Question 1

How would you determine that a plant you found in a garden is a non-flowering plant?

Accepted Answer

C. Presence of spores. Non-flowering plants reproduce by spores instead of seeds. The presence of spores is a definitive sign of a non-flowering plant, whereas the mere absence of fruits or flowers could simply mean a flowering plant has not yet flowered.

Question 2

Study the following chart below. In which group would you place birds?

Accepted Answer

B. B only. Birds reproduce by internal fertilisation and lay eggs. On the chart, the branch 'Internal Fertilisation → Lays Egg' leads to group B, so birds belong to group B only.

Question 3

Four similar pancakes were kept in different places as shown below. After few days, patches of mould were seen growing only on the pancakes at places C and D. Which factor affected the growth of mould?

Accepted Answer

C. Amount of water. Mould grew on C (inside garden soil) and D (in the classroom), both moist places. Pancake A (hot toaster) was warm but dry, and B (freezer) was cold with frozen/unavailable water. Since the warm toaster produced no mould, warmth is not the deciding factor; the presence of water (moisture) is what allowed mould to grow.

Question 4

The graph shows the temperature of a place W from January to May. A certain type of insect lives in place W. The insect requires a temperature of between 30°c to 32°c for at least one month to develop from an egg into an adult. The young of the insect feeds on the leaves of the crops grown by farmers. Based on the graph, from which month would the farmer have to spray the pesticides to protect the crops most effectively?

Accepted Answer

B. February to March. The insect develops from egg to adult only when the temperature is between 30°c and 32°c. From the graph the temperature is about 31°c in February (falling from ~44°c in January), which is within this range, so the eggs develop and the leaf-feeding young are active around February to March. Spraying then targets the young most effectively.

Question 5

Study the classification table below. What are P and Q likely to be?

Accepted Answer

A. P: Frog, Q: Mealworm Beetle. P is a 3-stage life cycle animal that lays eggs in water — a frog (egg → tadpole → adult, laid in water) fits. Q is a 4-stage life cycle animal that lays eggs on land — the mealworm beetle (egg → larva → pupa → adult, laid on land) fits. Only option A matches both.

Question 6

Which of the following statements is/are true for all living things? A: They respond to changes. B: They breathe through lungs. C: They need air, water and food. D: They inherit their parents' genetic information.

Accepted Answer

D. A, C and D only. All living things respond to changes (A), need air, water and food (C), and inherit genetic information from their parents (D). Statement B is false because not all living things breathe through lungs (e.g. fish use gills, plants have no lungs).

Question 7

Which of the following body systems work together with the reproductive system in human for the growth and birth of the baby? A: Skeletal System B: Muscular System C: Digestive System D: Circulatory System E: Respiratory System

Accepted Answer

D. A, B, C, D and E. For the growth and birth of the baby, all the systems cooperate: the digestive system provides nutrients, the circulatory system transports nutrients and oxygen to the foetus, the respiratory system supplies oxygen, the muscular system produces contractions during birth, and the skeletal system (e.g. the pelvis) supports and protects. Hence all five systems work together.

Question 8

The diagram below shows a developing foetus. Where does the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the foetus and its mother take place?

Accepted Answer

B. B. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the foetus and its mother occurs at the placenta, which is attached to the wall of the womb. Label B points to the placenta, so gas exchange takes place there.

Question 9

Study the diagram below. The points A to D represent the four processes that occur during sexual reproduction of plants respectively. At D, petals will start to wither and ovules will develop to become seeds. Before which point will the plant become an adult?

Accepted Answer

B. B. D is the stage where petals wither and ovules become seeds (after fertilisation). Following the cycle, A is germination, then the plant grows into an adult, and only an adult plant can flower and be pollinated at B. Therefore the plant must have become an adult before point B.

Question 10

The diagram below shows a plant cell. Which part of the plant is the above cell from?

Accepted Answer

A. Root. The cell has a long, narrow projection extending from it, which is characteristic of a root hair cell. Root hair cells have this extension to increase surface area for absorbing water and minerals, so the cell is from the root.

Question 11

The diagram below shows a plant cell and an animal cell. Which of the following functions are correctly matched with the cell parts? (A: Gives the cell a definite shape; B: Allows substances to move within the cell; C: Contains hereditary information; D: Supports and protects the cell)

Accepted Answer

C. A, C and D only. A (cell wall) gives the cell a definite shape — correct; C (nucleus) contains hereditary information — correct; D correctly matches a supporting/protecting structure. B is wrong because the cell membrane controls substances entering and leaving the cell, not moving 'within' it. Hence A, C and D are correctly matched.

Question 12

A farmer wanted to grow identical rose plants in his farm. Which is the best way to ensure that the plants are identical?

Accepted Answer

C. Grow the rose plants by asexual reproductive method. Asexual (vegetative) reproduction produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant (clones). Seeds from pollination result from sexual reproduction and show variation, and identical growing conditions do not make the plants genetically identical. Thus the asexual method best guarantees identical plants.

Question 13

The diagram below shows the parts of a flower. Based on the diagram, which one of the following pairs of statements about X and Y is true?

Accepted Answer

A. X: Female part of the flower where pollen grains are transferred to; Y: Male part of the flower where pollen grains are produced. X points to the stigma, the female part where pollen grains are transferred to (received) during pollination. Y points to the anther, the male part where pollen grains are produced. Only option A describes both correctly.

Question 14

Read the following to answer questions 14 and 15. Alex investigated on the dispersal of a fruit. He recorded the number of fruits initially and after a certain period of time as shown below. Which colour has the greatest chance of dispersal for the above fruit?

Accepted Answer

A. Red. Each colour started with 200 berries. The red berries had the fewest remaining (54), meaning 146 were removed/dispersed — the greatest number. Fewer remaining indicates the most berries were taken (by animals), so red has the greatest chance of dispersal.

Question 15

Which one of the following features would the above fruit most likely have?

Accepted Answer

C. Fruit with sweet flesh. The fruits are brightly coloured berries that are removed (eaten) by animals — this is dispersal by animals. Animal-dispersed fruits are typically brightly coloured with sweet, juicy flesh to attract animals to eat them. Hence the fruit most likely has sweet flesh.

Question 16

Which one of the following factors can determine the state of a matter?

Accepted Answer

D. Its temperature. Whether matter is a solid, liquid or gas depends on its temperature — changing the temperature can change the state (e.g. ice → water → steam). Shape, volume and mass do not determine the state of matter.

Question 17

Identical bunsen burners were used to heat three beakers containing tap water in the same room. The time taken for each beaker of water to boil was recorded. Which one of the following is true about the result of the experiment?

Accepted Answer

D. Set-up A took a shorter time than set-up C.. Set-up A (50 ml, one burner) has less water than Set-up C (100 ml) while receiving heat, so A reaches boiling faster and takes a shorter time than C. Set-up B receives more heat (two burners on the same 50 ml) so it boils fastest — making statements about B taking longest and A being shorter than B false.

Question 18

Vincent set up the apparatus below using different insulation materials. He used beakers of the same size containing equal amounts of water in each beaker. He recorded the temperature of water in each beaker at regular intervals using a temperature sensor. The table below shows the results of the experiment. Based on the results in the table above which material is ideal for making a roof of a house?

Accepted Answer

C. G. Material G kept the water the warmest over time (100°C dropping only to 80°C after 20 min), showing it loses/transfers heat most slowly — it is the best insulator. A good roof needs the best insulation to reduce heat transfer, so G is ideal.

Question 19

Sherry placed two thermometers, A and B, into the trough of ice cubes and the beaker of boiling water respectively. She recorded the temperature till there were no more changes in the reading. Which one of the graphs below best represents the temperature changes observed by Sherry during the experiment?

Accepted Answer

C. Graph 3. Thermometer A is in ice (~0°C) and warms up towards room temperature, while thermometer B is in boiling water (~100°C) and cools down towards room temperature. Both should meet at the same final (room) temperature. Graph 3 shows B falling from 100°C and A rising from 0°C, both converging to the same middle level.

Question 20

Penny wanted to find the volume of a cork and a stone by the following the steps as shown below. What is the volume of the cork and the stone respectively?

Accepted Answer

B. Volume of cork 6 cm³, Volume of stone 24 cm³. Water alone reads 20 cm³. With the stone alone the level rises to 44 cm³, so the stone's volume = 44 − 20 = 24 cm³. With both the cork and stone fully submerged the level reads 50 cm³, so cork + stone = 50 − 20 = 30 cm³, giving cork = 30 − 24 = 6 cm³. Hence cork = 6 cm³ and stone = 24 cm³.

Question 21

Mrs Tan used the following set-up to show that a gas is produced when water plants carry out photosynthesis. She placed the set-up under a lamp for two days. Which one of the following set-ups should she use as a control for her experiment?

Accepted Answer

B. Set-up 2 (in the dark, with water plants). A fair control should be identical to the original set-up but change only the one factor being tested. Photosynthesis needs light, so keeping the same water plants but placing the set-up in the dark (Set-up 2) removes only light. If no gas is produced in the dark, it confirms that the gas comes from photosynthesis.

Question 22

Sam placed a potted plant under a large glass jar. He wanted to show how the amount of carbon dioxide inside the jar changed from day to night. Which one of the following graphs correctly shows the change in the amount of the gas in the jar?

Accepted Answer

A. Graph 1. During the day the plant photosynthesises and uses up more carbon dioxide than it releases, so CO₂ is lowest around noon. At night the plant only respires and releases carbon dioxide, so CO₂ is highest around midnight. Graph 1 shows the carbon dioxide dipping at 12 noon and rising at 12 midnight, matching this pattern.

Question 23

Which of the followings are good source of energy for man? A: Sugar B: Starch C: Water D: Oxygen

Accepted Answer

A. A and B only. Sugar and starch are carbohydrates, which are the body's main sources of energy. Water and oxygen do not provide energy — oxygen is needed to release energy from food but is not itself a food/energy source. Hence A and B only.

Question 24

A food web consists of four organisms A, B, C and D. Information about these organisms is given in the box below. (A eats B and D; B is eaten by A and D; D is eaten by C.) Which organism in the food web above obtains its energy directly from the Sun?

Accepted Answer

B. B. The organism that obtains energy directly from the Sun is the producer — the one that is eaten but does not eat anything else. A eats B and D; D eats B and is eaten by C; C eats D. B is eaten (by A and D) but never eats another organism, so B is the producer that gets energy directly from the Sun.

Question 25

Which one of the following factors does not affect rate of evaporation of water?

Accepted Answer

A. The amount of water. The rate of evaporation is affected by wind, the temperature of the water and the surrounding temperature. The amount of water affects only how long it takes to evaporate completely, not the rate at which water molecules escape from the surface, so it does not affect the rate of evaporation.

Question 26

A group of pupils compared the rates of evaporation of water in 4 different containers, J, K, L and M. The conditions for each container are shown in the table below. Which of the following experimental aim(s) can be investigated using 2 of the set-ups above? A: How speed of wind affects the rate of evaporation B: How temperature of water affects the rate of evaporation C: How exposed surface area affects the rate of evaporation

Accepted Answer

B. B only. To investigate one aim, two set-ups must differ in only that one variable. Comparing J and K: both have exposed surface area 90 cm² and wind 10 km/h, but different water temperatures (90°C vs 50°C) — this tests the effect of water temperature (aim B). No pair keeps all other variables constant while changing only wind or only surface area, so only aim B can be investigated.

Question 27

The diagram below shows an electric kettle of boiling water. Its spout is placed under a paper cup with cut-out vanes. Which one of the following gives a correct description of the energy changes occurring in the above diagram?

Accepted Answer

A. electrical energy → heat energy → kinetic energy. The kettle converts electrical energy into heat energy to boil the water. The rising steam then turns the vaned paper cup, giving it kinetic energy. So the energy change is electrical energy → heat energy → kinetic energy.

Question 28

The diagram below shows two boys riding on a car along roller coaster. Which of the following statements is true about the car as it moved from point A to point D?

Accepted Answer

A. At A, it has both potential and kinetic energy.. At point A the car is on the slope of the first hill — it has height (potential energy) and is moving (kinetic energy), so it has both. The total energy is conserved, so C does not have the most energy and the energy is not 'used up' at D (the car is still moving fast at the bottom).

Question 29

The diagram below shows how electricity is produced using fossil fuels. For each stage in the production of electricity, the form of energy involved is provided in the table below. At which stage is the energy involved wrongly stated? (Stage A: Heat energy; Stage B: Kinetic energy; Stage C: Sound energy; Stage D: Electrical energy)

Accepted Answer

C. C. At stage C the turbine is spun by the steam, so the useful energy there is kinetic energy, not sound energy. The other stages are correct: burning fuel gives heat (A), the moving steam has kinetic energy (B), and the generator produces electrical energy (D). So C is wrongly stated.

Question 30

Samuel carried out an investigation to measure the distance travelled by a battery operated car on different tracks. The result was recorded in the table as shown below. The conversion of energy is as follows: Stored Energy → Electrical Energy → Kinetic Energy + Heat Energy + Sound Energy. In which track will the greatest amount of heat energy and sound energy be produced?

Accepted Answer

B. B. The electrical energy is converted into kinetic energy plus heat and sound energy. The car that travelled the shortest distance converted the least energy into useful motion (kinetic), meaning the most was lost as heat and sound (through friction). Track B has the shortest distance (100 cm), so it produces the greatest heat and sound energy.

P6 Science SA1 2012 — Rosyth

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P6 Science SA1 2012 — Rosyth

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