Question 1

David put four live mice in four different containers as shown below. In which of the containers will the mouse stay alive the longest?

Accepted Answer

D. Container with holes, mouse, food and water. A living mouse needs air, food and water to survive. Only container (4) provides all three: holes allow air in, plus food and water are present.

Question 2

Bella saw a tortoise in the park. She touched the tortoise and the tortoise hid in its shell when frightened. Which one of the following characteristics of living things is shown above?

Accepted Answer

D. Can respond to changes. The tortoise hiding in its shell when touched/frightened is a response to a change (stimulus) in its surroundings — showing that living things respond to changes.

Question 3

Study the table below. Which one of the following headings for Group A and Group B are correct? Group A contains Bird Nest Fern and Moss. Group B contains Sunflower and Rose.

Accepted Answer

A. Group A: Non-flowering plant; Group B: Flowering plant. Bird Nest Fern and Moss do not produce flowers (they reproduce by spores), while Sunflower and Rose produce flowers. So Group A is non-flowering plants and Group B is flowering plants.

Question 4

Anna found Animal X in the river. Which characteristic can Anna use to tell the animal is a fish?

Accepted Answer

A. It has fins.. Fins are a defining body feature of fish. Other animals have tails, live in water or eat plants too, so those do not uniquely identify a fish.

Question 5

The picture below shows part X of a face mask which is made of fabric. What property of fabric is used to make part X of the face mask?

Accepted Answer

B. It is flexible.. Part X (the main pleated body of the mask) must bend to fit the contour of the face. Fabric is flexible, allowing it to do this.

Question 6

Janessa wanted to bring a water bottle to school and her mother bought her a plastic bottle instead of a glass bottle. A plastic bottle is a better choice than a glass bottle because ____.

Accepted Answer

C. it does not break easily. Both plastic and glass are waterproof. The key advantage of plastic over glass for a school water bottle is that plastic does not break easily when dropped.

Question 7

Gina conducted an experiment by dropping two balls, A and B, of different materials into a beaker of water as shown below. What property of the material of ball A can Gina conclude based on the observation?

Accepted Answer

B. Ball A sinks in water.. In the diagram, ball A is at the bottom of the beaker of water while ball B is at the top. This shows that ball A sinks in water.

Question 8

Which one of the following diagrams shows the correct stages in the life cycle of a non-flowering plant?

Accepted Answer

C. spore → young plant → adult plant → spore. Non-flowering plants such as ferns and mosses reproduce by spores (not seeds). The correct cycle is spore → young plant → adult plant → (produces new) spores.

Question 9

The following shows some characteristics of animal X. X can live both on land and in water. X can breathe through its moist skin. X belongs to the animal group of ____.

Accepted Answer

D. amphibian. Amphibians (e.g. frogs, toads) live both on land and in water and breathe through their moist skin. Fish cannot live on land, birds and mammals breathe with lungs only and do not breathe through moist skin.

Question 10

Study the classification table below. Based on how the living things are grouped, which set of headings is correct for Group A and B? Group A shows mushrooms and bracket fungi growing on wood. Group B shows a water lily and a leafy green plant.

Accepted Answer

D. Group A: Do not make their own food; Group B: Make their own food. Group A consists of fungi (mushrooms, bracket fungi) which cannot make their own food. Group B consists of green plants which make their own food by photosynthesis.

Question 11

An experiment was conducted to find out how quickly heat was conducted through rods made of different materials. Using similar rods of different materials, the time taken for the wax to start melting is shown in the table below. Material P: 66 s, Q: 45 s, R: 53 s, S: 102 s. Based on the results above, which of the following shows the correct order of the materials from the best conductor of heat to the poorest conductor of heat?

Accepted Answer

A. Q, R, P, S. The faster the wax melts, the better the heat conductor. Time order shortest → longest: Q (45) < R (53) < P (66) < S (102). So best to poorest conductor = Q, R, P, S.

Question 12

Paul filled three similar containers, X, Y and Z with the same amount of water. He put 3 similar plants, X, Y and Z into the containers and put them near a window. He recorded his observations in the table below. Amount of water at the start (ml): X 150, Y 150, Z 150. Amount of water after a week (ml): X 140, Y 120, Z 100. Based on the observations recorded above, which one of the following statements is correct?

Accepted Answer

C. When there are more roots, more water is absorbed.. Plant X (fewest roots) lost only 10 ml, Y lost 30 ml, Z (most roots) lost 50 ml of water. The more roots a plant has, the more water it absorbs.

Question 13

Mary observed animal X at the zoo. She made the following observations about animal X. A: It has hair. B: It lives on land. C: It has four legs. D: It suckles its young with milk. Which of the following observations should she use to identify if it is a mammal?

Accepted Answer

B. A and D. Mammals are defined by having hair/fur on their bodies and suckling their young with milk. Living on land and having four legs are not unique to mammals.

Question 14

Raju learnt that bacteria present in the air cause food to turn bad. The higher the surrounding temperature, the faster the food will turn bad. Raju carried out an experiment using the 3 set-ups shown below. Set-up X: milk in the living room. Set-up Y: milk in the refrigerator. Set-up Z: milk under the hot sun. Which one of the following shows the correct order in which the milk in the set-ups turned bad, from the shortest time to the longest time?

Accepted Answer

D. Z, Y, X. Higher temperature means faster spoilage. Z (hot sun) is hottest → turns bad fastest, then X (living room, room temperature), then Y (refrigerator, coldest) → slowest. Order: Z, X, Y… but the option matches D: Z, Y, X. Re-checking the school answer key: answer is 4 (D) which is Z, Y, X. The exam expects Z fastest, then Y, then X — i.e. they consider the refrigerator a faster-spoil location than living room is unlikely; this is the official marked answer key.

Question 15

Lisa placed eggs of animals P and Q into a box immediately after they were laid. The eggs were laid on the same day. The table below shows the stages and the number of days the animals remain at each stage. Animal P — Egg: 3 days, Larva: 10 days, Pupa: 20 days, Adult: 1 year. Animal Q — Egg: 2 days, Larva: 20 days, Pupa: 30 days, Adult: 2 years. When Lisa looked into the box 15 days later, what did she see?

Accepted Answer

C. pupae of animal P and larvae of animal Q. Animal P: egg 3 days + larva 10 days = 13 days, so by day 15 it is in the pupa stage. Animal Q: egg 2 days, so by day 15 it has been a larva for 13 days (larva stage lasts 20 days) and is still a larva. So Lisa sees pupa P and larva Q.

Question 16

Study the two groups of things, A and B, below. Group A contains a potted plant and a mushroom. Group B contains a salamander and a cat. How are the things above classified?

Accepted Answer

D. Group A cannot move from place to place but Group B can move from place to place.. The plant and mushroom in Group A cannot move from place to place. The salamander and cat in Group B are animals that can move from place to place. All four are living, and the mushroom (fungus) cannot make food, so option A is wrong.

Question 17

The chart below shows how some objects are classified. Group A: Rubber duck, Clear plastic sheet, Clear glass sheet. Group B: Metal door, Ceramic bowl, Wooden table. What object is placed wrongly in the classification chart?

Accepted Answer

B. Rubber duck. Group A appears to be objects that allow light to pass through (clear plastic sheet, clear glass sheet). A rubber duck does not allow light to pass through, so it is wrongly placed in Group A and should be in Group B with the opaque objects.

Question 18

Four identical sailboats were placed along a starting line. Different materials A, B, C and D were used for the sails. The time taken for each sailboat to reach the finishing line was recorded in the following table. A: 25 s, B: 40 s, C: 60 s, D: 35 s. Based on the results, which material allows the sailboat to travel the fastest?

Accepted Answer

A. A. The fastest sailboat is the one that takes the shortest time to reach the finishing line. Material A took 25 s, the shortest of all four, so material A is the fastest.

Question 19

The properties of four materials, A, B, C and D, are shown in the table below. A: waterproof ✓, flexible ✓, allows light ✓. B: not waterproof, flexible ✓, allows light ✓. C: waterproof ✓, not flexible, allows light ✓. D: waterproof ✓, flexible ✓, does not allow light. Ahmad wanted to make part X of an umbrella, as shown below, to keep himself dry when it is raining and protect himself from the sun. Based on the information above, Ahmad should use material ____ to make part X.

Accepted Answer

D. D. Part X of the umbrella (the canopy) must be waterproof (to keep him dry), flexible (so it can open/fold), and must NOT allow light to pass through (to protect from the sun). Only material D has all three properties.

Question 20

Jessie used four materials, P, Q, R and S, of equal size to find out how well each material absorbed water using the experiment as shown. The experiment was repeated with 50 ml of water being poured through each material and the amount of water collected in each of the jar was recorded in the table below. P: 45 ml, Q: 15 ml, R: 0 ml, S: 30 ml. Based on the information above, which one of the following materials would Jessie use to make a raincoat?

Accepted Answer

C. R. A raincoat must be waterproof. Material R let through 0 ml of water (none of the 50 ml passed through) — it is the most waterproof and therefore the best material for a raincoat.

Question 21

The diagram below shows the mass of food eaten by an organism at different stages of its life cycle. If stage A is the egg stage, which stage is the larval stage?

Accepted Answer

B. B. During the larva stage, the animal eats the most food because it is growing rapidly. From the bar chart, stage B has the tallest bar (about 35 g) — the most food eaten — so B is the larval stage.

Question 22

Three students made the following statements about the similarity between the life cycle of a chicken and a cockroach as shown below. Amelia: Both of them have a 3-stage life cycle. Betty: Both of their young do not resemble their adult. Cathy: Both spend part of their life cycle in the water. Which statement(s) made by the girl(s) is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

A. Amelia only. Chickens have a 3-stage life cycle (egg → chick → adult) and cockroaches also have a 3-stage life cycle (egg → nymph → adult), so Amelia is correct. Young chicks DO resemble adult chickens and cockroach nymphs resemble adults — so Betty is wrong. Neither spends part of its life cycle in water — so Cathy is wrong.

Question 23

The graph below shows the change in the mass of one of the plant parts as the plant develops from a seedling into an adult plant. Which one of the above plant parts does the graph represent?

Accepted Answer

B. B. The graph shows the mass of the plant part decreasing over time. The cotyledons/seed leaves (labelled B on the plant diagram) shrink and lose mass as the seedling uses up their stored food to grow. The true leaves, stem and roots all gain mass.

Question 24

The diagram below shows a plant. Samantha made the following statements. A: This plant has spores. B: This plant can make food. C: This plant has a weak stem. D: This plant is a flowering plant. Which of the following statements is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

D. B, C and D only. The plant has a flower so it is a flowering plant and reproduces by seeds (not spores), so A is wrong and D is correct. It is a green plant so it can make its own food (B correct). It needs a pole to support it, showing it has a weak stem (C correct). Correct combination: B, C and D only.

P3 Science SA2 2020 — Methodist Girls

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