Maris Stella High School (MSHS) P3 SA1 Examination Paper Analysis

Introduction

Welcome back to our Examination Paper Analysis series!

In this article, we will be analysing a question on the topic of Living Things And Non-Living Things from the Maris Stella High School (MSHS) P3 SA1 Examination Paper.

We will be reviewing the characteristics of living things and understanding the similarities between plants and humans!

Let’s Take A Look At This Question

Source: Maris Stella High School – P3 SA1 Examination Paper [Q13]

Let’s Analyse Part (A)

Source: Maris Stella High School – P3 SA1 Examination Paper [Q13]

When we’re talking about the mass of Plant P, we’re looking at how heavy the plant is. The plant was 10g in January, 30g in June, and 50g in December.

From January to December, did the plant become lighter or heavier? The plant became heavier.

What can you tell about the change in mass of Plant P? We can say that the mass of Plant P increased!

Suggested Answer For Part (A)

The mass of Plant P increased.

Let’s Analyse Part (B)

Source: Maris Stella High School – P3 SA1 Examination Paper [Q13]

From part (a), we know that Plant P increased in mass over time. What is the characteristic that we are looking for?

Just think about yourself for a moment. Why are you much heavier now as compared to your three-year-old self? It is because you have grown in size!

This is because humans are living things, just like Plant P.

The characteristic that we are looking for is the ability to grow.

But for our answer, can we state “Plant P grows”? Take a look at the question again.

Is the question asking for a characteristic of Plant P? No, the question is asking for a characteristic of ‘living things’.

Suggested Answer For Part (B)

Living things grow.

Let’s Analyse Part (C)

Source: Maris Stella High School – P3 SA1 Examination Paper [Q13]

For part (c), we have two plants, X and Y. The question is asking, what characteristics of living things do the observations from the plant diagrams show? Upon looking at this question, some students would immediately write down, “Living things die”. This is because they saw that Plant Y is wilted.

🥀 What Is A Wilted Plant? 🥀

A wilted plant is not dead, but dying?

Why is Plant Y dying, while Plant X is not? What was the information given to you in the question?

The question mentioned that Plant X was “watered daily”. That means that Plant X had water.

Meanwhile, Plant Y was “not watered at all”, so it had no water.

Does this explain why Plant Y wilted? Yes! If you ever have a wilting plant at home, all you have to do is give it some water and the plant will become healthy again.

What should be the correct answer then? Some students would say, “Living things need air, food, and water to survive.” This is because they have learnt that this is a characteristic of living things.

However, this answer is not accepted because based on this experiment, all we know is that Plant X survived because it had water. Plant Y is dying because it has no water.

Do we know whether the plants need air and food? No, we only know that water is important for their survival.

Suggested Answer For Part (C)

Living things need water to survive.

Conclusion

I hope that you have learnt that answers to some questions may appear “obvious” based on what you already know. However, you should always read the question carefully and identify what exactly it is asking for before phrasing your answer accordingly.

Check out our other articles on Living Things And Non-Living Things and continue to keep a lookout for more articles! 🙂