Question 1

The diagram below shows some books. Which one of the following is a characteristic of the books above?

Accepted Answer

B. It does not reproduce.. Books are non-living objects. They cannot reproduce, which is a key characteristic distinguishing them from living things.

Question 2

Amy observed her pet hamsters for 9 days and recorded her observations in the table below. Which of the following characteristics of living things did she observe?

Accepted Answer

B. Living things reproduce.. The number of hamsters increased from 3 on Day 1 to 7 on Day 9. An increase in number indicates reproduction (the hamsters produced young).

Question 3

Which statement is true about all flowering plants?

Accepted Answer

C. They reproduce by seeds.. All flowering plants reproduce by seeds, which are produced inside their fruits. Non-flowering plants like ferns reproduce by spores.

Question 4

Which of the following are found in all plants? A. fruits B. leaves C. stems D. roots

Accepted Answer

C. B, C and D only. All plants have leaves, stems and roots. Only flowering plants produce fruits, so fruits are not found in all plants (e.g. ferns, mosses).

Question 5

The diagrams below show four living things (sparrow, dragonfly, penguin, bat). Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about the similarities between these living things? A. They have wings. B. They have only two legs. C. They reproduce by laying eggs. D. They have feathers as outer covering.

Accepted Answer

A. A only. All four animals (sparrow, dragonfly, penguin, bat) have wings. However, the bat gives birth to live young (not eggs) and has fur (not feathers), so statements C and D are false. The dragonfly has 6 legs, so statement B is false. Only A is true for all four.

Question 6

Study the chart below. Study the animal below. Where would the animal be placed in the chart above?

Accepted Answer

B. B. The animal shown is a cockroach, which is an insect with 6 legs. According to the classification chart, animals with 6 legs are placed in group B.

Question 7

Which one of the following statements about amphibian is true?

Accepted Answer

D. It can breathe through their skin and lungs.. Amphibians (like frogs) can breathe through both their moist skin and their lungs. They live both in water and on land, have moist skin (not hard covering), and lay eggs (do not give birth alive).

Question 8

The diagram below shows some mushrooms. Which of the following is a characteristic of the mushrooms above?

Accepted Answer

A. It reproduces by spores.. Mushrooms are fungi that reproduce by spores. They cannot make their own food (no chlorophyll), do not move on their own, and are visible without a microscope.

Question 9

Study the objects shown below. Which of the object(s) shown above is/are made of only one material?

Accepted Answer

C. B and C only. A nail (B) is made of only metal, and a glass cup (C) is made of only glass. The motorcycle (A) is made of multiple materials (metal, rubber, plastic), and the stapler (D) is made of metal and plastic.

Question 10

David went fishing at the river. What property of material is shown by the fishing rod above?

Accepted Answer

C. Ability to bend without breaking.. The fishing rod in the diagram is shown curved/bent under the weight of a fish without breaking. This shows the property of flexibility — the ability to bend without breaking.

Question 11

Which statement is true about magnets?

Accepted Answer

D. A freely suspended magnet will point to North-south direction when at rest.. A freely suspended magnet always aligns itself along the Earth's magnetic field and points in the North-South direction. All magnets have both poles, size does not always determine strength, and like poles repel (not attract).

Question 12

Zhixuan found an unknown object F. He used a magnet and moved the magnet towards object F. Without the magnet touching object F, it moved away from the magnet. Which statement is the reason why object F moved away from the magnet?

Accepted Answer

A. It is a magnet.. Only magnets can repel (push away) other magnets without touching. Since object F moved away from the magnet, it must also be a magnet with its like pole facing the magnet.

Question 13

The diagram below shows a grasshopper. Which statement is false about its life cycle?

Accepted Answer

C. It does not have an egg stage.. A grasshopper's life cycle has 3 stages: egg → nymph → adult. The egg stage IS present, so the statement 'It does not have an egg stage' is false.

Question 14

Study the table below. Which one of the animals below has been classified wrongly?

Accepted Answer

A. frog. A frog's young (tadpole) does NOT look like its adult — it lives in water, has a tail, and no legs. So the frog is wrongly classified under 'young look like its adult'.

Question 15

Study the classification table below. Which one of the objects above has been wrongly classified?

Accepted Answer

A. bird. Group C appears to be man-made objects (non-living), and Group D appears to be living things (bird, tiger) and furniture. The bird is a living thing while chair and table are non-living furniture — the bird is wrongly grouped with non-living objects.

Question 16

Gerald observed three different types of plants, F, G and H, for 6 months. He recorded the number of flowers each of them produced. Based on the table above, which of the following shows the correct conclusions about F, G and H?

Accepted Answer

D. F: flowering plant, G: cannot tell, H: flowering plant. Plant F produced flowers in both periods, so it is a flowering plant. Plant G produced no flowers, but we cannot tell if it is non-flowering since it may simply not have flowered during the observation period. Plant H produced 5 flowers in months 4-6, so it is a flowering plant.

Question 17

Noah found animal X and told Sarah that it was an insect. To find out if Noah was correct, Sarah decided to carry out the following observation. A. Find out if it can fly. B. Count the number of legs of the animal. C. Count the number of body parts of the animal. D. Find out whether it prefers to be in bright or dark areas. Which of the above observations will help Sarah confirm whether the animal is an insect?

Accepted Answer

C. B and C only. Insects are defined as having 6 legs and 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen). So counting legs (B) and counting body parts (C) confirms insect classification. Flying ability and light preference are not defining characteristics of insects.

Question 18

Study the three animals below. Study the flowchart below. Which of the following questions are correct?

Accepted Answer

B. R: Does it live on land?, S: Does it have scales?. Shark lives in water (not land) → answers 'No' to 'Does it live on land?' so Question R = 'Does it live on land?'. Ostrich lives on land but has no scales (has feathers) → answers 'No' to 'Does it have scales?' so Question S = 'Does it have scales?'. Crocodile lives on land and has scales → 'Yes' to both.

Question 19

Study the table below. Which one of the following represents bacteria?

Accepted Answer

D. M. Bacteria do not reproduce by seeds, do not make their own food, and cannot be seen without a microscope. M matches all three: no seeds, no own food, cannot be seen without microscope.

Question 20

Jack wanted to find out if the temperature of the surroundings affects the growth of bacteria. He provided the same amount of water to the bacteria and placed them in locations of different temperatures. The graph below shows the results. Based on the graph above, which statement(s) about the bacteria is/are true? A. Bacteria grew most at 40°C. B. Bacteria do not need water to grow. C. Temperature did not affect its growth.

Accepted Answer

A. A only. Only statement A is true — the graph shows the bacteria growth (end amount) was highest at 40°C. Statement B cannot be concluded (water was kept constant, not tested). Statement C is false — temperature clearly affected growth.

Question 21

The diagram below shows a plastic file folder a student brings to school. Which of the following properties of plastic make it a suitable material for a file folder? A. It is strong. B. It does not absorb water. C. It can float on water. D. It allows light to pass through.

Accepted Answer

A. A and B only. A file folder must be strong (to hold papers) and not absorb water (to keep papers dry). Floating and light transparency are not relevant properties for a file folder.

Question 22

Four pupils observed a container of cookies and made the following statements. Jen: The container is heavy. Tim: I cannot bend the container. May: The container can break easily. Tom: I can see the cookies through the container. From the observations made by the pupils, which of the following materials is the container most likely made of?

Accepted Answer

B. glass. The container is heavy, cannot bend (rigid), breaks easily (brittle), and is transparent (can see through). Glass matches all four properties — heavy, rigid, brittle and transparent.

Question 23

Joel made a temporary magnet using the electrical method as shown below. He used the electromagnet to attract some paper clips. He wanted the magnet to attract more clips. Which one of the following steps will not cause the magnet to attract more clips?

Accepted Answer

C. He should replace the nail with a copper nail.. Copper is non-magnetic — replacing the iron nail with a copper nail will stop the electromagnet from working (it cannot become magnetised). The other three options all increase electromagnet strength.

Question 24

Study the flowchart below. Which one of the animals A, B, C or D represents a butterfly?

Accepted Answer

B. B. A butterfly has an egg stage (Yes), has 4 stages in life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult) — so 'No' to '3 stages' — leading to B.

P3 Science SA2 2023 — Maha Bodhi

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