Question 1

Look at the pictures below.
(A) a firefly
(B) a mirror
(C) a candle
(D) a bulb
Which of the following is not a source of light?

Accepted Answer

B. a mirror. A source of light produces its own light. Fireflies, candles, and light bulbs are all sources of light. A mirror, however, reflects light from other sources; it does not produce its own light.

Question 2

Study the diagram below that shows the developmental stages of a plant.
At stage B, the seedling cannot make its own food because it does not have a ____

Accepted Answer

B. leaf. Plants produce their own food through photosynthesis, which primarily occurs in the leaves. Stage B of the plant's development shows a seedling with a root and stem but no developed leaves yet. Without leaves, it cannot perform photosynthesis to make its own food.

Question 3

Mei Li saw some flowers on the table.
Which of the following statements explains why Mei Li can see the flowers?
(1) The light travels from Mei Li's eyes to the flowers.
(2) The lamp produces light which enters Mei Li's eyes.
(3) The reflected light from the flowers enters the lamp.
(4) The reflected light from the flowers enters Mei Li's eyes.

Accepted Answer

D. The reflected light from the flowers enters Mei Li's eyes.. We see objects when light from a light source (like the lamp) reflects off the object (the flowers) and then travels into our eyes. Option (4) correctly describes this process.

Question 4

The diagram below shows the life cycle of an animal.
Which animal is likely to have the life cycle as shown above?
(1) frog
(2) chicken
(3) mosquito
(4) grasshopper

Accepted Answer

D. grasshopper. The life cycle shown (egg -> nymph -> adult) represents incomplete metamorphosis. Frogs and mosquitoes undergo complete metamorphosis (egg -> larva -> pupa -> adult), while chickens have direct development (egg -> chick -> adult). Grasshoppers undergo incomplete metamorphosis, matching the given life cycle.

Question 5

Tina soaked ten seeds in water at 20°C and counted the number of seeds that germinated. She repeated the experiment at four other temperatures. The graph below shows her results.
Based on the results, which conclusion is correct?

Accepted Answer

D. Temperature affected the number of seeds germinated.. The graph clearly shows that the number of germinated seeds varies significantly with temperature (e.g., peak at 35°C, lower at 20°C and 40°C). This directly indicates that temperature plays a role and affects the number of seeds that germinate.

Question 6

Tim took a plasticine and reshaped it into another shape as shown below. What happened to the mass and volume of the plasticine after it was reshaped?

Accepted Answer

C. remained the same, remained the same. Reshaping a piece of plasticine (a solid) only changes its external form or shape. The amount of matter it contains (mass) and the space it occupies (volume) remain unchanged, assuming no material is added or removed during the reshaping process.

Question 7

Arjun prepared three set-ups, A, B and C, using identical plants as shown below. He added the same amount of water and a layer of oil in each set-up. He placed each set-up near the window. He measured and recorded the amount of water left in each set-up after one week.
Which one of the following most likely shows the amount of water left in each set-up after one week?

Accepted Answer

B. Bar chart showing C > A > B amount of water left.. Water loss occurs through evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration from the plant. 
- Set-up B has no oil layer, allowing both evaporation and transpiration, so it will lose the most water (least water left).
- Set-up A has an oil layer to reduce evaporation, so water loss is mainly through transpiration. It will lose less water than B.
- Set-up C has an oil layer and a plastic bag, which reduces both evaporation and transpiration (by trapping humidity). It will lose the least water (most water left).
Therefore, the order of water left from most to least is C > A > B.

Question 8

Zul set up two similar-sized containers, X and Y, as shown below. Container X was made of cardboard but container Y was made of clear glass. He placed four similar seeds in each of the containers on some damp cotton wool. Both containers had holes on them and were left in the garden. In which container(s) do the seeds have suitable conditions to germinate?

Accepted Answer

C. Both X and Y. The conditions required for seed germination are water, warmth (suitable temperature), and oxygen. Light is generally not a requirement for germination and can sometimes even inhibit it. Both containers X (cardboard, opaque) and Y (clear glass, transparent) provide damp cotton wool (water), are left in the garden (warmth), and have holes (oxygen). Therefore, seeds in both containers have suitable conditions for germination.

Question 9

The picture below shows a pair of goggles that swimmers use during their swimming lessons. Part A and B are made from different materials. Which one of the following materials and their properties in the table below are most suitable to be used to make Part A and B?

Accepted Answer

A. Part A: Plastic, Allows most light to pass through it. Part B: Rubber, Flexible.. Part A (the lens) needs to be transparent to allow light to pass through for clear vision, and also waterproof. Plastic is suitable for this. Part B (the frame/strap) needs to be flexible to create a comfortable and watertight seal around the eyes, and also waterproof. Rubber is an excellent material for flexibility and waterproofing. Option (1) provides the best combination of suitable materials and properties.

Question 10

When air was let out of one of the inflated balloons, the balance tilted as shown in the diagram below. What can we conclude from the above experiment?

Accepted Answer

A. Air has mass.. Initially, the balance is level, indicating equal mass on both sides (two inflated balloons). When air is let out of one balloon, that side becomes lighter, causing the balance to tilt down on the side with the still-inflated balloon. This demonstrates that the air itself has mass, which was removed from one side, creating an imbalance.

Question 11

Eden filled two beakers with equal volume of water. She then placed objects, J and K, in each beaker and observed that the water level rose to the same height as shown in the diagram below. Based on Eden's observation, which one of the following statements about objects, J and K, is correct?

Accepted Answer

B. They have the same volume.. When an object is placed in water, it displaces a volume of water equal to its own volume (if submerged). If both objects J and K, when placed in equal initial volumes of water, cause the water level to rise to the same final height, it means they displaced the same volume of water. Therefore, objects J and K have the same volume.

Question 12

A bottle was filled with substance B and placed in three different positions. Observe the diagram below. Based on this experiment, what can you conclude about substance B?

Accepted Answer

C. It does not have a definite shape.. The diagrams show that substance B changes its shape to conform to the shape of the bottle in each position (upright, sideways, upside down), but the amount of space it fills (its volume) remains constant. This behavior is characteristic of a liquid: liquids have a definite volume but no definite shape.

Question 13

Shamady carried out an experiment as shown in the diagram below. The volume of the ball was 300cm³. Then, he pumped an additional 50cm³ of air into the ball using a hand pump. The size of the ball remained the same. Which of the following is correct?

Accepted Answer

C. Remained the same, Increased. When additional air is pumped into the ball, more air particles are added to the same confined space. Since the size (volume) of the ball remained the same, the volume occupied by the air inside the ball also remained the same. However, adding more air means increasing the amount of matter inside, which directly increases the mass of the air within the ball, and thus the overall mass of the ball.

Question 14

Study the diagram below. The lever balance is not working well. Paul has four objects, P, Q, R and S, as shown below. Which two objects placed on pan A and pan B will most likely cause the lever balance to be straight as shown below?

Accepted Answer

C. Pan A: S (80g), Pan B: Q (40g). The problem states the lever balance is 'not working well' and shows that Pan A is higher than Pan B initially. For the balance to be straight in the second diagram (perfectly level), it implies there's an inherent imbalance or unequal lever arm lengths. The correct option (3) suggests placing 80g on Pan A and 40g on Pan B. This indicates that Pan A requires a larger mass to balance Pan B, implying that the pivot is closer to Pan A, or Pan A's arm length is effectively shorter, thus requiring more force (mass) to create equilibrium.

P4 Science SA1 2025 — Rosyth

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