Question 1

Aaron found a plant in the garden and measured its height. After two weeks, he measured its height again. From his observation, Aaron concluded that the plant is a living thing because it can ____.

Accepted Answer

A. grow. Aaron measured the plant's height at the start and after two weeks. The increase in height shows that the plant has grown, which is a characteristic of living things.

Question 2

Study the diagram below. What could Z be?

Accepted Answer

C. reptile. Z cannot make its own food (so not a plant) and has scales. Among animals, reptiles are characterised by having scales on their bodies, so Z is a reptile.

Question 3

The diagram below shows a kitchen knife. Metal is used to make the blade of the kitchen knife because metal ____.

Accepted Answer

C. does not break easily. A knife blade must be strong so that it can cut without breaking. Metal is chosen because it is strong and does not break easily when used to cut food.

Question 4

Which part, (1), (2), (3) or (4), supports the plant?

Accepted Answer

C. part (3). Part (3) labels the stem of the plant. The stem holds the plant upright and supports the leaves, flowers and fruits.

Question 5

The arrows (→) in the diagram below show the direction of movement of a substance in plants. roots → stem → leaves. What is this substance?

Accepted Answer

C. water. Water is absorbed by the roots from the soil and travels up through the stem to the leaves. Food is made in the leaves and travels in the opposite direction, while air and sunlight do not flow from roots upward.

Question 6

Which two magnets will push each other away?

Accepted Answer

A. two vertical bar magnets placed side by side, each with S at top and N at bottom. Like poles repel. In option A, the two S poles face each other at the top and the two N poles at the bottom, so like poles face like poles and the magnets push each other away.

Question 7

A, B, C and D are the various stages in the life cycle of a mosquito. Which one of the following correctly shows the life cycle of a mosquito?

Accepted Answer

D. cycle going D → A → C → B → D. The mosquito life cycle is egg → larva → pupa → adult. From the labelled drawings: A is the adult mosquito, B is the larva, C is the pupa and D is the egg. The correct order D → B → C → A matches option (4).

Question 8

The diagram below shows the life cycle of a plant. What is the stage marked K?

Accepted Answer

B. seed. In a plant's life cycle, the stage before the young seedling sprouts is the seed. K is drawn as a small bean shape before the young plant, so K is the seed.

Question 9

Which is not a source of heat?

Accepted Answer

D. a thermometer. The sun, a lighted bulb and a candle flame all give out heat. A thermometer only measures temperature; it does not produce heat itself.

Question 10

Look at the diagram below. Which one of the following correctly shows why Lynn can see the book on the table?

Accepted Answer

B. arrow from the lamp to the book, then from the book away from Lynn's eye. We see an object when light from a source hits the object and is reflected into our eyes. The correct diagram shows light travelling from the lamp to the book and then from the book to Lynn's eye.

Question 11

Which statement best describes a flowering plant?

Accepted Answer

A. It bears fruits.. A flowering plant produces flowers which develop into fruits containing seeds. Big leaves, inability to make food and growing on other plants for support are not defining characteristics of flowering plants.

Question 12

Which statements about bacteria are correct? A. Some bacteria are useful to us. B. Bacteria can be found everywhere. C. Bacteria can only be seen under a microscope.

Accepted Answer

D. A, B and C. All three statements are true: some bacteria are useful (e.g. in digestion and making yoghurt), bacteria are found almost everywhere, and they are too tiny to see without a microscope.

Question 13

Study the two living things below. How are the mould and mushroom similar?

Accepted Answer

C. They belong to the same group called fungi.. Mould and mushroom are both fungi. They cannot make their own food, can be seen with the naked eye, and require air, food and water to survive.

Question 14

Balvan tied four strings, W, X, Y and Z, made of different materials around a rod. Similar metal cubes were hung onto each string, one at a time, until the string snapped. The table below shows the results of his investigation. Arrange the materials from the weakest to the strongest.

Accepted Answer

B. Y, X, W, Z. A stronger string holds more cubes before snapping. The number of cubes were W=8, X=5, Y=3, Z=10. Arranged from fewest cubes (weakest) to most cubes (strongest): Y (3), X (5), W (8), Z (10).

Question 15

Kairavi hung four objects, A, B, C and D, on a stand as shown below. Each object came to rest at different positions. She recorded her findings in the table below. Based on her findings above, which object is likely to be a magnet?

Accepted Answer

A. A. A freely suspended magnet always comes to rest in the North-South direction. Object A rests vertically (aligned with the N-S compass direction shown), so A is most likely to be the magnet.

Question 16

In the set-up below, J, K, L and M, are four rings which pass through a smooth plastic rod. K is a magnet. Which of the following is possible?

Accepted Answer

B. J = magnet, L = magnet, M = magnet. K is a magnet that floats above L (so K and L repel — L must be a magnet with like pole facing K). J floats above K, so J also repels K, meaning J is a magnet too. M rests at the base and is also a magnet that repels L. All three rings J, L and M can be magnets arranged with like poles facing one another.

Question 17

The diagram below shows an electromagnet. What could be done to the electromagnet in order for it to attract more paper clips? A. increase the number of batteries B. replace the iron rod with a copper rod C. increase the number of coils of wire around the iron rod

Accepted Answer

B. A and C only. An electromagnet becomes stronger when (A) more batteries are used (larger current) and (C) more coils of wire are wound around the iron rod. Replacing the iron with copper would not work because copper is not a magnetic material.

Question 18

The diagram below shows the different stages of the growth of a plant. At which stage(s) can it make its own food?

Accepted Answer

D. L, M and N only. A plant can make its own food (photosynthesis) only when it has green leaves. J is the seed and K is the just-germinated seed without leaves — neither can photosynthesise. L, M and N show plants with green leaves, so they can make their own food.

Question 19

Each letter in the diagram below represents a stage in the life cycle of a butterfly. Which statement is correct if X represents the adult stage?

Accepted Answer

B. At stage Z, it eats a lot and moults several times as it grows.. The butterfly life cycle is egg → larva (caterpillar) → pupa → adult. If X is the adult, then W is the egg, Z is the larva and Y is the pupa. The larva (Z) eats a lot and moults several times as it grows, so option (2) is correct.

Question 20

The table below shows the number of days animals R and S spend at each stage of its life cycle before developing into an adult. Based on the information above, which statement about animals R and S is correct?

Accepted Answer

D. Animal R spends more days as a larva than animal S.. From the table, animal R spends 7 days as a larva while animal S spends only 4 days as a larva. Therefore, animal R spends more days as a larva than animal S.

Question 21

Gareth placed a metal container between a torch and a screen as shown below. Which one of the following shows the shadow formed on the screen?

Accepted Answer

A. a tall upright black rectangle. The container is a cylinder placed on its base. When light shines on the side of a cylinder, the shadow cast on a screen behind has the outline of a rectangle (the side profile of the cylinder).

Question 22

Faiza placed object P in container A. Next, he inserted a tube made of black cardboard into container A and looked through the tube to see if he could see object P. He did the same for three other containers, B, C and D, using a different tube each time as shown in the diagram below. All the containers and tubes were made of a material that does not allow any light to pass through. In which containers could Faiza see object P?

Accepted Answer

D. C and D only. Light travels in straight lines. Faiza can see object P only when there is a straight unblocked path from the object to her eye AND light from the source can reach the object. In containers A and B the tubes are zigzag/curved so light cannot travel straight from object P to her eye. In containers C and D, the tubes provide straight-line paths between her eye and the object, so she can see P.

Question 23

Haris used some wires to form three shapes for an experiment on shadows as shown below. He conducted the experiment in a completely dark room using the following set-up. He hung the three shapes on a bar. The shapes were placed at different distances from the torch. The shadow formed on the screen is as shown below. Which of the following represents correctly shapes D, E and F respectively?

Accepted Answer

A. D = ring, E = triangle, F = cross. The shadow nearest the torch (D) appears largest, the shape furthest from the torch (F) appears smallest. The shadow on the screen shows the ring as the largest outer shape, the triangle medium, and the cross smallest. So D (nearest torch, largest shadow) = ring; E (middle) = triangle; F (furthest, smallest shadow) = cross.

Question 24

In a dark enclosed room, four sheets, Q, R, S and T, were arranged in a straight line as shown below. When the candle was lit, a bright circular patch of light was observed only on sheet S. Based on the information above, which statements are correct? A. Sheets R and T allowed light to pass through it. B. Sheet Q allowed more light to pass through than T. C. Sheets Q and S did not allow any light to pass through it. D. Sheet R allowed more light to pass through than sheet S.

Accepted Answer

D. C and D only. Sheet Q has a hole that lets light through, then R must let light pass too (since the bright patch reaches S). Sheet S is where the patch appears, so S blocked the light (opaque). T is behind S and no light reaches it. Therefore Q and S are opaque (only Q's hole let light through, but Q itself is opaque) and R let more light through than S. C and D are correct.

Question 25

Ian prepared two beakers, J and K, with the same volume of water as shown below. He poured the water from beaker J into beaker K without spilling it. What was the possible temperature of the water in beaker K?

Accepted Answer

B. 40°C. Mixing equal volumes of water at 20°C and 60°C gives a final temperature between the two (between 20°C and 60°C). The average is (20 + 60) ÷ 2 = 40°C, which is the only choice that falls within this range.

Question 26

Janai tied a weight to a string and hung it from a piece of metal wire as shown below. When the metal wire was heated, what would most likely happen to the height h, distance between the weight and the ground?

Accepted Answer

D. It decreased as the metal wire expanded.. When heated, metals expand. The horizontal metal wire stretched between the two walls would expand and sag downward, lowering the weight tied to it. As the weight moves closer to the ground, the height h decreases.

Question 27

Karen conducted an experiment using the set-up shown below. She placed a drop of wax on one end of the rod and heated the other end of the rod over a fire until the wax melted completely. She repeated the experiment using another rod of the same size but made of a different material. Her results are shown below. Based on the results above, which materials is most suitable to make the handle and pan?

Accepted Answer

A. handle = L, pan = K. Material K melted the wax in 26 s — it is a good conductor of heat. Material L took 280 s — it is a poor conductor. A pan should conduct heat well to cook food, so the pan should be made of K. A handle should not transfer heat to the hand, so the handle should be made of L (poor conductor).

Question 28

Lincoln conducted an experiment using a beaker of water to observe the changes in temperature. He measured the temperature of the water at various times as shown below. Which of the following describes the change taking place in the beaker during the experiment?

Accepted Answer

C. C to D — The beaker of water was placed over the fire.. From C to D, the temperature rose steeply from a low value up to 100°C. This sharp temperature rise indicates the beaker was heated, so the beaker of water was placed over a fire.

P4 Science SA2 2020 — Catholic High

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