Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ a5ff054
Topic 17 — Measuring tools — the PP100's ten question types, with their exemplars
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). This sheet writes the exemplars in full, exactly as they sit in content/G3T17.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Ten types — the ceiling, for a topic of seven atoms; each atom has at most two types of its own. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the instrument's level, the nouns and the scene, easy-heavy.
James's rulings applied (28 Sep 2026, night). Hard items are typed, never MCQs: type 9 is text entry (the team's colour) and type 10 is numeric entry (a reading). Easy and medium items are four-option MCQs. No stem leans on a video; every drawn item carries its own fresh drawing. No option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem is a positive question; no item shows the sort card or a rule table; every reading is one the drawn scale gives (figures.py asserts it).
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. Tags follow depth of reasoning: easy = one routine on a fresh drawing or the fact; medium = two ideas (the tool, then its unit; a judgement of a set-up); hard = the routine plus a judgement, typed.
The ten types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The four options are… | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | SR3-P01 | easy | MCQ | what one small mark is worth, on a drawn strip of marks between two numbers | 1 / 2 / 5 / 10 | 60 to 70, ten spaces |
| 2 | PP-2 | SR3-023 | easy | MCQ | what a drawn Fahrenheit thermometer reads | four °F readings: the number below the top, the count-in-1s error, the reading, the number above | 58 °F |
| 3 | PP-3 | SR3-003 | easy | MCQ | what the Celsius side of a drawn thermometer reads | four °C readings: the number below, the reading, the number above, the count-in-2s error | 27 °C |
| 4 | PP-4 | SR3-004 | easy | MCQ | when to read a digital scale's display | four moments in the routine | Suri's pear |
| 5 | PP-5 | SR3-005 (+ P01) | easy | MCQ | the volume of the water in a drawn graduated cylinder | four mL readings: the number below, the count-in-1s error, the reading, the number above | 66 mL |
| 6 | PP-6 | SR3-006 + SR3-005 (or 004, 003) | medium | MCQ | which UNIT the answer has, given what the child wants to know (the tool is not named) | g / °F / cm / mL | Fatou and the cup of water |
| 7 | PP-7 | SR3-006 | medium | MCQ | which tool the child uses, given what she wants to know | a thermometer / a scale / a graduated cylinder / a ruler (the fixed set) | Xavi's cat food |
| 8 | PP-8 | SR3-007 | medium | MCQ | which one thing made one team's number higher, given two set-ups and two readings | four single-statement happenings: two misreadings, an irrelevant difference, the set-up difference | sun and shade, 88 °F and 74 °F |
| 9 | PP-9 | SR3-007 + SR3-005 + P01 | hard | text | which team read a drawn cylinder right, given two claimed readings; type the team's colour | typed; accept Red / Team Red | 56 mL, Red 56 and Blue 53 |
| 10 | PP-10 | SR3-003 + SR3-023 | hard | numeric | what the Celsius side reads when the Fahrenheit side of the drawn thermometer reads a stated number; type it | typed; accept 10 / 10 °C | 50 °F → 10 °C |
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Types testing it alone | Pair types |
|---|---|---|
| SR3-P01 what one mark is worth | 1 | 5 (with 005), 9 (with 005, 007) |
| SR3-023 read a Fahrenheit thermometer | 2 | 10 (with 003) |
| SR3-003 read a Celsius thermometer | 3 | 10 (with 023) |
| SR3-004 measure mass with a digital scale | 4 | 6 (when the unit asked is g) |
| SR3-005 measure the volume of a liquid | 5 | 6 (with 006), 9 (with 007) |
| SR3-006 pick the right tool | 7 | 6 (with 005 / 004 / 003) |
| SR3-007 two groups, two answers | 8 | 9 (with 005) |
Order in the file: easy → medium → hard (PP-1 … PP-10). MCQ keys (eight items): A C B A C D B D — no letter over 25 %. Hard because: type 9 reads the cylinder (two steps) and then judges two claims against the reading; type 10 finds the level from one side's reading and reads the other side.
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · SR3-P01 · easy · drawing strip_60_70_10
Stem: Here are the marks between 60 and 70 on a measuring tool. What is one mark worth?
- a) 1 ← key
- b) 2
- c) 5
- d) 10
Why: From 60 to 70 there are ten spaces. / Count up in 1s: 61, 62, and on to 70. / Ten 1s land on 70. / So each mark is worth 1.
Type 2 — PP-2 · SR3-023 · easy · drawing therm_pp_58
Stem: What does this thermometer read?
- a) 50 °F
- b) 54 °F
- c) 58 °F ← key
- d) 60 °F
Why: The number below the top of the liquid is 50. / The top is four marks above 50. / Each mark is worth 2: 52, 54, 56, 58. / So the thermometer reads 58 °F.
Type 3 — PP-3 · SR3-003 · easy · drawing therm_pp_c_27
Stem: What does the Celsius side of this thermometer read?
- a) 20 °C
- b) 27 °C ← key
- c) 30 °C
- d) 34 °C
Why: On the Celsius side, the number below the top is 20. / The top is seven marks above 20. / On the Celsius side each mark is worth 1: 21, 22, and on to 27. / So it reads 27 °C.
Type 4 — PP-4 · SR3-004 · easy
Stem: Suri puts a pear on a digital scale that read 0 when empty. When does she read the display?
- a) when the numbers stop changing ← key
- b) as soon as the pear touches the pan
- c) before the pear goes on the pan
- d) after the pear comes off the pan
Why: The numbers change for a moment after the pear goes on. / The mass is the number the display shows when the numbers stop changing. / So Suri reads the display then.
Type 5 — PP-5 · SR3-005 (+ P01) · easy · drawing cyl_pp_66
Stem: What is the volume of the water in this graduated cylinder?
- a) 60 mL
- b) 63 mL
- c) 66 mL ← key
- d) 70 mL
Why: The number below the flat top is 60. / The top is three marks above 60. / Each mark is worth 2 mL: 62, 64, 66. / So the volume is 66 mL.
Type 6 — PP-6 · SR3-006 + SR3-005 · medium
Stem: Fatou uses the right tool to find how much water a small cup holds. Which unit does her answer have?
- a) grams (g)
- b) degrees Fahrenheit (°F)
- c) centimeters (cm)
- d) milliliters (mL) ← key
Why: How much water is a volume question, about a liquid. / The right tool is a graduated cylinder. / A graduated cylinder measures volume in milliliters. / So Fatou's answer is in mL.
Medium because: two steps — pick the tool from the question, then name its unit.
Type 7 — PP-7 · SR3-006 · medium
Stem: Xavi wants to know the mass of his cat's food. Which tool does he use?
- a) a thermometer
- b) a scale ← key
- c) a graduated cylinder
- d) a ruler
Why: Xavi wants to know the food's mass. / That is a mass question. / A scale measures mass. / A thermometer measures temperature, a graduated cylinder a liquid's volume, and a ruler length.
Medium because: the lesson's sort on a fresh scene with all four tools offered (the lesson quiz's own form, four options).
Type 8 — PP-8 · SR3-007 · medium
Stem: Team Red's thermometer hangs in the sun and reads 88 °F; Team Blue's hangs in the shade and reads 74 °F. Which one thing made Team Red's number higher?
- a) Team Red read the number above the top.
- b) Team Red counted each mark as 1.
- c) Team Red's thermometer was newer.
- d) Team Red's thermometer sat in the sun. ← key
Why: The two thermometers hung in different places. / The teams did not measure in the same way. / The sun warmed Team Red's thermometer. / So Team Red's number is higher, and nobody made a mistake.
Medium because: the student judges the set-up against two misreading stories and one irrelevant difference.
Type 9 — PP-9 · SR3-007 + SR3-005 + P01 · hard · TEXT ENTRY · drawing cyl_pp_56
Stem: Both teams read this graduated cylinder at the same moment. Team Red says 56 mL and Team Blue says 53 mL. Which team read it right? Type the team's color.
Accept: Red · red · Team Red · team red
Why: The number below the flat top is 50. / The top is three marks above 50, and each mark is worth 2: 52, 54, 56. / So the volume is 56 mL, and Team Red read it right. / Team Blue counted each mark as 1.
Hard because: the student reads the cylinder (number below, count in 2s) and then judges two claims against the reading; typed, so no option can be eliminated.
Type 10 — PP-10 · SR3-003 + SR3-023 · hard · NUMERIC ENTRY · drawing therm_pp_fc_50
Stem: This thermometer reads 50 °F on the Fahrenheit side. What does the same liquid top read on the Celsius side? Type the number of degrees Celsius.
Accept: 10 · 10 °C · 10°C · 10 C · 10 degrees · 10 degrees C · 10 degrees Celsius
Why: The top of the liquid lines up with the 50 on the Fahrenheit side. / The same top is read on the Celsius side. / There it lines up with the 10 exactly. / So the Celsius side reads 10 °C.
Hard because: two readings on one drawing — find the level from the stated Fahrenheit number, then run the Celsius routine on it; typed.
Reading notes for the review
- Numerical topic: the three reading types (2, 3, 5) share one shape — the number below, the count-in-1s error, the reading, the number above — so the generated bank varies only the level and the instrument; James asked numerical topics to carry fewer types, and these three could be counted as one form on three instruments.
- Type 4 is the routine's step-knowledge (the setup and the moment of reading) because a digital display has no marks to read; a "read the display" item would be trivial.
- Design-move inventory (write-mcqs): every bank move is listed in
BUILD_RECORD_G3T17.md§ Design-move inventory; none matches a lesson check's template except type 7, which is the lesson quiz's fixed-set sort with four options, as James asked for the bank in Topic 3's review. - Fresh instances: the bank's drawings (strip 60–70; 58 °F; 27 °C; 66 mL; 56 mL; 50 °F / 10 °C) appear in no lesson or quiz; the bank's names (Suri, Fatou, Xavi) appear in no other topic's content file (grep of every grade3 topic folder, 28 Sep night).
- Not planned: any multi-select; no answer here is a set.