Topic 20 Solids, liquids and gases — what needs James (0)

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 1 · bank item PP-1 · tests MAT3-063 MAT3-064

EasyMCQType 1 — someone feels something they cannot see (moving air): what reaches them

Enya holds her hand out of the window of a fast car, and something she cannot see reaches her hand. What reaches it?

1. a) countless tiny pieces of air ← key
2. b) one big piece of air
3. c) drops of rain
4. 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

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 2 · bank item PP-2 · tests MAT3-065 MAT3-064

EasyMCQType 2 — which of two named things is made of tiny pieces far too small to see

Think of a bicycle and the air in its tires. Which is made of tiny pieces far too small to see?

1. a) only the bicycle
2. b) only the air in its tires
3. c) both the bicycle and the air in its tires ← key
4. d) neither of them

Why it is this type: The bicycle is matter, and the air in its tires is matter. / Every kind of matter is made of tiny pieces far too small to see. / So both are.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 4 · bank item PP-3 · tests MAT3-022

EasyMCQType 4 — a container pushed open-end-down under water; inside it the water comes up only a little way: what keeps the water out

drawing bottle_bucket_pp_svg

An open bottle is pushed neck-down into a bucket of water, and inside it the water comes up only a little way. What keeps the water out of the rest of the bottle?

1. a) the bottle's glass
2. b) the bucket
3. c) nothing keeps it out
4. d) the air in the bottle ← key

Why it is this type: The bottle was full of air. / The air takes up the space inside the bottle. / Nothing else can be in that space at the same time. / So the air keeps the water out of the rest of the bottle.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 6 · bank item PP-4 · tests MAT3-023

EasyMCQType 6, gas form — a described sample (what it does in its container): which kind of matter is it · PP-4

The stuff pumped into a bounce house spreads out to fill every part of it. Which kind of matter is it?

1. a) a solid
2. b) a liquid
3. c) a gas ← key
4. d) You cannot tell from this.

Why it is this type: The stuff spreads out to fill every part of the bounce house. / A gas spreads out to fill all the space it is given. / So it is a gas.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 6 · bank item PP-5 · tests MAT3-021

EasyMCQType 6, liquid form — a described sample (what it does in its container): which kind of matter is it · PP-5

Paint poured into a tray takes the tray's shape, with a flat top. Which kind of matter is the paint?

1. a) a solid
2. b) a liquid ← key
3. c) a gas
4. d) You cannot tell from this.

Why it is this type: The paint pours. / It takes the shape of the tray, with a flat top. / A liquid pours and takes its container's shape. / So the paint is a liquid.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 6 · bank item PP-6 · tests MAT3-020

EasyMCQType 6, solid form — a described sample (what it does in its container): which kind of matter is it · PP-6

A toy car dropped into a bathtub stays car-shaped. Which kind of matter is the toy car?

1. a) a solid ← key
2. b) a liquid
3. c) a gas
4. d) You cannot tell from this.

Why it is this type: The toy car stays car-shaped in the bathtub. / A solid keeps its own shape wherever you put it. / So the toy car is a solid.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 3 · bank item PP-7 · tests MAT3-065

MediumMCQType 3 — you can see X easily: why

Lowri can see her red scarf easily. Why can she see the scarf?

1. a) The scarf's pieces are packed very close together. ← key
2. b) The scarf's pieces are big enough to see.
3. c) The scarf is not made of pieces.
4. d) The scarf is one big piece, not tiny pieces.

Why it is this type: The scarf is matter, so it is made of tiny pieces far too small to see. / Its pieces are packed very close together. / Countless pieces packed close together are easy to see. / So Lowri can see the scarf.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 5 · bank item PP-8 · tests MAT3-022 MAT3-062

MediumMCQType 5 — the container is turned right over and all the air comes out: what happens to the water inside

Iolo turns an upside-down glass right over under the water, and all the air comes out in bubbles. What happens to the water inside the glass?

1. a) It stays low in the glass.
2. b) It goes out with the bubbles.
3. c) It fills the glass, where the air was. ← key
4. d) It turns into bubbles too.

Why it is this type: The bubbles are the air coming out of the glass. / The air no longer takes up the space inside. / Water goes in where the air was. / So the water fills the glass.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 7 · bank item PP-9 · tests MAT3-024 MAT3-020

MediumMCQType 7 — a soft thing: the stem states all four facts about it (soft, squashes flat, takes up space, goes back to its own shape) and asks which one tells you it is a solid — no option is the odd one out (29 Sep)

every fact stated, James's praised Topic 1 form): A cushion feels soft, squashes flat when you sit on it, takes up space on the chair, and goes back to its own shape when you get up. Which of these tells you that the cushion is a solid?

1. a) You can squash it flat with one hand.
2. b) It goes back to its own shape. ← key
3. c) It feels soft when you sit on it.
4. d) It takes up space on the chair.

Why it is this type: You can squash a cushion, and it is soft, but neither sorts it. / Everything takes up space. / When you get up, the cushion goes back to its own shape, and a solid keeps its own shape. / So that is what tells you the cushion is a solid.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases · Type 8 · bank item PP-9 · tests MAT3-024

HardtypedType 8 — a drawn heap of small things poured into a jar, no sorting words in the stem: which kind of matter is it

MCQ (text entry until 29 Sep 2026) · drawing lentils_jar_svg

Lentils were poured from a bag into this jar. Which kind of matter are the lentils?

1. a) a solid ← key
2. b) a liquid
3. c) a gas
4. d) You cannot tell from this.

Why it is this type: Hard because: the stem withholds the deciding feature; the drawing (a heap with a pointed top, single lentils separate from each other) is what the student must read, and the student then overrides the pours-so-liquid cue — two steps. (Decision 4 of the build record — whether the typed stem may list the three words — is closed by the conversion.)

The why line (what a student reads after answering): The lentils poured, so they look like a liquid. / But they make a heap, not a flat top, and each lentil keeps its own shape. / A solid keeps its own shape. / So the lentils are solids: many small solids.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Topic 20 · Solids, liquids and gases

For youStructure change, 29 September 2026 — the gap for James

Recommendation: Approve as proposed