use the English expressions for stating the surface properties of good and poor absorbers/radiators of heat; state in English the format of a simple laboratory report, and name correctly in English the apparatus commonly used in studying heat.

Re-teaching a topic originally taught in Chinese through the medium of English and teaching a new aspect of the topic