Vanda International Science Competition Primary Grade 3

1. Vanda 2018 Primary 3 / Grade 3
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Primary 3 / Grade 3
Full Name:
Index Number:
Note:
1) Air resistance is not present throughout the contest unless stated.
2) All temperatures are in Degrees Celsius.
3) Room Temperature is 25°C at 1 atmospheric pressure.
4) Gravitational Acceleration is taken to be 9.8 𝑚/𝑠2
Rough Working
Instructions to Students:
1. Only Scientific Calculators are allowed during the contest.
2. The duration of this contest is 1 hour 30 minutes. You may not leave the contest venue
within the first hour of the paper.
3. This examination paper contains 25 questions and comprises of 12 printed pages.
4. Each question has only 4 possible answers: a, b, c and d. Only question 22, have 5
possible answers: a, b, c, d and e. Shade your correct option on the Answer Entry Sheet
provided.
5. The total marks for this paper is 77 points:
a. Section A:
Question 1 to 10: +2 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer and −1
point for wrong answer.
b. Section B:
Question 11 to 20: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer or
wrong answer.
Application Question
Question 21, 22 and 23: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no
answer.
Question 24 and 25: +4 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no answer.
6. You are not allowed to bring the question paper and answer script out of the contest
venue.

2. Section A (Question 1 to 10: +2 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer and −1
point for wrong answer)
1. Study the classification table below. Which of the following does not belong in Group X and
Group Y?
Group X Group Y
Grass Stem
Mango Leaf
Leaf Roots
Tree Trunk Flower
a) Mango
b) Grass
c) Tree Trunk
d) Leaf
2. Which of the following options below can be used to compare the size of 2 different objects?
I. Ruler
II. Weighing Machine
III. Our Eyes
IV. A piece of string
a) I only
b) I, and III
c) I, III and IV
d) All of the above
3. During winter, the American bison will travel great distances from the north of Yellowstone
to the south where it is much warmer to feed. Which characteristics of living things does
the American bison show when they travel long distances to feed?
a) Living things need food and water to stay alive.
b) Living things always move around to find food they like to eat.
c) Living things respond to changes.
d) Living things reproduce.

3. 4. An ant is trapped in a small covered box with only 1 small hole with a small container of
syrup. What will eventually happen to the ant after 6 months?
a) The ant will die because it did not receive much sunlight.
b) The ant will die because it will did not receive enough food.
c) The ant will survive as air will be able to pass through the small hole.
d) The ant will survive because there is enough food for the ant.
5. Pauline is blindfolded in a room and her only way out is through a single door located in the
room. Which senses must she rely on to find the door?
a) Smell
b) Touch
c) Sight
d) Sound
6. A special material is flexible, change shape easily and can be stretched. Which object can
be made using this material?
a) Plastic water bottle
b) Water Balloon
c) Water gun
d) A cup made of glass.
7. A group of students made the following statements about living and non-living things:
Ali: Non-living things need oxygen to survive.
Jo: All living things need water and food only to survive.
Beth: Living things do not need fertilizers to grow.
Susan: All animals reproduce but not plants.
Which student is making the correct statement?
a) Ali
b) Jo
c) Beth
d) Susan

4. 8. There are 100 different things in a room and they are classified according to living things
and non-living things. Why is it important to classify items into different groups?
a) It helps us look for things more easily.
b) It helps us understand where the things come from.
c) It tells us if the things are alive or not.
d) It tells us which thing can be compared with another thing.
9. In the Antarctic, the leopard seal feeds on the Adélie penguins and the Adélie penguins
mostly feed on small krill. Small krill are also eaten by people. What happens when the
amount of small krill that we eat increases?
a) The number of leopard seal living in the Antarctic decreases.
b) The number of leopard seal living in the Antarctic increases.
c) The number of krill living in the Antarctic increases.
d) The number of penguins living in the Antarctic increases.
10.The table below shows the characteristic of 4 different animals.
Animal Fly Breathe
Underwater
Classified as
Penguin No No Birds
Chicken Yes No Birds
Spider No No Insects
Frog Yes Yes Reptiles
Which animal have the correct characteristics?
a) Penguin
b) Chicken
c) Spider
d) Frog

5. Section B (Question 11 to 20: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer or wrong
answer)
11.Which of the following things below cannot move on its own?
a) Fire
b) Hatching Pupa
c) Plant
d) Bird
12.The chicken’s egg shell is hard and protects the chick until it hatches from the egg. It has
very tiny holes that allow air to pass through. What can be said about the chicken’s egg
shell?
a) The egg shell is a living thing as it needs air to survive.
b) The egg shell can grow into different shapes and sizes.
c) Without water and food, the egg shell will die.
d) The egg shell is a non-living thing.

6. 13.Carnivorous plants are plants that eat living things such as insects, rats, birds and frogs.
Most carnivorous plants eat small insects such as the Venus flytrap. It can grow and thrive
in nutrient-poor soil. If the plant needs more nutrients than the nutrient-poor soil can
provide, how does the Venus flytrap get the nutrients to grow?
a) The plant gets it’s nutrients from the sunlight.
b) The plant gets it’s nutrients from the insects.
c) The plant gets it’s nutrients by competing with other plants nearby.
d) The plant get it’s nutrients from the water absorbed by the leaves.
14.The camera’s diaphragm is one of the camera parts that controls the amount of light that
passes through the lens. The pupil in the human eye and the camera’s diaphragm works
similarly. How does the pupil work?
a) It protects the eye from bright light.
b) It reflects half of the bright light.
c) It protects the eye from sharp objects
d) It reduces the amount of bright light.
15.Study the flow chart below.
*Question is on the next page.
No
No
No
No
Start
Can it breathe
underwater?
Can it give birth
to their young?
Does it have
feelers?
Does it have
wings?
Reaches
Adulthood
Animal X
Animal Y
Animal Z
No
Yes

7. Which of the following represents Animal X, Y and Z?
Use the following information below to answer question 16,17 and 18.
The bar chart below shows the weight of a beaver across 4 ages.
16.What characteristics of living things can be seen from the chart?
a) Living things will eventually die.
b) Living things require air, water and food to grow.
c) Living things can reproduce.
d) Living things can grow.
17.What will be the weight of the beaver when it is 6 years old?
a) 5 kg
b) 10 kg
c) 15 kg
d) 20 kg
18.What is the relationship between the weight of the beaver and it’s age?
a) The weight of the beaver decreases as the age increases.
b) The weight of the beaver increases as the age decreases.
c) The weight of the beaver increases as the age increases.
d) The weight of the beaver decreases as the age decreases.
Animal X Animal Y Animal Z
a) Butterfly Platypus Caterpillar
b) Chicken Frogs Chick
c) Butterfly Water Snake Worm
d) Caterpillar Platypus Butterfly
0
5
10
15
20
1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year
Weight (kg)
Weight

8. 19.The diagram below shows the result when 2 objects are dropped into a container filled
with oil and water.
The oil and water inside the container was stirred and left on the table. What can be
seen after 5 mins?
20.Air plants do not grow in soil, but they attach themselves to a living plant or rock. The
leaves of an air plant absorb water and nutrients. In an experiment, the roots of an air
plant are sealed in plastic and placed in a test tube. The diagram below shows the set up.
What will happen to the plant after one week?
a) The plant will wilt and the water inside the test tube will remain the same.
b) The plant will wilt and the water inside the test tube will reduce.
c) The plant will survive and the water inside the test tube will remain the same.
d) The plant will survive and the water inside the test tube will reduce.
Test Tube Roots of Air plant
sealed in plastic
a) b) c) d)
Oil
Wate
r

9. Application Question (Question 21, 22 and 23: 3 points for correct answer, 0 points for
wrong or no answer. Question 24 and 25: 4 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong or no
answer.)
Let’s do some sorting!
You have been appointed for a very special role in the Vanda Kingdom. You are tasked by the
King to sort different items into various groups. All the items are not alive and placed in the
storage room. You are given the list of items to sort.
Items:
1) Wooden Table
2) Wooden Chair
3) Wooden Bookshelf
4) Flower
5) Jewelry
6) Books
7) Insects
8) Animals
9) Mobile Phone
10) Candles
The King have requested that you should sort them into 2 different groups.
Group M Group N
Flower Wooden Table
Insects Wooden Chair
Animals Wooden Bookshelf
Mobile Phone Candles
Jewelry Books
21.Which categories can be used to represent Group M and N respectively?
a) Living things, non-living things
b) Non-living things, living things
c) Non-living things, once a living thing
d) Living things, once a living thing.

10. The King’s Bad Sorting!
22.You have managed to classify them according to your King’s list but found out to be very
complicated. Hence, you have come up with your own groups. What is the greatest number
of groups that can sort all 10 items?
a) 4
b) 6
c) 10
d) 12
e) None of the above
Wasting time and money!
The King’s advisor felt that paying you to sort the items was a waste of money. He thinks that
small number of items do not need to be sorted and you could easily find the items. After
hearing the words spoken by the advisor, the King is considering to stop paying you and let
you go. You have decided to convince the King with only 1 sentence.
23.Which sentence below could be used to help you keep your job?
a) I have made things easy to find.
b) You can now store more items and I will be helping you to classify them to make them
easier to find.
c) I am the only one that knows the categories that I have divided into, you will not know
where to find your items if you let me go.
d) I have made your storage room neat and tidy.
Handle with care
Congratulations! You have managed to keep your job. You found out that some of the items
have fungi growing on them. You quickly informed the King and he have instructed you to find
a new storage place where his items will not be damaged.
*Fungi is a living thing and mostly grow in moist (wet) and warm environment.
You were given 3 rooms to choose from, you decided to conduct a test to see which room
should be use as the storage room. You have asked the chef to prepare 3 cookies and have
place one cookie in each room.

11. Room 1 Room 2 Room 3
24.What was the aim of your test?
a) Not all cookies are moist.
b) Some rooms have greater moisture than the other room.
c) Moist Cookies attract fungi faster.
d) Different parts of the cookies are moister.
25.What can you tell from the position on the cookie where the fungi grew?
a) The direction of the moist environment.
b) Different parts of the cookie were more moist than other parts.
c) The time it takes for fungi to grow on some parts of the cookie.
d) The time it takes for fungi to grow on different parts of the cookie.
- End of paper -