Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ dea5d9e
Topic 39 — Plants respond — 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/G3T39.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Ten types for three atoms, one exemplar each. No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the plant, the light source, the seed's way up, the animal and the names.
After the non-author review (29 Sep, later). Six of the first ten exemplars were quiz, attached or practice items with a noun changed (two on identical drawings). All six are re-instanced here on scenes and drawings no page item uses: a cress pot with a lamp to its LEFT (seedling_pp_lamp_left); a seed planted at a slant (seed_pp_tilted, a new orientation); a lamp moved to the other side of the room while the plant is untouched; how long a tipped root takes to turn (which gives LIF3-026 its second alone-type); a pea tendril round a wire among a horse, a bee and a snow-bent branch; a goldfish and a mint plant. PP-7's distractor now answers the ask; PP-10's accept list no longer takes "the window".
James's rulings applied. Hard items are typed, never MCQs (28 Sep night): two text-entry types (the word for how a plant responded; the rule run backward to name what came in through the hole). Easy and medium are four-option MCQs. Every prediction figure shows the BEFORE moment only (Day 1, the stem straight; the seed with no root) — the vault's prediction rule. 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); no headache character (Tindra, Liesl, Eskil, Noemi) appears; no claim item (a bank MCQ needs four options; claims are two-option and live in the quizzes).
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 prediction from one stated light source or orientation, or one sort; medium = the response after the light source moves, two responses in one scene, the time a root's turn takes, the reason for the slow response, the plant response picked from animals' moves and a pushed branch; hard = the word or the thing PRODUCED after a step of reasoning.
The ten types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | LIF3-025 | easy | MCQ, drawing | a seedling with a lamp to one side (drawn, Day 1): which way will its stem grow over the next week | four directions: toward the lamp / away from it / straight up / straight down | a pot of cress on a classroom table, lamp on the left (seedling_pp_lamp_left) |
| 2 | PP-2 | LIF3-026 | easy | MCQ, drawing | a seed drawn in the soil at a slant: which way will its root grow | up / to the left / to the right / down | a bean seed tilted in a pot (seed_pp_tilted) |
| 3 | PP-3 | LIF3-028 | easy | MCQ | which of four living things responds by growing | four living things, one a plant | a bean seedling, a toad, a pony, a starling |
| 4 | PP-4 | LIF3-025 | medium | MCQ | the LIGHT SOURCE is moved to the plant's other side, the plant untouched: what happens over the next week (the bank re-uses the move on a root: a tipped pot) | four single-statement outcomes | Estelle moves the lamp from left to right |
| 5 | PP-5 | LIF3-025 + LIF3-026 (pair) | medium | MCQ | a seed sprouting in a jar with the window on one side: which way do the root and the stem grow | four pairings of the two directions | a jar on a windowsill, window on the left |
| 6 | PP-6 | LIF3-026 + LIF3-028 (pair; the root's second alone-type) | medium | MCQ | a pot falls on its side: when will the root tips have turned to grow down | four times: a second / a minute / a few days / never | Benedetta's fallen pot |
| 7 | PP-7 | LIF3-028 + LIF3-025 (pair) | medium | MCQ | a cat responds in a second, a stem takes five days: why does the plant take so much longer | four single-statement reasons that each answer "why longer" | the cat and the bean stem |
| 8 | PP-8 | LIF3-028 + LIF3-025 (pair) | medium | MCQ | which of these is a plant responding by growing | a tendril round a wire / two animals responding by moving / a branch bent by snow | a horse, a pea tendril, a bee, a snow-bent branch |
| 9 | PP-9 | LIF3-028 | hard | text | an animal and a plant each change; the animal's word (moving) is given; the plant's slow lean is described, not named as a response: type the word for how the plant responded | word_accept("growing"): growing, grows, grow, by growing, growth, grew… | a goldfish and a tapped tank; a mint plant on the sill |
| 10 | PP-10 | LIF3-025 | hard | text | a seedling in a closed box has grown toward the box's one hole: type the thing that came in through the hole | light, the light, sunlight, the sunlight, daylight, the sun, sun, the sun's light (a per-item list; no "the window") | Iseult's box |
Hard because — type 9: two steps — the student must decide that the mint plant's slow lean IS a response (the stem never says so), then produce the word for HOW it responded, with no options to pick from. Type 10: the rule is run backward — the stem grew toward the hole; a stem grows toward the light; so the light came in through the hole — and the thing is produced, not recognised.
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Types testing it alone | Pair types |
|---|---|---|
| LIF3-025 stems grow toward the light | 1, 4, 10 (typed) | 5 (with 026: the root and the stem in one jar), 7 (with 028: why so long), 8 (with 028: the tendril among animals) |
| LIF3-026 roots grow downward | 2, 6 (+ 4's move on a tipped pot, in the bank) | 5 (with 025), 6 (with 028: how long the turn takes) |
| LIF3-028 plants respond by growing, animals by moving | 3, 9 (typed) | 6 (with 026), 7 and 8 (with 025) |
Design-move inventory (every move on the page, then the bank's)
| Move (what the student does with what) | Lesson-side instances | Bank exemplar |
|---|---|---|
| predict the stem's direction from a drawn light source | L01 q1 (a tomato seedling, window right), q2 (a box, hole top left), q7 (a lamp above), L01-V (a lamp right), SUMMARY-1 (window left), PR-1 (words: window left); taught on Liesl's window, the box with the hole on the right, the lamp above | PP-1: a lamp to the LEFT — a side and a source no page item draws — with straight up and straight down among the four |
| predict the root's direction from the seed's way up | L02 q1 (upside down, drawn), q2 (Tabitha's, on its side), q7 (an acorn on its side), q8 (a jar of water), L02-V (on its side, drawn), SUMMARY-2 (upside down), PR-2 (two seeds, both down); taught on Eskil's three seeds | PP-2: a seed at a SLANT — a way up no page item uses — four directions |
| sort a living thing by how it responds | L03 q2 (a mouse), q3 (a sunflower), q5 (Rosalia's pea), L03-V (a blackbird), PR-3 (a goat), PR-4 (a radish seedling) — two options | PP-3: four living things (a toad, a pony, a starling beside the seedling — none a page animal), the four-option form |
| the responded thing is turned; what happens next | L01 q4 (Colette's basil turned round), L02 q4 (Giselle's tipped pot, drawn), PR-7 (the mint FRQ), PR-9 (a window box knocked flat); taught on Liesl's turned pot and Eskil's laid-down jar | PP-4: the LAMP moves, the plant does not — the light source changes side instead of the pot; the bank's root instances sit on a tipped pot |
| two responses in one scene | none on the page | PP-5: a jar by a window — the root down, the stem toward the window |
| how long a response takes | L01 q5 (a stem), L02 q5 (a tipped root, three options), L03 q6, q7, PR-6 (a flashlight), SUMMARY-3 (the deer) | PP-6: a fallen pot's root tips, four times including "never" — the four-option form on the root |
| the reason for the slow response | none on the page | PP-7: four single-statement reasons, each an answer to "why longer" (the light-pushes and too-small beliefs among them) |
| pick the plant response from a mixed list | L03 q10 (a root, a squirrel, a fish), PR-8 (the animal's: a fox, a root, a stem) | PP-8: a tendril round a WIRE among a horse, a bee and a snow-bent branch — none a page scene |
| the word by recall | L01 q13, L02 q10, L03 q11, PR-11…PR-14 (definition-shaped stems) | PP-9: a paired case (a goldfish, a mint plant) with the animal's word given and the plant's lean only described — the word produced after a judgement |
| the reverse read (where the light comes from) | L01 q10 (Eulalia's door) | PP-10: the rule run backward on a closed box — the thing produced |
| turning against growing (Topic 32's seam) | L01 q11 (a part turned), q12 (it grew toward the light) | none — the seam is checked in the quiz |
| claims (bare yes / no) | L01 q3, q6, q8; L02 q3, q6, q9; L03 q4, q8, q9; PR-5, PR-10 | none — a bare claim has two options; the bank's MCQs need four |
| the Topic 36 recall (which came first) | L03 q1 | none — Topic 36's move |
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · LIF3-025 · easy · drawing seedling_pp_lamp_left
Stem: A pot of cress stands on a classroom table, with a lamp to its left. Which way will the stems grow over the next week?
- to the left, toward the lamp ← key
- to the right, away from the lamp
- straight up
- straight down
Why: The light comes from the lamp, on the left. / A plant's stem grows toward the light, a little each day. / So the stems grow to the left, toward the lamp.
Type 2 — PP-2 · LIF3-026 · easy · drawing seed_pp_tilted
Stem: A bean seed is planted tilted at a slant in the soil. Which way will its root grow?
- up
- to the left
- to the right
- down ← key
Why: A seed's root grows down, whichever way up the seed is planted. / This seed sits at a slant. / So its root grows down.
Type 3 — PP-3 · LIF3-028 · easy
Stem: Which of these living things responds by growing?
- a bean seedling ← key
- a toad
- a pony
- a starling
Why: An animal responds by moving. / A plant responds by growing. / The toad, the pony and the starling are animals. / So the bean seedling is the one that responds by growing.
Type 4 — PP-4 · LIF3-025 · medium
Stem: Estelle moves the lamp from the left of her seedling to its right, without touching the plant. What happens over the next week?
- The stem keeps leaning toward the lamp's old place.
- The stem grows toward the lamp's new place. ← key
- The stem grows straight down.
- The stem stops growing.
Why: The light now comes from the right. / A plant's stem grows toward the light, a little each day. / So over the week, the stem grows toward the lamp's new place.
Type 5 — PP-5 · LIF3-025 + LIF3-026 · medium
Stem: A bean seed sprouts in a jar on a windowsill, with the window on the jar's left. Which way do the root and the stem grow?
- both down
- both toward the window
- the root down, and the stem toward the window ← key
- the root toward the window, and the stem down
Why: A seed's root grows down, whichever way up the seed is. / A stem grows toward the light, and the light comes from the window on the left. / So the root grows down, and the stem grows toward the window.
Type 6 — PP-6 · LIF3-026 + LIF3-028 · medium
Stem: Benedetta's pot falls on its side and stays there. When will the seedling's root tips have turned to grow down?
- in about a second
- in about a minute
- after a few days ← key
- never
Why: A plant responds by growing, slowly. / A root's tip begins to curve within hours and turns all the way down over days. / So the root tips have turned after a few days.
Type 7 — PP-7 · LIF3-028 + LIF3-025 · medium
Stem: A cat runs to its food tin in a second, but a bean stem takes five days to grow toward a window. Why does the plant take so much longer?
- The plant waits for the light to push it.
- The plant is too small to respond quickly.
- The plant responds only at night.
- The plant responds by growing. ← key
Why: An animal responds by moving, and moving is quick. / A plant responds by growing. / Growing happens a little each day, so it is slow. / So the plant takes days.
Type 8 — PP-8 · LIF3-028 + LIF3-025 · medium
Stem: Which of these is a plant responding by growing?
- a horse trotting to a gate when it is called
- a pea tendril growing round a wire it touches ← key
- a bee flying to a flower
- a branch bent over by snow
Why: A plant responds by growing, slowly. / The tendril grows round the wire over days. / The horse and the bee are animals responding by moving, and the snow pushed the branch. / So the tendril is the plant responding.
Type 9 — PP-9 · LIF3-028 · hard · text entry
Stem: A goldfish darts away when a hand taps its tank. Over a week, a mint plant on the sill leans more and more toward the window. The goldfish responded by moving. Type the word for how the mint plant responded.
Accept: growing · grows · grow · by growing · growth · it grows · grew · it grew
Why: The mint plant is a plant. / Its stem leaned more toward the window each day, over a week: it grew toward the light. / A plant responds by growing, slowly. / So the mint plant responded by growing.
Hard because: two steps — the student decides that the mint plant's slow lean IS a response (the stem never says so), then produces the word for how it responded, with no options to pick from.
Type 10 — PP-10 · LIF3-025 · hard · text entry
Stem: Iseult keeps a seedling in a closed box with one hole in its side. After a week, the stem has grown toward the hole. Type the thing that came in through the hole.
Accept: light · the light · sunlight · the sunlight · daylight · the sun · sun · the sun's light
Why: A plant's stem grows toward the light. / The stem grew toward the hole. / So the light came in through the hole.
Hard because: the rule is run backward — the stem grew toward the hole; a stem grows toward the light; so the light came in through the hole — and the thing is produced, not recognised.
Key spread
MCQ keys in bank order: A D A B C C D B — A 2, B 2, C 2, D 2 of 8. Typed: PP-9, PP-10.