Topic 27 Fossils — what needs James (0)
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Question types (10)
One exemplar per question type in the test bank; approving a type approves every item written to it. The full type sheet.
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 1 · bank item PP-1 · tests EAR3-029
EasyMCQType 1 — a dead thing lies in the open: what happens to its body
A dead frog lies in the open by a pond. What happens to its body over the next few weeks?
- a) It rots away ← key
- b) It hardens into rock
- c) It stays just as it is
- d) It dries up and stays there for years
Why it is this type: The frog lies in the open. / After a living thing dies, its body usually rots away. / So the frog's body rots away.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 3 · bank item PP-2 · tests EAR3-030
EasyMCQType 3 — a footprint in rock from long ago: what is it
Ollie finds a footprint pressed into rock, from long ago. What is it?
- a) a part of a living thing
- b) a mark a living thing made ← key
- c) a chance shape in the rock
- d) a fresh print from this year
Why it is this type: An animal pressed its foot into soft mud long ago. / The mud hardened into rock, and the print lasted. / The foot itself is gone. / So the footprint is a mark a living thing made.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 4 · bank item PP-3 · tests EAR3-031
EasyMCQType 4 — four find cards: which one is a fossil
drawing pp_four_cards
Look at the four find cards. Which one is a fossil?
- a) the feather on the lawn
- b) the pebble in the stream
- c) the shell shape in rock from a quarry ← key
- d) the pinecone under the tree
Why it is this type: The shell shape in rock: a living thing left it, and it is in rock, from long ago. Two yeses, a fossil. / The feather and the pinecone are from today. / No living thing left the pebble.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 6 · bank item PP-4 · tests EAR3-032
EasyMCQType 6 — a fossil skull from a quarry with wide, flat teeth like blocks: what do we think it ate
A fossil skull from a quarry has wide, flat teeth, like blocks. What do we think this animal ate?
- a) meat
- b) fish
- c) insects
- d) plants ← key
Why it is this type: The fossil shows wide, flat teeth. / A cow today has wide, flat teeth, and grinds up plants. / So we think the fossil animal ate plants.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 8 · bank item PP-5 · tests EAR3-033
EasyMCQType 8 — fossil sea snails in rock under a city street: what was this place like long ago
Fossil sea snails are found in rock under a city street. What do we think this place was like long ago?
- a) a snowy mountain
- b) a sandy desert
- c) under water ← key
- d) a thick forest
Why it is this type: The fossil shows sea snails, in rock under the street. / Today, sea snails live in the sea. / So we think this place was once under water.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 2 · bank item PP-6 · tests EAR3-029
MediumMCQType 2 — what happens to most dead things, so that almost none last
Why do almost no dead things last a very, very long time?
- a) Most rot away in the open ← key
- b) Most get buried fast in mud
- c) Most harden into rock
- d) Most get eaten whole by other animals
Why it is this type: Medium because: the reason for a stated outcome.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): To last, a dead thing needs a hard part or a print, and it must be buried fast. / Most dead things lie in the open, and nothing buries them. / So they rot away, and almost none last.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 5 · bank item PP-7 · tests EAR3-031
MediumMCQType 5 — a fresh find: what would have to be true for it to be a fossil
Rhys picks up a shell on the beach this morning. What would have to be true for it to be a fossil?
- a) It would have to be a bone
- b) It would have to be from long ago ← key
- c) It would have to be bigger
- d) It would have to be from a dinosaur
Why it is this type: Medium because: both questions must be held, and the one the shell fails picked out.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): A living thing left the shell, so the first answer is yes. / But the animal lived this year, so it is not from long ago. / One no, so it is not a fossil. / A fossil does not have to be a bone or from a dinosaur.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 7 · bank item PP-8 · tests EAR3-032
MediumMCQType 7 — a fossil print drawn beside Lowen's shoe: which sentence is what the fossil SHOWS
drawing pp_card_print_shoe
Lowen studies a fossil footprint. Which sentence is what the fossil SHOWS?
- a) The animal was heavy
- b) The animal ran fast
- c) The animal was hunting
- d) The print is longer than her shoe ← key
Why it is this type: Medium because: one observation must be told apart from three ideas, with the length read off the drawing.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): What a fossil shows is something anyone can see on it. / Anyone can see the print beside Lowen's shoe, and that it is longer. / Nobody saw the animal move, so heavy, fast and hunting are ideas. / So the length of the print is what the fossil shows.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 9 · bank item PP-9 · tests EAR3-033
MediumtypedType 9 — crab fossils in rock high on a mountain: type the word for what once covered the mountain
MCQ from 29 Sep 2026 · drawing pp_card_crab_mountain
Crab fossils are found in rock high on a mountain. Type the word for what once covered the mountain.
Accepted answers (typed): water · a water · the water · sea · a sea · the sea · ocean · a ocean · the ocean · sea water · a sea water · the sea water · seawater · a seawater · the seawater (the grader folds case)
Why it is this type: Hard because: two steps (a crab → crabs live in the sea → under water) and the idea is produced, not recognised.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): The fossil shows a crab, in rock on the mountain. / Today, crabs live in the sea and on its shore. / So we think water once covered the mountain.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 27 · Fossils · Type 10 · bank item PP-10 · tests EAR3-030
HardtypedType 10 — a leaf shape dug out of rock, pressed into mud by a fern long ago: type the word for what she has found
text entry
Fleur digs a leaf shape out of rock. Long ago, a fern pressed it into soft mud. Type the word for what she has found.
Accepted answers (typed): fossil · a fossil · the fossil · fossils · a fossils · the fossils (the grader folds case)
Why it is this type: Hard because: two steps — a mark, from long ago → the term — from a case, never the definition sentence.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): A fern pressed its shape into mud long ago; the mud hardened into rock and the shape lasted. / A mark a living thing made long ago, that has lasted until today, is a fossil. / So Fleur has found a fossil.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
The lessons (5)
Each lesson in teaching order: its one-line summary, the article, the script and the quiz, then your ruling.
Topic 27 · Lesson 1 · Items: 10
Lesson 1 What happens after a living thing dies
say that a dead body usually rots away into the soil, and that a hard part or a print buried fast lasts a very, very long time
Topic 27 · Lesson 2 · Items: 10
Lesson 2 What a fossil is
name a footprint, a shell shape, a leaf print, a bone or a trilobite's shell as a fossil — a part or a mark, from long ago
Topic 27 · Lesson 3 · Items: 10
Lesson 3 Fossil or not?
sort a find with two questions: did a living thing leave it, and is it from long ago (in rock)
Topic 27 · Lesson 4 · Items: 10
Lesson 4 What the fossil creature was like
read sharp or flat teeth, or a long print, as what the fossil SHOWS, and say what we THINK from it
Skill: write-like-james @ 8b55b65 · built 6 October 2026 by build_tools_needs_you.py