ICAS Science Paper A

PAPERA e c i t c Pra stions Que Inter national Competitions and Assessments for Schools DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL INSTRUCTED. STUDENT’S NAME: Read the instructions on the ANSWER SHEET and fill in your NAME, SCHOOL and OTHER INFORMATION. Use a 2B or B pencil. Do NOT use a pen. Rub out any mistakes completely. You MUST record your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. SCIENCE Mark only ONE answer for each question. Your score will be the number of correct answers. Marks are NOT deducted for incorrect answers. Use the information provided to choose the BEST answer from the four possible options. On your ANSWER SHEET fill in the oval that matches your answer. You may use a calculator and a ruler. 1. Which glass object shown would be the best to measure an amount of water? (A) (B) (C) (D) 2. The drawing shows the body parts of a snail. long tentacle eye short tentacle breathing hole hard shell head 3. To which part of the snail’s body is an eye attached? (A) (C) breathing hole long tentacle (B) (D) foot hard shell short tentacle Scientists found the remains of some animals in a cave. The graph shows the number and type of the remains. Number of remains 15 10 5 0 leg bones teeth skulls backbones Type of remains How many backbones were found? (A) 3 (B) 6 (C) 9 (D) 10 ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 2 4. Rocks are made up of one or more different minerals. The block below contains three different minerals. From which of these large sections of rock was the block cut? (A) (B) (C) (D) 5. water drops Some Year 3 students saw their teacher put a plastic on inside of bag bag over some leaves of a plant on a sunny day. One day later, they saw drops of water on the inside of the plastic bag. bag sealed water drops on inside of bag The teacher explained that the water had come from the leaves of the plant. The students thought this method might also work to find out if soil has water in it. They set up the pots below and put them in a sunny place. Pot X Pot Y Pot X plastic bags soil bag sealed empty pot plastic bags bag sealed bag sealed soil Pot Y emp Their method of testing for water in soil worked positively. What must the students have observed in the experiment? (A) (B) (C) (D) Water formed on the inside of the plastic bag over pot X only. Water formed on the inside of the plastic bag over pot Y only. Water formed on the inside of neither plastic bag. Water formed on the inside of both plastic bags. 3 ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 6. Liquids that spread quickly through a paper towel are absorbed better than those that spread more slowly. Some children put one measured drop of four different liquids on a piece of paper towel. The drawing shows their results after one minute. Which liquid was best absorbed by the paper towel? (A) (B) soap (C) sauce (D) 7. milk water Rick measured a nail as shown in the diagram. 0 (A) (B) Measurements cm 1 0 2 1 3 2 4 3 5 4 6 5 7 6 8 7 9 10 11 12 8 9 10 11 12 cm Which bar on the graph represents Rick’s measurement? (A) (B) (C) (D) 0 1 0 2 1 3 2 4 3 5 6 7 4 5 6 Length (cm) Length (cm) 8 7 9 8 9 Measurements (C) (D) ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 4 For questions 8 and 9 use the information below. Some students made phones from a ball of string and empty tin cans as shown. One student spoke One student spoke with her mouth with her mouth against this end. this end. against One student listened One student listened with her ear against with her ear against this end. this end. string empty tin empty can tin can string They tested which string phone worked best by comparing the loudness of the voice heard at the listening end. They showed the phones in order from best phone to worst phone. best phone best phone worst phone worst phone string tight string tight string loose string loose 8. Which description matches the best string phone? (A) (B) (C) (D) 9. short, loose string with small cans short, tight string with large cans long, tight string with large cans short, tight string with small cans Which condition was necessary to make this a fair test? (A) (B) (C) (D) the tin cans were all the same size the strings between the cans were kept tight the strings between the cans were kept the same length the same student listened and the same student spoke on each phone 5 ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 10. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The drawing shows a view from above of a schoolyard early in the morning. road road tree tree office classrooms office classrooms shadow shadow wall wall Which pointer is correctly showing north for this view of the schoolyard? (A) (A) N E S (B) E (B) S E (C) N W (C) N W S (D) (D) S W W N E W E W E N N S S S E W E W N N S ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 6 This page may be used for working. 7 ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA Acknowledgment Copyright in this booklet is owned by Educational Assessment Australia, UNSW Global Pty Limited, unless otherwise indicated. Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. Educational Assessment Australia apologises for any accidental infringement and welcomes information to redress the situation. The following year levels should sit THIS Paper: Australia Brunei Hong Kong Indonesia Malaysia New Zealand Pacific Singapore South Africa Year 3 Primary 3 Primary 3 Year 4 Standard 3 Year 4 Year 3 Primary 2 Grade 3 PAPER A THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Educational Assessment Australia eaa.unsw.edu.au © 2010 Educational Assessment Australia. EAA is an education group of UNSW Global Pty Limited, a not-for-profit provider of education, training and consulting services and a wholly owned enterprise of the University of New South Wales. ABN 62 086 418 582 A PApER SC EXAMPLE 1: Debbie Bach FIRST NAME LAST NAME Inter national Competitions and Assessments for Schools THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES HOW TO FILL OUT THIS SHEET: EXAMPLE 2: Chan Ai Beng FIRST NAME LAST NAME EXAMPLE 3: Jamal bin Abas FIRST NAME LAST NAME • Rub out all mistakes completely. • Print your details clearly in the boxes provided. • Make sure you fill in only one oval in each column. A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D FIRST NAME to appear on certificate LAST NAME to appear on certificate A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P A B C D E F G H I J K L A B C D E F G H I J K L A B C D E F G H I J K L A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B C D E F A B A B A B A B A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z G H I J K L M N ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / P Y Z Y Z C A R U V U V U V U V U V U V W X W X W X W X W X W X Y Z Y Z Y Z Y Z Y Z Y Z TI U V W X Y Z U V W X Y Z Q R S T E C Q R S T Q R S T Q R S T U V W X Y Z U V W X Y Z U V W X Y Z O P U Q M N M N O P O P P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Q R S T U V W X Y Z R S T U V S T V X Y Z X Y Z M N O I T S E G H I G H I G H I G H I G H I G H I G H I G H I J J J J J J J J K L K L K L K L K L K L K L K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z S N C D E F C D E F C D E F C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z O Q R S T Q Q R U V U V W X Y Z U W X Y Z W W ’ / ’ / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / ’ – / – – DATE OF BIRTH Are you male or female? Male Female Day Month Year 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (optional) CLASS *045603* 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Does anyone in your home usually speak a language other than English? Yes No School name: Town / suburb: Today’s date: Postcode: 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS Example: Ari added cordial to water to make a jug of drink. What will be the volume of the drink in the jug? (A) (B) (C) (D) 50 mL 150 mL 200 mL 250 mL D The answer is 250 mL, so you would fill in the oval , as shown. A B C D START 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D Your privacy is assured as EAA fully complies with appropriate Australian privacy legislation. Visit www.eaa.unsw.edu.au for more details. A PApER SC Inter national Competitions and Assessments for Schools QUESTION KEY key reasoning Four glass objects are shown: a measuring cylinder, a test tube, a round bottom flask and a funnel. Graduations (marks), which are only on the measuring cylinder, allow different amounts of water to be measured accurately. Observe the diagram carefully: the eyes are at the end of the long tentacles. The column (bar) graph that represents the number of backbones is a little under 10, so (C) is the best answer. Options B, C and D all contain the three coloured minerals showing in the block, but only option (D) has the black line crossing the layers of the brown mineral and the three minerals in the correct sequence. The teacher explained that when a plastic bag was placed over a plant, the water that formed on the inside of the plastic bag had come from the plant. LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY Easy 1 A 2 3 C C Easy Easy 4 D Medium 5 A For the test to show that water came from the soil in the same manner, the water must form inside the plastic bag over the pot with soil in it (pot X), and water must not form inside the plastic bag over the pot with no soil in it (pot Y). As all drops were the same measured size, the fastest spreading liquid would wet the biggest area of paper. This would be the liquid that was best absorbed by the paper. Water has the biggest wet area. Note that there are two scales, one for the nail and another for the graph. The nail is 4.5 cm long. The end of column A is in line with the end of the nail but the graph scale indicates that the column is only 2 cm long, and so column A is wrong. Column C is 5 cm long and column D is almost 8 cm long, so they are both wrong. There are four string phones. From the diagram, the far left phone is the best phone. It is short, it has a tight string and large cans. The students tested which phone worked best by changing the length of the string, the tightness of the string and the size of the cans. Options A, B and C describe the variables that the student changed in the test(s). Option D describes the variable that needed to stay the same. As the shadows of the trees, buildings and walls are toward the bottom left hand corner, the Sun must be toward the top right hand corner. As this is early morning and the Sun rises in the east, the top right hand corner must be east. Medium 6 D Medium 7 B Medium 8 B Medium/Hard 9 D Medium/Hard 10 A Hard ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA LEGEND Level of difficulty refers to the expected level of difficulty for the question. Easy Medium Medium/Hard Hard more than 70% of candidates will choose the correct option. about 50–70% of candidates will choose the correct option. about 30–50% of candidates will choose the correct option. less than 30% of candidates will choose the correct option. ICAS Science Practice Questions Paper A © EAA