Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ cb79e2e
Topic 27 — Fossils — 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/G3T27.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Ten types for five atoms, two per atom, one exemplar each. No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the dead thing, the find, the place, the names and the drawn card, easy-heavy.
James's rulings applied. Hard items are typed, never MCQs (28 Sep night): two text-entry types (the word for what covered a canyon; the word for what Fleur found). Easy and medium are four-option MCQs. Every stem is a positive question; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; no stem leans on a video; every drawn item carries the find card or the evidence card's LEFT panel only (the answer's layer off); every exemplar is a fresh instance — no lesson, quiz or practice scene reappears (the inventory below); a headache character (Hal, Romy, Bryn, Yolanda, Nils, Lumi, Sid) appears in no item; each claim-maker is used once in the topic. Nothing James has rejected appears here.
Revised 28 Sep 2026 (night) after the non-author review (REVIEW_G3T27_2026-09-28.md, Q1–Q8): four exemplars were lesson items with a noun changed or the taught case and are re-instanced — PP-3 on four fresh finds (a feather, a pebble, a coiled shell shape from a quarry, a pinecone), PP-9 on a crab high on a mountain, PP-4 on a described quarry skull, PP-5 on sea snails under a city street; PP-2's stem asks "what is it?"; PP-6 is a plain "why"; PP-8 reads the print's length off a drawing beside Lowen's shoe; PP-10 gives Fleur's leaf shape as a case. The teeth move (type 6) has only two states, sharp and flat, so its bank instances can differ only in scene words — the bank should hold few of them.
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 MCQ has a why (no per-option feedback in the bank; the engine prints Correct / Not quite). Tags follow depth of reasoning: easy = one fact recalled or one case sorted in one step; medium = the reason for a stated outcome, or a fresh case where two questions or two ideas must be held at once; hard = the idea or the term is produced, not recognised, with two steps behind it.
The ten types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | EAR3-029 | easy | MCQ | a dead thing lies in the open: what happens to its body | four happenings: rots away / hardens into rock / stays as it is / turns into a shell | a dead frog by a pond |
| 2 | PP-6 | EAR3-029 | medium | MCQ | what happens to most dead things, so that almost none last | four happenings, one the reason: buried fast / harden into rock / rot away in the open before anything buries them / eaten by people | most dead things |
| 3 | PP-2 | EAR3-030 | easy | MCQ | a footprint in rock from long ago: what is it | four things it could be: a part of a living thing / a mark a living thing made / a chance shape / a fresh print | Ollie's footprint in rock |
| 4 | PP-3 | EAR3-031 | easy | MCQ, drawn | four find cards: which one is a fossil | the four cards named by their chips | a feather on the lawn, a pebble in a stream, a coiled shell shape in rock from a quarry, a pinecone under a tree — fresh objects, fresh chips (review Q1) |
| 5 | PP-7 | EAR3-031 | medium | MCQ | a fresh find: what would have to be true for it to be a fossil | four conditions: a bone / from long ago / bigger / from a dinosaur | Rhys's shell from the beach |
| 6 | PP-4 | EAR3-032 | easy | MCQ | a fossil skull from a quarry with wide, flat teeth like blocks: what do we think it ate | four foods: meat / fish / insects / plants | a quarry skull, described (the teeth move has TWO states, sharp and flat — bank instances differ in scene words only) |
| 7 | PP-8 | EAR3-032 + Topic 16 (observation / idea) | medium | MCQ, drawn | a fossil print drawn beside Lowen's shoe: which sentence is what the fossil SHOWS | four sentences, one an observation, three ideas: heavy / ran fast / hunting / the print is longer than her shoe | Lowen's footprint and shoe (pp_card_print_shoe) |
| 8 | PP-5 | EAR3-033 | easy | MCQ | fossil sea snails in rock under a city street: what was this place like long ago | four places: a snowy mountain / a sandy desert / under water / a thick forest | under a city street (review Q4) |
| 9 | PP-9 | EAR3-033 + EAR3-032 (pair) | hard | text, drawn | crab fossils in rock high on a mountain: type the word for what once covered the mountain | acc_term("water", "sea", "ocean", "sea water", "seawater") | the crab-on-a-mountain card (review Q2) |
| 10 | PP-10 | EAR3-030 + EAR3-029 (pair) | hard | text | a leaf shape dug out of rock, pressed into mud by a fern long ago: type the word for what she has found | acc_term("fossil", "fossils") | Fleur's leaf shape, as a CASE (review Q8) |
Hard because (type 9): two steps — the shells came from sea animals, and sea animals live under the sea — and the idea is produced, not picked from a list. Hard because (type 10): two steps — a mark, from long ago → the term — from a case (a leaf shape a fern pressed into mud), never the definition sentence the lesson printed. Medium because (type 2): the reason for a stated outcome. Medium because (type 5): the student must hold both questions and see which one the beach shell fails. Medium because (type 7): the observation must be told apart from three ideas about the same print, and the length is read off the drawing, not the stem.
Bank notes for the generator. Type 1: vary the dead thing (a bird, a mouse, a fallen apple, a crab) and the open place; never a buried case in this type. Type 2 has one exemplar form and few instances; keep it to two or three in the bank. Type 3: half the instances a mark (a print, a burrow, a leaf shape), half a part (a tooth, a shell, a bone). Type 4: four cards per item, exactly one fossil; vary which ground carries the fossil and never let the fossil sit in the same corner twice. Type 5: vary the fresh find (a feather, a pinecone, a crab shell) and the chance rock. Type 6: alternate flat / sharp; the four foods stay the fixed set. Type 7: vary what is measured (a tooth's length, the print's toe count, a shell's size). Type 8: vary the find (shells, fish, a crab, palm leaves) and the place (a hill, a field, a canyon, a snowy place); the four places stay a fixed set. Types 9 and 10 supply the typed 12–15 items of a fifty-item bank.
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Types testing it alone | Pair types |
|---|---|---|
| EAR3-029 what happens after a living thing dies | 1, 2 | 10 (with EAR3-030) |
| EAR3-030 what a fossil is | 3 | 10 (with EAR3-029) |
| EAR3-031 fossil or not? | 4, 5 | — (type 4's four cards are the two questions run four times) |
| EAR3-032 what the fossil creature was like | 6 | 7 (with Topic 16's observation / idea), 9 (with EAR3-033) |
| EAR3-033 what the place was like back then | 8 | 9 (with EAR3-032) |
At most two alone-types per atom. Order in the file: easy PP-1…PP-5 → medium PP-6…PP-8 → hard PP-9, PP-10. Keys of the eight MCQs, in file order: PP-1 A · PP-2 B · PP-3 C · PP-4 D · PP-5 C · PP-6 A · PP-7 B · PP-8 D (two of each letter). Typed items: 2 of 10 on the sheet.
Design-move inventory (every move on the page, then the bank's)
| Move (what the student does with what) | Lesson-side instances | Bank exemplar |
|---|---|---|
| a dead thing in the open: what happens | L01 q1 (a bird on a lawn), q2 (a branch), q9 (a fallen pear); L01-V (a crab on a rock); PR-1 (a squirrel against a stone) | PP-1: a frog by a pond, four happenings |
| what lasts: hard part + buried fast | L01 q3 (a snail's shell in mud), q5 (jellyfish / clam), q10 (three buried or open things); PR-7 (moth / shell / leaf) | none on the sheet (the bank may add instances of type 1's form on buried cases only if James wants an eleventh type; not proposed) |
| why almost none last | L01 article only ("two things") | PP-2: the reason for the stated outcome, four happenings |
| which kind of fossil: part or mark | L02 q4 (a footprint), q5 (a bone), q8 (worm tunnels); PR-11 (a leaf print) | PP-2: Ollie's footprint — "what is it?" with four things it could be (the lesson's pair plus a chance shape and a fresh print) |
| is it a fossil — one drawn card, yes / no | L03 q2–q7, q9 (seven cards, seven renders); L03-V (a bone from a cliff); SUMMARY-1 (a coiled shell on a mountain); PR-2, PR-3 | none — a bare yes / no has two options; the bank's MCQs need four |
| which of four cards is the fossil | — (L03's six teaching cards are the shell / footprint / fern / face rock / sand print; none reappears) | PP-3: a feather, a pebble, a coiled shell shape in rock, a pinecone — objects the topic never drew before |
| what would make a fresh find a fossil | — (L03 teaches the second question's "no" on the beach shell) | PP-5: Rhys's beach shell, four conditions |
| teeth → what it ate | L04 q1 (flat), q2 (drawn sharp), q10 (typed: a wolf-like skull); L04-V (drawn flat); PR-4 (a cat-like skull) | PP-4: a quarry skull with block-like teeth, described, four foods — the move has two states, so this is a scene-word variation and the sheet says so |
| shows vs think | L04 q5 (Hilde's skull), q6 (a three-toed print); L05 q6 (fish on a hill); PR-8 (a footprint by a road) | PP-8: Lowen's print drawn beside her shoe, four sentences |
| the place long ago | L05 q1 (drawn fish on a dry hill — the taught case), q2 (shells in a field), q3 (drawn palm leaves), q4 (footprints), q7 (a crab in a desert), q9 (leaves in a cold place), q10 (typed: shells on a hill); L05-V (drawn shells in a desert); SUMMARY-3 (fish under a cornfield) | PP-5: sea snails under a city street, four places |
| the place, typed | L05 q10 (shells on a hill: water); PR-6 (shells in a canyon, MCQ) | PP-9: a crab high on a mountain, drawn, typed — a find that is neither a shell nor a fish |
| the term, typed | L02 q10, PR-13 (definition stem → fossil) | PP-10: Fleur's leaf shape as a CASE (a fern pressed it into mud long ago), not the definition sentence |
| claims (bare yes / no) | L01 q4 (TRUE), q8; L02 q3, q6, q7; L03 q8, q10; L04 q3, q7, q9; L05 q5, q8; PR-5 | none on the sheet — two options |
No bank exemplar shares a scene with a lesson, quiz or practice item, and no two exemplars share a move.
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · EAR3-029 · easy
Stem: A dead frog lies in the open by a pond. What happens to its body over the next few weeks?
- It rots away ← key
- It hardens into rock
- It stays just as it is
- It dries up and stays there for years
Why: The frog lies in the open. / After a living thing dies, its body usually rots away. / So the frog's body rots away.
Type 3 — PP-2 · EAR3-030 · easy
Stem: Ollie finds a footprint pressed into rock, from long ago. What is it?
- a part of a living thing
- a mark a living thing made ← key
- a chance shape in the rock
- a fresh print from this year
Why: 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.
Type 4 — PP-3 · EAR3-031 · easy · drawing pp_four_cards
Stem: Look at the four find cards. Which one is a fossil?
- the feather on the lawn
- the pebble in the stream
- the shell shape in rock from a quarry ← key
- the pinecone under the tree
Why: 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.
Type 6 — PP-4 · EAR3-032 · easy
Stem: A fossil skull from a quarry has wide, flat teeth, like blocks. What do we think this animal ate?
- meat
- fish
- insects
- plants ← key
Why: 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.
Type 8 — PP-5 · EAR3-033 · easy
Stem: Fossil sea snails are found in rock under a city street. What do we think this place was like long ago?
- a snowy mountain
- a sandy desert
- under water ← key
- a thick forest
Why: 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.
Type 2 — PP-6 · EAR3-029 · medium
Stem: Why do almost no dead things last a very, very long time?
- Most rot away in the open ← key
- Most get buried fast in mud
- Most harden into rock
- Most get eaten whole by other animals
Why: 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.
Medium because: the reason for a stated outcome.
Type 5 — PP-7 · EAR3-031 · medium
Stem: Rhys picks up a shell on the beach this morning. What would have to be true for it to be a fossil?
- It would have to be a bone
- It would have to be from long ago ← key
- It would have to be bigger
- It would have to be from a dinosaur
Why: 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.
Medium because: both questions must be held, and the one the shell fails picked out.
Type 7 — PP-8 · EAR3-032 · medium · drawing pp_card_print_shoe
Stem: Lowen studies a fossil footprint. Which sentence is what the fossil SHOWS?
- The animal was heavy
- The animal ran fast
- The animal was hunting
- The print is longer than her shoe ← key
Why: 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.
Medium because: one observation must be told apart from three ideas, with the length read off the drawing.
Type 9 — PP-9 · EAR3-033 · hard · text entry · drawing pp_card_crab_mountain
Stem: Crab fossils are found in rock high on a mountain. Type the word for what once covered the mountain.
Accept: 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: 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.
Hard because: two steps (a crab → crabs live in the sea → under water) and the idea is produced, not recognised.
Type 10 — PP-10 · EAR3-030 · hard · text entry
Stem: 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.
Accept: fossil · a fossil · the fossil · fossils · a fossils · the fossils (the grader folds case)
Why: 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.
Hard because: two steps — a mark, from long ago → the term — from a case, never the definition sentence.