Topic 16 · Earth's four spheres — the question types, for your rulings

Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ cca3af6 · v2 after the non-author review (review-questions, 8 Oct 2026 @ cca3af6)

Topic 16 — Earth's four spheres — 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 (51 items in content/G5T16_pp100_bank.py); this sheet is the way in. Each type line says what the stem asks and what the four options are, and prints one exemplar in full. Tags follow depth of reasoning — easy = one fact, a one-step sort or the name picked from its definition; medium = the rule applied to a fresh case, a two-part thing split, a drawn scene read, a two-step sort (ice is frozen water, then its sphere), a pair of spheres named; hard = two steps chained to a direction, one moment of a two-change event, or a set answer — and rise with the atom's order: EAR5-021 six easy, one medium; 022 five easy, two medium; 023 four easy, two medium; 024 four easy, two medium; 025 two easy, nine medium; 026 eight medium, six hard. Every hard item carries a one-line "hard because" (hb) in the bank file. Bank: easy 21 · medium 24 · hard 6; MCQ keys A 10 · B 15 · C 12 · D 13 (50 MCQs); 1 multi-select; NO typed item.

v2 (non-author review, 8 Oct 2026). The eight typed items became MCQs on the fixed four-name set: the four sphere names are 9, 11, 10 and 9 letters and "atmosphere" is on the hard-to-spell list, so S35 (James, 30 Sep 2026: "no way should we be expecting grade 3 kids to spell that") sends them to RECALL_BY_MCQ, as Grade 5 Topics 10, 13 and 15 did for "substance", "barometer" and "temperate". The four definition items are tagged easy (one step: the name from its definition); the two-step sorts and the changed-sphere item are medium. The typed glacier sort was Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water), question 6's scene with the state changed and became icicles; the typed sand-hill sort was Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event), question 3's dune and was cut; the typed forest-fire item re-asked Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event)'s taught fire and became pine pollen. Two pair items were re-scened (the river-bank flood shared its scene kind with PR-1 and the recall bank; the dried lake had a second defensible actor, the dry summer's air). The coral stem lost the word "living" (it was the key's own word). The hard tier is six MCQs; "hard items must be typed" was withdrawn by James on 29 Sep 2026.

Rulings already applied. Four options on every MCQ (the fixed four-name set "the geosphere / the hydrosphere / the atmosphere / the biosphere", order fixed, declared in KEY_TELL_EXEMPT_SETS; the pair-sentence sets "The X acts on the Y." rotate the key through all four positions); no option bundles a verdict with its reason; NO claim item (the register's one belief for this sub-domain is induced and is met in the cases, never stated; its trap — one sphere named where two are at work — is a distractor on types 9 and 14); every stem is a positive question of at most two sentences unless tagged hard; the two drawn items name parts by position (top, middle, bottom band) and their blind text lists shapes and colours, never a sphere name; one multi-select, where the answer is genuinely a set; every item names ONE atom; US spelling; units as words in prose. check_key_tells.py: KEY TELLS: 0 of 139 MCQs flagged.

The bar list (real things and words a generated item must never use): "gravity", "weight", "force" (no force is taught here); "the water cycle", "fresh water", "salt water" (Topic 17's); "erosion", "weathering", "deposition" as answers (Grade 4's terms, not retested here); "potential", "core", "mantle", "crust", "oxygen", "carbon dioxide", "nitrogen" (grades 6-8); "leak", "lift", "snap"; "non-living" (say "not alive"); a cloud as "air" (a cloud's drops are water); ice or snow as "a kind of rock"; "rock all the way in" (Earth's centre is not rock; the lesson says "deep inside"); any lesson scene (the backyard hole, the coast drive, the kite, the fishing boat, the state-park river, the porch storm and its forest fire; the intro's beach); any quiz, attached, summary or practice scene (the list in the build record's freshness section, plus the crow over a Wisconsin farm and the soil piled against young trees); a named child outside Pedro, Quinn and Rafael (none appears in the bank); "biggest / smallest" for an amount; a fifth sphere name.

The fifteen types (fewer would be better; four definition atoms each need recognition, members and the name from its definition, and the two sorting atoms carry the depth)

Type	Items	Atom	Tags	Form	The stem asks…	The options	Exemplar scene
1	14	021–025	easy, medium	MCQ, the four-name set	which sphere a named thing belongs to (a canyon wall, clay, a river, the wind, a salmon, people, a frozen waterfall, a rabbit, hot water from the ground, deep-sea worms, a pile of dirt, coral, rock dust, breathed-out air)	the geosphere / the hydrosphere / the atmosphere / the biosphere (fixed)	red rock walls of a canyon in Texas
2	2	021, 022	easy	MCQ	what sand is made of; what frost is	four materials	a sandbox in Delaware; a frosted car window in New Jersey
3	5	021–024	easy, medium	MCQ, four things from one scene	which of four things in one scene belongs to the named sphere	four things of the scene (one per sphere)	a baseball field in Missouri after rain; a snowy roof in Connecticut; a barn in Wisconsin; a Rhode Island beach rock; a Colorado mountain top
4	3	021, 022, 023	easy	MCQ	how far down the geosphere reaches; where some of Earth's water is besides the oceans, lakes, rivers and ice; where the atmosphere begins	four places / extents	the deep inside of Earth; under the ground, between the grains; at the ground
5	1	021	medium	MCQ	which part of mud (soil mixed with water) belongs to the geosphere	the soil / the water / both / neither	a muddy path in Arkansas
6	3	022, 023	medium	MCQ	where poured water goes when it disappears into dry soil; what the thin pale layer round Earth is; what happens to the air as a balloon rises	four single statements	a flowerpot in Kansas; an astronaut's view; a weather balloon over Nebraska
7	3	025	medium	MCQ, the four-name set, a drawn scene	which sphere the bottom band / the reeds / the cloud drops in a drawn cross-section belong to	the four names	the pond in three bands (lake_cut) ×2; the hill cut open (hill_cut)
8	6	026	medium	MCQ, four pair sentences	which sphere acts on which in a fresh event	"The X acts on the Y." ×4 (the key, its reverse, two others)	rain water cuts channels into a plowed field in Missouri; wind blows a cottonwood over; gophers heap soil; the ground under a Florida yard sinks and takes an oak with it; winter waves narrow a beach; rain revives a garden
9	1	026	medium	MCQ	which spheres are at work when a beaver's dam makes a pond	the pair / each alone / another pair	a beaver dam on a Maine stream
10	4	021–024	easy	MCQ, the four-name set	which sphere a definition names	the four names	the four definitions, one each (PP-18 to PP-21)
11	2	025	medium	MCQ, the four-name set	which sphere icicles / Greenland's ice sheet belong to (ice must first be read as frozen water)	the four names	icicles on a Wisconsin cabin; the Greenland ice sheet
12	4	026	hard	MCQ, four pair sentences	which sphere acts on which, where the acting thing must first be read as frozen water, tiny pieces of rock or a living thing	"The X acts on the Y." ×4	a glacier grinds a Montana valley; landslide dust fills a Washington valley's air; ice widens a crack in Vermont; trees change a forest's air in Oregon
13	1	026	hard	MCQ, four pair sentences	which sphere acts on which at ONE named moment of an event with two changes	"The X acts on the Y." ×4	a rockslide splashes a Utah mountain lake
14	1	026	hard	multi-select	the TWO spheres changed by river water over a garden	the four names; keys the geosphere and the biosphere	a Louisiana river over its banks
15	1	026	medium	MCQ, the four-name set	the sphere being changed, the acting thing named in the stem	the four names	pine pollen over a Georgia town

Exemplars, one per type, printed in full

Type 1 (easy, EAR5-021, PP-1). Red rock walls rise on both sides of a canyon in Texas. Which sphere do the rock walls belong to? — (a) the geosphere ✓ · (b) the hydrosphere · (c) the atmosphere · (d) the biosphere. Why: The geosphere is all of Earth's rock and soil. / The canyon walls are rock. / So the rock walls belong to the geosphere.

Type 2 (easy, EAR5-021, PP-2). A boy in Delaware fills a bucket with sand in a sandbox. What is the sand made of? — (a) tiny drops of water · (b) tiny pieces of rock ✓ · (c) tiny bits of dead leaves · (d) tiny pieces of ice. Why: The sand on a beach, and in a sandbox, is tiny pieces of rock. / So the sand in the bucket is made of tiny pieces of rock.

Type 3 (easy, EAR5-021, PP-3). A baseball field in Missouri has grass on top, clay under the grass, and a breeze blowing over it after rain. Which of these is part of the geosphere? — (a) the grass on the field · (b) the rain on the grass · (c) the clay under the grass ✓ · (d) the breeze over the field. Why: The geosphere is all of Earth's rock and soil. / Clay is soil; the grass is a living thing, the rain is water and the breeze is air. / So the clay under the grass is part of the geosphere.

Type 4 (easy, EAR5-022, PP-8). Besides the oceans, the lakes, the rivers and the ice, where is some of Earth's water? — (a) inside the rock, as part of the rock itself · (b) under the ground, between the grains of soil and rock ✓ · (c) nowhere else: the oceans, the lakes, the rivers and the ice hold all of it · (d) only in pipes and tanks that people build. Why: Some of Earth's water is under the ground. / Rain soaks down and fills the tiny gaps between the grains of soil and rock. / So some of Earth's water is under the ground, in the gaps between the grains. (v2: the distractor "only in the clouds" went — the course itself says a cloud's drops are Earth's water.)

Type 5 (medium, EAR5-021, PP-22). Mud, which is soil mixed with water, covers a path in Arkansas after rain. Which part of the mud belongs to the geosphere? — (a) the soil ✓ · (b) the water · (c) both the soil and the water · (d) neither the soil nor the water. Why: The geosphere is all of Earth's rock and soil. / The soil in the mud is tiny pieces of rock, and the water in the mud is Earth's water. / So only the soil belongs to the geosphere.

Type 6 (medium, EAR5-022, PP-24). A girl in Kansas pours a cup of water onto the dry soil in a flowerpot, and the water disappears into the soil. Where is the water now? — (a) inside each grain of soil, as part of it · (b) in the air above the flowerpot · (c) gone, because it turned into soil · (d) in the tiny gaps between the grains of soil ✓. Why: Water soaks down through soil and fills the tiny gaps between the grains. / The cup of water soaked into the flowerpot's soil. / So the water is now in the tiny gaps between the grains of soil.

Type 7 (medium, EAR5-025, PP-33; figure lake_cut). Here is a drawing of a pond in three bands. Which sphere does the bottom band belong to? — (a) the geosphere ✓ · (b) the hydrosphere · (c) the atmosphere · (d) the biosphere. Blind text: three bands, top pale, middle blue with a gray fish shape, bottom tan with pebble shapes; three green reed shapes stand from the bottom band up through the middle band; labels top, middle, bottom at the right edge. Why: The bottom band is tan with pebble shapes in it: the mud and pebbles of the pond bed. / Mud is soil and pebbles are rock. / So the bottom band belongs to the geosphere. ⟂ PP-34 (the reeds, same drawing): draw one per test.

Type 8 (medium, EAR5-026, PP-36). Rain water runs across a freshly plowed field in Missouri and cuts little channels into the soil. Which sphere acts on which? — (a) The hydrosphere acts on the geosphere. ✓ · (b) The geosphere acts on the hydrosphere. · (c) The hydrosphere acts on the biosphere. · (d) The atmosphere acts on the geosphere. Why: Which sphere is doing the acting? The rain water, which belongs to the hydrosphere. / Which sphere is being changed? The soil of the field, which belongs to the geosphere. / So the hydrosphere acts on the geosphere.

Type 9 (medium, EAR5-026, PP-42). A beaver cuts down trees beside a stream in Maine and builds a dam, and a pond spreads out behind the dam. Which spheres are at work when the pond forms? — (a) the biosphere only · (b) the hydrosphere only · (c) the biosphere and the hydrosphere ✓ · (d) the hydrosphere and the geosphere. Why: Which sphere is doing the acting? The beaver and its dam of trees: the biosphere. / Which sphere is being changed? The stream's water, which spreads into a pond: the hydrosphere. / So the biosphere and the hydrosphere are both at work. (The "only" options are the register's trap.)

Type 10 (easy, EAR5-022, PP-19). All of Earth's water, in the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, the ice, and under the ground, is one of Earth's four spheres. Which sphere is it? — (a) the geosphere · (b) the hydrosphere ✓ · (c) the atmosphere · (d) the biosphere. Why: All of Earth's water, in the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, the ice, and under the ground, is called the hydrosphere. / So this sphere is the hydrosphere. ⟂ PP-18, PP-20, PP-21: the four definitions in a row would hand over the set; draw one per test.

Type 11 (medium, EAR5-025, PP-43). Icicles hang from the roof of a cabin in Wisconsin on a cold morning. Which sphere do the icicles belong to? — (a) the geosphere · (b) the hydrosphere ✓ · (c) the atmosphere · (d) the biosphere. Why: To name a thing's sphere, ask what the thing is. / An icicle is ice, and ice is frozen water. / So the icicles belong to the hydrosphere.

Type 12 (hard, EAR5-026, PP-46). A glacier in Montana slides slowly down its valley and grinds the rock of the valley floor smooth. Which sphere acts on which? — (a) The geosphere acts on the hydrosphere. · (b) The hydrosphere acts on the geosphere. ✓ · (c) The geosphere acts on the atmosphere. · (d) The atmosphere acts on the geosphere. Why: Which sphere is doing the acting? The glacier is, and a glacier is ice, which is frozen water: the hydrosphere. / Which sphere is being changed? The rock of the valley floor is, and rock belongs to the geosphere. / So the hydrosphere acts on the geosphere. Hard because: the glacier must first be read as frozen water, then the direction said. (v2: the article's own glacier section was cut, so this is now a fresh event against the lesson; Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water) recalls what a glacier is.)

Type 13 (hard, EAR5-026, PP-50). A huge rockslide in Utah crashes into a mountain lake. The lake's water splashes up over the shore, and the mud at the bottom of the lake is buried. Which sphere acts on which when the water splashes up? — (a) The hydrosphere acts on the geosphere. · (b) The geosphere acts on the biosphere. · (c) The geosphere acts on the hydrosphere. ✓ · (d) The hydrosphere acts on the biosphere. Why: Which sphere is doing the acting when the water splashes up? The falling rock is, and rock belongs to the geosphere. / Which sphere is being changed? The lake's water is, and water belongs to the hydrosphere. / So the geosphere acts on the hydrosphere. Hard because: two changes happen in one event; the stem names the one to judge, and the child must hold to it.

Type 14 (hard, EAR5-026, PP-51; multi-select). A river in Louisiana spills over its banks. The water drops a layer of mud over a garden's soil and drowns the rows of young bean plants. Select the TWO spheres that are being changed by the water. — the geosphere ✓ · the hydrosphere · the atmosphere · the biosphere ✓. Why: Which spheres are being changed? / The soil gets a new layer of mud: the geosphere. / The bean plants drown: the biosphere. / The river water itself is doing the acting, so the hydrosphere is not one of the changed spheres. Hard because: the answer is a set of two, found by asking the second question twice.

Type 15 (medium, EAR5-026, PP-45). Every spring in Georgia, pine trees let go of clouds of yellow pollen, and the air over the town turns hazy and yellow. Which sphere is being changed by the pine trees? — (a) the geosphere · (b) the hydrosphere · (c) the atmosphere ✓ · (d) the biosphere. Why: Which sphere is being changed? The air over the town, filled with pollen. / The layer of air around Earth is the atmosphere. / So the sphere being changed is the atmosphere.

Design-move inventory (every item's move, its scene kind, and its nearest lesson-side instance)

Item	Move	Scene kind	Nearest lesson-side instance	Fresh?
PP-1, 5	sort a rock / soil thing	canyon walls; river-bank clay	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil) mountain; Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 1	NEW scene
PP-2	what sand is made of	sandbox	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil) article beach sand; Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 8 soil	NEW (sandbox, not beach)
PP-3, 7, 11, 14, 28	pick the one thing of four in a scene that belongs to the named sphere	ball field; snowy roof; barn; beach rock; mountain top	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 7 (wet soil's two parts); Lesson 4 (The biosphere: Earth's living things), question 9	NEW (four things, one per sphere)
PP-4, 8, 12	the extent / place fact	—	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 5 deep rock; Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water), question 7; Lesson 3 (The atmosphere: Earth's air), question 7	SHARED move, different ask (how far down / besides the oceans / where it begins)
PP-6, 13, 15, 16, 17, 23, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32	sort a fresh thing (type 1)	river; salmon; family; frozen waterfall; rabbit; hot water from the ground; deep-sea worms; pile of dirt; coral; rock dust; breath	Lesson 5 (Name the four spheres) quiz run	SHARED move (the atom's fluency), each a new thing kind
PP-9	what frost is	car window	Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water) ice is frozen water	NEW (frost)
PP-10	sort the wind	flag	Lesson 3 (The atmosphere: Earth's air), question 5 wind over a lake	SHARED move; flag, not lake
PP-18, 19, 20, 21	the name from its definition (MCQ)	—	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 9, Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water), question 9, Lesson 3 (The atmosphere: Earth's air), question 9, Lesson 4 (The biosphere: Earth's living things), question 10 (three-option term items); PR-10 to PR-13	SHARED move on the fixed four-name set (the bank's recall of the term); ⟂ one per test
PP-22	split mud into its two spheres	muddy path	Lesson 1 (The geosphere: Earth's rock and soil), question 7 wet soil	SHARED move on a different two-part thing
PP-23	the hot-water sort	Wyoming	—	NEW
PP-24	where poured water goes	flowerpot	Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water), question 7 well water	different move (soaking in, not a well)
PP-25	what the thin layer from space is	astronaut	Lesson 3 (The atmosphere: Earth's air), question 8	SHARED move, answered from the look, not asked how it looks
PP-26	less and less air	weather balloon	Lesson 3 (The atmosphere: Earth's air), question 7	different ask
PP-33, 34, 35	read a sphere off a drawn scene	pond bands; hill cut	—	NEW (drawn)
PP-36 to 41	name the pair	rain cuts channels into a plowed field; wind on a cottonwood; gophers; the ground under a yard sinks; winter waves; rain on a garden	Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event), question 3 to q5, q7, q9, q10	SHARED move, new events; no twin (v2: the river-bank flood and the dried lake replaced)
PP-42	which spheres at work (set with the trap)	beaver dam	Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event), question 8 ash	SHARED move; the beaver was Grade 4 Topic 26 Lesson 4 (The biosphere: Earth's living things)'s taught case, fresh against this topic
PP-43, 44	two-step sort, MCQ	icicles; the Greenland ice sheet	Lesson 5 (Name the four spheres) ice on the river; PR-5 skater's ice; PP-16 frozen waterfall	SHARED move (frozen water, then its sphere), new thing kinds; ⟂ PP-16 one per test
PP-45	the changed sphere, the actor given	pine pollen over a town	Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event), question 2 (the scaffold's "which is being changed"); Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event) article fire	SHARED move, fresh event (the fire is the article's taught case, so it left the bank)
PP-46 to 49	two-step pair	glacier grinds; landslide dust; ice in a crack; trees change the air	Lesson 2 (The hydrosphere: Earth's water)'s glacier recall (what a glacier is, not what it does)	NEW events against the lessons (v2: the article's glacier section cut)
PP-50	one moment of a two-change event	rockslide into a lake	—	NEW
PP-51	the changed set	river over a garden	Lesson 6 (Name the spheres at work in an event), question 1/q2 flood on corn	re-scened (beans, a garden, mud)

⟂ draw constraints (one per test): PP-33 ⟂ PP-34 (one drawing); PP-18 ⟂ PP-19 ⟂ PP-20 ⟂ PP-21 (the four definitions in a row would hand over the set); PP-43 ⟂ PP-44 ⟂ PP-16 (three frozen-water sorts); PP-46 ⟂ PP-48 (both read ice as frozen water acting on rock); PP-42 ⟂ PP-51 (both carry the "only" trap); PP-45 ⟂ PP-49 (both key the atmosphere as the sphere living things change). Added at adjudication (8 Oct 2026, the cold readers' flags): PP-18 ⟂ PP-04 (a definition's extent clause answers "how far down"); PP-19 ⟂ PP-08 (the hydrosphere's list names "under the ground"); PP-20 ⟂ PP-12 ⟂ PP-25 (the atmosphere's definition answers "where it begins" and "the thin layer"); PP-08 ⟂ PP-24 (both place water in the soil's gaps). The stems of PP-18 and PP-20 no longer state the extent clause ("All of Earth's rock and all of its soil together…"; "All of Earth's air together…"), and PP-08's key reads "under the ground, soaked into the soil and rock" so PP-24's "gaps between the grains" is not printed twice. Exemplar for type 4 (PP-8) now keys "under the ground, soaked into the soil and rock".