Topic 14 · Where our weather comes from — the question types, for your rulings

Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ c83cbd2

Topic 14 — Where our weather comes from — the PP100's 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 5 standing brief the bank is built straight away (52 items in content/G5T14_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. Tags follow depth of reasoning — easy = one fact or a one-step sort of a described case; medium = the rule applied to a fresh case, a reason picked, a drawn card or table read; hard = a term produced by typing, a claim judged by its correct reason, or two ideas chained — and rise with the atom's order: EAR5-013 ten easy, five medium, three hard; EAR5-014 four easy, eight medium, two hard; EAR5-004 two easy, twelve medium, six hard. Every hard item carries a one-line "hard because" (hb) in the bank file. Bank: easy 16 · medium 25 · hard 11; MCQ keys A 11 · B 13 · C 15 · D 9.

Rulings already applied. Four options on every MCQ (fixed sets: the four kinds "rain / snow / sleet / hail"; the what-happened set "It stayed liquid all the way down. / It froze into soft flakes inside the cloud. / It fell as rain, then froze on the way down. / It froze layer on layer inside a tall storm cloud."; the environment set "a swamp / a desert / a mountain top / a seacoast"; the prediction set "humid air, with clouds and rain likely / dry air, with a clear sky likely / cold air, with snow likely / the same weather as the day before"; all four declared in KEY_TELL_EXEMPT_SETS and rotated so the key moves); no option bundles a verdict with its reason (the one bank claim is "Odette is wrong when she says… What is the correct reason?" with four single-statement reasons; two drafted items that paired a verdict with a reason were rewritten with the verdict in the stem); every stem is a positive question of at most two sentences unless tagged hard; the two drawn item forms carry blind text that names the arrow's direction or the pieces' size as data, never the answer; the typed keys are "sleet", "hail" and "ocean" (short, closed, spellable; article forms and child spellings in the accept lists; "sea" and "gulf" accepted for ocean); no multi-select (no answer in this topic is genuinely a set); every item names ONE atom; US spelling; units as words in prose, numerals on drawings. check_key_tells.py: KEY TELLS: 0 of 99 MCQs flagged.

The bar list (real things and words a generated item must never use): "gravity pulls" (the drops are not pulled down in any item); "heat moves / travels"; "the air is full of water" (say "holding water vapor"); "humidity" as a word for heat in any key; "front", "air mass", "pressure", "updraft", "supercooled" (grades 6-8); "percent humidity" (Topic 13's instrument); any lesson scene (the Dallas school window and parking lot; Odette's Everglades / Phoenix / Pikes Peak table; Nico's Houston street and the Gulf wind day; the intro's Dallas playground); any quiz, attached, summary or practice scene (the Vermont field, Ohio sidewalk, Kansas trampoline, Georgia pond, Nebraska porch, Minnesota car roof, Idaho report, Oklahoma farm and car, Iowa card, Texas quarters; the Louisiana / Nevada table, Colorado town, Utah desert, South Carolina swamp, Georgia marsh, the Mississippi-to-New-Mexico drive, the Washington climb; Tampa, Corpus Christi, the Louisiana order item, the Alabama two-day table, Galveston, Mobile; the Arkansas picnic table, Biloxi; the Illinois town, Virginia bottle, Ohio pond, North Dakota lake, Nebraska greenhouse, Massachusetts bus stop, New Jersey / Arizona table, Montana road, Panama City, the South Carolina order item, the Maine coast, the Kentucky town, the Iowa ballpark, the Georgia coast); a claim-maker outside Noor, Odette and Nico, and only Odette's one documented belief; "biggest / smallest" for an amount.

The sixteen types (fewer would be better; three atoms each need their sort, their comparison and their prediction forms, and the one documented belief takes a claim-reason item)

Type	Items	Atom	Tags	Form	The stem asks…	The options / the accept	Exemplar scene
1	6	013	easy	MCQ, the four-kinds set	which kind is falling, from what lands and the day	rain / snow / sleet / hail (fixed, key moves)	a barn roof in Wisconsin; seats at a Missouri ballgame; a Pennsylvania mailbox; an Oregon soccer field; a shed roof in Illinois; a tent in Michigan
2	3	013	medium	MCQ, the what-happened set	what happened to the water, given the kind that fell	the four what-happened statements (fixed)	a Kentucky parking garage; a Montana ski lift; an Arkansas school bus
3	3	013	medium, hard	MCQ, the four-kinds set	which kind fell, from what a report says happened to the water; (hard) which kind reaches the ground from a warmer cloud over very cold air	rain / snow / sleet / hail	a Maine report; a North Carolina report; a Tennessee winter day
4	2	013	easy	MCQ, the four-kinds set	which kind is water that froze into flakes in the cloud / stayed liquid all the way down	rain / snow / sleet / hail	no scene (a definition pick)
5	2	013	easy	MCQ	which kind lands as hard balls / as small grains	the four kinds, un-rotated	no scene
6	5	014	medium	MCQ	which of two places has the more humid air (temperature and the feel of the air in the stem); which reading is most likely at a mountain top; how two equally hot places' humidities compare; which words describe a cool foggy swamp	the two places, "both the same", a fourth; cool / hot × humid / dry	a Delaware marsh and a California desert; a Wyoming town and mountain top; a Virginia swamp and a New Mexico desert; a Florida swamp at dawn
7	3	014	easy	MCQ, the environment set	which kind of place usually has humid air / the driest air / is colder than the land around it	a swamp / a desert / a mountain top / a seacoast (fixed)	no scene
8	1	014	hard	MCQ, claim-reason	Odette is wrong when she says humid just means hot; the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	Odette (register EAR5 SD-2)
9	2	014	easy, medium	MCQ	what sticky air / low humidity tells you	four single statements	a Carolina coast town; an Arizona desert town
10	3	014	medium	MCQ	how the air or the temperature changes on a move between environments	from dry to humid / colder at the top / whose air holds more	a Nevada desert to an Oregon marsh; a New Hampshire lift; two cousins in Texas
11	4	004	medium	MCQ, the prediction set	the afternoon weather from where the wind comes from; the first change when the wind turns to the ocean	humid-rain / dry-clear / cold-snow / the same (fixed); four single changes	Pensacola; Savannah; Brownsville; a Rhode Island lighthouse
12	5	004	medium	MCQ	the step the water vapor takes as the air rises and cools; what the wind does; what carried energy to the water; what the ocean air is like; the step between humid air arriving and rain	four single statements	Charleston; the Mississippi coast; the Maryland coast; Hawaii; Connecticut
13	3	004	easy, medium	MCQ	where most of the water vapor over the ocean / in an ocean wind came from; what the Sun's light does to the ocean's water	four sources; four single statements	the Atlantic off New Jersey; a warm ocean; Jacksonville
14	2	004	medium	MCQ	on which of two days rain is more likely; what a town should expect after the wind turns	the two days, both, neither; the prediction set	a Louisiana coast town; an Alabama coast town
15	2	004	hard	typed	the one word for the huge body of water the humid air crossed	ocean, with article forms, sea, gulf, the Atlantic / Pacific, child spellings	the North Carolina coast; an Oregon city
16	4	004	hard	MCQ	the correct reason January afternoons stay dry; which statement explains two days; why a sunny desert stays dry; the reason New Orleans is likelier to get rain than Tucson	four single statements	a Texas coast city; two Florida towns; an Arizona desert; New Orleans and Tucson
8′	2	013	hard	typed	the name of the kind, from what happened to the water	sleet / hail with article forms and child spellings	an Indiana town; a South Dakota cornfield

Hard because — types 8′ and 15: the word is produced, not picked. Type 8: the documented belief judged by its correct reason. Type 3 (hard): two conditions chained (a warmer cloud and very cold air below). Type 16: two ideas chained (where the wind came from decides what the air is holding; what the air is holding decides the weather) or one rule run on two cases.

One exemplar per type, in full

Type 1 (easy, EAR5-013). Soft flakes of ice settle on a barn roof in Wisconsin on a very cold morning. What is falling? — rain / snow / sleet / hail. Why: Snow is soft flakes of ice that froze inside the cloud. Soft flakes of ice are settling on the roof. So the falling water is snow. (nearest lesson-side instance: Lesson 1 (Rain, snow, sleet or hail: what happened to the water on the way down), question 1, the Vermont field)

Type 2 (medium, EAR5-013). Sleet falls on a parking garage in Kentucky. What happened to the water that made the sleet? — It stayed liquid all the way down. / It froze into soft flakes inside the cloud. / It fell as rain, then froze on the way down. / It froze layer on layer inside a tall storm cloud. Why: Sleet is small grains of ice that fell as rain, then froze on the way down. Sleet is falling. So the water fell as rain, then froze on the way down. (nearest: Lesson 1 (Rain, snow, sleet or hail: what happened to the water on the way down), question 8, the Oklahoma farm, the reverse ask)

Type 3 (hard, EAR5-013). On a winter day in Tennessee, the cloud is a little warmer than freezing, but the air near the ground is very cold. Which kind of precipitation most likely reaches the ground? — rain / snow / sleet / hail. Why: Sleet is small grains of ice that fell as rain, then froze on the way down. The cloud is warmer than freezing, so the water leaves it as rain; the air near the ground is very cold, so the rain freezes on the way down. So the precipitation that reaches the ground is most likely sleet. Hard because: two conditions are chained. (nearest: Lesson 1 (Rain, snow, sleet or hail: what happened to the water on the way down), question 7, the Idaho report, which states the whole story)

Type 4 (easy, EAR5-013). Which of these is water that froze into flakes inside the cloud? — rain / snow / sleet / hail. Why: Snow is soft flakes of ice that froze inside the cloud. The question asks which kind froze into flakes inside the cloud. So the answer is snow. (nearest: the Lesson 1 (Rain, snow, sleet or hail: what happened to the water on the way down) rule line)

Type 5 (easy, EAR5-013). Which of these kinds of precipitation lands as hard balls of ice? — rain / snow / hail / sleet. Why: Hail is hard balls of ice that froze layer on layer inside a tall storm cloud. Rain is drops, snow is soft flakes and sleet is small grains. So hail is the kind that lands as hard balls of ice. (nearest: the sort table)

Type 6 (medium, EAR5-014). On one afternoon, a marsh in Delaware reads 86 degrees Fahrenheit with sticky air, and a desert in California reads 104 degrees Fahrenheit with dry air. Which place has the more humid air? — the marsh in Delaware / the desert in California / both the same / the hotter place, whichever it is. Why: Sticky air is humid air: it is holding a lot of water vapor. The marsh's air is sticky and the desert's air is dry. So the marsh in Delaware has the more humid air. (Reviewed 8 Oct: the stem gives the feel of the air, never the humidity word the options rest on.) (nearest: Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather), question 1, the Louisiana / Nevada table)

Type 7 (easy, EAR5-014). Which kind of place usually has the driest air on a summer afternoon? — a swamp / a desert / a mountain top / a seacoast. Why: A desert's air is usually dry. The desert has almost no water to evaporate, so its air is holding very little water vapor. So a desert usually has the driest air. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather), question 6, three options)

Type 8 (hard, EAR5-014, the claim form). Odette is wrong when she says that humid just means hot. What is the correct reason she is wrong? — Humidity is how much water vapor the air is holding. / Humidity is how hot the air feels on your skin. / Humid air is always colder than dry air is. / Only a desert can be hot, and a desert is never humid. Source: register EAR5 SD-2 (pre-existing), Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather)'s verdict line. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather), question 5, the bare yes / no)

Type 8′ (hard, EAR5-013, typed). Pieces of ice fall on a town in Indiana on a day when the thermometer reads 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The pieces are small grains that fell as rain and froze on the way down. Type the name of this kind of precipitation. — accept: sleet, the sleet, slee. Wrong-answer lines for hail and snow. (nearest: PR-13, the Kentucky town)

Type 9 (easy, EAR5-014). A weather report for a town on the Carolina coast says the air feels sticky. What does the sticky air tell you? — The air is holding very little water vapor. / The air is holding a lot of water vapor. / The air is colder than the sea. / The wind is blowing from the mountains. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather), question 7, the Georgia marsh)

Type 10 (medium, EAR5-014). A family drives from a desert in Nevada to a marsh on the coast of Oregon in one day. How will the air most likely change? — from dry to humid / from humid to dry / from cold to hot / It will stay the same. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather), question 8, the Mississippi-to-New-Mexico drive, the other direction)

Type 11 (medium, EAR5-004). In Brownsville, Texas, the wind blows from the north, across hundreds of miles of dry land. What weather is most likely by the afternoon? — humid air, with clouds and rain likely / dry air, with a clear sky likely / cold air, with snow likely / the same weather as the day before. (nearest: Lesson 3 (What the wind from the warm ocean brings to the land), question 6, Corpus Christi with the drawing)

Type 12 (medium, EAR5-004). The wind brings humid air from the warm ocean over the land near Charleston, South Carolina, and the air rises and cools. What happens to the water vapor in the air? — It evaporates again into the air above the cloud. / It sinks back down into the ocean's water. / It freezes at once into hard balls of hail. / It condenses into the tiny drops of a cloud. (nearest: Lesson 3 (What the wind from the warm ocean brings to the land), question 3, the Tampa scaffold step)

Type 13 (easy, EAR5-004). The air over the Atlantic Ocean near New Jersey is holding a lot of water vapor on a June day. Where did most of that water vapor come from? — the ocean's water / the rivers of New Jersey / the cars on the shore road / the clouds over the sea. (nearest: PR-3, Topic 24's recall)

Type 14 (medium, EAR5-004). In a town on the coast of Louisiana, the wind blows in from the Gulf on Friday and from the dry land to the north on Saturday. On which day is rain more likely? — Saturday, when the wind comes from the land / Both days are equally likely to bring rain. / Friday, when the wind comes from the Gulf / Neither day, because wind does not change the weather. (nearest: Lesson 3 (What the wind from the warm ocean brings to the land), question 9, the Alabama two-day table)

Type 15 (hard, EAR5-004, typed). Air reaches a city in Oregon from the west, holding a lot of water vapor, and brings clouds and rain. Before it reached the city, the air crossed one huge body of water. Type the one word that names that kind of body of water. — accept: ocean, the ocean, sea, the sea, gulf, the gulf, the Pacific, the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic…, child spellings. (nearest: PR-15, the Georgia coast)

Type 16 (hard, EAR5-004). A Texas coast city gets rain most June afternoons, when the wind blows in from the warm Gulf. Its January afternoons stay dry, with the wind from the cold, dry land to the north. What is the correct reason the January afternoons stay dry? — The Sun does not shine on the Gulf's water in January. / The January air crossed dry land, so it is holding little water vapor. / The Gulf's water freezes over in January, so nothing evaporates. / Cold air in January cannot move over the land at all. Hard because: two ideas chained. (nearest: Lesson 3 (What the wind from the warm ocean brings to the land)'s wind-from-the-land section)

The design-move inventory (move · scene kind · nearest earlier item)

Lesson-side moves, for the freshness read: Lesson 1 (Rain, snow, sleet or hail: what happened to the water on the way down) — sort a described case (six scenes); hail? yes / no (a Nebraska porch; a Minnesota car roof); kind from what happened (an Idaho report); what happened from the kind (an Oklahoma farm); the drawn card (Iowa); a report with a temperature (Texas quarters). Lesson 2 (Swamp, desert, mountain: same day, different weather) — the more humid place from a table (Louisiana / Nevada); the colder place on a mountain (a Colorado town); humid? on a hot dry desert (Utah); humid? on a cool foggy swamp (South Carolina); Odette's claim; which place holds little water vapor; sticky air; a drive; a climb; the written why (Louisiana / Arizona). Lesson 3 (What the wind from the warm ocean brings to the land) — the Tampa scaffold (the Sun on the water; the air's humidity; condensing; the afternoon); Corpus Christi predictions with drawings; the order item (Louisiana); the Sun's part; the two-day table (Alabama); the written why (Galveston). Practice — the three retrievals; a sort (North Dakota, Nebraska); what happened (Massachusetts); a table (New Jersey / Arizona); a mountain road (Montana); the why (Florida / Nevada); a prediction (Panama City); the order item (South Carolina); the why (Maine); typed sleet (Kentucky), hail (Iowa ballpark), ocean (the Georgia coast).

Bank moves that SHARE a lesson-side move take a different scene kind, listed by type above; draw constraints (⟂, one per test): type 4 and type 5 items answer each other's definitions (PP-7 ⟂ PP-10, PP-8 ⟂ PP-9 by kind); PP-15 ⟂ PP-40 (the same source, two coasts); PP-46 ⟂ PP-47 (two typed "ocean"); PP-42 ⟂ PP-43 (typed sleet and hail, one per draw); PP-49 ⟂ PP-50 (two seasons / two days, one rule). Added by the blind readers (adjudication, 8 Oct 2026): PP-07 ⟂ PP-18; PP-09 ⟂ PP-19; PP-20, PP-42, PP-44 ⟂ PP-17; PP-21, PP-43 ⟂ PP-19 (a definition or what-happened item beside the sort it answers). PP-11's option set lost "a seacoast" (coast air is humid too) for "dry land far from any water".