Vanda International Science Competitions Primary Grade 4

1. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Primary 4 / Grade 4
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
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. 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 point for no answer and −1
point for wrong answer)
1. Study the classification table below. Which of the following have been classified
wrongly?
Group M Group N
Moldy Bread Car
Yeast Cup
Mushrooms Carriage
Cheese Cap
a) Moldy Bread
b) Cap
c) Yeast
d) Cheese
2. Gerald is blindfolded in a room and his only way out is through a single door located in
the room. Which body part must he rely on to find the door?
a) Eye
b) Nose
c) Skin
d) Ears
3. 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

3. 4. Which organ(s) help to digest the food we eat?
I. Mouth
II. Gullet
III. Stomach
IV. Small Intestine
V. Large Intestine
a) III only
b) III, IV and V only
c) I, III and IV only
d) I, II, III and IV only
5. A male and a female grasshopper is enclosed in a box, a small needle was used to
poke a single hole in the box. What sentence below best explains the population of
grasshoppers in the box over time?
a) The box will be filled with grasshoppers because
grasshoppers do not need sunlight to grow.
b) The box will be filled with grasshoppers because living
things reproduce.
c) There will not be any grasshoppers left because it did
not receive much sunlight.
d) There will not be any grasshoppers left because the 2
grasshoppers did not reproduce.
6. Which of the following options below can be used to compare the weight of 2 different
objects?
I. Balancing scale.
II. Weighing Machine.
III. Placing both objects in water.
IV. Drop 2 objects from the same height.
V. Attach each object on an elastic string.
a) I and II
b) I, II, and III
c) I, II, IV and V
d) All of the above

4. Use the bar chart below to answer question 7 and 8.
The bar chart below shows the weight of a beaver across 4 ages.
7. What characteristics of living thing 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.
8. What is the relationship between the weight of the beaver and it’s age?
a) The weight of the beaver decreases as age increases.
b) The weight of the beaver increases as age decreases.
c) The weight of the beaver increases as age increases.
d) The weight of the beaver decreases as age decreases.
0
5
10
15
20
1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year
Weight
Weight

5. 9. The table below records the height and mass of a Vanda flower.
Month Height (cm) Mass (g)
January 23 23
March 27 27
June 26 26
August 24 24
What is the life process that causes the different values of height and mass?
a) Reproduction
b) Growth
c) Adulthood
d) Food
10.Study the flow chart below.
Which of the following represents Animal X, Y and Z?
Animal X Animal Y Animal Z
a) Butterfly Elephant Caterpillar
b) Chicken Frogs Chick
c) Butterfly Water Snake Worm
d) Caterpillar Elephant Butterfly
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
Yes
Yes

6. Section B (Question 11 to 20: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer or wrong
answer)
11.4 students made a sentence that describe the tubes that are present in our neck.
Which student is right?
a) Student C
b) Student B and Student C
c) Student A, Student B and Student C
d) All 4 Students
12.A magnetised pole is hung from a string and have attracted a couple of magnetised
paper clips.
Which poles will A and B attract?
a) A – North Pole, B – South Pole
b) A – South Pole, B – North Pole
c) A – South Pole, B – South Pole
d) A – North Pole, B – North Pole
Student A: A tube that transport blood
Student B: A tube that allows air to flow through
Student C: A tube that transport tiny amounts of food
Student D: A tube that digest tiny amounts of food
N S
A
B

7. 13.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.
14.A farmer decides to test the new fertilizer to increase his production growth of his
crops. He divided the land into two parts, Plot A and Plot B. He tested the new fertilizer
on the crops growing in plot A. His crops were grown very close together to ensure he
has fully utilize both plots of land.
In the beginning, plot A crops were growing much faster than plot B. However, over
time plot B crops were growing much healthier than plot A. Which option below best
explains the reason for this occurrence?
a) The farmer was not using the correct quantity of fertilizer.
b) The minerals and nutrients in the soil on plot A could not keep up with the fast
growth.
c) The fertilizer over flow to plot B when it rained.
d) The fertilizer was not suited for the crops and damaged the crops.
Plot A Plot B

8. 15.The chicken egg is porous. This means that it’s shell has very tiny holes that only
allows air and moisture to pass through. Why do the holes need to be as tiny as
possible?
a) It is to prevent unwanted products to pass through the egg shell.
b) It is to ensure that predators will not be able to hear the chick in the egg.
c) It is to ensure that no water enters the egg so that the egg will float in water.
d) It is to ensure that the chick cannot escape through the hole.
16.A student gathered a few non-living things: Wooden Chair, Leather Jacket, Cardboard
box and a stack of papers. The student made a few claims:
1) All non-living things were once made from living things.
2) All non-living things do not need sunlight and air to grow.
3) The items gathered can be classified under the category of flexibility.
4) The items gathered are non-edible by all living things.
Which claim above is true?
a) Statement 3
b) Statement 1, 2 and 3
c) Statement 1, 2, 3, and 4
d) None of the above.
17.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

9. 18.The diagram below shows the result when 2 objects are dropped into a container filled
with oil and water.
The liquids inside the container was stirred and was left on the table. What can be
observed after 5 mins?
Most species of Fungi grow in moist (wet) environment. When two similar cookies were left
in two different rooms, A and B. The rooms were close together with the door wide open.
In room A, the cookie was fully covered with fungi while in room B, only a small part of the
cookie was covered with fungi.
19.What was the aim of this experiment?
a) Not all cookies are moist.
b) One of the room has greater moisture than the other.
c) Moist Cookies attract mold faster.
d) Different parts of the cookies are moister.
20.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.
a) b) c) d)
Oil
Water

10. 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.)
Stop killing my fishes!
You are a village chief and a few villagers have come to you and complain about 2 new plants
growing at the bottom of the lake. Your villagers claim that the 2 new plants have killed some
of the fishes. One of the oldest villager have told you that these plants have medical benefits
and do not cause harm to the fish.
Confused, you asked the smartest villager for help. She claimed that you should not remove
the plants as everything will be back to normal soon.
21.Which option below best explains why the plants should not be removed?
a) There is an overpopulation of fishes.
b) The fish will adapt and respond to changes over time.
c) The plant provides more benefit to human than fishes.
d) Cutting the plant will cause more plants to grow around the area.
I smell something fishy around here!
Convinced by the explanation given by the smartest villager, you choose not to remove the
plants and decide to harvest it for the village. However, after waiting for more than 3 years,
the population of fishes continue to decrease in the lake. You have been told that the plants
are not poisonous to the villagers nor the fish.
22.Which option below best explains why the fish continued to die?
a) The plants reduce the nutrients of the fish eggs which decrease the fish population.
b) The plants did not give space for the fish to lay their eggs.
c) The plants’ respiratory system caused the fishes to die.
d) The plants confused the fish and led them to dangerous waters.

11. I think I need a boat!
As the village chief, you decided to send some of your best men to sail out and explore new
islands so that could sustain your village with sufficient fish as food. You told your villages to
search for a new material that could be used as the main sail of your boat!
Your villages have worked together and have gathered 4 different types of materials for your
sail. The table below shows 4 different materials with different characteristics. Each
characteristic was compared to each other and were rated from 1 to 4.
(1 – least flexible, 4 – most flexible |1 – least durable, 4 – most durable | 1 – Lightest, 4 –
Heaviest )
23.The sail must help your boat to be as stable as possible and withstand strong winds.
Which material should you use to build the sail?
a) W
b) X
c) Y
d) Z
Material Flexibility Durability Weight
W 1 2 2
X 3 4 3
Y 4 1 4
Z 2 3 1
Main Sail

12. Time waits for no man!
You have built your sail and ready to set sail. However, the men you have selected to sail
needed to keep track of the time. They cannot sail back at night due to poor vision. Equip with
your vast knowledge as a village chief, you taught the men how to tell time using the shadow
created by the sail.
24.If the sun rises from the east to the west, what will be the time at position A, B and C?
A B C
a) 10.30 am 12.30 pm 4.00 pm
b) 10.00 pm 12.00 am 4.00 am
c) 4.00 pm 12.00 pm 10.30 am
d) 4.00 am 12.30 am 10.00 pm
A
B
C

13. I found magic!
One of the villagers have spotted a special rock. It appears to stick on shiny objects by an
invisible force. When it is placed in completely calm water, one end of the rock will always point
at a particular direction. They have brought this special rock to you as a gift from the new
island. As the village chief, you have decided to name this special rock a magnet.
The magnet is cut into two parts as shown below:
25. What will happen to the two parts of the cut magnet when they are placed side by side
as shown in the picture below?
a) The two parts of the magnets will attract each other.
b) The two parts of the magnets will repel each other.
c) The two parts of the magnets will not move at all.
d) The two parts will rotate and face their respective opposite poles.
N S
N
- End of paper -