Primary 3 · Science · Diversity: Living & Non-living
Diversity: Living & Non-living questions for Primary 3 Science
9 questions to work through online, 2 of them written out the way the paper asks. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- Basic needs
- Responding to change
- What is not a characteristic
- Reading a tick table
- Why living things reproduce
- Was it ever alive
- Spotting a wrong reason
- Naming a characteristic
| Thing | Grows | Reproduces | Responds to change |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| X | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Y | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
Answers and explanations for all 9 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
Which of the following are needed by all living things?
Answer: A, B and C only
Air, food and water are needed by every living thing. Sunlight is not: fungi and animals deep in caves live without it.
Which of these show a living thing responding to a change around it?
Answer: A and B only
Responding means the living thing itself reacts. The elephant reacts to heat and the plant reacts to light. The bus is moved by a person; it does not react on its own.
Which one of these is NOT a characteristic of all living things?
Answer: They can move from place to place.
A tree cannot move from place to place and is very much alive. Moving about is something many animals do, not something all living things do.
Based on the table above, which statement is correct?
Answer: Only W is a living thing.
A living thing shows all the characteristics, not just one. Only W does, so only W is a living thing. Y is a good trap — an icicle grows without being alive.
Living things reproduce so that
Answer: their own kind will not die out
Every living thing dies eventually. Reproducing is how a kind of living thing continues, so their own kind will not die out.
Which one of these was once part of a living thing?
Answer: a wooden ruler
A wooden ruler is cut from a tree. The tree was a living thing, even though the ruler is not alive now.
Ben said a candle flame is living. Which statements explain why he is wrong?
Answer: B only
A flame is a good trap because it seems to grow and it does need air. What it cannot do is produce young flames of its own kind, which is why it is not living.
A seed is planted and a week later a small shoot is taller than it was on the first day. Which characteristic of living things does this show?
Answer: growth
Getting taller over the week shows growth.
A mimosa plant folds its leaves the moment it is touched. Which characteristic of living things does this show? It ______ to changes around it.
Answer: responds
The plant responds to being touched, which is one of the characteristics of living things.