Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ d1a2a04
Topic 32 — Alive or not — the PP100's nine 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/G3T32.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Nine types for five atoms, one exemplar each — under the ceiling of ten. No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the living thing, the non-living thing, the scene and the names, easy-heavy.
Revised 29 Sep 2026 after the non-author review (REVIEW_G3T32_2026-09-29.md, F01 — the block): the first sheet's nine exemplars all reused a lesson, quiz or practice scene (the snowball, the apple tree, the frog's eggs, tree / river / fire / cloud, flag / leaf / kite / tulip, the robot dog, the bean seed, the practice water item). Every exemplar now sits on a scene the student meets nowhere else in the topic — a caterpillar, a maple, a mother sheep, a dandelion in the sidewalk, clover leaves folding at night, a toy train, a hermit crab, a pumpkin seed, a tomato plant in a dark cupboard — and the design-move inventory at the foot names, for each, the nearest lesson-side instance it is fresh against. Also from the review: type 6 is now the question form (which of the four questions gets a yes), because "it is gray" and "it walks slowly" were not real student errors (F11); type 2's fourth option no longer says "need" (F10, Topic 33's word); type 9 is genuinely two-step (F12); fire appears nowhere (F09).
James's rulings applied. Hard items are typed, never MCQs (28 Sep night): two text-entry types (the seed sorted; the missing thing a plant makes its food from). Easy and medium are four-option MCQs. No stem leans on a video; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem is a positive question; every exemplar is a fresh instance; no headache character (Calla, Jolyon, Sorrel, Asa) appears; no claim-maker from the quizzes appears; no exemplar names a student. Nothing James has rejected appears here.
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-step sort of described cases (which one grew / feeds this way / is living); medium = the rule run on a plant part, or backwards from a verdict; hard = two steps, with the answer typed.
The nine types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | LIF3-001 | easy | MCQ | four things got bigger: which one grew (by itself) | four getting-bigger events, three from outside: a bonfire heap as logs are thrown on / a caterpillar getting longer and fatter / a leaf pile as the wind blows more on / a jug filling under a tap | the caterpillar |
| 2 | PP-2 | LIF3-007 | easy | MCQ | how a named plant gets its food | four ways: eats the soil / eats insects / makes its own food in its leaves / gets its food from the rain | a maple tree |
| 3 | PP-3 | LIF3-009 | easy | MCQ | four things are making more: which is a living thing making more of its own kind | a photocopier / a machine stamping out toy ducks / a potter making pots / a mother sheep having lambs | the sheep |
| 4 | PP-4 | LIF3-002 | easy | MCQ | four things: which one is living | a dandelion in a sidewalk crack / a waterfall / a spinning top / smoke from a chimney (three movers and the still living thing) | the dandelion |
| 5 | PP-5 | LIF3-008 | medium | MCQ | four moving things: which is a living thing moving by itself | a windmill's sails in the wind / a scarecrow's coat flapping / a paper boat on a stream / a clover plant folding its leaves at night | the clover |
| 6 | PP-6 | LIF3-002 | medium | MCQ | a moving toy is non-living: which of the four questions gets the answer YES for it | the four questions, word for word: Does it move? / Does it grow? / Does it feed? / Does it make more of its own kind? | a toy train on its track |
| 7 | PP-7 | LIF3-008 + LIF3-002 (pair) | medium | MCQ | four things move: which one is living | a ceiling fan / a rolling marble / a hermit crab / a falling raindrop | the hermit crab |
| 8 | PP-8 | LIF3-002 + LIF3-001 + LIF3-009 (pair) | hard | text | a seed dry on a shelf all winter, planted, grows into a plant that makes new seeds: living or non-living, type the word | LIVING_ACC: living / a living thing / living thing / alive / it is living / it is alive | a pumpkin seed |
| 9 | PP-9 | LIF3-007 + Topic 29's SPA3-002 (pair) | hard | text | a plant in a dark cupboard is watered every day but makes no food: type the thing it is missing | sunlight / light / the Sun's light / the Sun / sun / sunshine / the light / daylight | a tomato plant |
Hard because (type 8): two steps — the seed does none of the four things NOW, so the student must reason that, planted, it grows into a plant that does all four, then type the verdict; the register's "a seed is not alive" trap. Hard because (type 9): two steps — recall what a plant makes its food from (the Sun's light and water), then read the scene: water is supplied, the cupboard is dark, so the missing thing is the light — and it is typed; it retrieves Topic 29. Medium because (type 5): the moving thing is a plant PART, and the three distractors were all moved by the wind or the water. Medium because (type 6): the rule is run backwards, from the verdict to the one question the toy answers yes to (the trap belief is that "yes to move" is enough). Medium because (type 7): all four move, so "moves" sorts nothing and the other three questions must be asked.
Bank notes for the generator. Type 1: every distractor is a from-outside case (thrown on, blown on, poured in, stuck on); vary the living thing (a puppy, a seedling, a child, a tadpole) and the three non-living cases; never the lessons' snowball, sand pile or balloon. Type 2: vary the plant (a fern, grass, a rose bush, a maple, a pine — never the cactus, whose food is made in its stem) and keep "eats the soil" as one distractor in every instance — it is the trap Topic 26 left here; never the word "need" (Topic 33's). Type 3: the key is always a living thing with young of its own kind (eggs, seeds, babies); distractors are machines, built things, copies and a person making objects. Type 4: three movers and one still living thing (a dandelion, a moss is barred, a coral with its picture); never the Sun, never fire. Type 6: the question form only; the four options are the card's four questions word for word; the key is "Does it move?" for a moving toy, or the stem may name a still non-living thing (a rock) and ask which question gets a NO — then the four options are the four questions and the key is any one (one item per key). Type 7: four movers; the living one may be a plant part opening (pair with type 5's form only once per bank). Type 8: vary the seed (an acorn is L04's, so a pumpkin seed, a sunflower seed is L04's too — a melon seed, a pea) and the resting state (a shelf, a packet, dry soil); accept list LIVING_ACC. Type 9: the plant varies; the missing thing is always the light (a dark cupboard) or the water (a plant in the sun that is never watered — accept water / the water). Fire appears in no item (James, 29 Sep).
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Types testing it alone | Pair types |
|---|---|---|
| LIF3-001 living things grow | 1 | 8 (with LIF3-002 and LIF3-009) |
| LIF3-007 living things feed | 2 | 9 (with Topic 29's SPA3-002) |
| LIF3-008 living things move | 5 | 7 (with LIF3-002) |
| LIF3-009 living things make more of their own kind | 3 | 8 (with LIF3-002 and LIF3-001) |
| LIF3-002 sort living from non-living | 4, 6 | 7, 8 |
At most two alone-types per atom. Order in the file: easy PP-1…PP-4 → medium PP-5…PP-7 → hard PP-8, PP-9. Keys of the seven MCQs, in file order: PP-1 B · PP-2 C · PP-3 D · PP-4 A · PP-5 D · PP-6 A · PP-7 C (two A, one B, two C, two D — no letter over 35 %). Typed items: 2 of 9 on the sheet; in a bank of about fifty, types 8 and 9 supply 12–15 typed items on fresh seeds and fresh plants.
Design-move inventory (every move on the page, then the bank's — each exemplar named against its nearest lesson-side instance)
| Move (what the student does with what) | Lesson-side instances (the lessons' taught cases included) | Bank exemplar, and what it is fresh against |
|---|---|---|
| did it grow — a thing got bigger; by itself or from outside | taught: the sunflower shoot, the puppy, Calla, the snowball. L01 q2 bean plant, q3 lamb, q4 sand pile, q5 balloon, q7 Cora's salt crystal, q8 river after rain, q9 (tadpole / puddle / block tower), L01-V (kitten pair), PR-1 (calf / road crack / laundry), SUMMARY-1 (pea plant) | PP-1: a caterpillar getting longer and fatter, among a bonfire heap, a wind-blown leaf pile and a filling jug — none of the four appears anywhere else in the topic |
| a claim about growing | L01 q6 Lua (the oak grew though nobody saw it: yes) | none — a claim has two options |
| how does X feed (eats / makes its own food) | taught: the rabbit, Calla, the sunflower. L02 q2 cow, q3 apple tree, L02-V (tulip), SUMMARY-3 (cabbage), PR-2 (pine tree) | PP-2: a maple tree with FOUR ways, including "eats insects" and "gets its food from the rain" — a new plant and a new option set |
| where / from what a plant makes its food | L02 q5 (leaves / roots / soil), q6 (sunlight and water / soil and rock / grass and seeds), PR-6 (typed: water) | PP-9: a tomato plant in a dark cupboard, watered — the missing light is typed; two steps, fresh plant, the pair with Topic 29 |
| a claim about feeding | L02 q4 Alma (roots eat soil: no), q7 Aurelia (no mouth, no food: no), q9 Viv (strawberry plant makes its food: yes) | none |
| does X feed (yes / no) | L02 q8 hawk | none |
| a living thing feeding among non-living events | L02 q10 (washing machine / squirrel / river) | none |
| did it move by itself (wind or hand, or by itself) | taught: the young sunflower's top, the cat, the snail, the flag. L03 q1 kite, q2 bean plant's leaves folding, q4 fallen leaf, q5 tulip petals, q7 Xan's toy car, q9 (worm / boat / kicked stone), L03-V (daisy), PR-3 (weather vane / hedgehog / kicked ball) | PP-5: clover leaves folding at night among a windmill's sails, a scarecrow's coat and a paper boat — a new plant part and three new movers |
| a claim about moving | L03 q3 Rue (tree never moves: no), q6 Sunny (fish: yes), q8 Tav (only walking counts: no) | none |
| what is true of every living thing (moves in some way / walks) | L03 q10 | none |
| what kind the young are | taught: the sunflower's seeds, the cat's kittens, the hen's chicks. L04 q1 puppies, q2 acorn, q4 salmon | none — a one-step name match; not a bank type |
| can X make more of its own kind (yes / no) | L04 q5 Olwen bean (yes), q7 Efa's toy robot (no) | none |
| a living thing making more of its own kind among non-living makers | L04 q9 (cloud / machine making toy spiders / spider), L04-V (frog), PR-9 (turtle), L04 q6 (duck) | PP-3: a mother sheep having lambs among a photocopier, a machine stamping out toy ducks and a potter — new maker set, with a person making objects as the near miss |
| a claim about making more | L04 q3 Marta (plants have no babies: no), q8 Mali (a lamb can't, so not living: no) | none |
| is it living (yes / no), the case described | taught: the tree, the river, the robot dog, the rock, the rabbit. L05 q1 wave, q2 goldfish, q3 bean seed, q4 music box, q6 wind-up mouse, q7 fern, q10 rock, L05-V (bicycle), SUMMARY-2 (coral) | PP-8: a pumpkin seed dry on a shelf, TYPED — a fresh seed and resting place (the quiz's bean seed sits in a packet); the trap case, produced not recognised |
| which of these is living (a pick) | L05 q9 (hose / snail / stone), PR-5 (beach ball / sea star / feather / tide, no picture) | PP-4: a dandelion in a sidewalk crack among a waterfall, a spinning top and chimney smoke; PP-7: a hermit crab among a ceiling fan, a rolling marble and a falling raindrop — all four move |
| a claim about the sort | L05 q5 Meg (cloud moves: no), q8 Bronte (worm: yes), q11 Abel (moving is enough: no), PR-4 Sia (robot vacuum cleaner: no) | none |
| which question gets which answer for a described thing | PR-7 (the drone: which gets a no — two options) | PP-6: a toy train on its track — which of the four questions gets a YES (four options, the card's questions) |
| the term by recall | L01 q10, L02 q11, L04 q10, L05 q12, PR-10…PR-12 | none — the practice set's job |
| say why a moving thing is not living (written) | PR-8 Betsan's scooter | none |
No bank exemplar shares a scene with a lesson's taught case, a quiz item or a practice item; no two exemplars share a move.
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · LIF3-001 · easy
Stem: Four things got bigger. Which one grew?
- a bonfire heap as more logs are thrown on
- a caterpillar getting longer and fatter every day ← key
- a pile of leaves as the wind blows more leaves onto it
- a jug filling up under a tap
Why: The bonfire heap, the leaf pile and the jug got bigger because something was added from outside. / The caterpillar got bigger by itself. / So the caterpillar is the one that grew.
Type 2 — PP-2 · LIF3-007 · easy
Stem: How does a maple tree get its food?
- It eats the soil through its roots.
- It eats insects that land on it.
- It makes its own food in its leaves. ← key
- It gets its food from the rain.
Why: A maple tree is a plant. / Plants make their own food in their leaves, using sunlight and water. / The roots take in water, not food, and rain is only water. / So the maple tree makes its own food in its leaves.
Type 3 — PP-3 · LIF3-009 · easy
Stem: Four things are making more. Which one is a living thing making more of its own kind?
- a photocopier making copies of a page
- a machine stamping out toy ducks
- a potter making pots
- a mother sheep having lambs ← key
Why: A photocopier and a machine are non-living, and a potter's pots are not young potters. / Lambs are young sheep. / So the mother sheep is making more of her own kind.
Type 4 — PP-4 · LIF3-002 · easy
Stem: Which of these is living?
- a dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk ← key
- a waterfall
- a spinning top
- smoke from a chimney
Why: The waterfall, the top and the smoke move, but none of them feeds or makes more of its own kind. / The dandelion grows, makes its own food, opens and closes its flower, and makes seeds. / Yes to all four, so the dandelion is living.
Type 5 — PP-5 · LIF3-008 · medium
Stem: Which of these is a living thing moving by itself?
- a windmill's sails turning in the wind
- a scarecrow's coat flapping
- a paper boat drifting down a stream
- a clover plant folding its leaves up at night ← key
Why: The wind pushed the sails and the coat, and the stream carried the boat. / Nobody folds the clover's leaves: the plant folds them itself. / Only a part of the clover moves, but it moves by itself. / So the clover is the living thing moving by itself.
Medium because: the moving thing is a plant part, and the three distractors were moved by the wind or the water.
Type 6 — PP-6 · LIF3-002 · medium
Stem: A toy train runs round its track, but it is non-living. Which of the four questions gets the answer yes for the toy train?
- Does it move? ← key
- Does it grow?
- Does it feed?
- Does it make more of its own kind?
Why: The toy train runs round its track, so it does move. / It never grows, never feeds and never makes more toy trains. / Three answers are no, and one no is enough. / So the one question that gets a yes is: does it move?
Medium because: the rule is run backwards, from the verdict to the one question the toy answers yes to.
Type 7 — PP-7 · LIF3-008 + LIF3-002 · medium
Stem: Four things are moving. Which one is living?
- a ceiling fan
- a marble rolling across the floor
- a hermit crab ← key
- a falling raindrop
Why: All four move. / The fan, the marble and the raindrop do not grow, feed or make more of their own kind. / The hermit crab grows, feeds, moves by itself and has young. / So the hermit crab is the living one.
Medium because: all four move, so "does it move?" sorts nothing and the other three questions must be asked.
Type 8 — PP-8 · LIF3-002 + LIF3-001 + LIF3-009 · hard · text entry
Stem: A pumpkin seed lies dry on a shelf all winter. Planted in spring, it grows into a pumpkin plant that makes new seeds. Is the seed living or non-living? Type the word.
Accept: LIVING_ACC — living · a living thing · living thing · alive · it is living · it is alive (the grader folds case)
Why: On the shelf the seed looks still. / Planted, it grows into a pumpkin plant. / The plant feeds, moves its leaves and makes new seeds. / The seed is the young plant, so the seed is living.
Hard because: two steps — the seed does none of the four things now, so the student must reason from what it grows into — and the verdict is typed; the register's "a seed is not alive" trap.
Type 9 — PP-9 · LIF3-007 + SPA3-002 · hard · text entry
Stem: A tomato plant stands in a pot inside a dark cupboard. Someone waters it every day, but it makes no food. Type the thing the tomato plant is missing.
Accept: sunlight · light · the Sun's light · the Sun · sun · sunshine · the light · daylight
Why: A plant makes its food using the Sun's light and water. / The plant gets water every day. / In a dark cupboard, no light lands on its leaves. / So the thing it is missing is sunlight.
Hard because: two steps — recall what a plant makes its food from, then read which of those the scene supplies and which it takes away — and the missing thing is typed; the Sun's part is a retrieval from Topic 29.