Topic 20 · Why the Sun crosses our sky — the question types, for your rulings

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Topic 20 — Why the Sun crosses our sky — 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 (57 items in content/G5T20_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 or pick; medium = the rule applied to a fresh case, a reason picked, a drawn Earth or post read; hard = a word or a direction produced by typing, a claim judged by its correct reason, two ideas chained — and rise with the atom's order: SPA5-004 (day and night) eight easy, three medium, one hard; SR5-030 (why a model) five easy, two medium, two hard; SPA5-006 (the globe and lamp) three easy, four medium, two hard; SPA5-005 (the Sun seems to cross) two easy, four medium, four hard; SPA5-007 (the shadows, the capstone) one easy, five medium, four hard; SR5-031 (where the model gets it wrong) two easy, three medium, two hard. Every hard item carries a one-line "hard because" (hb) in the bank file.

Rulings already applied. Four options on every MCQ (fixed sets, declared in KEY_TELL_EXEMPT_SETS: the side set "the side facing the Sun / the side facing away from the Sun / the top half of Earth / the bottom half of Earth"; the night-reason set; the why-a-model set "too big to watch all at once / too small to see / too slow to watch / too far away to reach"; the stands-in set "the Sun / Earth / your town / the Moon"; the time set "one hour / one day / one week / one year", ordered and kept in order; the really-moving set; the direction set "east / west / north / south"; the midday-shadow set, ordered; the gets-wrong set); 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; James's 8 Oct four-option verdict-and-reason form is NOT used — the 28 Sep ban is applied as written, so no exception is named); every stem is a positive question of at most two sentences unless tagged hard; the hard tier types "model" (the topic's one coined term) twice, plus the produced facts "Earth", "east", "west", "one day" and "the Sun"; typed only where the answer is one closed, spellable word a child produces (the midday and the half-of-Earth items were re-cast as MCQs because "midday" and "half" are not lexicon terms — S30(a)); check_key_tells.py: KEY TELLS: 0 of 135 MCQs flagged; US spelling; units as words; no lettered cases (drawn items name the dot and the post by position); claim-makers Simon (PP-48), Tamsin (PP-53) and Soren (PP-57), once each; the headache children's scenes never appear.

The bar list (real things a generated item must never use): "the Sun goes down behind Earth" or "the Sun goes out" as a fact (the Sun never stops shining; your side faces away); "the Sun moves / travels / goes round" except inside a judged claim; the seasons, the tilt, "hemisphere", "orbit" as a word, "axis"; the Moon's phases (Topic 21); time zones and o'clock in other countries; a shadow that "follows", "moves on its own" or "is made by the Sun" (catalogue LGT-05); a dot drawn on the top or bottom of the rim in a day-or-night item (the line between light and dark); "model" before Lesson 2 (Why scientists use a model); any lesson scene (Simon's lunchtime call to his grandma in India; Miss Thornton's desk; Tamsin turning the globe; Soren on the merry-go-round in the park; Simon's schoolyard flagpole; Soren holding the globe); any quiz, attached, summary, recall-bank or practice scene (the Denver midnight, Chicago midday, Ohio-and-Australia, Oregon night, spacecraft picture; the Earth-spin globe, river and rock, water-drop pieces, plastic skeleton, plastic heart, wooden bridge, water-cycle drawing; Simon's lamp and sticker, Idaho flashlight and tennis ball; Virginia morning, Kansas midday, Utah turning chair, Miami sunrise, Nevada hill; Iowa fence post, Ohio mailbox, Texas tree, Arizona sidewalk, Georgia pole, Oregon post; Maine library globe, Nevada classroom globe, Colorado map, two-circle drawing; Peru town, Georgia sunrise, Chile night, toy boat, Ohio afternoon; Florida and Thailand, canyon program, clay volcano, Pennsylvania lamp and globe, Montana sunset, Alabama tree, Hawaii girl, wooden house).

The twenty-eight types (six atoms, each needing its fact, apply and produce forms; the capstone needs the chain, the claim-reason and the direction forms)

Type	Items	Atom	Tags	Form	The stem asks…	The options / the accept	Exemplar scene
1	3	004	easy	MCQ, the side set	which side of Earth a place is on at midday / midnight / breakfast	the side facing the Sun / facing away / the top half / the bottom half	Seattle; Atlanta; Japan
2	3	004	easy	MCQ, the night-reason set	why it is night, or which sentence about the Sun at night is true	faces away from the Sun / the Sun has stopped shining / clouds / the Moon	Kenya; Mexico; a Utah midnight
3	3	004	easy, medium	MCQ, drawn Earth	what it is at the drawn dot now; what it will be in twelve hours	daytime / night / sunrise / midday …	the dot at the lower right; the upper left; the left
4	3	030	easy	MCQ, the why-a-model set	why a scientist uses a thing that stands in	too big / too small / too slow / too far away	the whole Moon; grains of salt; a beach over a hundred years
5	2	030	easy	MCQ	what we call the stand-in; which of four things is a model	a model / a sample / a measurement / a tool; four things	a toy train on a track; a volcano drawing
6	2	006	easy	MCQ, the stands-in set	what the flashlight / the ball stands in for	the Sun / Earth / your town / the Moon	a Wisconsin class
7	1	006	easy	MCQ, the time set (ordered)	how much time the sticker's trip round and back to the lamp stands for	one hour / one day / one week / one year	a Vermont boy
8	9	004, 030, 006, 005	medium	MCQ	the rule applied to a fresh case: two places at once; a useful storm program; map or photo; what to do for night; half a turn; a trip round the lamp; sunset; Earth turning twice as fast; midday here, midnight on the far side	four single answers	Spain and New Zealand; a weather scientist; Maryland; Colorado; midday in Tennessee
9	2	005	easy, medium	MCQ, the really-moving set	which thing is really moving	Earth, turning around / the Sun, traveling around Earth / the sky / Earth, traveling around the Sun	a Wyoming morning; a spinning ride
10	2	005	easy, medium	MCQ, the direction set	the direction the Sun comes up / goes down	east / west / north / south	Alabama; Arkansas
11	1	006	medium	MCQ, drawn globe	what is happening at the sticker on the edge, the arrow drawn	morning beginning / night beginning / midnight / midday	the sticker at the top edge
12	1	007	easy	MCQ, the midday-shadow set (ordered)	how long the midday shadow is compared with the day	shortest / a little shorter / the same / longest	a Michigan bench
13	2	007	medium	MCQ, drawn post	which side the shadow is on and how long; what is true of the shadow under a high Sun	four side-and-length pairs; four statements	the Sun low left; the Sun high
14	2	007	medium	MCQ	which way the afternoon shadow points; the correct reason the midday shadow is shorter	four directions; four reasons	a Minnesota lamppost; a Louisiana stick
15	3	031	easy, medium	MCQ, the gets-wrong set	which thing the model gets wrong	the size of Earth / the shape / that Earth turns / where the land and sea are (and four for a toy car, a toy Sun-and-Earth set)	a plastic globe; a toy car; two balls the same size
16	2	031	medium	MCQ	what the real thing has that the smooth model leaves out; which sentence about a flat map is true	four single answers	a Moon model; a zoo map
17	2	030	hard	typed	the word for a thing that stands in for the real thing	model (article and child spellings)	a plastic ear; a glacier program
18	2	006	hard	typed	what the lamp stands in for; how much time one full turn stands for	the Sun; one day (24 hours, a day…)	a girl's lamp; a boy's full turn
19	1	005	hard	MCQ, claim judged by reason	Simon is wrong (the Sun travels round Earth once a day): the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	Simon's claim
20	1	005	hard	typed	the name of the thing really moving	Earth (article and child spellings)	a Nebraska farm sunrise
21	2	005	hard	typed	the direction the Sun seems to come up / go down, from the turning	east; west	Delaware morning; South Carolina evening
22	1	007	hard	MCQ, claim judged by reason	Tamsin is wrong (the Sun moves closer): the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	Tamsin's lamppost claim
23	1	007	hard	MCQ, two ideas chained	which sentence explains the whole day's pattern	four single answers	a Pennsylvania post
24	1	007	medium	MCQ	what time of day the shortest shadow is	around midday / early morning / late afternoon / after sunset	a Kentucky tree
25	2	007	hard	typed	the direction a morning / afternoon shadow points	west; east	an Indiana girl; a Missouri pole
26	1	031	hard	MCQ, claim judged by reason	Soren is wrong (Earth stops at night like the globe): the correct reason	four single-statement reasons	Soren's claim
27	1	031	medium	MCQ	which thing the lamp-and-globe model gets wrong (the lamp's distance)	how far away the Sun is / the shape of Earth / where the land and sea are / that Earth turns all the way around	a lamp-and-globe class
28	1	004	hard	typed	the name of the thing that turns the town away from the Sun	Earth	an Iowa town

Hard because — types 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 28: the word, the direction or the time is produced, not picked (25 chains where the Sun is with which side a shadow falls). Types 19, 22, 26: the claim is judged by holding the rule against the case and the right reason is picked from four. Type 23: the turning and the length rule are chained across three times. Type 27 was retagged medium at adjudication (one feature, one pick).

Twenty-eight is more than the ten-type ceiling; the honest reason is six atoms, each owed its fact, apply and produce forms, and a capstone owed four. Types 8, 13–16 and 24 could be read as one "the rule applied to a fresh case" family (fifteen items); they are kept apart here so that James can strike a form, not an item.

One exemplar per type, in full

Type 1 (easy, SPA5-004). It is the middle of the day in Seattle. Which side of Earth is Seattle on right now? — the side facing the Sun / the top half of Earth / the bottom half of Earth / the side facing away from the Sun. Why: It is daytime on the side of Earth facing the Sun. It is the middle of the day in Seattle. So Seattle is on the side facing the Sun. (nearest lesson-side instance: Lesson 1 (Day on one side of Earth, night on the other), question 4, Chicago, two options)

Type 2 (easy, SPA5-004). A girl in Kenya is asleep, and it is dark outside. Why is it night in Kenya at that moment? — The Sun has stopped shining. / Clouds are hiding the Sun. / The Moon is blocking the Sun. / Its side of Earth faces away from the Sun. (nearest: Lesson 1 (Day on one side of Earth, night on the other), question 5, Ohio and Australia, three options)

Type 3 (easy, SPA5-004, figure pp_dot_dark_low). Here is Earth from far above the North Pole, with the Sun at the left, and a red dot marks a town. What is it in that town right now? — daytime / sunrise / midday / night. Blind text: Earth from above: the Sun at the left, two lines of its light arriving; the red dot is on the rim at the lower right; no arrow is drawn. (nearest: Lesson 1 (Day on one side of Earth, night on the other), question 2, the dot at the upper right, two options)

Type 4 (easy, SR5-030). A scientist studies how the whole Moon turns. Why does she use a small ball to stand in for the Moon? — It is too small to see. / It is too far away to reach. / It is too big to watch all at once. / It is too slow to watch. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Why scientists use a model), question 1, the globe)

Type 5 (easy, SR5-030). Students want to find out how trains stay on their rails, so they run a toy train around a track. What do we call the toy train here? — a sample / a model / a measurement / a tool. (nearest: Lesson 2 (Why scientists use a model), question 4, the plastic skeleton)

Type 6 (easy, SPA5-006). A class in Wisconsin shines a flashlight on a soccer ball to show day and night. What does the flashlight stand in for? — the Sun / Earth / your town / the Moon. (nearest: Lesson 3 (Show day and night with a globe and a lamp), question 1, Simon's lamp)

Type 7 (easy, SPA5-006). A boy in Vermont turns a globe beside a lamp until its sticker goes from facing the lamp, through the dark half, and back to facing the lamp. How much time does that turn stand for? — one hour / one day / one week / one year. (nearest: Lesson 3 (Show day and night with a globe and a lamp), question 5)

Type 8 (medium, SPA5-004). At one moment, it is daytime in Spain and night in New Zealand. Which sentence explains this? — Spain faces the Sun and New Zealand faces away from it. / The Sun shines on Spain and has gone out over New Zealand. / New Zealand is covered in cloud at that moment. / Spain is on the top half of Earth and New Zealand on the bottom half. (nearest: Lesson 1 (Day on one side of Earth, night on the other), question 8, the other half)

Type 9 (easy, SPA5-005). The Sun seems to climb higher in the sky through a morning in Wyoming. Which thing is really moving? — Earth, turning around / the Sun, traveling around Earth / the sky, sliding past Earth / Earth, traveling around the Sun. (nearest: Lesson 4 (Why the Sun seems to cross our sky), question 1)

Type 10 (easy, SPA5-005). A woman in Alabama watches the Sun come up. In which direction does the Sun come up? — east / west / north / south. (nearest: no quiz item asks the bare direction; Lesson 4 (Why the Sun seems to cross our sky), question 2 asks what the Sun seems to do)

Type 11 (medium, SPA5-006, figure pp_globe_top_edge). Here is a globe from above, with the lamp at the left, and the globe turns the way the arrow shows. The sticker is on the line between the lit half and the dark half: what is happening at the sticker's town? — Night is beginning there. / It is midnight there. / It is midday there. / Morning is beginning there. Blind text: the lamp at the left; the globe's left half is bright and its right half dark; the red sticker is on the rim at the top, on the line between the bright half and the dark half; the arrow over the top goes from right to left. (nearest: Lesson 3 (Show day and night with a globe and a lamp), question 7, the sticker at the bottom edge — evening)

Type 12 (easy, SPA5-007). A bench outside a library in Michigan has a long shadow early in the morning. Around midday, how long is the bench's shadow? — the longest of the day / the same as in the morning / a little shorter than in the morning / the shortest of the day. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 1, the Iowa fence post, three options)

Type 13 (medium, SPA5-007, figure pp_pole_sun_left). Here is a post with the Sun low in the sky to its left. On which side of the post is its shadow, and how long is it? — on the left, and long / on the right, and short / on the left, and short / on the right, and long. Blind text: ground with EAST at the left and WEST at the right; a post in the middle; the Sun is drawn low in the sky to the left of the post; no shadow and no lines of light are drawn. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 2, the Sun to the right, side only)

Type 14 (medium, SPA5-007). At nine in the morning, a lamppost in Minnesota has a long shadow. By four in the afternoon, which way does its shadow point? — toward the east / toward the west / straight up / the same way as in the morning. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 9, the Oregon post, yes / no)

Type 15 (easy, SR5-031). A class uses a small plastic globe to stand in for Earth. Which of these does the globe get wrong? — the shape of Earth / that Earth turns around / the size of Earth / where the land and sea are. (nearest: Lesson 6 (Where the globe model gets it wrong), question 10, three options)

Type 16 (medium, SR5-031). A plastic model of the Moon is smooth all over and fits on a shelf. What does the real Moon have that the smooth model leaves out? — a round shape / hills and holes on its surface / a light side and a dark side / a far side. (nearest: Lesson 6 (Where the globe model gets it wrong), question 3, the smooth globe, yes / no)

Type 17 (hard, SR5-030, typed). A plastic ear, cut open, stands in for the inside of a real ear so a class can study it. Type the word for a thing that stands in for the real thing. — accept: model, a model, the model, models, modle, a modle, modell, a modell, moddel, a moddel. Wrong-answer lines: "copy" (A model does not have to be an exact copy…); "toy" (A toy is for playing…). (nearest: PR-15 types it on the wooden house; no quiz types it — see the build record)

Type 18 (hard, SPA5-006, typed). A girl shines a lamp on a globe to show day and night. Type what the lamp stands in for. — accept: the sun, sun, our sun ("sunlight" gets its own wrong-answer line: the lamp's light stands in for sunlight; the lamp stands in for the Sun). (nearest: Lesson 3 (Show day and night with a globe and a lamp), question 1 picks it from three)

Type 19 (hard, SPA5-005). Simon is wrong when he says the Sun travels around Earth once a day to make day and night. What is the correct reason? — Earth travels around the Sun once a day. / Earth turns once a day, not the Sun. / The Sun travels around Earth once a year. / The sky turns around Earth once a day. (nearest: Lesson 4 (Why the Sun seems to cross our sky), question 4, Tamsin's claim, yes / no)

Type 20 (hard, SPA5-005, typed). The Sun seems to come up over a farm in Nebraska each morning. Type the name of the thing that is really moving. — accept: earth, the earth, planet earth, the planet earth, the planet, erth, the erth, the whole earth. Wrong-answer lines: "the sun", "sun", "the sky". (nearest: Lesson 4 (Why the Sun seems to cross our sky), question 1 picks it)

Type 21 (hard, SPA5-005, typed). In the morning, a town in Delaware is turning to face the Sun. Type the direction in which the Sun seems to come up. — accept: east, the east, in the east, to the east, eest, est. (nearest: the recall-bank item on the Sun's path)

Type 22 (hard, SPA5-007). Tamsin is wrong when she says a lamppost's shadow gets shorter toward midday because the Sun moves closer to the pole. What is the correct reason? — The lamppost gets shorter in the heat of the day. / The Sun moves farther away at midday. / Earth's turning puts the Sun higher in the sky at midday. / The ground soaks up the shadow by midday. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 4, why the Sun's place changes)

Type 23 (hard, SPA5-007). A post's shadow in Pennsylvania is long at seven in the morning, short at midday, and long again at five in the afternoon. Which sentence explains ALL of these? — The post grows taller and then shorter through the day. / The Sun moves closer to the post and then farther away. / Earth's turning changes the Sun's place and the shadow. / Clouds cover the Sun for a while at midday. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 5, the order item)

Type 24 (medium, SPA5-007). A tree's shadow in Kentucky is the shortest it will be all day. What time of day is it? — around midday / early in the morning / late in the afternoon / just after sunset. (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 1, run the other way)

Type 25 (hard, SPA5-007, typed). Early in the morning in Indiana, a girl's shadow stretches far along the ground. Type the direction her shadow points. — accept: west, the west, in the west, to the west, wesst. Wrong-answer lines: "east", "north", "south". (nearest: Lesson 5 (Why shadows change through the day), question 6, the Texas tree, picked from three)

Type 26 (hard, SR5-031). Soren is wrong when he says the real Earth stops turning at night, because the classroom globe stops when nobody turns it. What is the correct reason? — Earth stops turning only in the daytime. / A giant hand turns the real Earth. / The globe is the same as the real Earth in every way. / Earth never stops turning on its own. (nearest: Lesson 6 (Where the globe model gets it wrong), question 4, the hand that lets go, yes / no)

Type 27 (medium, SR5-031). A class studies day and night with a lamp and a globe. Which thing does their model get wrong? — the shape of Earth / how far away the Sun is / where the land and sea are / that Earth turns all the way around. (nearest: Lesson 6 (Where the globe model gets it wrong), question 10, three options, the size; Lesson 6 (Where the globe model gets it wrong)'s lamp row teaches the distance)

Type 28 (hard, SPA5-004, typed). Night comes to a town in Iowa because something big turns the town away from the Sun. Type the name of the thing that turns. — accept: earth, the earth, planet earth, the planet earth, the planet, erth, the erth, the whole earth. Wrong-answer lines: "the sun", "sun", "the town". (nearest: Lesson 1 (Day on one side of Earth, night on the other), question 3, Denver, picks the side)

Draw constraints (⟂) for the test builder

• PP-19 (type 12, the shortest at midday) ⟂ PP-41 (type 24, "what time is the shortest shadow"): each prints the other's answer.
• PP-16 (type 7, one full turn = one day) ⟂ PP-47 (type 18, type "one day") and ⟂ PP-29 (type 8, the trip round the lamp = one year, whose why says a turn is a day).
• PP-18 (type 10, comes up in the east) ⟂ PP-50 (type 21, type "east"); PP-33 (goes down in the west) ⟂ PP-52 (type "west").
• PP-17 / PP-32 (type 9, the really-moving set) ⟂ PP-49 (type 20, type "Earth") and PP-48 (type 19, Simon's claim).
• PP-12 / PP-13 (type 5, "a model") ⟂ PP-44 / PP-45 (type 17, type "model").
• PP-14 (the flashlight stands in for the Sun) ⟂ PP-46 (type "the Sun").
• PP-36 (afternoon shadow points east) ⟂ PP-56 (type "east"); PP-34 (the Sun left, shadow right and long) ⟂ PP-55 (type "west").
• PP-20 (the globe gets the size wrong) ⟂ PP-43 (the lamp's distance wrong).
• PP-54 (the whole day's pattern explained) ⟂ PP-19, PP-37, PP-41 (the midday shadow is shortest, and why).

Changed by the non-author review (8 October 2026)

PP-12 (type 5) re-sentenced; PP-13 (type 5) fourth option is a bucket of ash, never a photo; PP-15 (type 6) is its own scene (a New Mexico girl, a flashlight and an orange); PP-16 (type 7) and PP-47 (type 18) ask for the time by the sticker's trip, not "once all the way around"; PP-17 (type 9) Wyoming; PP-25 (type 8) now states the verdict in the stem and offers four single-statement reasons (the 28 Sep ban applied as written); PP-27 (type 8) second distractor is a second lamp, not a moved lamp; PP-36 (type 14) stem names only a long morning shadow; PP-38 (type 15) is a toy Sun-and-Earth set; PP-42 (type 8) is midday in Tennessee against the far side of Earth; PP-46 (type 18) accepts the Sun only. Keys: every bank key index unchanged. See records/REVIEW_G5T20_2026-10-08.md.

Adjudication (8 Oct 2026): PP-43 rewritten (above); PP-25's key is "It shows just the roads and towns."; PP-43 (type 27) retagged medium and moved to the end of the medium block, so the former PP-43–PP-56 are now PP-44–PP-57; PP-49's accept list takes "the Earth turning" / "Earth turning" / "the turning Earth"; PP-26's drawing carries a small arrow beside the sticker and its blind text names the turning sense.