Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ dea5d9e
Topic 42 — Living together and coping with change — 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/G3T42.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Nine types for four atoms, one exemplar each — under the ceiling of ten. No other bank item exists yet. Revised 29 Sep 2026 after the non-author review (REVIEW_G3T42_2026-09-29.md): three exemplars were page items with the nouns changed and are re-instanced — PP-7 now sits on a storm-flattened wood (was the L04 quiz's cut-down wood), PP-8 on caribou that WALK (was the practice set's whales, re-nouned), PP-9 on a lake a town drains, with the can-it-leave step left to the student (was L04 q3's dried stream); PP-1's fourth option is "keeping cool" ("moving about" was true of a twisting school); PP-5's fourth option is a group. The first sheet's freshness claim was false; the inventory below is the corrected one. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying the animal or plant, the place, the season's sign and the change, easy-heavy.
James's rulings applied. Hard items are typed, never MCQs (28 Sep night): two text-entry types (the word for a walker's seasonal journey; the one-word outcome for a lake fish when the town drains the lake). 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; no exemplar has three sentences unless tagged hard (none does); every exemplar is a fresh instance — no lesson, quiz or practice scene reappears (the design-move inventory below is the check); no headache character or claim-maker appears in the bank. 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 scene sorted with the taught frame; medium = the frame run the other way (job → scene; change → which can travel) or a rooted thing with a tempting wrong outcome; hard = the word produced on a transfer case, or two steps (can it leave? does the changed place give what it needs?) with the outcome typed.
The nine types
| Type | Item | Atom | Tag | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PP-1 | LIF3-060 | easy | MCQ, photo | a group scene: which job does the group do | the three job words + Topic 36's keeping cool: staying safe / keeping warm / getting food / keeping cool | a sardine school twisting as one when a shark comes |
| 3 | PP-2 | LIF3-061 | easy | MCQ | a living thing's needs stated: in which of four places does it survive well | four places, one that gives everything it needs | a fern: a damp, shady wood |
| 5 | PP-3 | LIF3-062 | easy | MCQ | a described winter behaviour: what does it do when winter comes | it migrates / it hibernates / it goes dormant / it stays active in a thick coat | a hedgehog under leaves, cold and slow, not eating |
| 6 | PP-4 | LIF3-063 | easy | MCQ | a quick change and a named living thing: what most likely happens to it | they stay and survive well / they move away / they die / they go dormant | a landslide covers a hillside of wildflowers |
| 2 | PP-5 | LIF3-060 | medium | MCQ | the job named: which of four group scenes is doing it | four group scenes: getting food (key), keeping warm, and two staying safe | "Which of these groups is getting its food together?" — dolphins circling fish |
| 4 | PP-6 | LIF3-061 + LIF3-063 | medium | MCQ | a rooted plant in a place that gives it only some of what it needs, the evidence stated: how does it survive there | survives well / survives poorly / does not survive / moves away | a mountain pine seedling in a hot, dry yard, brown needles, hardly growing |
| 7 | PP-7 | LIF3-063 | medium | MCQ | a quick change named: which of four living things most likely moves away | four living things, three that cannot move and one that can travel | a storm blows down every tree in a wood: the mosses / the woodpeckers / the ferns / the fallen oaks |
| 8 | PP-8 | LIF3-062 | hard | text, photo | a seasonal journey by a WALKER, there and back: type the word | MIGRATE_ACC: migrate and its forms | caribou, tundra to forest and back |
| 9 | PP-9 | LIF3-063 + LIF3-061 | hard | text, photo | a town drains a lake for a road; a fish lived in it: type one word for what most likely happens (the student supplies "a fish cannot leave the water") | DIES_ACC: die / dies / it dies … | bluegills in a drained lake |
Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)
| Atom | Alone | In a pair |
|---|---|---|
| LIF3-060 groups | types 1 (easy), 2 (medium) | — |
| LIF3-061 places | type 3 (easy) | type 4 with LIF3-063 (medium); type 9 with LIF3-063 (hard) |
| LIF3-062 seasons | types 5 (easy), 8 (hard) | — |
| LIF3-063 quick change | types 6 (easy), 7 (medium) | types 4 and 9 with LIF3-061 |
LIF3-063 carries three types alone or as the lead of a pair because it is the capstone Transformation atom the state tests reach for (TEKS 3.12C, NGSS 3-LS4-4); blueprint decision 4 offers striking type 7.
Design-move inventory (every move on the page, then the bank's)
| Move (what the student does with what) | Where it already sits | Bank exemplar |
|---|---|---|
| a group scene → the job the group does (fixed set) | L01 q1 prairie dogs, q2 lionesses, q3 bluebirds, q4 deer, q5 pelicans, q6 penguins, q9 ants; L01-V baboons; SUMMARY-1 zebras; PR-1 crows, PR-2 sparrows; taught: meerkats, wolves, honeybees | PP-1 sardines (a school in the sea — a new scene kind: the group's shape itself is the protection) |
| the job → which scene does it (reverse) | none on the page | PP-5 dolphins / nest-box birds / horses / a lone moose |
| every animal needs a group? (claim) | L01 q7 Hyacinth (yes), q8 Bartholomew (no), q10 the leopard | none — a bare claim has two options |
| thing + described place → survives well / poorly / not (fixed set) | L02 q1–q3 sunflower, q4–q6 frog, q7 camel; L02-V moss; PR-3 salmon, PR-4 tomato, PR-5 seal; taught: cactus, earthworm | none directly — the bank's version is type 4 (evidence stated, "moves away" added) |
| which place suits it well (reverse) | L02 q10 trout (three streams / fields) | PP-2 fern, four places |
| a rooted thing, only some of its needs, evidence given → the verdict, with a travel distractor | none on the page | PP-6 pine seedling |
| the typed word "poorly" | L02 q11 | none |
| a described winter behaviour → the response (fixed set) | L03 q1 monarchs, q2 peony, q3 bat, q4 apple tree, q5 swallows, q6 box turtle; L03-V cranes; SUMMARY-2 jumping mouse; PR-6 hummingbirds, PR-7 black bear, PR-8 grapevine; taught: geese, groundhog, maple, bison | PP-3 hedgehog (a fourth option, stays active, joins the set) |
| a dormant plant is alive / a hibernator does not fly about (claims) | L03 q7 Gwendolyn, q8 Ferdinand; PR-11 Bexley | none |
| does the fox hibernate? (the boundary) | L03 q9 | none |
| the typed term | L03 q10 migrate, q11 dormant; PR-13 migrate (whales — swimmers), PR-14 hibernate, PR-15 dormant | PP-8 migrate — on a WALKER (caribou): the page's migrants fly (geese, cranes, monarchs, swallows, hummingbirds) or swim (PR-13's whales); nothing walks |
| a quick change + a named living thing → the outcome (fixed set) | L04 q1–q2 wildfire, q3–q4 dried stream (the fish; the kingfisher), q5–q6 beaver flood, q7–q8 wood cut down; L04-V flooded field rabbits; SUMMARY-3 a river's dried-out old channel (mussels); PR-9 flooded wheat, PR-10 drained marsh; taught: the drought pond, the paved meadow | PP-4 landslide on wildflowers (a new change kind; "go dormant" joins the set) |
| which living thing moves away (reverse) | none on the page | PP-7 the woodpeckers, after a storm flattens a wood — a natural change no page item uses (L04 q7–q8's wood is cut down by builders) |
| a change harms all the same? / the dragonflies fly (claims) | L04 q9 Lucius, q10 Mireille | none |
| two living things, outcome and reason each (written) | PR-12 squirrels and bluebells | none — the practice set's job |
| can it leave? + does the changed place give what it needs? → the outcome, typed | none on the page (PR-10's drained marsh keys a bird that flies away; L04 q3 and SUMMARY-3 are droughts and state the fish) | PP-9 bluegills in a lake the town drains — a human change, the fish's inability to leave left to the student |
After the 29 Sep re-instancing, no bank exemplar shares a scene with a lesson, quiz or practice item, and no two exemplars share a move (the first sheet's PP-7, PP-8 and PP-9 did — the non-author review's F01, F02, F04).
The exemplars, in full
Type 1 — PP-1 · LIF3-060 · easy · drawing photo_sardines_pp
Stem: When a shark comes, a huge school of sardines twists and turns as one, and the shark catches very few. Which job does the group do?
- staying safe ← key
- keeping warm
- getting food
- keeping cool
Why: The school twists and turns as one when the shark comes. / So the shark catches very few sardines. / The group's job here is staying safe.
Type 3 — PP-2 · LIF3-061 · easy
Stem: A fern needs damp, shady ground. In which place does a fern survive well?
- a damp, shady wood ← key
- a dry, sunny sand dune
- the bottom of a pond
- a hot, dry desert
Why: A fern needs damp, shady ground. / Only the damp, shady wood gives it both. / So the fern survives well in the wood.
Type 5 — PP-3 · LIF3-062 · easy
Stem: A hedgehog curls up under a pile of leaves all winter, its body cold and slow, not eating until spring. What does the hedgehog do when winter comes?
- it migrates
- it hibernates ← key
- it goes dormant
- it stays active in a thick coat
Why: The hedgehog stays in one place all winter. / Its body is cold and slow, and it does not eat. / Spending the winter like that is hibernating, so the hedgehog hibernates.
Type 6 — PP-4 · LIF3-063 · easy
Stem: After heavy rain, a landslide of mud covers a hillside of wildflowers. What most likely happens to the wildflowers?
- they stay and survive well
- they move away
- they die ← key
- they go dormant
Why: A wildflower cannot move. / The mud covers the wildflowers where they grow. / So the wildflowers die.
Type 2 — PP-5 · LIF3-060 · medium
Stem: Which of these groups is getting its food together?
- dolphins swimming in a circle to trap a school of fish ← key
- small birds packed into a nest box on a cold night
- a herd of wild horses, one always with its head up
- elephants standing in a ring round their calves when lions come
Why: The dolphins swim in a circle and trap the fish, so they catch food together: getting food. / The packed birds keep warm; the horse with its head up keeps watch; the elephants' ring keeps the calves safe. / So the dolphins are the group getting its food together.
Type 4 — PP-6 · LIF3-061 + LIF3-063 · medium
Stem: A pine seedling from a cold mountain is planted in a hot, dry yard, where it stays alive but its needles turn brown and it hardly grows. How does the pine seedling survive there?
- it survives well
- it survives poorly ← key
- it does not survive
- it moves away
Why: The hot, dry yard gives the seedling only some of what it needs. / It stays alive, but only just: brown needles, hardly growing. / A plant cannot move away, so the seedling survives poorly.
Type 7 — PP-7 · LIF3-063 · medium
Stem: A big storm blows down every tree in a small wood. Which living thing most likely moves away?
- the mosses
- the woodpeckers ← key
- the ferns
- the fallen oaks
Why: The mosses, the ferns and the fallen oaks cannot move: they stay where the storm left them. / A woodpecker can fly to another wood with standing trees. / So the woodpeckers most likely move away.
Type 8 — PP-8 · LIF3-062 · hard · text entry · drawing photo_caribou_pp
Stem: Every fall, thousands of caribou walk hundreds of miles south, from the open tundra into the forest. Every spring, they walk back. Type the word for what the caribou do.
Accept: migrate · migrates · migrating · migration · to migrate · it migrates · they migrate
Why: The caribou travel to another place when the season changes. / They travel back when it changes again. / That is called migrating: the caribou migrate.
Hard because: the word is produced, not recognised, and the animal neither flies nor swims — every other migrant on the page does one or the other.
Type 9 — PP-9 · LIF3-063 + LIF3-061 · hard · text entry · drawing photo_bluegill_pp
Stem: The town drains a small lake to build a road across it. Bluegills lived in the lake. What most likely happens to the bluegills? Type one word.
Accept: dies · die · it dies · they die · dead · they died · died
Why: A bluegill is a fish: it needs water and cannot leave it. / The town drains all the water away. / So the bluegills die.
Hard because: two steps the student supplies — a bluegill is a fish, so it cannot leave the water; the drained lake no longer gives it water — and the outcome is produced in one word; the change is a human one no water animal on the page meets.