SPM Biology Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Biology

February 6, 2010

Is your impression of biology limited to the dissection of frogs? It seemed like every Hollywood movie depicts biology lessons as one which involves dissection of frogs and mice. Well, it is not entirely wrong, but it does not show the whole picture. Biology encompasses more than that and it focuses on the natural science with regards to the study of life and living organism. So, for new SPM biology students in Form 4, Berry Berry Easy would like to share with you some teasers on the subject of biology.




SPM Biology Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Biology

Biology and Its Importance

Biology - earlier study as Botany (study of plant) and Zoology (study of animals) but now Modern Biology has many fields such as Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology and Bacteriology.

Biology - the scientific study of life.

It’s Importance:

1. Education.
2. Knowledge
3. Control
4. Research
5. Economy
6. Quality of life
7. Diseases
8. Problem solving
9. Careers

Scientific Investigation

The following are steps involved in a scientific investigation:

1. Define the problem
2. Form a hypothesis
3. Plan the investigation
4. Control the variables
5. Collect the data
6. Analyse the data
7. Interpret the data
8. Make a conclusion
9. Write a report

Berry Berry Teacher would like to recommend young berries to follow these rules in writing their report:

1. Aim / Objective
2. Statement of problem (must be in the form of question)
3. Hypothesis
4. Variables (Manipulated, Responding and Fixed)
5. Materials
6. Apparatus
7. Technique
8. Procedure / Method of the experiment
9. Results / Record of data
10. Discussion / Presentation of data
11. Conclusion (accept of not accept the hypothesis)

So there you go, a teaser on biology. Now, does that make you wanting for more? Biology is really a genuinely fun and interesting subject, once you appreciate the beauty of life. Check back for more notes on the subsequent topics of SPM biology.

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Top 20 Schools in Malaysia – January 2010

February 4, 2010

The top schools in Malaysia has been announced. For those who missed out on the news report, Berry Berry Easy would inform all Berry Readers on the schools that made it to the top. Based on the NST report (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20100125173928/Article/index_html) on the 25th of January 2010, there were 14 secondary schools and 6 primary schools which made the list.

So parents who have kids who might enter primary schools might want to take note of the primary school list. Students who will be entering secondary school or Form 4 might want to take note on the secondary school list. It is expected that the number of high performance schools (SBT) will be increased to 30 in 2011 and 50 in 2012. (Keep watching Berry Berry Easy for updated list when they appear, bookmark us in the meantime)

List of High Performance School (SBT) in Malaysia – Year 2010

(Effectively the Best/Top 20 Schools in Malaysia)

* SMS – Sekolah Menengah Sains, SMK – Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, SK – Sekolah Kebangsaan

Berry Berry Easy will attempt to explain the difference between a SBT classified school and other schools in an upcoming post.

If there are any Berry Readers who come from any of these school, please share with us your feelings on the announcement and tell us what it is like studying in those schools. All stories are welcomed.

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A+ Replacing 1A in SPM Examination as the Best Grade

January 31, 2010

Recently the Berry Berry Teacher had the privilige of bumping into my students who had completed their SPM in 2009, with results to be announced in 2010. One stark notice is their parting words in our short encounters, “I hope to score X 1As” (with X being a number they think they are capable of). Nothing wrong with aiming for the best, only that the grading has been changed.

The great majority of all of you students should have an idea of this (announcement was made in October 2009), but just for your information, A+ has replaced 1A as the highest grade in the SPM examinations as the highest possible grade obtainable. So don’t go hoping for 1As, its time to hope and pray for many A+ instead.

One great difference is in the number of bands/grades available in the new grading system. In the old system, we had nine grades, with 1A being the highest and 9G the lowest. The latest system has ten grades for classification of results, with A+ being the best and G being the worse. Even the elusive A grades, is now divided into three classification, being A+, A and A-.

New SPM Grading System (for SPM 2009 Results onwards)

Tune in for more results related-post as we countdown to the announcement of SPM 2009 results in 2010.

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SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: The Structure of the Atom

January 30, 2010

Among the most basic knowledge in chemistry would be understanding the structure of atom. The understanding of terms and concepts of all the important keywords and key phrases would be crucial in gaining further knowledge in chemistry. Fortunately, the structure of atoms has been simplified for SPM Form 4 students to make it less abstract and more intuitive for students to understand them. It will also be helpful to start to memorise the periodic table for now. (If there as anything that you should memorise, it should be the periodic table. As it could save you more time in the long run) Nonetheless, Berry Berry Teacher hopes that everybody try to understand at minimum the following concepts as terminology before moving on to other topics.

SPM Form 4 – Terminology and Concepts: The Structure of the Atom

Important Terms

Matter – anything that occupies space and has mass.

Compound – a substance consists two or more elements that are chemically bonded (molecule or ions).

Element – a substance that cannot be made into anything simpler by chemical reaction.

Atom – smallest particle of an element.

Molecule – a group of two or more atoms.

Ion – a positively charged / negatively charged particle.

Cations – positively-charge ions. Example: H⁺, K⁺, NH₄⁺ and Mg²⁺

Anions – negatively-charge ions. Example: Br^-, OH^-, O^2- and S₂O₃^2-

Velocity of the particle ­ increases when

• Temperature ­increases
• Kinetic energy ­increases

Diffusion – movement of particles from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration.

Changes in the States of Matter

1. Freezing / Solidification – solid -> liquid
2. Melting – liquid -> solid
3. Evaporation – liquid -> gas / vapour
4. Condensation – gas / vapour -> liquid
5. Sublimation – gas / vapour -> solid
6. Sublimation – solid -> gas / vapour

(Sublimation – iodine, ammonium chloride and solid carbon dioxide)

Important Scientist and Their Contributions

Berry Berry Teacher thinks that it will be good if students can link the contribution of each great scientists to their findings. This will allow a chronological understanding of the discoveries (for easier understanding) and to appreciate the work of these fine scientist.

John Dalton (1808) – atomic theory

1. Atoms – small indivisible particles.
2. Atoms – neither created nor destroyed.
3. Atoms – an element are alike.
4. Atoms – it combine in simple ratio.
5. Atoms – chemical reactions result from combination / separation of atoms.

J. J. Thomson (1897)

1. Electrons – negatively-charged particles.
2. Atoms – positively-charged sphere.

Ernest Rutherford (1911)

1. Atoms – consists of a positively-charged nucleus with a cloud of electrons surrounding nucleus.
2. Protons – positively-charged particles.

Niels Bohr (1913)

1. Electrons – surrounding the nucleus (orbit).

James Cadwick (1932)

1. Neutrons – electrically neutral subatomic particles.
2. Neutrons – mass almost the same with a proton.
3. Nucleus of an atom – consists of protons and neutrons.

Concepts of the Atomic Model

Modern Atomic Model

1. Nucleus of an atom – consists of protons and neutrons.
2. Electrons – moving around the nucleus (orbits / electron shells/ quantum shells)

Proton number / Atomic number / Number of protons

1. Number of protons in its atom.
2. Number of electrons (neutral atom).

Nucleon number / Mass number / Number of nucleon

1. Sum of the number protons and neutrons.

Isotopes – atoms of the same element with same proton number but different nucleon numbers.

(Further clarification on isotopes as there are still students who are confused with this concept – Isotopes for any elements simply means that it is another element with the same number of proton and electron but different number of neutrons. It is important to note that the atomic number of isotopes are the same, although the mass number is different. If you can understand this concept, you should be okay)

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Berry Berry SPM Chemistry Booklist

January 29, 2010

Attention to all Form 4 SPM Chemistry students. If you have not purchase any revision books, maybe this is a good time to be considering them. However, the million dollar question remains, “Which books should I buy?”. Fret not, because Berry Berry Teacher will be announcing the list of few important and useful books for SPM Chemistry. For Form 5 students who felt that the revision books that they have do not match their studying style, you may also opt for the following books from the recommended booklist.

Berry Berry Good (BBG) SPM Chemistry Books (For Form 4 and Form 5 Malaysian SPM students)

1) Spotlight SPM Chemistry (2009). Ooi Yong Seang & Darric Lim. Pan Asia Publication Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

Berry Berry Teacher highly recommends Spotlight SPM Chemistry. This is a BBG book that young berries must get! This book compiles most of the important notes and key points for its readers. The value-added stuff would be the super concise notes that are provided in the first few pages. Berry berry useful for revision. This BBG book is a newly-printed book and Mr Ooi, the author, is a GC (Guru Cemerlang) teacher. Besides that, it has cute icons too!

2) Focus Super (2008). Eng Nguan Hong, Lim Eng Wah & Lim Yean Ching. Penerbitan Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

This book consists most of the discussions that are stated in the Chemistry textbook. It is written by the author of the textbook. So if young berries want to find the correct answer for the textbook, you may find it here in this book!

3) Memory Mastery through Mind Maps and Diagrams Chemistry SPM (2007). Hafiz Ahmad & Lim Chia Nee. PNI Neuron (M) Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

This is the only full-coloured mind map SPM reference book. Berry Berry Teacher likes this book berry berry much! This book will help young berries to understand Chemistrys concept in a berry berry easy way! If you are a person that likes mind maps (diagram-based), this is the book that Berry Berry Teacher would recommend you to try out. Try to check it out in your school library or get it from your senior if you cannot find it.

4)  Longman Essential Chemistry SPM (2009). Yeap Tok Kheng. Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia. / Longman Essential Chemistry Form 4 (2009). Yeap Tok Kheng. Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia. / Longman Essential Chemistry Form 5 (2009). Yeap Tok Kheng. Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

Berry Berry Teacher would like to recommend you this series of Longman reference books if you prefer bilingual (English and Malay language) text. This is the only publisher that still prints bilingual reference books. It is written by the textbook author with the latest syllabus.

5) Success Chemistry SPM (2009). Tan Yin Toon, Loh Wai Leng & Tan On Tin. Oxford Fajar. Selangor. Malaysia.

The specialty of this book is in its ‘pocket notes’. Unlike Spotlight and Focus Super, these pockets notes have already been cut in the form of ‘handy notes’ that young berries would easily bring along anywhere they go. Besides that, this book also provide a full SPM Model Test paper for young berries to revise before the SPM paper.

[Disclaimer: Berry Berry Easy is not affiliated to any of the publishing house. This is purely a recommendation from Berry Berry Teacher]

If there are any ex-STPM students wish to donate their books to Berry Berry Teacher or Berry Readers, please do so. We are sure that other students can benefit from it. A good deed goes a long way.

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List of Form 6 Schools in the Johor Bahru District (2010)

January 26, 2010

For Berry Readers who are in or will be studying Form 6 STPM in Johor Bahru, this post might be of interest to you. Some students have wrote in to request for the list Form 6 schools in Johor Bahru. So the list of science stream and art stream form 6 schools are as follow:

List of Form 6 Schools in Johor Bahru District

Science Stream

1. Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar
2. SMK Sultan Ismail
3. SMK(P) Sultan Ibrahim
4. SMK Dato Jaafar
5. SMK Tasek Utara
6. SM Teknik Johor Bahru

Art Stream

1. Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar
2. SMK Sultan Ismail
3. SMK(P) Sultan Ibrahim
4. SMK Dato Jaafar
5. SMK Aminuddin Baki
6. SMK Tasek Utara
7. SMK Mutiara Rini
8. SMK Skudai
9. SMK Gelang Patah

If there are any discrepancy in the information published, please feel free to report to Berry Berry Easy or just drop us a comment, so that we can make the appropriate changes. If any other teachers which to compile a list of schools for their district, they can also do so and publish it via Berry Berry Easy. (Information is believed to be accurate as of 26 January 2010)

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SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Chemistry

January 21, 2010

For those taking science stream in Form 4, Chemsitry will be a new subject that are most likely within your subject combination choices. It might seemed difficult in the beginning. You might even hear stories from seniors about how chemistry gives you sleepless nights. Or stories of exploding chemicals. Don’t fret, chemistry is not all too bad if everybody is attentive to their teachers and observe lab safety regulations. Berry Berry Easy would like to share with all Berry Readers the introduction to chemistry. Berry Berry Teacher has decided to make it very short so that students do not feel overwhelmed by new things. If you can fully understand what is written below, then you are cut out to do chemistry.

SPM Form 4 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Introduction to Chemistry

Chemistry and Its Importance

Chemistry – earlier study of alchemy (an art of transforming common metals to precious metals, usually lead to gold but to no success) (alchemy has since been proven to be a wrong and currently dead branch of science)

Chemistry – is the study of the composition, structure, properties and interactions of matter.

Founder of Modern Chemistry (try and read up on the history of these two great men)

1. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) – performed controlled experiments and published his work with elaborate details such as procedure, apparatus and observations.
2. Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) – developed the Law of Conservation of Mass and the theory of combustion.

Scientific Method

1. Making Observation
2. Making Inference (smart guess)
3. Identifying the Problem
4. Making a Hypothesis
5. Identifying the Variables
6. Controlling the Variables
7. Planning an Experiment
8. Collecting Data
9. Interpreting Data
10. Making a Conclusion
11. Writing a Report

If you observe all 11 steps, you will be a young scientist in the making. Try to enjoy the process of learning chemistry. Berry Berry Important subject if you intend to further your career in the field of engineering.

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STPM Chemistry Form 6 Notes- Terminology and Concepts: Reaction Kinetics

January 21, 2010

The following terminologies and concepts are pertinent in the understanding of the topic “Reaction Kinetics” in STPM Form 6. The concepts are rather straight-forward. Berry Berry Teacher believes that students should have minimal problems with mastering the basics of the topic if they can understand the following terminologies and concepts below.  Try to understand this first, before moving on to the harder aspect of the topic, namely the “graphs”. More will be posted on interpreting and understanding graphs related to this topic. So for now, try to understand this.

STPM Form 6 – Terminology and Concepts: Reaction Kinetics

Rate of reaction is the change of concentration of a reactant or a product per unit time (seconds / minutes).

Rate of reaction = rate of increase of the concentration or amount of the product / Rate of reaction = rate of decrease of the concentration or amount of the reactant.

Average rate is the change in concentration of a substance (reactant or product) over a fixed time interval.

Instantaneous rate is the rate of the reaction at a specific time (the steeper the slope, the higher the instantaneous rate).

Tangent is zero, the rate is zero / reaction has stopped.

Rate Equation or Rate Law is the rate of a reaction which is affected by the reactants concentration.

Rate = k [reactant]ⁿ ,           k is rate constant

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Terminology and Concepts: Rate of Reaction

January 17, 2010

Berry Berry Easy wishes to present all Form 5 SPM Chemistry student with some Berry Essence notes (only the most important concepts are given here) which all students should understand before they can declare themselves as understanding the topic of “Rate of Reaction”.

Try to learn by visualising (using a 3D object inside your head) the effects of the different factors on reaction rates. By visualising it in 3D inside your head, you don’t have to memorise anything, it will come naturally in exams when you need to write all the factors affecting reaction rates. Try also to visual two molecules colliding into each other to grasp the concept of collisions. Visualising is the key to understanding this topic, rather than plain memorisation.

SPM Form 5 – Terminology and Concepts: Rate of Reaction

Chemical reaction can be observed by

1. Volume of gas liberated (Laboratory Work 1.2, Experiment 1.1)
2. Pressure changes
3. Precipitate formation (Experiment 1.2)
4. Change in the concentration of a liquid reactant
5. Change in the pH value
6. Change in mass during the reaction
7. Colour changes / Change on the colour of intensity
8. Temperature changes (Experiment 1.3)

Rate of reaction is the measurement of the speed which reactants are converted into products in a chemical reaction.

Average rate of reaction is the average value of the rate of reaction over an interval of time.

Instantaneous rate of reaction / Rate of reaction at a given time are the actual rate of reaction at that instant.

Factors Affecting the Rate of Reaction

1. Total surface area of solid reactant
2. Concentration of reactant
3. Temperature of reactant
4. Use of catalyst
5. Pressure of gaseous reactant

Effect of total surface area of solid reactant on the rate of reaction

1. Smaller the size (increase the total surface area), cm³, of the solid reactant, the higher the rate of reaction, cm³ s^-1 or cm³ min^-1.

Effect of concentration of a liquid reactant on the rate of reaction

1. Higher the concentration, mol dm^-3, of a liquid reactant, the higher the rate of reaction, mol dm^-3 s^-1 or mol dm^-3 min^-1.

Effect of temperature on the rate of reaction

1. Increase in temperature, the higher the rate of reaction.

Effect of catalyst on the rate of reaction

1. Alters the rate of reaction
2. It is specific in its action. It can only catalyse a particular reaction
3. Does not change the quantity of products formed
4. Only small amount of catalyst is needed to increases the rate of reaction. (An increase in the quantity of catalyst will increase the rate of reaction but only a very slight increase.)
5. Catalyst remains chemically unchanged but may undergo physical changes.

Effect of pressure on the rate of reaction

1. Increase in pressure, the higher the rate of reaction (reversible reaction and gaseous reactants and gaseous product).

Collision Theory and Activation Energy

Collision theory states a reaction occur when the particle of the reactant collide with each other with the correct orientation and achieve activation energy.

Effective collision is the particles collide with the correct orientation and achieve activation energy which result in a reaction.

Ineffective collision is the particles that collide with energy less than activation energy or wrong orientation.

Activation energy, E_a, is the minimum kinetic energy that colliding particles of the reactants must possess. It can be visualised by energy profile diagram.

Keywords: frequency of the collision; frequency of effective collision, rate of reaction

Common Mistakes (SPM Form 5 – Rate of Reaction)

• Never use word: ‘faster the rate of reaction’ or ‘ slower the rate of reaction’. (use word such as ‘ increases’, ‘decreases’, ‘ higher’ or ‘lower’.
• Average rate of reaction is berry different from instantaneous rate of reaction. (Instantaneous can be determined by drawing a tangent on the graph’s curve).
• Time reading: 1 decimal point. (It also depends on the measurement apparatus either a normal stopwatch or digital stopwatch) Example: 21.0 seconds and 45.5 seconds.
• Measuring cylinder reading: 1 decimal point. Example: 5.0 cm³ and 4.5 cm³.
• Burette reading: 2 decimal points. Example: 50.00 cm³ and 45.25 cm³.
• Pipette reading: 1 decimal point: Example: 25.0 cm³ and 10.0 cm³.

Important Tips – SPM – Rate of Reaction

Rate of Reaction will be Berry Important Topic (BIT) for the Paper 2 (essay) and Paper 3 that young berries could not skip as one of your revision routine. Do take notes on the graphs and these few experiments that listed below.

Experiment 1.1 Effect of surface area on the rate of reaction.

Experiment 1.2 Effect of concentration on the rate of reaction.

Experiment 1.3 Effect of temperature on the rate of reaction.

Experiment 1.5: Effect of the amount of catalyst on the rate of reaction.

Activity: Factors affecting the rate of reaction.

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Berry Berry Organic and Inorganic Chemistry Booklist Form 6

January 17, 2010

This is part 2 of the recommended important books for STPM Chemistry Form 6. The following books are equally good as those recommended previously, but for organic and inorganic chemistry. This set of books are a mix of new and out-of-print books. (For those that are out of print, you can probably find them in libraries or from seniors) So go hunt for the recommended books.

Berry Berry Teacher will like to share with you all some recommended book (not necessarily exercise books) which should be made mandatory reading for all STPM Chemistry students.

Berry Berry Good (BBG) STPM Organic and Inorganic Chemistry books

1) Organic Chemistry for STPM (2005). Tan Yin Toon. Penerbitan Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

This is another Berry Berry Good (BBG) Chemistry STPM book that young berries must have in the collection. Same like the Physical Chemistry for STPM, it is out of print and young berries cannot get it in the bookstore. In this book, everything is explained and a lot of exercises can be obtained from this! I love the Appendices for ‘Chemical Tests’ and ‘Routes for the Synthesis of Chemical Compounds’. This is of utmost useful for STPM berries and you cannot find it in other STPM reference books!

2) Ace Ahead Chemistry Volume 2 (2009). Tan Yin Toon, Loh Wai Leng, Kathirasan Muniandy, S. Sumitha, Lim Ming Hui & Ho Sook Chee. Oxford Fajar. Selangor. Malaysia.

The latest Oxford Fajar Chemistry STPM book! Came out very recently (Oct 2009). A long awaited book after Tan’s Organic Chemistry for STPM. It combined Inorganic and Organic in one book so young berries can save money in books too. Berry Berry Easy to understand and everything is in ‘point form’.

3) Organic Chemistry for STPM (2004). Kho Chin He, Siti Asiah A. Junan & John McMurry. Thomson Learning. Singapore.

Another out of print book. I love the organic chemistry diagrams! Berry Colourful and it is the only full coloured STPM reference book that young berries could get! Berry Useful book as extra referencing. (Unfortunately, there is no Inorganic reference book in this Thomson series)

4a) Pre-U Text STPM Inorganic Chemistry (2009). Lim You Sie and Yip Kim Hong. Longman. Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

4b) Pre-U Text STPM Organic Chemistry (2009). Ho Hon Yoon. Longman. Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Selangor. Malaysia.

Both of the books are berry berry easy to read and understand. And they come with complementary CD for the 1999 – 2004 STPM Papers.  But they are separate books, so young berries need to have more capital in the book investment.

[Disclaimer: Berry Berry Easy is not affiliated to any of the publishing house. This is purely a recommendation from Berry Berry Teacher]

Once again, if any ex-STPM students wish to donate their books to Berry Berry Teacher or Berry Readers, please do so. We are sure that other students can benefit from it. A good deed goes a long way.

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