Topic 17 · Why fresh water is scarce, and how to protect it — the question types, for your rulings

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Topic 17 — Why fresh water is scarce, and how to protect it — 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 (53 items in content/G5T17_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; medium = the rule applied to a fresh case, a reason picked, a drawn graph, table or board read; hard = a term or number produced, two readings chained into a difference, two ideas chained, or a claim judged by its correct reason — and rise with the atom's order: EAR5-027 (the shares) seven easy, two medium, one hard; EAR5-028 (the graph) five easy, four medium, one hard; SR5-023 (let the data answer) two easy, six medium, two hard; EAR5-045 (the town's river) two easy, five medium, two hard; EAR5-046 (design the fix, the capstone) eight medium, six hard. Every hard item carries a one-line "hard because" (hb) in the bank file. Totals: 10 / 10 / 10 / 9 / 14 per atom; easy 16, medium 25, hard 12; MCQ keys A 14 · B 14 · C 12 · D 9.

Rulings already applied. Four options on every MCQ (fixed sets: the four places of Earth's water; the four graph steps, in the routine's order; the four cleaning steps, in the water's order; the four board lines, in the design's order — each declared in KEY_TELL_EXEMPT_SETS); no option bundles a verdict with its reason (every bank claim is "X is wrong … What is the correct reason?" with four single-statement reasons — the 28 Sep tiers as written; the 8 Oct Leo-item conflict is left for James and no exception is claimed here); every stem is a positive question of at most two sentences unless tagged hard; an item board prints its lines with one missing and its blind text lists the lines present, never the missing one; an item graph's blind text says where each bar's top sits as numbers (Grade 3 Topic 23's bars_desc); "reservoir" and "criterion" are recalled by MCQ (RECALL_BY_MCQ: nine letters each), never typed; the typed keys are "ocean" (the one place a child can spell; the accept list takes the article, plural and "sea" forms and two child spellings) and four numbers read or produced, each with its unit word in the accept list; no multi-select; every item names ONE atom; US spelling; units as words in prose, numerals on drawings; "damage", never "harm" (James, 30 Sep 2026, the grade-3 word list). Per the 8 Oct 2026 placement ruling, a number read straight off a drawn graph is medium (type 6's difference item) and a chained difference typed is hard (type 22).

The bar list (real things a generated item must never use): a percent sign or "percent" (the shares are squares out of 100, Grade 4's form); "buckets" as the unit word (squares); "water cycle", "evaporation" step-names re-taught (Grade 4 Topic 24's); "wastewater treatment plant" (the lessons say "water-cleaning center", a convenience name never tested); "harm"; "gravity is a force"; any lesson scene (the rainy playground and drains; Rhea at the board with the ruler; the Missouri town; Remy's hose and the school garden; the barrels under the gutter pipes); any quiz, attached, summary or practice scene (Earth's water in cups, buckets, jars or bottles; the Seattle boy; the Vermont stream; the Kansas class; the family's gallons for showers, toilets, washing and drinking; Portland's rainy days; the school feeder's sparrows, robins, cardinals and jays; the ramp test on one, two and three books; Tulsa's rain; the three candles; the Iowa city; the Georgia tank; the Texas girl's claim; the Oregon, Ohio and Idaho towns; the Pennsylvania chimney filters; the Arizona sprinkler family; the Michigan printer; the Florida cafeteria's paper trays; the Maine water fountain; the Colorado hallway lights; the Nevada lawn; the Georgia jug in the fridge; the corn plant; the windy days; the town's water graph of homes, farms and factories; the shower heads and the bucket; the Kentucky center; the Wisconsin town; the family's car wash with two buckets; the paper towels); a claim-maker from another topic's row (only Remy, Rhea and Rocco); "biggest / smallest" for a count or an amount (most, fewest, more, less).

The thirty types (five atoms each need their own forms; the design capstone needs the board's lines, the plan, the chain, the limit and the whole-design checks — the count is above the "about ten" ceiling for the same reason Topic 3's was: merging them would hide moves James reads separately)

Type	Items	Atom	Tags	Form	The stem asks…	The options / the accept	Exemplar scene
1	3	027	easy	MCQ, the four-places set	which place holds about 97 / about 2 / less than 1 of Earth's 100 squares	the ocean / the ice caps and glaciers / under the ground / the lakes and rivers	Earth's water as 100 squares, asked by place
2	2	027	easy	MCQ	which statement is true of Earth's water; the fresh share out of 100	four statements; four numbers	the shares themselves
3	2	027	easy	MCQ	where a river carries rain or melted snow in the end; what the rain water is in the ocean	four places; four states	a Montana mountain; a storm drain
4	2	028	easy	MCQ	what goes up the side / along the bottom of a graph to be built from a fresh table	the label and numbers / the names / the title	books read; jumps in a minute
5	2	028	easy	MCQ, the steps set	which step of the graph routine comes next	write the title and the two labels / write the numbers up the side / rule a line across at every number / draw one bar for each name	a girl's and a boy's half-built graphs
6	3	028	easy, medium	MCQ, drawn	the tallest bar on a drawn graph; the bar drawn wrong against its table; a difference between two bars	pets; snacks	the pets graph; the snacks table and graph
7	4	023	easy, medium	MCQ, one drawn	which question a table was made to answer; what the data shows	four questions; four statements	two paper planes; cars at the gate; an ice cube on two trays
8	1	027	medium	MCQ	which is true of the fresh water	four statements	a Utah class
9	1	027	medium	MCQ, correct reason	Rhea is wrong to say a rainy week adds to Earth's fresh water for good: the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	the register belief itself
10	2	028	medium	MCQ	what number the side must reach; how to draw a bar whose number sits between two lines	about 12 / about 4 / about 7 / about 100; just under the 50 line / on the 40 / on the 50 / halfway	four months' rainy days; four towns' rain
11	2	045	easy	MCQ	why a town cleans its used water; where the clean water goes	four reasons; four places	an Alabama town; a Minnesota town on a lake
12	4	023	medium	MCQ	which claim goes beyond the data; which question the graph can answer; what to say to a question the data cannot answer; what the class can say from the graph	four statements	paper planes; Buffalo snow; three pots of seeds; Memphis rain
13	3	045	medium	MCQ, the cleaning-steps set	which step catches sticks, lets the mud sink, eats the waste	the screens / the settling tanks / the tiny living things / the test	a water-cleaning center
14	1	045	medium	MCQ	who gets the clean water	four receivers	an Arkansas town
15	1	045	medium	MCQ	which resource a community's action protects	four resources	street sweeping in Illinois
16	3	046	medium	MCQ, the board-lines set	which line of the fix board a given phrase is	the resource, and how we use it / the damage / our plan / how the plan helps	a swim team's pool
17	2	046	medium	MCQ	which plan cuts the damage	one real cut against three that cut nothing	classroom electricity; a car's gasoline
18	1	046	medium	MCQ	how a plan helps	four single statements	dripping faucets in Delaware
19	1	046	medium	MCQ, drawn	the missing box in a drawn chain of how a plan helps	four steps	the school bus chain
20	1	046	medium	MCQ	which of four is a job the plan must do (Grade 4's criterion, by its definition)	four jobs	a Connecticut photocopier
21	1	027	hard	typed text	the name of the place that holds about 97 squares	ocean and its article, plural and sea forms, two child spellings	the share alone
22	1	028	hard	typed numeric, drawn	a difference between two bars on the drawn pets graph	the number, with and without its unit word	the pets graph
23	1	023	hard	MCQ, correct reason	Rocco is wrong to say a graph about last year's rain shows next year: the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	the register belief itself
24	1	023	hard	MCQ	what is wrong with a claim that steps past the last row of a table	four statements	three plants and their cups of water
25	1	045	hard	MCQ, correct reason	Remy is wrong to say nothing a town does can protect a river: the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	the register belief itself
26	1	045	hard	MCQ	what happens the day a flood stops the cleaning	four outcomes	a Louisiana town
27	2	046	hard	typed numeric	the damage a plan cuts, as a number from two readings	the number, with and without its unit word	a Texas laundry; plastic forks
28	1	046	hard	MCQ	what a plan that is only partly kept does to the damage	cuts it but not to nothing / to nothing / only on dry weeks / nothing	push taps in Utah
29	1	046	hard	MCQ	which line to write under 'how the plan helps' for a described plan	four single statements	paper cups at a water cooler
30	2	046	hard	MCQ	which part of a described design is missing or skipped	the four board lines	a field-trip bus; paintbrush water

Hard because — types 9, 23, 25: the belief is judged by its correct reason, which needs the rule held against the belief. Type 21: the place is produced, not picked. Types 22 and 27: two readings are chained into a difference, or the cut is produced from two readings, with its unit. Type 24: two steps, the trend read and the overreach found. Type 26: two ideas chained (where the used water enters, and what the missing step means). Type 28: two ideas chained (how the plan helps, and its limit). Types 29 and 30: the whole design is held in mind and checked part by part.

Draw constraints (⟂, one per test): type 6's three pets items share one drawn graph (the tallest bar; the cats-minus-fish difference; the typed dogs-minus-none difference) — draw one per test; type 7's two paper-plane items (which question the table answers; what the table shows) ⟂ type 12's paper-plane overreach item (its stem prints the table's numbers); type 13's three cleaning-steps items share one fixed set, draw one; type 16's three board-line items share one scene (the swim team's pool), draw one; type 30's two missing-part items share the LINE4 set, draw one; adjudication 8 Oct: type 5's two step items ⟂ (PP-11's stem confirms PP-10's key: "has drawn a line across his graph at every number"); type 1's 97-squares item ⟂ type 21's typed "ocean" (PP-01 ⟂ PP-42).

One exemplar per type, in full

Type 1 (easy, EAR5-027). Suppose all of Earth's water was split into 100 equal squares. Which place holds about 97 of the squares? — the ocean / the ice caps and glaciers / under the ground / the lakes and rivers. Why: About 97 of every 100 squares of Earth's water are salt water in the ocean. So the place with about 97 squares is the ocean.

Type 2 (easy, EAR5-027). Which of these is true of Earth's water? — Nearly all of it is fresh water in lakes. / About half of it is fresh water. / Nearly all of it is salt water in the ocean. / Nearly all of it is frozen in ice caps.. Why: About 97 of every 100 squares of Earth's water are salt water in the ocean. Only about 3 squares are fresh water. So nearly all of Earth's water is salt water in the ocean.

Type 3 (easy, EAR5-027). Snow melts on a mountain in Montana and runs into a stream, and the stream runs into a river. Where does the river carry the melted snow in the end? — up into the ice caps / back to the ocean / into the clouds / deep under the mountain. Why: Rain and melted snow run into streams, and streams run into rivers. Rivers carry the water back to the ocean. So the river carries the melted snow back to the ocean.

Type 4 (easy, EAR5-028). A class will make a bar graph from a table of how many books each of four children read in a month. What goes up the side of the graph? — the four children's names / the label Books read / the title of the graph / the name of the month. Why: A bar graph needs a label up the side saying what the numbers count. The numbers in the table count books read. So the label Books read, with the numbers, goes up the side.

Type 5 (easy, EAR5-028). A girl has written her graph's title and both labels, and the numbers up the side. Which step comes next? — write the title and the two labels / write the numbers up the side / rule a line across at every number / draw one bar for each name. Why: Before you draw any bar, rule a line right across at every number. Then draw one bar for each name, up to its number. So the next step is to rule a line across at every number.

Type 6 (easy, EAR5-028). Here is a class's graph of the pets children have at home. Which kind of pet do the most children have? — dogs / cats / fish / none. Why: Each bar is drawn up to its number, so the tallest bar is the pet the most children have. The dogs bar reaches 9, taller than cats at 7, none at 6 and fish at 4. So the most children have dogs. (figure pp_graph_pets)

Type 7 (easy, SR5-023). A class measured how far two paper planes flew. Which question was the class's table made to answer? — Which plane looks the best? / Which plane will fly farther next week? / Which plane flew farther? / Which plane is the quietest?. Why: A table is made to answer one question, and its rows hold the data for it. The rows give how far each plane flew. So the table was made to answer which plane flew farther. (figure pp_table_planes)

Type 8 (medium, EAR5-027). A class in Utah counts Earth's water as 100 squares. Which is true of the fresh water? — Most of it is in rivers. / Most of it is frozen or under the ground. / Most of it is in lakes. / Most of it is falling as rain.. Why: Only about 3 of every 100 squares of Earth's water are fresh water. About 2 of those are frozen in ice caps and glaciers, and about 1 is under the ground; lakes and rivers hold less than 1. So most of the fresh water is frozen or under the ground.

Type 9 (medium, EAR5-027). Rhea is wrong to say that every rainy week adds to Earth's fresh water for good. What is the correct reason? — Rain is really salt water. / Rain soaks into the ground and stays there for good. / Rain dries up before it reaches the ground. / Rivers carry the rain water back to the ocean.. Why: Rain is fresh water, but rain water runs into rivers. Rivers carry the rain water back to the ocean, where it is salt water again. So a rainy week adds nothing to Earth's fresh water for good, and Rhea is not right. (Re-scened 8 Oct: the first form was Lesson 1 (How little of Earth's water is fresh)-05 with a name added.) Hard because: the belief (rain is fresh so most water is fresh — register EAR5 SD-3) is judged by its correct reason, which needs the rain's path held against the shares.

Type 10 (medium, EAR5-028). A class will graph the rainy days in each of four months: 4, 11, 7 and 9. What number must the side of the graph reach? — about 4 / about 7 / about 12 / about 100. Why: The side must reach the largest number in the table. The largest number is 11 rainy days. So the side must reach about 12.

Type 11 (easy, EAR5-045). A town in Alabama takes water from a river and sends its used water to a water-cleaning center before the water goes back. Why does the town clean the used water? — So the water tastes salty. / So the river below the town stays clean. / So the river runs faster. / So the town can sell the mud.. Why: A town cleans its used water, step by step, before it returns it to the river. So the river below the town stays clean. That is why the town cleans the used water.

Type 12 (medium, SR5-023). A class's table shows how far two paper planes flew: small wings 3 meters, big wings 7 meters. Which of these is a guess that goes beyond the table? — The big-winged plane flew 7 meters. / Every paper plane with big wings flies farther. / The big-winged plane flew 4 meters farther. / The small-winged plane flew 3 meters.. Why: Data answers only the question it was collected for. The table measured two planes, once each; it says nothing about every paper plane. So 'every paper plane with big wings flies farther' goes beyond the table.

Type 13 (medium, EAR5-045). At a town's water-cleaning center, the used water passes four steps in order. Which step catches the sticks and paper? — the screens / the settling tanks / the tiny living things / the test. Why: The used water goes through the center step by step. First, screens catch the sticks and paper. So the screens catch them.

Type 14 (medium, EAR5-045). A town in Arkansas cleans its used water before returning it to the river. Which of these gets the clean water? — the towns farther down the river / the towns farther up the river / the clouds over the town / the town's own faucets. Why: The cleaned water goes back into the river below the town. The river flows on to the towns farther down it. So the towns farther down the river get the clean water.

Type 15 (medium, EAR5-045). A city in Illinois sweeps its streets every week, so the trash does not wash down the drains into the river. Which resource is the city protecting? — the city's electricity / the river's water / the coal in the ground / the wind over the city. Why: A community uses science to protect a resource it uses. Trash washed down the drains would end up in the river. So sweeping the streets protects the river's water.

Type 16 (medium, EAR5-046). A swim team in Nebraska plans a fix for the water its pool uses. Which line of the board is 'in a dry summer the reservoir runs short, and the pool keeps taking water from it'? — the resource, and how we use it / the damage / our plan / how the plan helps. Why: To design a fix, name the resource and how you use it, then name the damage. The reservoir running short while the pool keeps taking its water is what the use does. So that line is the damage.

Type 17 (medium, EAR5-046). A class in Virginia wants to cut the electricity its classroom uses. Which plan cuts the damage? — Paint the light switches blue. / Leave the lights on all night. / Switch the lights off whenever the room is empty. / Buy brighter bulbs that use more electricity.. Why: A fix is one change that cuts the damage. Lights switched off in an empty room use no electricity. So switching the lights off whenever the room is empty cuts the damage.

Type 18 (medium, EAR5-046). A school in Delaware fixes a dripping faucet in every bathroom. How does the plan help? — Less water is taken from the reservoir. / The bathrooms look newer. / The faucets are easier to turn. / More water flows when the faucet is on.. Why: To say how the fix helps, follow the change step by step. A fixed faucet drips no water away, so the school uses less water. So less water is taken from the reservoir.

Type 19 (medium, EAR5-046). Here is a class's chain of how a plan helps, with one box blank: more children ride the school bus instead of being driven. What goes in the blank box? — More children walk to school. / Fewer cars drive to school each morning. / The bus goes faster. / The school buys a bigger bus.. Why: Follow the change step by step. When more children ride the bus, fewer cars drive to school each morning. Fewer cars means less gasoline burned, so that is the missing step. (figure pp_chain_bus)

Type 20 (medium, EAR5-046). A school in Connecticut wants to cut the paper its photocopier uses, and plans to print on both sides of every sheet. Which of these is a job the plan must do? — make the copies look nicer / make the copier quieter / use less paper for the same copies / make the copies bigger. Why: A job the design must do is called a criterion. The plan's job is to cut the paper used. So using less paper for the same copies is a job the plan must do.

Type 21 (hard, EAR5-027). One place holds about 97 of every 100 squares of Earth's water, all of it salt water. Type the name of that place. — accept: ocean, the ocean, an ocean, oceans, the oceans, sea, …. Why: About 97 of every 100 squares of Earth's water are salt water in the ocean. So the place is the ocean. Hard because: the place is produced, not picked, from the share alone.

Type 22 (hard, EAR5-028). Look at the pets graph. How many more children have dogs than have no pet? Type the number. — accept: 3, 3 children, three, three children, 3 more, three more. Why: The dogs bar reaches 9. The none bar reaches 6. 9 − 6 = 3, so the difference is 3 children. So 3 more children have dogs than have no pet. (figure pp_graph_pets) Hard because: two readings from the drawn graph are chained into a difference.

Type 23 (hard, SR5-023). Rocco is wrong to say that a graph about last year's rain shows next year will be rainy. What is the correct reason? — Rain never falls two years in a row. / A graph can only show snow. / The graph has no bar for next year. / Last year's graph was drawn in pencil.. Why: Data answers the question it was collected for, and only that question. The graph has bars for last year's months, and no bar for next year. So the graph does not show next year will be rainy, and Rocco is not right. Hard because: the belief (the data is about my topic, so it supports my claim — register SR5 SD-2) is judged by its correct reason, which needs the data's limits held against its topic.

Type 24 (hard, SR5-023). A class's table shows how many cups of water three plants were given in a week and how tall each grew: 2 cups, 4 centimeters; 4 cups, 7 centimeters; 6 cups, 9 centimeters. A girl says the table shows that 8 cups would grow a plant 11 centimeters. What is wrong with what she said? — The table has no row for 8 cups. / The table shows the plants grew the same amount. / The table shows more water made the plants grow less. / The table has no row for 2 cups.. Why: Data answers only the question it was collected for. The table has rows for 2, 4 and 6 cups, and no row for 8 cups. So her 11 centimeters is a guess beyond the data. Hard because: two steps: read the trend the table does show, then find the claim that steps past the last row.

Type 25 (hard, EAR5-045). Remy is wrong to say that nothing a town does can protect a river, because protecting rivers is only the government's job. What is the correct reason? — A town's own cleaning center keeps its river clean. / Towns are never allowed to touch river water. / Rivers clean themselves in a single day. / Only the ocean can ever be protected.. Why: A town cleans its used water, step by step, before it returns it to the river. So the river below the town stays clean for the fish and for the towns downstream. What a town does counts, and Remy is not right. Hard because: the belief (protecting the environment is only for governments — register EAR5 SD-5) is judged by its correct reason, which needs the town's own works held against the belief.

Type 26 (hard, EAR5-045). A town in Louisiana takes its water from a river, cleans its used water, and returns it. A storm floods the water-cleaning center for a day, and the used water goes straight to the river. Which of these happens that day? — The river above the town gets dirty water. / The river below the town gets dirty water. / The town's faucets run with dirty water. / The river below the town gets cleaner.. Why: A town cleans its used water so the river below it stays clean. With the center flooded, the used water goes back uncleaned, into the river below the town. So the river below the town gets dirty water that day. Hard because: two ideas chained: where the used water enters the river, and what the missing cleaning step means for it.

Type 27 (hard, EAR5-046). A laundry in Texas used 300 gallons of water for each load of towels. After it fitted machines that reuse the rinse water, it used 120 gallons for each load. How many gallons did the plan cut for each load? Type the number. — accept: 180, 180 gallons, one hundred eighty, one hundred and eighty, 180 gallons a load. Why: Before the plan each load used 300 gallons. After the plan each load used 120 gallons. 300 − 120 = 180, so the plan cut 180 gallons for each load. So the plan cut 180 gallons of water for each load. Hard because: the damage the plan cuts is produced as a number, from two given readings.

Type 28 (hard, EAR5-046). A school in Utah fits taps that turn themselves off after a push, but some children push them twice. What does the plan do to the water the school takes from the reservoir? — It cuts the water taken to nothing. / It cuts the water taken, but only on dry weeks. / It changes nothing about the water taken. / It cuts the water taken, but not to nothing.. Why: A tap that turns itself off runs for a few seconds instead of being left running, so less reservoir water is taken. A second push still runs some water. So the plan cuts the water taken, but not to nothing. Hard because: two ideas chained: how the plan helps, and its limit when the change is only partly kept.

Type 29 (hard, EAR5-046). A class designs a fix for the paper cups its water cooler uses: each child keeps one cup and washes it. Which line should the class write under 'how the plan helps'? — Fewer trees are cut for paper cups. / The water cooler is easier to fill. / The children drink more water. / The cups are a nicer color.. Why: To say how the fix helps, follow the change step by step to the damage it cuts. One washed cup each means fewer paper cups are used. Paper comes from trees, so fewer trees are cut. Hard because: the whole chain is held in mind, from the change to the resource behind the paper.

Type 30 (hard, EAR5-046). A class designs a fix for the gasoline burned on its field trips: it books one bus instead of ten cars. The class names the resource, names the damage, writes the plan, and stops. Which part of the design is still missing? — the resource, and how we use it / how the plan helps / the damage / our plan. Why: A fix on the board has four lines: the resource and how we use it, the damage, our plan, and how the plan helps. The class has written the first three. So the missing part is how the plan helps. Hard because: the whole design is held in mind and checked part by part against the routine.