Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ a5ff054
Topic 8 — Strong or weak: drawing a force — the PP100's seven question types, one exemplar each
What this page is. James approves a bank's question TYPES before the bank is generated (vault: A bank is reviewed as its question types first, one exemplar each, 28 Sep 2026; James: "unlikely that you're going to need more than two question types per atom"). Seven types for three atoms, at most two per atom alone plus two pair types — six four-option MCQs (the easy and medium bulk) and ONE typed item at the hard end (James, 28 Sep night: "hard questions would be text entry or even numeric entry"); this sheet writes ONE exemplar per type in full, exactly as it sits in content/G3T08.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying scene, nouns and arrow lengths, easy-heavy; type 7 carries at most eight.
Revised 28 Sep 2026 (night) after the non-author review (REVIEW_G3T08_2026-09-28.md): PP-5's stem now says both children push the same cart to the right (B2); PP-4's options are four place phrases of one shape (F12); the ball drawings of PP-7 start their arrows where the hand touches the ball (B3); PP-3's four lengths are spread 20 / 36 / 60 / 90 (F18); the pusher's hands rest on the box in PP-2 (F1); four names renamed after a course-wide grep.
How to read a type line. Each says what the stem asks, what the four options are (the kind of thing), and gives its exemplar scene. Every item is a four-option MCQ with a why (no per-option feedback in the bank; the engine prints Correct / Not quite). Tags follow depth of reasoning: easy = one-step prediction or one reading of a drawing; medium = the fact run backwards (from the change to the push; from the pull to where its arrow starts) or two ideas at once; hard = a chain of two atoms, asked as TEXT ENTRY: the student produces the answer with no options to lean on (James's night ruling: hard items are typed; easy and medium stay four-option MCQs). No option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem is a positive question; no bank stem runs to three sentences; no item asks the student to draw (the platform has none) — every arrow item is a recognition item on drawn arrows; no item figure carries a verdict or a label that hands over the answer, and its panels are lettered J K L M, outside the option alphabet. Every drawn arrow in the bank obeys the topic's own conventions: it starts on the object at the point where the force acts, points the way the force acts, and is longer for a stronger force.
Coverage — every atom alone and in a pair
| Atom | Alone | In a pair |
|---|---|---|
| FOR3-009 a stronger push or pull on the same object makes a bigger change in its motion | types 1, 6 | 7 (with 011) |
| FOR3-010 draw the force as an arrow on the object, pointing the way the force acts | types 2, 3 | 5 (with 011: the fourth option is a direction error) |
| FOR3-011 the stronger force gets the longer arrow | type 4 | 5 (with 010); 7 (with 009) |
No row is empty; every atom sits in at least one pair.
The seven types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | The stem asks… | The four options are… | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | FOR3-009 | easy | the same object is pushed gently, then much harder: what does it do after the harder push | four happenings: rolls farther / the same distance / a shorter distance / stays still | Efe's ball on the floor |
| 2 | PP-2 | FOR3-010 | easy | four drawings (J K L M) of one push: which shows the push on the object | drawing J / K / L / M — one right; one floating in the air; one pointing the wrong way; one on the pusher | a girl pushing a box |
| 4 | PP-3 | FOR3-011 | easy | four drawings (J K L M) of the same object pushed with arrows of four lengths: which shows the strongest push | drawing J / K / L / M — the longest arrow is the key | a hand and the toy car |
| 3 | PP-4 | FOR3-010 | medium | a described pull: where does its force arrow start | four place phrases of one shape: on the puller's hand / in the air above the object / on the object / on the ground under it | a girl pulling a sled by its rope |
| 5 | PP-5 | FOR3-011 + FOR3-010 | medium | two children push the same object the same way and one pushes harder: how are the two arrows drawn | four drawings in words: A's longer / B's longer / the same length / one pointing the other way | Cleo and Bram's cart |
| 6 | PP-6 | FOR3-009 | medium | two children push the same object and one sends it farther: why | four reasons: A pushed harder / B pushed harder / the object was lighter for A / B pushed first | Zuri and Nico's toy car |
| 7 | PP-7 | FOR3-009 + FOR3-011 | hard · TEXT ENTRY | two drawings, headed by two children's names, of the same object with a short and a long arrow: type the name of the child whose object will roll farther | typed: the child's name (accept list: the name, its possessive, "<name>'s ball") | Zuri's and Nico's balls at a start line |
Order in the file: easy → medium → hard (PP-1 … PP-7: types 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 7). MCQ keys: A C D C B A (no letter over 35 %); PP-7 is typed.
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · FOR3-009 · easy
Stem: Efe rolls a ball gently along the floor, then rolls the same ball with a much harder push. What does the ball do after the harder push?
- a) It rolls farther than before. ← key
- b) It rolls the same distance as before.
- c) It rolls a shorter distance than before.
- d) It stays still.
Why: The harder push is a stronger force than the gentle push. / The stronger the force, the bigger the change in motion. / So the ball rolls farther than before.
Type 2 — PP-2 · FOR3-010 · easy · figure pp_four_drawings_box
Stem: A girl pushes a box to the right. Which drawing shows her push on the box?
- a) drawing J
- b) drawing K
- c) drawing L ← key
- d) drawing M
Figure: four panels J K L M of the same girl pushing the same box to the right. J: the arrow floats in the air above the box. K: the arrow starts on the box at her hands but points left. L: the arrow starts on the box at her hands and points right. M: the arrow starts on the girl's back.
Why: A force arrow starts on the object, where the force acts, and points the way the force acts. / J's arrow floats in the air, and M's starts on the girl. / K's arrow starts on the box but points the wrong way. / L's arrow starts on the box at her hands and points to the right.
Type 4 — PP-3 · FOR3-011 · easy · figure pp_four_lengths
Stem: A hand pushes the same toy car four times. Which drawing shows the strongest push?
- a) drawing J
- b) drawing K
- c) drawing L
- d) drawing M ← key
Figure: four panels J K L M of the same toy car with a hand at its back; arrows of four lengths (J 60, K 36, L 20, M 90 units), all from the car's back where the hand touches it, pointing right.
Why: Every arrow starts on the car and points to the right, so only the lengths differ. / A longer arrow shows a stronger force. / Drawing M's arrow is the longest. / So drawing M shows the strongest push.
Type 3 — PP-4 · FOR3-010 · medium
Stem: A girl pulls a sled to the right by its rope. Where does the force arrow for her pull start?
- a) on the girl's hand
- b) in the air above the sled
- c) on the sled ← key
- d) on the snow under the sled
Why: The girl's pull acts on the sled, through the rope. / A force arrow starts on the object, where the force acts on it. / The rope is tied to the sled, so that is where the pull acts. / So the arrow starts on the sled, where the rope is tied.
Medium because: the routine's first check is applied to a described (not drawn) pull through a rope, where the pull's point of action has to be worked out.
Type 5 — PP-5 · FOR3-011 + FOR3-010 · medium
Stem: Cleo and Bram each push the same cart to the right, and Cleo pushes harder. How should the two force arrows be drawn?
- a) Bram's arrow longer than Cleo's
- b) Cleo's arrow longer than Bram's ← key
- c) both arrows the same length
- d) Cleo's arrow pointing the other way
Why: Cleo's push is the stronger force. / To show which of two forces is stronger, draw its arrow longer. / Both pushes act the same way, so both arrows point the same way. / So Cleo's arrow is drawn longer than Bram's.
Medium because: two ideas at once — length for strength (L03) and the direction rule (L02) that the fourth option breaks.
Type 6 — PP-6 · FOR3-009 · medium
Stem: Zuri and Nico each push the same toy car, and Zuri's push sends it farther. Why?
- a) Zuri pushed harder than Nico. ← key
- b) Nico pushed harder than Zuri.
- c) The car was lighter for Zuri's push.
- d) Nico pushed first.
Why: It is the same car both times, so only the pushes differ. / A stronger push makes a bigger change in motion. / Zuri's push sent the car farther, so Zuri's push was the stronger one. / Zuri pushed harder than Nico.
Medium because: the rule is run backwards — from the observed change to the strength of the push — and one distractor (the lighter car) has to be refused from "the same car".
Type 7 — PP-7 · FOR3-009 + FOR3-011 · hard · TEXT ENTRY · figure pp_two_balls_arrows
Stem: The drawings show a push on each of two balls. The balls are just the same. Type the name of the child whose ball will roll farther.
Accept: Nico · Nico's · Nico's ball (case, articles and a final period are ignored by the grader; no synonym — the answer is a name)
Figure: two panels headed ZURI'S BALL and NICO'S BALL, the same red ball at a dashed start line with a hand behind it; each arrow starts where the fingertips touch the ball and runs across it; Zuri's is short, Nico's long.
Why: Nico's arrow is longer than Zuri's arrow. / A longer arrow shows a stronger force, so Nico's ball gets the stronger push. / A stronger push makes a bigger change in motion. / So Nico's ball rolls farther.
Hard because: two steps of two atoms — read the arrow's length as strength (FOR3-011), then predict the change from the strength (FOR3-009) — and the answer is produced, not recognised among four options. Typed, per James's ruling that the bank's hard items are text or numeric entry; the generated items of this type vary the two children, the object (ball, toy car, sled) and which panel carries the long arrow.
Reading notes for the review
- Every type reuses a form the lesson quizzes and the mixed practice already use, with four options (James's Topic 3 night ruling): type 1 is L01's predict item; type 2 is L02's "which drawing shows the push" (two panels there, four here); type 3 is L02's "where should the arrow start" scaffold; type 4 is L03's three-kicks item widened to four; type 5 is L03's "whose arrow is longer" made a drawing-in-words; type 6 is the practice set's "why did it go farther"; type 7 is L03's closing chain item.
- No item asks anyone to draw. Arrow items are recognition items on drawn arrows, and the drawing carries no verdict, tick, cross or label that names the answer; the blind comment says where each arrow starts and which way it points, and stops.
- "You cannot tell" is not offered anywhere: no exemplar has a scene where it would be the honest answer. "Both the same" and "neither moves" (type 7) and "the same length" (type 5) are genuine states a student might believe, not padding.
- Scenes are fresh against the lessons (the toy car pushed three ways; the wagon; the girl and her box; the rope; the ball under the hand; the clip; the boy and his box; the hand-held ball), against the lesson quizzes (marble, horses and carts, soccer ball, tricycle, Nico and Zuri's rolled balls, Dario's kick, Suki's swing, Tariq's truck; drawer, shopping cart, Sadie's sled, acorn, stroller, bolt, wagon, kicked ball, door, book, J/K cart, Zuri's claim; J/K box, J/K sled, Rania and Efe's cart, the well bucket, the rock, three kicks, Suki's kicks, J/K cars) and against the practice set (Dario's swing, stroller, Lucia's wagon, J/K wagon, Tariq's claim, Sadie and Nadir's kicks, the dog's rope toy). Type 4 reuses the toy car glyph with a hand as a bank figure because the car is the topic's one object drawn along a scale; its item is a different move (pick the strongest of four) from L01's, whose quiz never uses the car. Type 7's two balls at a start line echo L01's lanes figure in look but not in move (that item shows where balls stopped; this one shows arrows and asks for a typed prediction).
- Not planned: any multi-select; none of these answers is a set. No verdict-and-reason option anywhere. No numeric-entry type: the topic is qualitative (no number is ever attached to an arrow), so text entry is the typed form.
- Names used in this topic: Efe, Sadie, Bram, Cleo, Nadir, Nico, Zuri, Dario, Suki, Tariq (quizzes); Dario, Lucia, Sadie, Nadir, Tariq (practice); Efe, Cleo, Bram, Zuri, Nico (bank). None appears in Topics 1–6's content files or records (checked by grep after eight first choices collided and were renamed).