Question 1

The diagram below shows a lion, a platypus and a monkey. In what ways are they similar? A: They suckle their young. B: They give birth to their young alive. C: They have an outer body covering of hair. D: They start their life cycles as a fertilized egg.

Accepted Answer

C. A, C and D only. Lion, platypus and monkey are all mammals, so they suckle their young (A), have hair (C) and start life as a fertilized egg (D). However, the platypus lays eggs and does not give birth to live young, so B is not shared by all three. Hence A, C and D.

Question 2

The diagram below shows a stage in the life cycle of a butterfly. Which of the following statements about the organism at this stage is correct?

Accepted Answer

D. The larval structures are broken down.. The diagram shows the pupa (chrysalis) stage. During this stage the caterpillar (larval) structures break down and reorganise into the adult butterfly. It still breathes and does not feed, and its covering is not wooden.

Question 3

The family tree of the Lim family is shown below. The table summarises the physical traits of the family (whether each member can roll tongue, suffers from blood disorder and is colour-blind). Which child / children inherited at least one trait from his / her parents?

Accepted Answer

D. Alicia, Bradley and Danielle. Parents James (colour-blind, blood disorder) and Jennie (can roll tongue) pass traits to their children. Alicia (blood disorder from James), Bradley (roll tongue, blood disorder, colour-blind) and Danielle (roll tongue) each show at least one parental trait. Carol shows none of the parents' listed traits.

Question 4

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about sexual reproduction in both flowering plants and most animals? A: The male reproductive cells are called sperms. B: The female reproductive cells are stored in the ovary. C: The fertilization process takes place in the female reproductive system. D: The male and female organisms have to meet for fertilization to take place.

Accepted Answer

C. B and C only. In both flowering plants and most animals the female reproductive cells are stored in the ovary (B) and fertilization occurs within the female reproductive system (C). In plants the male cells are not called sperms, and plants do not physically 'meet' for fertilization (pollination transfers the male cells), so A and D are not true for both.

Question 5

Gina grew a culture of yeast cells and bacterial cells. She counted the number of yeast cells and bacteria cells under a microscope. She recorded the data in a table and plotted the graph as shown below. What pattern do you observe about the divisions of yeast cells and/or bacterial cells?

Accepted Answer

C. Bacterial cells multiply two times every twenty minutes.. The bacterial cell counts are 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 minutes — the number doubles (multiplies two times) every 20 minutes. Yeast cells barely increase, so they do not multiply at the same rate.

Question 6

The graph below shows the amount of undigested food left in the various organs as it travelled through the digestive system. Which parts of the graph represent the mouth and the small intestine?

Accepted Answer

B. Mouth FE, Small intestine CB. Food enters at the mouth first (the initial small drop, section FE). The steepest fall in undigested food is at the small intestine where most digestion and absorption occur (section CB).

Question 7

The arrows, A, B, C and D, represent blood vessels carrying blood to and fro from the lungs, heart and other parts of the body. Which two blood vessels carry blood with more oxygen?

Accepted Answer

B. A and D. Blood returning from the lungs to the heart (D) is oxygen-rich, and blood pumped from the heart to the other parts of the body (A) is also oxygen-rich. C (heart to lungs) and B (body to heart) carry oxygen-poor blood.

Question 8

The diagram below shows a cactus and a humming bird. A cell from one of the organisms above is shown below. Where could the cell be taken from?

Accepted Answer

A. The stem of the cactus. The cell shown has a regular, fixed shape with a cell wall, indicating it is a plant cell that carries out photosynthesis. In a cactus the stem is green and does the photosynthesis (the leaves are reduced to needles), so the cell is taken from the stem of the cactus.

Question 9

For questions 9 and 10, refer to the food web below. What could Organisms P, Q, R and S be?

Accepted Answer

B. P mynah, Q cat, R man, S bacteria. Organism P feeds on the caterpillar (a bird such as a mynah). Organism Q feeds on the mouse and is eaten in the web (a cat). Organism R feeds on chicken (man). Organism S is at the very bottom breaking down hawk, snake and organism R (decomposers — bacteria). Hence P=mynah, Q=cat, R=man, S=bacteria.

Question 10

The following animals are preys as well as predators. They are ____.

Accepted Answer

A. chicken and organism Q. An animal that is both prey and predator must both eat another animal and be eaten. The chicken eats the caterpillar and is eaten by the snake; organism Q eats the mouse and is eaten by the hawk/snake. Hence chicken and organism Q.

Question 11

For questions 11 and 12, refer to the picture below. Which one of the following statements correctly describes the organisms living in the pond above?

Accepted Answer

A. There are 6 populations in 1 community.. Each different type of organism forms a population, and all populations living together in the same place form one community. The pond shows 6 kinds of organisms (dragonflies, water hyacinths, water lilies, water boatmen, pond skaters, tadpoles/frogs, dragonfly nymphs — grouped as 6 populations) making 6 populations in 1 community.

Question 12

Which of the following organism/s will benefit directly if the level of carbon dioxide in the surrounding increases?

Accepted Answer

C. Water lilies and water hyacinths. Only green plants use carbon dioxide directly (for photosynthesis). Water lilies and water hyacinths are the plants in the pond, so they benefit directly from an increase in carbon dioxide.

Question 13

The diagram below shows some life processes involving plants, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Process A: plant gives out carbon dioxide and takes in oxygen. Process B: plant gives out oxygen and takes in carbon dioxide. Which one of the following correctly represents processes A and B?

Accepted Answer

C. A respiration, B photosynthesis. Process A takes in oxygen and gives out carbon dioxide — this is respiration. Process B takes in carbon dioxide and gives out oxygen — this is photosynthesis.

Question 14

Study the food web below carefully. A, B, C, D and E represent five different organisms living together in a certain community. Based only on the above food web, which one of the following graphs correctly shows the changes in the population size of B, C and E if there is a sudden increase in the population size of D?

Accepted Answer

B. Graph 2. In the web A→B, B→C, B→E, E→D and C→D. If D increases, D eats more E and C, so E and C decrease. With fewer C and E competing/being eaten, and B being eaten less by E, B increases. Graph 2 shows B rising while C and E fall.

Question 15

William set up an experiment to investigate how the amount of light affects the rate of photosynthesis of a plant. Set-up A: bell jar covered with tracing paper over a plant with an oxygen sensor and datalogger. Set-up B: bell jar covered with black paper over a plant with an oxygen sensor and datalogger. William's teacher told her that he should include a control in his experiment. Which one of the following is a suitable control for his experiment?

Accepted Answer

B. Uncovered bell jar over a plant, oxygen sensor and datalogger.. A control lets in the maximum amount of light so the plant photosynthesises fully for comparison, while keeping the plant present. Set-up (2) — an uncovered (clear) bell jar with the plant inside — allows full light and is the correct control.

Question 16

Mary wanted to find out about the electrical conductivity of some materials. She set up the following experiment as shown below. The results of the experiment are shown in the table. Based on the above data, arrange the materials according to their electrical conductivity, from the weakest to the strongest.

Accepted Answer

C. Pencil lead, aluminum foil, steel nail, copper ring. Brighter light means stronger conductivity. Across the trials, pencil lead is mostly dim (weakest), aluminium foil is bright/dim (next), steel nail is consistently bright (stronger), and copper ring is very bright (strongest). Weakest to strongest: pencil lead, aluminium foil, steel nail, copper ring.

Question 17

A piece of metal block is placed in a container of water as shown in the diagram. Plastic cups are inverted over the metal block and held down. Which of the following diagrams show the most likely outcomes?

Accepted Answer

D. B and D only. Air trapped in an inverted cup keeps water out, so the water level inside the cup stays low (below the surrounding water) — as in D. If the cup has a hole (B), air escapes and water rises inside the cup. Diagrams A and C wrongly show water fully filling or rising without a hole. Hence B and D.

Question 18

For questions 18 and 19, refer to the diagram below. The diagram below shows two pumps connected to a glass container. The capacity of the container is 500 cm³ and it contains 100 cm³ of water. When Pistons A and B are pushed completely in, 80 cm³ and 100 cm³ of air are forced into the container. What is the volume of air in the container?

Accepted Answer

A. 180 cm³. Air fills the space not taken by water. The forced-in air is 80 + 100 = 180 cm³. Since air can be compressed, the 180 cm³ of air occupies the container space above the 100 cm³ of water; the total air added is 180 cm³.

Question 19

The set-up is moved to a location with a temperature of 35 °C. After a few hours, the volume of water in the glass container is observed to have decreased. What is the most likely reason for this observation?

Accepted Answer

A. The water has evaporated inside the container.. The container is sealed, so water cannot escape. At the higher temperature the water evaporates into water vapour inside the container, so the volume of liquid water decreases while the water is still inside the container.

Question 20

Elaine sets up two circuits as shown below. All the bulbs and dry cells in the two circuits are identical and in good working condition. If Elaine connects a dry cell across XY in series, what are the likely observations that she will make? A: The bulb in Circuit P will be brighter than before. B: The bulbs in Circuit Q will be dimmer than before. C: The bulbs in Circuit Q will be brighter than before. D: The bulb in Circuit P will last longer than those in Circuit Q.

Accepted Answer

B. A and C only. Adding another dry cell in series increases the voltage, so bulbs glow brighter. Circuit P (single bulb) becomes brighter (A), and Circuit Q's bulbs (in parallel) also become brighter (C). Hence A and C.

Question 21

The table below shows the state of four substances, W, X, Y and Z, at different temperatures. Which of the following statements is correct?

Accepted Answer

D. Substance Z has the highest freezing point.. Z is a solid at all three temperatures (10, 30, 50 °C), meaning its freezing/melting point is above 50 °C — the highest of the four. W is always liquid (boiling point unknown/high), X changes from solid to liquid between 30 and 50 °C, and Y melts between 10 and 30 °C, so its freezing point is not exactly 30 °C.

Question 22

Siva wanted to find out whether Liquid Z is a conductor of electricity. The diagram below shows his set-up. Is Siva's set-up correct? Why?

Accepted Answer

B. Wrong — It is not a closed circuit.. To test whether a liquid conducts electricity, the liquid must complete the circuit (both wire ends dipped into the liquid so the circuit is closed through it). Siva's set-up does not form a closed circuit through the liquid, so it is wrong.

Question 23

Some strips of copper and steel are joined together in different ways as shown in the diagrams below. Copper expands more than steel. Which set-ups will bend when heated? Set-up A: steel and copper joined end-to-end in a line. Set-up B: copper on top of steel. Set-up C: copper and steel joined end-to-end in a line. Set-up D: steel on top of copper.

Accepted Answer

C. B and D only. A bimetallic strip bends only when the two metals are joined face-to-face (layered) because one expands more than the other. Set-ups B and D layer copper and steel, so they bend. Set-ups A and C join the strips end-to-end in a line, so they simply expand lengthwise without bending.

Question 24

A roller coaster car does not have an engine. The car gets all its energy from the height at which the ride begins. The car runs on tracks and some of its original energy is converted to other forms as it moves. The drawings below show four different roller coaster track designs. On which track would a roller coaster car be most likely to travel from GO to STOP?

Accepted Answer

D. Track 4. Since the car has no engine, no later hump or loop can be higher than the starting point (energy is lost to friction along the way, so each successive high point must be lower than GO). Track 4 has every hump and loop lower than the starting height, so the car can complete the ride from GO to STOP.

Question 25

For questions 25 and 26, refer to the picture below. Weiming sets up an experiment on light as shown below. The object is a steel ring with an oval piece of tracing paper mounted on an oval steel frame. At which positions should the torch and the object be placed to obtain the smallest shadow on the screen?

Accepted Answer

C. Torch light R, Object V. The shadow is smallest when the object is placed as far from the torch and as close to the screen as possible, so the light spreads least around it. Torch at R (farthest from screen) and object at V (nearest the screen) gives the smallest shadow.

Question 26

What is the shadow cast by the object on the screen?

Accepted Answer

B. A dark solid oval above a clear (unshaded) circle outline. The steel ring is opaque only at its rim, so it casts a ring-shaped (hollow) shadow. The oval piece is tracing paper, which is translucent but mounted on a steel frame — it casts a darker oval shadow. Option 2 shows the dark oval above the hollow ring outline.

Question 27

Wendy grouped several objects according to the main form of energy that they produced. Group P: Coal, Wood. Group Q: Radio, Alarm clock. Group R: Flying Arrow, Running water. Group S: Table lamp, TV screen. Which one of the following shows the correct headings for P, Q, R and S?

Accepted Answer

D. P Heat energy, Q Sound energy, R Kinetic energy, S Light energy. Coal and wood produce heat energy (P). Radio and alarm clock produce sound energy (Q). A flying arrow and running water are moving, so they have kinetic energy (R). A table lamp and TV screen produce light energy (S).

Question 28

Mei Ling sets up an experiment to test the extension of a spring in relation to the load suspended. There are four loads, P, Q, R and S, to be attached to each spring. To have a fair test, which of the following variables must be kept the same? A: The type of spring used. B: The material of the load. C: The mass of the load used. D: The original length of the spring.

Accepted Answer

D. A, B and D only. The variable being changed is the mass of the load, so mass (C) must differ. To be a fair test, keep constant the type of spring (A), the material of the load (B) and the original length of the spring (D).

Question 29

Shawn wanted to find out how much force was needed to overcome the attraction of different materials which were attracted to a strong magnet. The materials are of similar size. He set up the experiment as shown below. He pulled on the spring balance until the material was separated from the magnet. The readings on the spring balance were recorded as shown below. What conclusions could he make from the above readings? A: Q is the best material for magnetic attraction. B: R is made from a heavier material than material Q. C: P and S are made from the same magnetic material. D: R is easier to be magnetized as compared to material P.

Accepted Answer

A. A only. A larger force needed means a stronger magnetic attraction. Q needs the greatest force (60), so Q is the best material for magnetic attraction (A). The readings show force of attraction, not mass, so B is wrong; P and S having equal readings does not prove same material (C wrong); the experiment does not test ease of magnetization (D wrong).

Question 30

Susan wants to find out how far an elastic band can stretch. The results of her experiment are shown in the graph below. What happens to the elastic band when the mass hanging on the elastic band is greater than 200g?

Accepted Answer

A. The elastic band breaks.. The graph shows the stretch increasing then levelling off near 14–15 cm as the mass approaches 200 g — the elastic band has reached its limit. Beyond 200 g it can no longer stretch further and breaks.

P6 Science SA1 2012 — Methodist Girls

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P6 Science SA1 2012 — Methodist Girls

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