I wrote down the subject matter of each MCQ and painstakingly counted the number of students who got each question correct.

• Understanding the relationship between the length of a shadow and the distance between the torchlight and the object (7)
• Forces acting on a steel bar as it was pushed up a ramp (7)
• Adaptations – birds (8)
• Characteristics of forces (8)
• Properties of magnets (8)
• Life cycle of a plant – seed dispersal (9)
• Conductors and non-conductors of electricity (9)
• Life cycle of an animal (10)
• Interpreting graphs (10)
• Properties of iron, steel, wood and rubber (10)
• Difference between water and water vapour (10)
• Conditions for lighting up a bulb (10)
• Properties of plasticine (10)
• Property of a fishing net (12)
• Air expands when heated (13)
• Outer covering of mammals (16)
• Movement of water in plants (16)
• Fair test – plants (17)
• Human activities that have a positive impact on the environment (19)
• Organs of the respiratory system (21)

I decided to zero in on magnets because I can link it to magnetic personality. I like to kill two birds with one stone, so if I can write something that enables students to revise the salient points from both English and Science, I will feel rather fulfilled. Here goes nothing:

Ever since you started studying Science, you have learnt the cardinal rules of magnetism: a magnet has two ends called the North Pole and the South pole. That like poles repel and unlike poles attract. This means that North pole of one magnet pushes away the North pole of another magnet, but attracts its South Pole.

The notion of magnetism is also relevant in everyday life. When you have a magnetic personality, we mean that people are naturally drawn to your behaviour and mannerisms. You pull them in like bees to honey, and they are attracted to your irrepressible idiosyncrasies and quirks. But, unlike a magnet, whose pulling power is always strongest at its poles., you are a unique blend of delightful qualities, so people cannot articulate exactly just what about you resonates with them!