PAPER

G
2017
Mark only ONE answer for each question.
Your score will be the number of correct answers.
Marks are NOT deducted for incorrect answers.

SCIENCE
There are 45 MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS (1–45).
Use the information provided to choose the BEST answer from
the four possible options.

You may use a calculator and a ruler.

DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET
UNTIL INSTRUCTED.
45 QUESTIONS
TIME ALLOWED: 1 HOUR

STUDENT’S NAME:
 1. The diagrams show the main parts of an animal cell and a plant cell.

Animal cell Plant cell

cell membrane

cytoplasm

nucleus

chloroplast

vacuole

cell wall

Based on the diagrams, which statement is correct?

(A) Both cells have a nucleus.

(B) Only the animal cell has a vacuole.
(C) Only the plant cell has a cell membrane.
(D) Both the plant cell and the animal cell have a cell wall.

2. Sara has hurt her knee playing soccer and she needs to buy a knee support.

She uses the table shown on the packaging of the knee support to decide which size to buy.

Knee circumference (cm) Size Product code

27.0 – 32.5 SMALL FT3640
33.0 – 37.5 MEDIUM FT3641
38.0 – 42.5 LARGE FT3642
43.0 – 47.5 XLARGE FT3643

The photo shows Sara measuring her knee using a tape measure marked in centimetres (cm).

What is the product code of the correct

knee support for Sara?

(A) FT3640
(B) FT3641
(C) FT3642
(D) FT3643

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 2

3. The diagram shows a set of bevel gears.

Gear Y rotates clockwise as shown.

Which of these correctly describes the resulting motion of gear X when viewed from the top?

(A) anticlockwise and slower than gear Y

(B) clockwise and slower than gear Y
(C) anticlockwise and faster than gear Y
(D) clockwise and faster than gear Y

4. In 1869 Dmitri Mendeleev published the first periodic table. He used trends in the data of known elements to
predict the properties of elements that had not yet been discovered.

The graph shows the atomic masses of a number of known elements. Germanium, which is in group 14 and
period 4, is missing.

Atomic mass of elements in

different groups by period

80 KEY

period 2
70 period 3
period 4
40
Atomic Mass (u)

30

20

10

0
13 14 15 16 17

Group

Based on the data in the graph, what atomic mass would be predicted for germanium?

(A) 4 u (B) 70 u
(C) 72 u (D) 75 u

3
2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd
 5. Accuracy refers to the closeness of a measurement to a target value. Precision refers to the closeness of
two or more repeated measurements under the same conditions.

Four archers, represented by , , and , competed in four games shooting at the same target. Each
archer had one shot in each game.

The results are shown in the diagrams.

game
game
game
game
1 11 1 game
game
game
game
2 22 2 game
game
game
game
3 33 3 game
game
game
game
4 44 4

game 1 game 2 game 3 game 4

Which archer shot the arrows with the greatest precision?

(A) (B)
(C)
(D)

6. When an object falls through air under the force of gravity, it experiences a force opposing the motion.
The faster the object moves, the greater the opposing force. When the object is moving fast enough, the
opposing force equals the gravitational force and the object falls at constant speed. This speed is called
terminal velocity.

A golf ball was dropped from a great height. The graph shows the golf ball’s speed against time.

35 1
game game
game
12 game
game
game
123 game
game
game
game
12 3 4 game
game
game
23

30

25
Speed (m/s)

20

15

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)

Approximately how many seconds passed before the golf ball reached terminal velocity?

(A) 10 (B) 15 (C) 30 (D) 32

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 4

 For questions 7 and 8 use the information below.

Earth is made up of four distinct but interconnected systems: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and
lithosphere. Materials containing carbon move between these systems, as shown.

Atmosphere

co
m
bu
n
io

st
st

re

io
bu

n
sp
ph
n
m

tio

ira
ot
co

up

os
diffusion

tio
er

yn

n
th
ic
an

es
is
lc
vo

Lithosphere burial and sedimentation Biosphere

diffusion

n
le

tio
ac

ira
hi

is
sp
ng
se

es
re
di

th
m

yn
en

os
ta

ot
tio

ph
n

Hydrosphere

7. By what process does carbon enter the biosphere from the hydrosphere?

(A) leaching
(B) respiration
(C) photosynthesis
(D) burial and sedimentation

8. The amount of carbon in each system has remained relatively stable over a long period of time, but recent
human activity has affected this balance.

Trees store carbon by absorbing CO2 from air through photosynthesis. Deforestation is the clearing and
burning of forests so that the land can be used for other purposes.

What is the immediate effect of deforestation?

(A) The amount of carbon in the atmosphere will increase.

(B) The amount of carbon in the lithosphere will decrease.
(C) The amount of carbon in the biosphere will increase.
(D) The amount of carbon in the hydrosphere will decrease.

5
2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd
 9. James placed a block with a mass known to be 15 g onto an electronic balance in his science class.

The diagram shows the reading he obtained.

15g

14.5 g

The teacher told him that the balance had not been ‘zeroed’ before he used it.

What value (g) would the balance display when James took the block off the balance?

(A) –15 (B) –0.5 (C) –14.5 (D) 0.5

10. Food webs summarise the relationships between living organisms in terms of the flow of energy between them.
Organisms can be producers, herbivores, carnivores or omnivores (that eat both plant and animal matter).

This food web involves five organisms V, W, X, Y and Z.

KEY
A B
energy flows
V W X
from A to B

Which statement is correct?

(A) X is a carnivore and a decrease in Z could lead to an increase in X.

(B) Y is a herbivore and a decrease in Y could lead to an increase in Z.
(C) V is a producer and W is an omnivore.
(D) Z is a producer and W is an omnivore.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 6

 For questions 11 and 12 use the information below.

Jen conducted an experiment to determine what affects the amount of power that a wind turbine produces.

She summarised her results in the table.

Area of blades (cm2) Angle of blades (°) Wind speed (m/s) Power (mW)
15 45 1.7 0.07
20 45 1.7 0.09
30 45 1.7 0.21

11. What was the independent variable in this experiment?

(A) area of blades (B) angle of blades

(C) wind speed (D) power

12. Jen wanted to estimate the power of a wind turbine with blades that have an area of 25 cm2. She plotted her
data in different types of graphs.

Which graph is most suitable for her estimation?

(A) (B)
Blade area (cm2)

Power (mW)

30 0.3
20 0.2
15 0.1
0 0
0.07 0.09 0.21 0 20 40
Power (mW) Blade area (cm )
2

(C) (D)
Blade area
0.3 Power (mW)
Power (mW)

(cm2)
0.2
0.1 15
0 20
15 20 30
30
Blade area (cm2)

7
2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd
 13. Karim is developing new drugs to reduce the blood glucose level of patients with type II diabetes. He set up
an experiment using rats to test the effects of two drugs.

Karim selected three groups of male rats with type II diabetes, and the same age and body mass. He
measured the glucose level of the fasting blood sample from all rats, before giving each of them one drug
or a combination of two drugs. After 6 hours, he measured the blood glucose level of each rat again and
summarised his results in this table.

Rat group Drug Reduction of blood glucose level (%)

1 X 20
2 Y 15
3 X+Y 26

What can Karim conclude from the results?

(A) Drug X is more effective than drug Y.

(B) Nothing, because he did not use a control group in the test.
(C) The combination of drug X and drug Y is the most effective.
(D) Nothing, because the effect of the combined drugs was less than the sum of the two drugs.

14. When the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the ocean increases, the sea water becomes more acidic.

The graph shows the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the sea water and the pH of the sea water over
a period of time. The more acidic the water, the lower the pH of the water.

Dissolved carbon dioxide (µmol/L)

22 KEY
8.2
20
pH
8.1 18
dissolved
16
8.0 carbon
pH

14 dioxide
7.9
12
7.8 10
1850 1900 1950 2000 2050 2100
Year

Which statement is supported by the given information?

(A) In 1850 the pH of the ocean was about 7.8.

(B) The ocean has slowly become less acidic since 1850.
(C) As acidity levels in the ocean increase, CO2 levels fall.
(D) The more carbon dioxide dissolved in the ocean, the lower the pH of the water.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 8

 For questions 15 and 16 use the information below.

Rocks are made of minerals. The types of minerals in a rock and their proportions determine what type
of rock it is.

The graph shows the mineral content of four igneous rocks: gabbro, diorite, granodiorite and granite.
Percentage of mineral by volume

Igneous rocks
gabbro diorite granodiorite granite
100
orthoclase
80
plagioclase
60 quartz

40 pyroxene

20
mica
olivine hornblende
0

15. Which rock consists of the least number of mineral types?

(A) gabbro (B) diorite (C) granodiorite (D) granite

16. Based on the graph, what is the greatest percentage of quartz by volume in granite?

(A) 75 (B) 55 (C) 30 (D) 25

17. All liquids have surface tension that causes the surface layer to behave like an elastic sheet. It is measured
in newtons per metre (N/m).

The table lists the surface tension of four liquids. Two of them are pure substances, the other two
are mixtures.

Liquid Surface tension (N/m)

ethanol 0.022
ethanol (40% mass) + water 0.030
ethanol (11.1% mass) + water 0.046
water 0.072

Which statement is supported by the information in the table?

(A) The surface tension of a mixture is higher than that of either of its components.
(B) The surface tension of a pure substance is lower than that of its mixture.
(C) The more water in a mixture, the higher the surface tension of the mixture.
(D) The surface tension of a 50:50 mixture is the average of that of each of its components.

9
2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd
 18. Halons are a class of carbon compounds. Their molecules consist of carbon atoms and halogen atoms such
as chlorine and bromine. Each halon is identified by a four-digit number that indicates the type and number
of atoms present in the halon molecule.
The table below shows the molecular structure and the identifying number of some halons.

Molecular
Molecular
structure
structure

Number 1211 1301 1103 2312

Number 1211 1301 1103 2312

Which diagram below represents a molecule of halon 2402?

(A) (B) (C) (D)
(A) (B) (C) (D)

19. Karim is developing new drugs to reduce the blood glucose level of patients with type II diabetes. He set up
an experiment using rats to test the effects of two drugs.

Karim selected three groups of male rats with type II diabetes, and the same age and body mass. He
measured the glucose level of the fasting blood sample from all rats, before giving each of them one drug
or a combination of two drugs. After 6 hours, he measured the blood glucose level of each rat again and
summarised his results in this table.

Rat group Drug Reduction of blood glucose level (%)

1 X 20
2 Y 15
3 X+Y 26

What can Karim conclude from the results?

(A) Drug X is more effective than drug Y.

(B) Nothing, because he did not use a control group in the test.
(C) The combination of drug X and drug Y is the most effective.
(D) Nothing, because the effect of the combined drugs was less than the sum of the two drugs.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 10

20. Esters are a class of chemicals that can be made by reacting an alcohol with a carboxylic acid. This type of
reaction often includes a catalyst to speed it up.

For example:

catalyst
methanol + ethanoic acid methyl ethanoate + water
(alcohol) (carboxylic acid) (ester)

Lily wanted to make an ester using ethanol and butanoic acid. She thought sulfuric acid would be a catalyst
for this reaction. She set up four test tubes and added chemicals as follows:

Test tube Chemicals in the test tube

1 ethanol + butanoic acid
2 ethanol + sulfuric acid
3 butanoic acid + sulfuric acid
4 ethanol + butanoic acid + sulfuric acid

Which two test tubes should she use to test her hypothesis?

(A) 1 and 2
(B) 2 and 3
(C) 3 and 4
(D) 4 and 1

21. Light travels as a wave. The wavelength of a light wave determines the colour that the light appears to have.
White light is the result of mixing all the visible colours in the correct ratio.

Jake found a graph showing how the wavelength of the light shining on a plant affects the rate of
photosynthesis in the plant. He also found that for a given wavelength, a brighter light (more lumens) will
give a greater rate of photosynthesis.
Rate of photosynthesis

Which of the following light sources will provide

the greatest rate of photosynthesis?

Wavelength (nm) Brightness (lumen)

(A) 450 100
(B) 700 200
400 500 600 700 (C) 650 200
Wavelength of light (nm)
(D) 550 200

11 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 For questions 22 and 23 use the information below.

The graph shows the human world population from the year 1800, as well as predictions of future human
world population prepared by the United Nations (UN).

KEY

10 000 estimated
UN high
World population (millions)

UN medium
8 000
UN low
actual
6 000

4 000

2 000

0
1 800 1 900 2 000 2 100
Year

22. What is the difference between the medium and low UN predictions of human world population for 2080?

(A) 2 700 000 people (B) 3 500 000 people

(C) 2 700 000 000 people (D) 3 500 000 000 people

23. Which statement is correct, based on the graph?

(A) The global human population has been surveyed and recorded since 1800.
(B) It is predicted that the global human population will increase until at least 2050.
(C) The global human population will increase in some countries and decrease in others from 2050.
(D) The UN high estimate suggests that the world population will increase at a higher rate from 2016.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 12

24. The force of gravity makes the air push down on Earth’s surface, creating air pressure. Heat from the Sun
makes air expand and rise. The air pressure under the warm, rising air is lower than in the areas around it,
creating a low pressure system. Cool air in other areas does the opposite.

Air does not move in straight lines from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure due to the effect of
Earth’s spin. In the southern hemisphere, air moves clockwise into a low pressure system and air moves
anti-clockwise out of a high pressure system. The opposite happens in the northern hemisphere.

Which diagram correctly represents a low pressure system in the northern hemisphere?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

Ground Ground Ground Ground

For questions 25 and 26 use the information below.

Sounds are made when objects vibrate. Sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials.

The table lists the densities of some materials and the speed of sound in each material.

Density Speed of sound

Material
(g/cm3) (m/s)
aluminium 2.7 5100
gold 19.7 3240
freshwater (25 °C) 0.998 1498
sea water (25 °C) 1.025 1531
air (20 °C) 0.0012 344
air (0 °C) 0.0013 331

25. Which statement is supported by the data in the table?

(A) The greater the density of a material, the greater the speed of sound travelling in it.
(B) The higher the temperature of a material, the greater the density of the material.
(C) The greater the density of a liquid, the lower the speed of sound travelling in it.
(D) The speed of sound is greater in a solid than in a liquid or a gas.

26. Approximately how many seconds does it take for sound to travel 15 metres in freshwater at 25 °C?

(A) 100 (B) 15 (C) 0.1 (D) 0.01

13 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 27. The table shows the nutritional information on a pack of breakfast cereal.

Nutritional information
Servings per pack: 20 Approximate serving size: 30 g
% Recommended Daily
Per serving Per 100 g
Intake per serving
Energy 447 kJ (107 Cal) 5.1 1489 kJ (356 Cal)
Protein 3.7 g 7.4 12.4 g

Fat: Total 0.4 g 0.6 1.4 g

-saturated 0.1 g 0.4 0.3 g

Carbohydrates 20.1 g 6.5 67 g

-sugars 1.1 g 1.2 3.3 g
Sodium 87 g 3.8 290 g
Fibre 3.3 g 11.0 11 g

Based on the information in the table, what is the approximate Recommended Daily Intake of
carbohydrates?

(A) 20.1 g (B) 130.7 g

(C) 309.2 g (D) 1030.8 g

28. Jon and Lee conducted an experiment to measure the time a marble took to roll down a ramp.
Jon used an analog stopwatch while Lee used a digital stopwatch.

Jon’s stopwatch Lee’s stopwatch Their results are summarised in the table.

Trial Jon’s reading (s) Lee’s reading (s)

LAP
RESET MODE
START
STOP
1 2.1 2.23
ALARM
SET

2 2.2 2.32
HOUR
MINUTE SECOND 1/100SEC

3 2.3 2.16
DATE
HOUR MINUTE SECOND

4 2.3 2.14

Based on these results, what can Jon and Lee conclude about their choice of stopwatches?

(A) They should have used two digital stopwatches because they give two decimal places.
(B) They should have used two analog stopwatches because they give more similar results.
(C) They could have used either type because they are equally easy to stop and start.
(D) They could have used either type because they both provide sufficient precision for this test.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 14

 For questions 29 and 30 use the information below.

Biologists use a technique called capture-recapture to estimate populations of animals in a natural

environment. A number of animals in a certain area are captured, all marked and then released. At a later
time, more animals are captured and the marked and unmarked animals are counted. The population is
estimated using the formula

number of animals in first capture × number of animals in second capture

population =
number of marked animals in second capture

29. Cherie wanted to use this method to estimate the population of snails in her garden. On the first day she
captured 12 snails, marked them with paint and released them. The next day she captured 12 snails, 4 of
which were marked with paint.

What should be Cherie’s estimate of the snail population in her garden?

(A) 12
(B) 18
(C) 24
(D) 36

30. Cherie continued using this method over the next four days. She then calculated the average of her
five estimates.

In what way did this improve her investigation?

(A) It made her results more accurate.

(B) It made her procedure more valid.
(C) It made her procedure safer for her.
(D) It made her more skilful in doing the experiment.

31. Betty needs to reduce her daily medication from 25 mg to 10 mg. She only has 25 mg tablets of the
medication and a 200 mL measuring cylinder, as shown. She knows that the tablets dissolve readily
in water.

mL
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20

Which of these methods will enable her to take as close as possible to the correct dosage of her
medication?

(A) Take one tablet on two days out of every five days.
(B) Break the tablet in half and take one half with 200 mL water each day.
(C) Dissolve one tablet in 25 mL of water, then drink 10 mL of the solution each day.
(D) Dissolve one tablet in 100 mL of water, then drink 40 mL of the solution each day.

15 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 32. An object has rotational symmetry if it appears unchanged after it has been rotated about an axis, by an
angle less than 360 °. The number of times it must be turned to be back to its original position is called the
order of rotational symmetry of the object.

For example, the order of rotational symmetry of a regular hexagon around its axis is 6.

The diagram shows the structures of an ammonia molecule (NH3) and a water molecule (H2O).
The angles between the three N-H bonds are equal.

N
O
H
H
H H H

Which option gives the correct order of rotational symmetry of each molecule about the given axis?

NH3 H 2O
(A) 3 2
(B) 4 3
(C) 3 none
(D) 4 none

33. All objects contain large numbers of positively charged particles and negatively charged particles. In neutral
objects, the number of each type of charged particle is the same. However the negatively charged particles
may move around, resulting in the object appearing to have a charge.

Objects carrying the same type of charge repel each other while objects carrying opposite charges attract
each other.

Helen is investigating the behaviour of objects that can be charged when they are near each other. She has
summarised her observations in these diagrams.

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

positively positively
neutral rod charged rod charged rod

neutral ball neutral ball ball after touching

the charged rod

What can Helen conclude from the results?

(A) The polystyrene ball picks up the same charge as the charged rod by touching it.
(B) Electricity flows from a charged object to a nearby object without contact.
(C) The charged rod carries the opposite charge to the polystyrene ball.
(D) There are no charged particles in neutral objects.

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 16

 For questions 34 and 35 use the information below.

The diagram shows a mass hanging from a spring.

spring

spring

mass

mass m
When the mass is pulled down and released, √
π oscillate
τ =it 2will k up and down with period T, the time taken to
move from its starting position all the way to the top and back to its starting point.

The period is given by

τ = 2π √ m
k
where:
• m is the mass
• k is the spring constant, a measure of the stiffness of the spring.

34. Which of these would decrease the period of the mass’s motion?

(A) using a shorter spring

(B) increasing the mass of the same spring
(C) not pulling the mass down as far before letting go
(D) using a spring with a greater spring constant

35. Which of these would give the most accurate value for the period?

(A) Measure the period 10 times and take the average.

(B) Measure the time for 10 periods and divide this by 10.
(C) Measure the period with 10 different springs and calculate the average.
(D) Measure the period using 10 different masses and then divide this by 10.

17 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 36. The Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin scales are three temperature scales in common use.

The conversion between these scales is carried out using the formulae below:

9 
°F = × °C + 32
5 

K = °C + 273

Which statement is correct?

(A) The Celsius and Kelvin scales have the same size of units on their scales.
(B) The Fahrenheit and Kelvin scales have the same size of units on their scales.
(C) The Celsius and Fahrenheit scales have the same point as zero degrees.
(D) The Kelvin and Celsius scales have the same point as zero degrees.

37. Electricity can flow when there is an unbroken path for it to follow and when there is a source of energy to
make it flow. A switch in a circuit can be set to ‘closed’ to let electricity through, or ‘open’ to break the path.

The diagram represents an electrical circuit with three light globes and three switches. All light globes are
working and the battery can provide enough power to make all globes glow at once.

S1 G1

KEY
G2 light globe

open switch

S2 G3 closed switch
S3 battery

Which of the following is a possible result of different switch settings?

G1 G2 G3
(A) glowing off glowing
(B) glowing off off
(C) off glowing off
(D) off off glowing

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 18

38. Scientists use chemical symbols to represent atoms and formulae to represent the composition of
molecules that are made of atoms.

The mass of an atom is given in unified atomic mass units (u). The mass of a molecule is the sum of the
masses of the individual atoms that make up the molecule.

This table lists the formulae and masses of some molecules.

Formula Mass (u)

H 2O 18
H2O2 34
Mg(OH)2 58

What is the mass of one Mg atom?

(A) 16 u (B) 24 u (C) 25 u (D) 42 u

39. Three towns, X, Y and Z, are situated near a river. There are two bridges, 1 and 2, that cross the river and
connect town Y with towns X and Z respectively.

N
Y

N 1
Y

2
X

1
2
X

The local council has enough money to upgrade one of the bridges from two lanes to three lanes.
They carried out a survey to measure the traffic between the towns at different times of the day, as shown. K
Traffic volume

KEY
Traffic volume

X to Y
Z to Y
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Y to
10X 11 12
am pm am
Time of day Y to Z
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
am pm am
Time of day

Based on these data, what bridge upgrade should be carried out?

(A) at location 1 with two lanes heading south and one lane heading north in the morning and then
one of the south bound lanes becoming a north bound lane in the evening
(B) at location 1 with one lane heading south and two lanes heading north in the morning and then
one of the north bound lanes becoming a south bound lane in the evening
(C) at location 2 with two lanes heading south and one lane heading north in the morning and then
one of the south bound lanes becoming a north bound lane in the evening
(D) at location 2 with one lane heading south and two lanes heading north in the morning and then
one of the north bound lanes becoming a south bound lane in the evening

19 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 For questions 40 and 41 use the information below.

The distance that a moving object travels in a given time is given by the equation

distance travelled = speed × time taken

Bob wants to cross a 60-metre wide river in his motor boat. His boat travels towards the mail box on the
opposite bank at a constant speed of 4 metres per second (m/s). The river is flowing with a speed of 3 m/s.
Bob’s overall movement is the sum of the two: as he travels 4 m across the river, the current takes him 3 m
downstream.

3 m/s
60 m 4 m/s

Bob points the boat straight across the river and keeps steering that way as he crosses the river.

40. Which of these shows Bob’s path across the river?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

41. How many metres downstream from the mail box will Bob be when he reaches the other side of the river?

(A) 3
(B) 12
(C) 45
(D) 60

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 20

42. This photo was taken with a strobe light producing 10 flashes per second. It shows a striped ball moving
through the air. The two vertical rods are 1 metre apart.

What was the approximate average speed of the striped ball in ms-1 during the time when the photo
was taken?

(A) 0.03
(B) 0.1
(C) 1
(D) 3

43. The concentration of a solution indicates how much solute is dissolved in a given volume of the solution. It is
often given as grams per litre of solution (g/L).

Three students were asked to make a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution with a concentration of 30 g/L.

The diagram shows what each student did to make up the solution.

Amy Ben Charlie

30 g NaCl
100 mL
mL
200 100 mL
water
100 water
+
water 3 g NaCl

3 g NaCl

Each container was stirred or shaken until all the solid had dissolved and the solution mixed evenly.

Which statement is correct about the NaCl concentrations of these solutions?

(A) The concentration of Amy’s solution is closest to 30 g/L.

(B) The concentration of Ben’s solution is closest to 30 g/L.
(C) The concentration of Charlie’s solution is closest to 30 g/L.
(D) The concentration of Ben’s solution is the highest of all solutions.

21 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

 Enzyme a
44. Mark was testing how enzyme activity is affected by different factors.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
He carried out test series 1 at pH 8 and test series 2 at 40 °C and used his data to plot these
Temperature (oC)graphs.

Test series 1 Test series 2

Temperature and enzyme activity pH and enzyme activity

Enzyme activity

Enzyme activity
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Temperature (oC) pH

Mark conducted test series 1 while keeping the pH constant and conducted test series 2 while keeping the
pH andThis
temperature constant. enzyme activity
is to ensure

(A) the validity of the tests.

(B) the reliability of the tests.
Enzyme activity

(C) the accuracy of the tests.

(D) the precision of the tests.

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
pH

2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd 22

45. Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules (such as water) in a solution across a semi-permeable
membrane from an area of lower solute (such as sugar) concentration to an area of higher solute
concentration until the concentrations of both areas are equal.

semi-permeable membrane

semi-permeable membrane KEY

osmosis
solvent
semi-permeable membrane KEY
osmosis solute
solvent
KEY
osmosis solute
Jenny had some identical spheres made of semi-permeable membrane. They were filled with sugar
solvent
solutions of two different concentrations, concentration 1 and concentration 2.
1 1 1 2 2 2 solute

1 1 1 2 2 2

X
1 1 1 Y2 2 2 Z
These spheres were then placed in three sugar solutions of different concentrations: X, Y and Z.
The diagrams show what happened after some time.
1 X 2 1 Y 2 1 Z 2

1 X 2 1 Y 2 1 Z 2

1 2 1 2 1 2

Which of the following is the correct order of the solutions X, Y and Z, from lowest concentration to highest?

(A) Z, X, Y
(B) Y, X, Z
(C) Z, Y, X
(D) Y, Z, X

23 2017 ICAS Science Paper G © Janison Solutions Pty Ltd

© 2017 COPYRIGHT
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THE FOLLOWING YEAR LEVELS PAPER

G
SHOULD SIT THIS PAPER:
Australia Year 9
Brunei Form 4
Egypt Year 9
Hong Kong Form 3
Indian Subcontinent 1
Class 9
Indonesia Year 10
Malaysia Form 3
Middle East 2
Class 9
New Zealand/Pacific 3
Year 10
Singapore Secondary 2
Southern Africa4 Grade 9
1 Indian Subcontinent Region: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
2 Middle East Region: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey,
Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Jordan and Pakistan.
3 Pacific Region: Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
4 Southern Africa Region: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
 S

2017 SCIENCE ANSWER KEYS S

QUESTION PAPER A PAPER B PAPER C PAPER D PAPER E PAPER F PAPER G PAPER H PAPERS
NUMBER I&J
1 A B C C A C A C C
2 B C B D D B C D B
3 A C D A B C B B A
4 B B C C D C C C B
5 C C A D D A C A A
6 C D A B B A B B D
7 A D B A A C C D B
8 C A A C B C A D A
9 D B C D A D B B D
10 C A C A C B A B C
11 C D A D A B A C C
12 A A B D D D B B A
13 B B C A B A B A D
14 D C C B D A D C A
15 D D D B B B A A C
16 C D A C C D C D D
17 B A B B C A C C A
18 D D D C D C A B C
19 D A D D A C B C B
20 A B B A B C D A D
21 C A C C D B C D C
22 B C A B B C C B D
23 D B D D C D B D D
24 A A C B D D A C B
25 B C D D D B D D A
 2017 SCIENCE ANSWER KEYS S
QUESTION PAPER A PAPER B PAPER C PAPER D PAPER E PAPER F PAPER G PAPER H PAPERS
NUMBER I&J
26 C D A C A C D A A
27 B C A C C D C D D
28 D B D A B A D D B
29 B B C D A C D C B
30 A D D B D B A A C
31 B B C A D B D
32 D A B D C A A
33 C C A D A B C
34 B D C A D D D
35 D A A D B D C
36 B A B B A C C
37 A B D D D A A
38 D A C D B C B
39 B B D C A B D
40 B D A B B A B
41 D B C B D
42 C A D B C
43 B C B C B
44 C B A C A
45 C A B B B

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