Topic 11 Sound — what needs James (0)
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Question types (8)
One exemplar per question type in the test bank; approving a type approves every item written to it. The full type sheet.
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 1 · bank item PP-1 · tests ENE3-030
EasyMCQType 1 — which of four described things is vibrating
Which of these is vibrating?
- a) a bell ringing in a tower ← key
- b) a bell hanging quiet in a tower
- c) a book lying on a shelf
- d) a cup sitting on a table
Why it is this type: The quiet bell, the book and the cup are still. None of them makes a sound. / The ringing bell makes a sound. / Every sound is made by something vibrating. / So the ringing bell is vibrating.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 3 · bank item PP-2 · tests ENE3-032
EasyMCQType 3 — a sound makes a light thing near it shake; the thing is moved a FEW STEPS farther (first form) or closer (second form): what happens to the shaking — the move is always bounded ("a few steps"), so "stops at once" is never defensible · PP-2
A loud speaker makes the leaves of a plant near it shake. What happens to the leaves when Jiho moves the plant a few steps farther from the speaker?
- a) They shake more.
- b) They shake less. ← key
- c) They shake just the same.
- d) They stop shaking at once.
Why it is this type: The plant is a few steps farther from the speaker now. / The farther a thing is from the sound, the less it shakes. / The leaves still shake a little, just less.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 3 · bank item PP-3 · tests ENE3-032
EasyMCQType 3, second form — a sound makes a light thing near it shake; the thing is moved a FEW STEPS farther (first form) or closer (second form): what happens to the shaking — the move is always bounded ("a few steps"), so "stops at once" is never defensible · PP-3
A loud drum makes a ribbon hanging near it shake. What happens to the ribbon when Idil hangs it closer to the drum?
- a) It shakes less.
- b) It shakes more. ← key
- c) It shakes just the same.
- d) It stops shaking.
Why it is this type: The ribbon is closer to the drum now. / The farther a thing is from the sound, the less it shakes. / So the closer it is, the more it shakes. / The ribbon shakes more.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 2 · bank item PP-4 · tests ENE3-031
MediumMCQType 2 — why a named child can hear a sound from far away
Hamza hears a bell ring from across the field. Why can he hear it?
- a) The bell touches his ear.
- b) The light from the bell reaches his eyes.
- c) The bell's vibration travels through the air to his ear. ← key
- d) The bell sends the sound along the ground to his feet.
Why it is this type: Medium because: the student picks the reason (DOK 2) on a fresh scene; the distractors are the three things a child reaches for instead of the air (touch, light, the ground).
The why line (what a student reads after answering): The bell vibrates. / The vibration travels through the air across the field. / It reaches Hamza's ear, so he hears the bell. / The bell never touches him, and light and the ground carry nothing to his ear.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 4 · bank item PP-5 · tests ENE3-032 ENE3-031
MediumMCQType 4 — given a drawn row of jars at J, K and L from a drum, which jar's beads jump the least
drawn (q_jars_jkl: a drum at the left; three jars of beads at J, K, L along a table, J nearest; the beads at rest; no arcs, no marks)
Three jars of beads sit at J, K and L, and the drum is hit once. Which jar's beads jump the least?
- a) jar J
- b) jar K
- c) jar L ← key
- d) all three the same
Why it is this type: Medium because: the distance is read off the drawing and the rule applied to three cases at once; "all three the same" is the misconception that the sound reaches every jar alike.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): The drum's vibration travels through the air to every jar. / Jar L is farthest from the drum. / The farther a thing is from the sound, the less it shakes. / So jar L's beads jump the least.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 5 · bank item PP-6 · tests ENE3-030 ENE3-031
MediumMCQType 5 — a gong is grabbed and held still while someone across the hall was hearing it ring: what does he hear now
MCQ (converted 29 Sep 2026)
Naomi bangs a gong, and across the hall Oren hears it ring. Then Naomi grabs the gong with both hands and holds it still, so what does Oren hear now?
- a) He hears the same ring.
- b) He hears a louder ring.
- c) He hears the ring, but quieter.
- d) He hears nothing. ← key
Why it is this type: Naomi's hands hold the gong still, so the gong stops vibrating. / Every sound is made by something vibrating. / The gong makes no sound now, so no vibration travels through the air to Oren. / Oren hears nothing.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
More from the sheet on this type
fb: A gong held still is not vibrating, so it makes no sound at all. · Holding a gong still stops its vibration; nothing gets louder. · Her hands do not make the ring quieter; they stop the vibration, so there is no ring. · The gong is held still, so it stops vibrating, and a thing that is not vibrating makes no sound.
Was typed ("nothing"); James's typed-item ruling (29 Sep 2026; vault 10 Rules/A typed answer is asked only where the question is closed, and every correct answer is accepted.md): a description of what is heard is an open key — the 28 Sep review had already had to bound it to twenty forms, and "it stopped", "he can't hear it", "no gong" were still outside the list. Four hearings now, every option a happening. Medium, one tag lower than before: the chain (held still → no vibration → no sound) is still needed to refuse "quieter", but it is picked, not produced. The stem was cut to two sentences (S23).
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 6 · bank item PP-1 · tests MAT3-063 MAT3-064
EasyMCQType 6 — something unseen reaches a hand held out of a fast car's window: what reaches it
Enya holds her hand out of the window of a fast car, and something she cannot see reaches her hand. What reaches it?
- a) countless tiny pieces of air ← key
- b) one big piece of air
- c) drops of rain
- d) nothing
Why it is this type: The car moves through the air. / The air moves past Enya's hand. / Air is made of tiny pieces far too small to see. / So countless tiny pieces of air reach her hand.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
More from the sheet on this type
Move: student names the unseen stuff that reaches a hand as countless tiny pieces of air (the Lesson 2 (Air is made of tiny pieces too small to see) fact applied once to a fresh scene). Fresh against Lesson 1 (Air is something) (Astrid's fan, the hill, breathing in), Lesson 2 (Air is made of tiny pieces too small to see) (the dots box, the cheek), their quizzes (a boy running, Lotta's claim, a flag, a girl breathing in, an electric fan, the candle flame, Kaito's claim; Mei's claim, Kemi's arm, Rin's shut room, Alfie's claim, Elis breathing in) and the practice (the bus fan, Lieke's beach wind, the cupboard, Sora's balloon). For the bank: vary the moving-air scene (a bike ride, a swing, a hair dryer at arm's length) and the option set's form.
Topic 11 · Sound · Type 7 · tests ENE3-030 ENE3-031
ProposedHardProposed: Type 7 — someone far off hears a thing sound and cannot see it: type the science word for what the thing must be doing
text entry
Far across a field, a boy hears a church bell ring. He cannot see the bell. What must the bell be doing while he hears it? Type the science word.
Accepted answers (typed): the coined term, in its forms): vibrating · vibration · vibrate · vibrates · a vibration · vibrateing · vibrashun · vibraiting
Why it is this type: Hard because: two steps — from "he hears it" back to "so a sound is being made" and from there to the rule (every sound is made by something vibrating); the term is produced, and the stem prints neither "shaking" nor "vibrating". Fresh against Lesson 3 (Sound comes from vibration) (ruler, drum, rubber band, throat), the quizzes (bell in a hall, Emeka's school bell) and PR-11 (the definition item). The boy needs a fresh name from the register (build_tools_names.py) before use.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): He hears the bell, so a sound is reaching him. / Every sound is made by something vibrating. / The bell's vibration travels through the air to his ear. / So the bell must be vibrating.
Recommendation: Approve the proposed type
More from the sheet on this type
The sheet lost its one typed hard type today, and James's 28 Sep ruling still wants the hard end typed where a closed key exists. The one closed key this topic coins is "vibrating".
The lessons (5)
Each lesson in teaching order: its one-line summary, the article, the script and the quiz, then your ruling.
Topic 11 · Lesson 1 · moved from Topic 20
Lesson 1 Air is something
Astrid fans her face and feels a breeze but sees nothing; she felt the air; the wind on a hill moves a boy's hair and the flag; a girl breathes in and her chest gets bigger; the rule last. Quiz: eight.
Topic 11 · Lesson 2 · moved from Topic 20
Lesson 2 Air is made of tiny pieces too small to see
how can something touch your face when you can't see it; tiny pieces, each far too small to see; "if you could see them, they would look something like this" (dots, never faces); the label "particles" once; countless pieces reach her cheek. Quiz: nine, the term typed last.
Topic 11 · Lesson 3 · was L01
Lesson 3 Sound comes from vibration
a ruler over a desk edge, still and silent, then flicked: it shakes back and forth very fast and buzzes; a drum skin makes rice jump; a rubber band over a box hums; your own throat when you hum; the ruler held still again goes quiet.
Topic 11 · Lesson 4 · was L02
Lesson 4 Sound travels to your ear
a drum across a field: the skin shakes the tiny pieces of air next to it, those pieces shake the next ones, and the vibration reaches the boy's ear; a bell in a tower; a dog barking behind a boy who is not looking. The quiz visits the cases where a child thinks it switches off: back turned, eyes shut, in the dark, no touch.
Skill: write-like-james @ 8b55b65 · built 6 October 2026 by build_tools_needs_you.py