Index No.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION,
SINGAPORE PRIMARY SCHOOL
LEAVING EXAMINATION

0009/2 (B)
PSLE 1
OCTOBER 2013

SCIENCE
(BOOKLET
B)

Total Time for Booklets A and B : 1 h

45 min

INSTRUCTIONS TO
CANDIDATES

1. Write your index No. in the boxes at the top right hand
corner. 2. Do not turn over this page until you are told to do so.
3. Follow all instructions carefully. 4. Answer all questions. 5.
Write your answers in this booklet.
 This booklet consists of 16 printed pages.
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board

© MOE
2013
2

PART II

For questions 31 to 44, write your answers in this booklet.

The number of marks available is shown in brackets [ 1 at

the end of each question or part question.
(40 marks)

31
Irene counted the number of two different types of young plants,
P and Q, at various distances from their parent plants in a garden.
The results are shown below.

Number of young plants

Key
Young plant P Young plant Q
Z
O

0
2
4
6
8
Distance from parent plant (m)
 Which one of the following is likely to be the fruit of plant
P? Choose your answer and tick (TM) in the box.
ar

wa

Explain your answer.

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32
Plant R grows on the trunks of
trees.

trunk of tree

(a)
Explain how the arrangement of leaves helps plant R in
photosynthesis.
[1]

(b)
The diagram below shows plant S growing around
a pole.

plants
 Based on the information given above, state a common characteristic of the
stem of plant R and plant S.
[1]

(Go on to the next

page)
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E
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(B)/2013

33
Animal N stays in its hard shell when resting. It extends itself from its shell when
feeding.

- animal N
www

hard shell
hard shell

Animal N (resting)
Animal N (feeding)

(a)
How does animal N protect itself from predators?
[1]
(b)
Animal N attaches itself to underwater surfaces of ships and gets carried to other
places without using much energy. How does being carried to other places benefit
animal N?

(c)
Tiny green plants can also attach themselves to underwater surfaces of ships.

tiny green plant - animal N

Scientists observed that ships with many tiny green plants have fewer animal N
attached to them. Give a reason for this observation.
[1]

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34
John had three tubes, S, T and U, containing equal amount of chloroplasts
mixed in the same amount of blue liquid L. This blue mixture will turn green
after photosynthesis has taken place.

John placed tube S at a distance of 10 cm from the lamp.

lamp

mixture of
chloroplasts in blue.liquid L
10

O cm
20
30

He switched on the lamp and recorded the time taken for the mixture to turn green. He
repeated the experiment with tubes T and U at various distances from the lamp as
shown in the table.

Tubes
Distance from lamp
(cm) 10
Time taken for mixture to turn
green (s)

20
22

30
36
(a)
The time taken for the mixture to turn green increases as the distance from
the lamp increases. Explain why.
[1]

(b)
John conducted the experiment in a dark room. Give a reason why this helped to
make the experiment a fair test.
[1]

(c)
John repeated the experiment with a fourth tube W. W had a different amount of
chloroplasts from tube S. He placed Wat a distance of 10 cm from the lamp. The time
taken for the mixture to turn green was 5 seconds.

Which tube, S or W, had a larger amount of chloroplasts? Explain your answer.

[1]

(Go on to the next page)

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35
The diagram shows a toilet that does not use water for flushing. Human waste from the
toilet bowl drops into a container with bacteria.
cover

pipe to let out gas

7
toilet bowl

waste drops in
container
UITBOU

handle to open container

bacteria and waste

After some time, bacteria turn the waste into a soil-like substance.

(a)
Name this process.
[1]

Besides air and water, give another environmental factor that will affect the speed
of the process.
[1]

(c)
Suggest one use for the soil-like substance.
[1]
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Cenaeyaona
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36
Plant M can only grow on the branches of trees. Bird D feeds on the fruits of plant M
which have sticky seeds.

When bird D flies away, it carries the seeds that are stuck to its beak. It then rubs its
beak against the branch of another tree.

- plant M
- bird D

tree
(a)
Suggest two advantages for plant M to grow on the branches of
trees.

(b)
How does plant M benefit bird D?

(c)
How does having sticky seeds benefit plant M?

(Go on to the next page)

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37
Junlong conducted an experiment using two similar pots of plants, G and
H. The two pots were placed in a garden and were watered with the same
amount of water at the start of
the experiment.

Pot G
Pot H

clear bag
clear bag

The results are shown below.

Mass (g)
Pot
at the start
after one day

5000
4900

Н.
5000
5000
 (a)
(i)
Explain why there was a decrease in mass for pot G.
[1]

(ii)
Explain why there was no change in mass for pot H.

(b)
In another experiment, Junlong used one other pot of plant with clear bag similar to
pot G, but he covered the lower surfaces of all the leaves with a layer of oil.

Would the change in mass after one day be larger or smaller than that obtained for pot
G? Explain your answer.

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38
(a)
Minghan placed an empty bottle with two holes at points P and Q into a tank of
water as shown.
bottle

tank
 — сар

water

Give a reason why the bottle sank after a

while.
[17

(b)
Minghan put objects A and B into a tank of water. He observed that both objects
sank to the bottom of the tank as shown.

tank

water
AB).

Can Minghan conclude that objects A and B were made of the same material?
Give a reason for your answer.
 (Go on to the next page)
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3

39
Boon Hwee lit up one end of a block which was made of material Mas shown below.

flame

block (made of material M)

(a)
Fill in the boxes to show the energy changes during burning.
21
changed into

changed into
energy in the block
energy
energy

(b)
After a while, Boon Hwee observed that the temperature at point Q shown below
remained the same as the room temperature.

flame

block (made of material M)

Based on this observation, suggest one property of material M.

11)
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17

40
Aisha conducted an experiment to find out how the mass of an object affects the
force needed to start moving the object. She used similar trays and spring
balances in the set-ups shown below.

2 kg
1 kg load
load
tray

y
spring balance Guadel odio
balance
force
force

tray
 spring balance Goldel tid
balance
force
force
-
5

wooden surface
glass surface

(a)
Aisha's experiment was not a fair test. Suggest one change to her set-up so that her
experiment would be a fair test.
[1]

(b)
Aisha found that the temperature of the tray increased slightly after moving a
long distance along the wooden surface. Give a reason for this.
s11
(Go on to the next page)
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12

Rosa conducted an experiment to compare the rates of evaporation of liquids X, Y and

Z. She poured 10 cm of each liquid into three similar glass beakers.

She placed the three beakers next to an open window in the Science Room, and
measured the time taken for each liquid to evaporate completely. Her results are
shown below.

Liquid Time (h)

X 3
Y5
Z 2
1

(a)
Complete the table below with X, Y and Z.
[11

slowest
- rate of evaporation -
fastest

Liquid

(b)
Give a reason how each of the following actions helps to make her experiment a fair test.
[2]

using similar beakers

placing all three beakers at the same place

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42
Alex conducted an experiment using the set-up as
shown.

pump

pump—4
- air (50
cm)

tap-3
- water (150 cm)
 sealed container

He used the tap to remove

20 cm into the container.
of water. He then used the pump to add
15 cm
of air

(a)
What was the final volume of air in the
container?
[1]

(b)
Which properties of water and air did you use to
obtain your answer in (a)?
[1]
 (Go on to the next
page)
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Chengyi observed that magnet M and object Y were attracted

as shown below.

magnet M
object Y
B
C

(a)
Give a reason why Chengyi cannot conclude whether object Y is
a magnet or not based on the observation.
[1]

(b)
Using only magnet M and object Y, what should Chengyi do
to conclude whether object Y is a magnet or not? Explain
your answer.
[2]

Chengyi placed magnet M on a table. He then placed two

similar iron balls, P and Q, next to magnet M as shown
below.

table top
magnet M
iron ball P

w
.
www.

iron ball Q

(top view)

(c)
When he lifted up magnet M, ball P remained attached to M
but ball Q did not.

Explain why ball Q did not remain attached to magnet M.

(11

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44
Study the circuit shown below. When Ahmad closed the switch S, he noted that
the iron ball moved up and down between points A and B, and the light bulb
turned on and off repeatedly.

iron
bar

iron bal

iron contacts

(a)
In the diagram, the iron ball was resting on two iron contacts.

Explain why the bulb lit up when the iron ball was at point
A.
[1]

(b)
When the iron ball was at point A, it was attracted by the
iron bar.
 Give a reason for this
observation.

(c)
What would happen to the iron ball when it was at point
B? Give a reason for your answer.

End of
Paper
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13
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copyright holders, but if we have inadvertently overlooked any, we will be pleased to make the
necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

0009/02(8)/2013