Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ dea5d9e
Topic 38 — Plant parts and their jobs — 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/G3T38.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Nine types for three atoms (LIF3-022 counted as its two jobs), one exemplar each. No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the plant, the scene and the names.
James's rulings applied. Hard items are typed, never MCQs (28 Sep night): two text-entry types (the part's name from its two jobs; the missing thing from a pale leaf). Easy and medium are four-option MCQs on the fixed set roots / stem / leaves / flower (bottom to top; the flower is Topic 37's part, met before this topic and never the key — blueprint decision 3). No stem leans on a video; no option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem is a positive question; no bank stem has three sentences unless it is hard (PP-9); every exemplar is a fresh instance — no lesson, quiz, attached or practice scene with a noun changed; no headache character (Leonie, Anton, Marisa, Jonas, Annelie) appears; no claim item (a bank MCQ needs four options; claims are two-option and live in the quizzes).
Revised 29 Sep 2026 after the non-author review (REVIEW_G3T38_2026-09-29.md): PP-8's stem names no other part ("from the bottom of the plant to the top"); PP-7's options are four jobs in one frame and its key carries no stem word; PP-3 is a cucumber on a fence (PR-3's bush with a noun changed is gone); PP-4 no longer says "gripping it"; PP-5 is the split-stem carnation; the ⟂ draw constraints are listed below. PP-1 and PP-2 stay as type exemplars under James's 28 Sep ruling ("reuse the types, use different examples"); when the fifty are generated, types 1, 2 and 5 vary scene KIND, not only the plant (type 1: a rope tied to a small tree pulling all night, a river current pulling at reeds; type 2: a plant in a pot on a table, a plant against a wall; type 5: a leaf stalk, a cut stem in a jar). Any second "is it doing its job?" yes item in a generated set is a true claim or a stepped fact case, never a stem that states the part and its case.
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). Tags follow depth of reasoning: easy = one part named for one stated job; medium = the job read the other way round (a part identified from what it did; the water's path; the reason a design helps); hard = the name or the missing thing PRODUCED, not recognised, after a step of reasoning.
The nine types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | LIF3-021 | easy | MCQ | a plant stays in the ground when something tugs it: which part holds it in the ground | the roots / the stem / the leaves / the flower | a dog tugs at a shrub's branch |
| 2 | PP-2 | LIF3-022 (holds up) | easy | MCQ | a named plant stands tall: which part holds it up | the roots / the stem / the leaves / the flower | a hollyhock taller than a door |
| 3 | PP-3 | LIF3-023 | easy | MCQ | where does a named plant make its food | the roots / the stem / the leaves / the flower | a cucumber plant growing up a garden fence |
| 4 | PP-4 | LIF3-021 | medium | MCQ, photo | a part that grew under the soil: which part of the plant is it (the surprising-member move, on a fresh vegetable; the stem never says "gripping") | a stem / a leaf / a flower / a root | a parsnip pulled up (parsnip_pp_photo) |
| 5 | PP-5 | LIF3-022 (carries water) | medium | MCQ | dyed water climbs a cut flower to its petals: which part carried it up | the roots / the stem / the leaves / the flower | a white carnation with its stem split, one half in red water and one in blue |
| 6 | PP-6 | LIF3-021 + LIF3-022 (pair) | medium | MCQ | water travels from the soil to the leaves: in which order through the parts | four orders of roots, stem, leaves | no scene: the rule itself |
| 7 | PP-7 | LIF3-022 + LIF3-023 (pair) | medium | MCQ | the stem holds the leaves up where the light lands: why does that help the plant | four jobs in one frame, "Its X can Y there." (roots take in water / flower makes seeds / leaves make food — key / leaves hold it in the ground) | any plant |
| 8 | PP-8 | LIF3-022 (both jobs) | hard | text | a part described by its two jobs, NO other part named in the stem: type its name | part_accept("stem"): stem, stems, the stem, its stem, a stem, trunk | no scene: "holds the plant up and carries water from the bottom of the plant to the top"; the same form serves roots and leaves in the bank |
| 9 | PP-9 | LIF3-023 (+ the covered-leaf reasoning) | hard | text | a leaf under a paper bag for two weeks comes out pale: type the thing it was missing | part_accept("sunlight"): sunlight, light, the Sun's light, sunshine… | a gardener's pumpkin plant |
Hard because — type 8: the name is produced from two jobs with no options to recognise it from and no other part named to leave it by elimination. Type 9: two steps (pale means it made no food; no food means no light reached it), then the missing thing is produced, not recognised; the stem is three sentences, tagged hard as the rule requires.
Draw constraints (⟂ — never on one drawn test; the test builder reads this list)
- type 8 ⟂ types 2, 5, 7 (PP-2 and PP-5 pair "holds it up" / "carried … up" with the option "the stem"; PP-7's stem states the stem's first job — each hands PP-8 its answer).
- type 9 ⟂ type 7 (PP-7's why and reasoning name sunlight — PP-9's typed answer).
- type 4 ⟂ any bank item of type 1 whose scene is a root vegetable pulled up.
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Types testing it alone | Pair types |
|---|---|---|
| LIF3-021 what roots do | 1, 4 (+ 8's form, on the roots, in the bank) | 6 (with LIF3-022: the water's path) |
| LIF3-022 what the stem does — holds it up | 2 (+ 8) | 7 (with LIF3-023: held up where the light lands) |
| LIF3-022 what the stem does — carries water (proposed LIF3-P02) | 5, 8 | 6 (with LIF3-021) |
| LIF3-023 where a plant's food is made | 3, 9 (+ 8's form, on the leaves, in the bank) | 7 (with LIF3-022) |
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 plant stays in the ground when pulled or pushed → which part holds it | L01 q2 (the goat and the thorn bush), L01-V (the pulled weed), SUMMARY-1 (the spruce in the wind); taught on the dandelion, the tree in the storm | PP-1: a dog tugs at a shrub — a new puller, a new plant, four options |
| a plant stands tall → which part holds it up | L02 q2 (tulips in a vase), L02 q9 (the pepper plant, yes/no), L02-V (the corn plant), SUMMARY-2 (the foxglove), PR-2 (the marigold); taught on the sunflower, the trunk, the bean plant | PP-2: a hollyhock taller than a door — a new plant, the height as the scene |
| where a named plant makes its food → which part | L04 q1 (an apple tree), L04 q2 (the lawn), L04-V (the lettuce), SUMMARY-3 (the clover), PR-3 (the blackcurrant bush); taught on the bean plant, the pine, the lettuce | PP-3: a cucumber plant growing up a garden fence — a climbing plant, a scene kind the page never uses |
| a part that grew under the soil gripping it → which part is it | L01 q4 (radishes), PR-8 (a beet); taught on the carrot | PP-4: a parsnip, with its photo — a new root vegetable |
| dyed water climbs → which part carried it | L03 q2 (a daisy in blue water); taught on the celery in red water | PP-5: the split-stem carnation, half red and half blue — a different demonstration, not a recoloured daisy |
| the water's path through the parts | L03 q3 (reorder item, three parts), L03 q9 (which way the water travels) | PP-6: the same path asked as four written orders — the MCQ form the bank needs |
| why holding the leaves up in the light helps | none on the page (a new, harder pair move) | PP-7: four single-statement reasons |
| the part's name from its jobs, typed | L01 q11 (roots), L02 q10 (stem), L04 q12 (leaves), PR-11–14 (the four terms) — all "is called its ___" definition stems that name the other parts | PP-8: "This plant part holds the plant up and carries water from the bottom of the plant to the top. Type its name." — the description form, no other part named |
| a leaf kept in the dark → what happens / what it lacked | L04 q4 (parsley in a cupboard: what happens to its leaves, MCQ), L04 q9 (can roots make food in the dark), PR-10 (leaves in a cupboard, yes/no), L04 q7 (the other thing a leaf uses, typed); taught on the foil-wrapped leaf | PP-9: one leaf under a paper bag comes out pale — the missing thing produced |
| what a part does (jobs as options) | L01 q7, q9, q11; L02 q1, q8; L03 q6; L04 q7, q10; PR-6 | none on the sheet — the bank's items 1–3 ask the part from the job, the reverse move |
| claims (bare yes / no) | L01 q3, q8, q10; L02 q3, q7; L03 q4; L04 q3, q5; PR-5 | none — a bare claim has two options; the bank's MCQs need four |
| the two-step consequences (roots in the air; a cut or bitten stem; the flattened corn — which part snapped; a leaf in the dark) | L01 q6, q7; L02 q5, q6; L03 q5, q7; L04 q4, q9; PR-9, PR-10 | none on the sheet — offered to James as the tenth type (blueprint decision 4): "what happens when a part is cut, bitten, covered or pulled out", medium, four options |
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · LIF3-021 · easy
Stem: A dog tugs at a shrub's branch, and the shrub stays in the ground. Which part holds the shrub in the ground?
- the roots ← key
- the stem
- the leaves
- the flower
Why: A plant's roots are under the ground. / They grip the soil. / So the roots hold the shrub in the ground.
Type 2 — PP-2 · LIF3-022 · easy
Stem: A hollyhock in a garden stands taller than a door. Which part holds it up?
- the roots
- the stem ← key
- the leaves
- the flower
Why: A plant's stem holds it up. / The hollyhock stands on one tall stem. / So the stem holds it up.
Type 3 — PP-3 · LIF3-023 · easy
Stem: A cucumber plant grows up a garden fence. Where does it make its food?
- the roots
- the stem
- the leaves ← key
- the flower
Why: A plant's leaves are where it makes its food. / They use sunlight and water. / So the cucumber plant makes its food in its leaves.
Type 4 — PP-4 · LIF3-021 · medium · drawing parsnip_pp_photo
Stem: This parsnip grew under the soil. Which part of the parsnip plant is the parsnip?
- a stem
- a leaf
- a flower
- a root ← key
Why: The parsnip grew under the soil. / It gripped the soil and held the plant in the ground. / That is the roots' job. / So the parsnip is a root.
Type 5 — PP-5 · LIF3-022 · medium
Stem: A white carnation's stem is split up the middle, one half standing in red water and the other in blue, and by morning half the flower is red and half is blue. Which part carried the colors up?
- the roots
- the stem ← key
- the leaves
- the flower
Why: A plant's stem carries water up from the bottom to the top. / Each half of the split stem stood in one color of water. / Each half carried its color up to its side of the flower. / So the stem carried the colors up.
Type 6 — PP-6 · LIF3-021 + LIF3-022 · medium
Stem: Water travels from the soil to a plant's leaves. Which order does it go in?
- stem, then roots, then leaves
- leaves, then stem, then roots
- roots, then leaves, then stem
- roots, then stem, then leaves ← key
Why: The roots take in water from the soil. / The stem carries the water up. / The water reaches the leaves. / So the order is roots, then stem, then leaves.
Type 7 — PP-7 · LIF3-022 + LIF3-023 · medium
Stem: A plant's stem holds its leaves up high, where the light lands on them. Why does that help the plant?
- Its roots can take in water there.
- Its flower can make seeds there.
- Its leaves can make food there. ← key
- Its leaves can hold it in the ground there.
Why: A plant's leaves are where it makes its food. / They use sunlight and water. / The stem holds the leaves up where the light lands. / So the leaves can make the plant's food there.
Type 8 — PP-8 · LIF3-022 · hard · text entry
Stem: This plant part holds the plant up and carries water from the bottom of the plant to the top. Type its name.
Accept: stem · stems · the stem · its stem · a stem · the stems · trunk
Why: The part that holds a plant up is its stem. / The stem also carries water from the roots, at the bottom, to the leaves, at the top. / So the part is the stem.
Hard because: the name is produced from two jobs, with no options to recognise it from and no other part named in the stem to leave it by elimination.
Type 9 — PP-9 · LIF3-023 · hard · text entry
Stem: A gardener ties a paper bag over one leaf of a pumpkin plant for two weeks. When the bag comes off, that leaf is pale. Type the thing the leaf was missing.
Accept: sunlight · light · the Sun's light · the sun · sun · sunshine · the light · daylight · the sunlight
Why: The leaves make the plant's food using sunlight and water. / Under the bag, no light landed on the leaf. / With no light, it could not make food, and it lost its green. / So the leaf was missing sunlight.
Hard because: two steps — pale means the leaf made no food; no food means no light reached it — then the missing thing is produced, not recognised.
Key spread
MCQ keys in bank order: A B C D B D C — A 1, B 2, C 2, D 2 of 7 (no letter over 35 %). Typed: PP-8, PP-9.