Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ 3a2c39d (v1) · v2 fix pass 2 Oct 2026 @ efd8fba — the v2 changes are listed at the foot
Topic 25 — Weather and climate — the PP100's ten question types, with their exemplars
What this page is. James reads a bank as its question TYPES first (vault: A bank is reviewed as its question types first, one exemplar each). Under the Grade 4 standing brief the bank is built straight away (52 items in content/G4T25_pp100_bank.py); this sheet is the way in. Each type line says what the stem asks, what the four options (or the accept list) are, and prints one exemplar in full.
Rulings already applied. Four options on every MCQ (one select-two multi, tagged medium); no option bundles a verdict with its reason (claims are "which sentence is true" with the claim in the stem; the bare yes / no form lives in the quizzes); every stem is a positive question, at most two sentences below hard; a graph on an item has no chips and no dashed line, its alt text says only how many bars and what is along the bottom, and its blind text gives every bar's height as a NUMBER (bars_desc) — grep of the bundle's [Drawing: lines for climate / weather / hotter / colder / wetter / drier / usual → 0; the hard tier is typed where typing produces (a difference in lines; a difference of two readings; a sum-then-difference; a count across five bars) and a judged MCQ elsewhere; "climate" and "weather" are recalled by MCQ among sister words (RECALL_BY_MCQ), never typed; the claim-maker Bianca appears once in the bank, Lincoln and Logan not at all ("a student" carries the other claims); US spelling; "degrees Fahrenheit" in every stem, the symbol nowhere in item text.
The bar list (real things a generated item must never name, because the taught claim would break or the scene is a lesson's own): Austin, Duluth, Texas and Minnesota as the TOWNS (Corpus Christi and Laredo may carry "Texas" as their state); the video call, the board, Bianca's graph, Lincoln's two graphs, January 15 and its 28-degree afternoon (the lessons' scenes); every quiz and practice town (Denver, Miami, Nashville, Phoenix, Fairbanks, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Las Vegas, Dallas, Boston, Buffalo, Houston, Omaha, Reno, Lexington, Tulsa, Portland, Amarillo, Savannah, Fargo, Des Moines, Towns J K M N, Yuma, Memphis, Bangor, Boise, El Paso, Sacramento, Spokane, San Diego, Billings, Charleston); a real station's published numbers (every dataset is a made-up class record); "average", "mean", "normal" (grades 6-8 words); a temperature off the drawn thermometer's scale (below 20 or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit); a bar value that is not on a gridline (the drawer asserts it); "axis" (the course says "up the side" and "along the bottom"); "climate change" (not this topic); any claim that a week, a month or one season of records is the climate.
The ten types
| Type | Items | Atom | Tags | Form | The stem asks… | The options / the accept | Exemplar scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | EAR4-070 | easy, medium, hard | MCQ | which word names the usual weather / one day's sky; what tells a climate; why many years; which sentence is true of weather vs climate | the sister words (weather / climate / season / temperature / pattern), four sources, four single statements | Cleveland's reporter; Syracuse and Tampa on one afternoon; Flagstaff's twenty snowy winters |
| 2 | 7 | EAR4-071 | easy, medium, hard | MCQ | which of four sentences about one town tells the climate (or the weather) | four sentences, three of one kind and one of the other | Wichita; Juneau; Little Rock; Charlotte; Honolulu; Tucson (hard: "this July … for ten years"); Anchorage (hard: no time word) |
| 3 | 5 | EAR4-071 | easy, medium | MCQ; one multi | which word is a clue for the climate / the weather; what a one-week record is about; what "today" in a hot place is about; select the two climate sentences | four clue words; four spans (one week's weather …); four spans (one day …); four sentences, two keyed | Madison's 4 snowy days last week; Bakersfield's 95 today; Helena's four sentences |
| 4 | 5 | SR4-010 | easy, medium | MCQ; two on a drawn table | which words go up the side / along the bottom; which numbers fit; what comes before the first bar; what the side label tells | four labels / four number ranges ascending / four actions / four meanings | the Richmond rainy-days table |
| 5 | 3 | SR4-010 | medium, hard | MCQ on a drawn graph; one typed numeric | which bar is drawn wrong against its table; what is missing from a graph; how many lines higher one bar reaches | the three months + "none"; four graph parts; the bare number and its word | the Richmond graph with August short; the Wichita graph with no bottom label; March 7 vs April 3 |
| 6 | 5 | SR4-011 | easy, medium | MCQ; three on two drawn graphs | which town had more / less; what must be the same; what to look at before comparing; what more bars mean | the two towns + "the same" + "nobody can tell"; four graph features; four single statements | Milwaukee vs Little Rock; Town P vs Town R; Town V vs Town W (mismatched scales) |
| 7 | 3 | SR4-011 | medium, hard | typed numeric ×2, MCQ ×1, all on two drawn graphs | how many more in one month; which month-by-month sentence is true; how many more over three months together | the bare number and its word; four whole sentences | Albuquerque vs Cleveland; Town G vs Town H (the lead changes); Milwaukee vs Little Rock totals |
| 8 | 7 | SR4-012 | medium, hard | MCQ; four on a drawn graph | which day's / year's reading does not fit; what to do first; what is true of an odd result; a sun-struck thermometer; a REAL odd day | four days / four years / four actions / four single statements | Baltimore's 80 in March; Jackson's 24-millimeter Thursday; Raleigh's 11-snow-day December; Corpus Christi's real 44 |
| 9 | 5 | EAR4-072 | medium | MCQ; three on a drawn five-year graph | which sentence says the place's climate; what the climate is like; what to look for in seven years of records | four climate sentences / four "usually …" phrases / four things to look for | Olympia's rainy Novembers; Las Cruces's dry Junes; Laredo's hot Mays |
| 10 | 4 | EAR4-072 | hard | MCQ ×3 (two drawn), typed numeric ×1 | judge a claim that one low year unmakes a climate; the climate sentence when one year is odd; the climate "now" after one odd day; count the years that meet a stated line | four single statements; the bare number and its word | Bismarck's 10-snow-day February; Pensacola's 2-rainy-day April; a twelve-year mild winter and one snowy day; Olympia counted |
Difficulty by atom (easy / medium / hard): EAR4-070 4 / 3 / 1 · EAR4-071 5 / 5 / 2 · SR4-010 4 / 3 / 1 · SR4-011 2 / 4 / 2 · SR4-012 0 / 5 / 2 · EAR4-072 0 / 5 / 4. Keys on the 47 four-option MCQs (v2): A 11 · B 12 · C 13 · D 11. Typed: 4 (all numeric: 9, 4, 32, 3). Multi: 1. Key tells (check_key_tells.py, v2): 0 of 127 MCQs flagged.
⟂ draw constraints (never two in one test; v2 after the blind read): PP-1 ⟂ PP-16 ⟂ PP-17 ⟂ PP-41 (the definition, or its 'year after year' core, is the key of one and printed in the options of the others — Reader A); PP-9 ⟂ PP-17 ⟂ PP-21 (PP-17's key 'weather is about one day' answers the two 'today' items — Reader A); PP-26 ⟂ PP-30 (the bar's height / the side label, mild — Reader A); PP-8 ⟂ PP-9 (the clue-word pair hands each other its distractors); PP-10 ⟂ PP-11 (one drawn table); PP-33 ⟂ PP-35 ⟂ PP-47 ⟂ PP-48 (the check-then-set-aside step is the key of one and the stem of another); PP-39 ⟂ PP-40 (the routine's step and its product); PP-28 ⟂ PP-15 (the mismatch item's answer is PP-15's key). Released in v2: PP-14 ⟂ PP-46 and PP-36 ⟂ PP-52 — PP-46 and PP-52 now have their own drawings (pp_c6 Erie and Atlanta; pp_r6 Eureka).
One exemplar per type
Type 1 — which word names the usual weather
Stem. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has had cold, snowy winters for as far back as its records go. Which word names what those records show?
Options. weather / climate / season / temperature
Why. The records show the weather Sioux Falls usually has, year after year. The weather a place usually has, year after year, is called its climate. So the word is climate.
Tag. easy · EAR4-070 (nearest lesson-side instance: L01 q10 "Which word names the weather a place usually has, year after year?" — the same move; v2 re-scened the bank's stem on a town's records, so it no longer re-casts the quiz item)
Type 2 — which of four sentences tells the climate
Stem. Four sentences are about Wichita, Kansas. Which one tells the climate?
Options. Wichita has hot summers most years. / It hailed in Wichita last night. / Wichita is windy this afternoon. / Rain is coming to Wichita tomorrow.
Why. Most years means year after year. A sentence about what a place is usually like, year after year, tells the climate. So the first sentence tells the climate.
Tag. easy · EAR4-071 (nearest: L02's fluency run sorts ONE sentence at a time on the two-option set; this type puts four sentences under one ask)
Type 3 — what a one-week record is about
Stem. 'Last week, Madison, Wisconsin, had 4 snowy days.' What is this sentence about?
Options. one week's weather / Madison's climate / one day's weather / Wisconsin's climate
Why. Last week is a few days of one year. A record of a few days is a record of the weather, not of what usually happens. So the sentence is about one week's weather.
Tag. medium · EAR4-071 (nearest: L02 card 6 "Last January, Duluth had 11 snowy days" — a month there, a season here, and the ask is the span, not the sort)
Type 4 — which words go up the side (drawn table)
Stem. A class in Richmond made this table and will draw a bar graph from it. Which words go up the side of the graph, beside the numbers?
Figure. pp_table_richmond — a table titled Rainy days this summer, Richmond, Virginia: June 8, July 6, August 9.
Options. Month / Rainy days / Richmond / Summer
Why. The label up the side says what the numbers count. The table's numbers count rainy days. So Rainy days goes up the side.
Tag. easy · SR4-010 (nearest: L03 q2 on the Reno table — same move, a fresh table and a fourth option)
Type 5 — how many lines higher (typed)
Stem. A table says March had 7 snowy days and April had 3. On a bar graph with a line at every number, how many lines higher does March's bar reach than April's? Type the number.
Accept. 4 / four / 4 lines / four lines
Why. March's bar goes up to the 7 line, and April's bar goes up to the 3 line. 7 − 3 = 4. So March's bar reaches 4 lines higher.
Tag. hard · SR4-010 — hard because two readings are placed on the graph in the head, then subtracted (nearest: L03 q5 "how high does January's bar go" — one placement, no difference)
Type 6 — which town had more (two drawn graphs)
Stem. Both graphs have the same numbers up the side. Which town had more snowy days this winter?
Figure. pp_c1 — two bar graphs side by side, snowy days each month in winter, Milwaukee (10, 12, 11) and Little Rock (1, 2, 0), both 0 to 14 up the side; blind text gives each bar's top as a number.
Options. Milwaukee / Little Rock / both towns had the same / nobody can tell
Why. The numbers up the side are the same, so the bars can be compared. Every Milwaukee bar is taller than every Little Rock bar. So Milwaukee had more snowy days.
Tag. easy · SR4-011 (nearest: L04 q2 Portland vs Phoenix — same move, fresh towns and quantity)
Type 7 — month by month, the lead changes
Stem. Both graphs have the same numbers up the side. Which sentence is true of Town G and Town H this winter?
Figure. pp_c5 — Town G (9, 11, 8) and Town H (10, 9, 11), snowy days Dec–Feb, both 0 to 12.
Options. Town G had more snowy days in every month. / Town H had more snowy days in every month. / Town G had more snowy days only in January. / Town H had more snowy days only in January.
Why. In December, Town G had 9 and Town H had 10. In January, Town G had 11 and Town H had 9. In February, Town G had 8 and Town H had 11. Town G's bar is taller only in January; Town H's is taller in the other two months. So the third sentence is true.
Tag. hard · SR4-011 — hard because three bar-by-bar reads with the lead changing (nearest: L04 q7 Fargo vs Des Moines, where one town leads every month). Length note (v2): the four options are now the same shape and length (every month / only in January, for each town), so the key no longer tells by length; check_key_tells.py → 0 flagged.
Type 8 — the result that does not fit (drawn)
Stem. The graph shows afternoon temperatures on eight school days in March in Baltimore. Which day's reading does not fit the rest?
Figure. pp_odd1 — eight bars, seven between 48 and 54 and one at 80 (March 10); lines every 2, numbered every 10; blind text as numbers.
Options. March 2 / March 5 / March 10 / March 12
Why. Seven of the eight bars land between 48 and 54. The March 10 bar lands on 80. So March 10 is the reading that does not fit the rest.
Tag. medium · SR4-012 (nearest: L05 q5 Memphis in October — a cold odd day there, a hot odd day here)
Type 9 — the climate sentence from five years (drawn)
Stem. The graph shows rainy days in each of five Junes in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Which sentence says Las Cruces's June climate?
Figure. pp_r2 — five bars at 1, 0, 2, 1, 0 on 0 to 20.
Options. Junes in Las Cruces are usually rainy. / Las Cruces had one rainy June. / Junes in Las Cruces are usually dry. / Nobody can tell from five years.
Why. Read the bars: 1, 0, 2, 1 and 0 rainy days. Every June had 2 or fewer rainy days, so dry Junes are the usual weather. So Junes in Las Cruces are usually dry.
Tag. medium · EAR4-072 (nearest: L05 q9 Bangor's snowy Februaries — the dry case is the one the lessons never read)
Type 10 — judge a claim that one low year unmakes the climate (drawn)
Stem. The graph shows snowy days in each of five Februaries in Bismarck. Bianca says that because 2023 had only 10 snowy days, Bismarck's February climate is not snowy. Which sentence is true?
Figure. pp_r4 — five bars at 12, 10, 13, 11, 12 on 0 to 14.
Options. 2023 shows that Bismarck's Februaries are usually dry. / Every one of the five Februaries was snowy. / One year with fewer snowy days changes the climate. / The climate cannot be worked out from five years.
Why. Read the bars: 12, 10, 13, 11 and 12 snowy days. The lowest, 10, is still a snowy February. So every one of the five Februaries was snowy, and Bismarck's Februaries are usually snowy.
Tag. hard · EAR4-072 — hard because the claim is judged against five bars with the lowest bar as the bait; v2 cut the key's "so" clause (a key alone joining clauses is a tell) (nearest: L05 q7 Logan's one cold afternoon — one day there, one low year here)
v2 changes (2 October 2026) — the blind read, the guidance / questions / accuracy review and the figure review applied
- Whys agree with their keys: PP-5, PP-22 "So the first sentence tells the climate."; PP-6 "…the weather."
- Stems: PP-2 "A TV reporter" (the stem named its key); PP-12 asks for the numbers that reach 13 and leave the least empty space (0 to 100 also "fit"); PP-33 two sentences (S23).
- Re-scened (Reader B: lesson quiz stems re-cast with a fourth option): PP-1 (Sioux Falls's records), PP-3 (a family moving to Grand Rapids), PP-4 (Burlington and Fort Worth), PP-8 (Mobile; the option set changed to last night / most winters / this week / tomorrow, key most winters), PP-13 (the class has written its frame; what comes next), PP-15 (Toledo and Mesa put their graphs side by side), PP-16 (one year of records — why not sure yet; key "The same weather must come back year after year.", no longer the definition), PP-21 (Minot, a cold place, today), PP-33 (the 18 in a table of weeks), PP-39 (seven years of windy-day records on the table).
- Distractors: PP-16's "Thermometers only work in some years" and "A rain gauge takes years to fill" → met facts ("A thermometer only measures the air in the shade.", "Each year has four seasons."); PP-5 hail → a thunderstorm (hail is untaught, 30 Sep ruling).
- Keys trimmed (key tells, never padded): PP-30 "The height of each bar shows how many snowy days."; PP-35 "The odd result is checked, then set aside."; PP-43 "every winter in Anchorage"; PP-45 four same-shape options (key "Town G had more snowy days only in January."); PP-47 "It was a mistake in how the reading was taken."; PP-48 "Set it aside, still in the table."; PP-49 "Every one of the five Februaries was snowy."
- Own drawings: PP-46 →
pp_c6(Erie 11, 13, 12 vs Atlanta 1, 2, 1; 36 − 4 = 32); PP-52 →pp_r6(Eureka 12, 15, 13, 14, 12; 13 or more in 3 of the 5). - PP-51 fresh instance: cool, foggy summers and one hot, sunny July day (Austin's own case renamed before).
- Blind texts: PP-32's names the unit ("the label up the side says Rain (millimeters)"); PP-25's says "nothing written under the names" (not "no label", the option wording).
- Accept lists widened: bare number, number word, number + days / lines / more, "N more days" on every typed item.
- Deleted figures:
pp_g1–pp_g4(never placed;pp_g3/pp_g4would have been read-one-graph items on an atom the bank does not read that way). - Counts unchanged: 52 items; per atom EAR4-070 8 · EAR4-071 12 · SR4-010 8 · SR4-011 8 · SR4-012 7 · EAR4-072 9; easy 15 / medium 25 / hard 12.