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Primary 3 Science syllabus: topics and practice questions

These are the topics and skills of Primary 3 Science in the MOE syllabus, with 69 original practice questions. Each topic below has a sample question: try it, then open the worked answer.

Diversity

Living and non-living things

18 practice questions

  • What living things need and do (food, water, air; grow, respond, reproduce)
  • Classify plants and animals (flowering/non-flowering; amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals, reptiles)
  • Fungi and bacteria

Sample question

Wen Hui observed four things, P, Q, R and S, for some weeks. She recorded what she found in the table.
Which of them are living things?
Table: What Wen Hui found. Columns: Thing, Needs food, water, air, Grows, Reproduces. P: Needs food, water, air Yes, Grows Yes, Reproduces Yes. Q: Needs food, water, air No, Grows No, Reproduces No. R: Needs food, water, air Yes, Grows Yes, Reproduces Yes. S: Needs food, water, air No, Grows Yes, Reproduces No.What Wen Hui foundThingNeeds food, water, airGrowsReproducesPYesYesYesQNoNoNoRYesYesYesSNoYesNo
  1. A P only
  2. B P and R only
  3. C P, R and S only
  4. D Q and S only
Show the answer and working

Answer: (B) P and R only

How:
P and R need food, water and air, grow and reproduce. Q has none of these. S seems to grow, but it does not need food, water and air and does not reproduce.

Why: A thing is living only if it has the characteristics of living things: it needs food, water and air, and it grows, responds and reproduces.

Materials

13 practice questions

  • Relate the uses of materials to their properties
  • Compare strength, flexibility, floating, waterproofness and how much light passes through

Sample question

The table shows some objects, the material each is made of, and a property of that material.
In which rows is the property the reason why the material is suitable for the object?
Table: Objects and materials. Columns: Row, Object, Material, Property. 1: Object Window, Material Glass, Property Lets most light through. 2: Object Garden hose, Material Rubber, Property Flexible. 3: Object Raincoat, Material Plastic, Property Absorbs water. 4: Object Towel, Material Cotton, Property Waterproof.Objects and materialsRowObjectMaterialProperty1WindowGlassLets most light through2Garden hoseRubberFlexible3RaincoatPlasticAbsorbs water4TowelCottonWaterproof
  1. A 1 and 2 only
  2. B 1 and 3 only
  3. C 2 and 4 only
  4. D 1, 2 and 3 only
Show the answer and working

Answer: (A) 1 and 2 only

How:
Row 1: glass lets most light through, which is why it is used for windows. Row 2: rubber is flexible, so a garden hose can bend without breaking. Row 3: plastic is waterproof, it does not absorb water. Row 4: cotton absorbs water, it is not waterproof.

Why: The use of a material depends on its properties. A raincoat must be waterproof, and a towel must absorb water.

Cycles

Life cycles

13 practice questions

  • Life cycle of a flowering plant (seed, young plant, adult plant)
  • Life cycles of animals (chicken, cockroach, frog, grasshopper, beetle, butterfly, mosquito)

Sample question

The diagram shows the life cycle of a flowering plant.
What stage is missing?
Life cycle of a flowering plant. A cycle of 3 boxes. Arrows: Seed to a missing box; a missing box to Adult plant (flowers, fruits); Adult plant (flowers, fruits) to Seed.Life cycle of a flowering plantSeed?Adult plant(flowers, fruits)
Show the answer and working

Answer: young plant

How:
A seed grows into a young plant, which then grows into an adult plant.

Why: The life cycle of a flowering plant has three stages: seed, young plant and adult plant. The adult plant produces flowers, fruits and seeds, and the cycle starts again.

Interactions

Magnets

13 practice questions

  • Poles, attraction and repulsion, pointing North–South
  • Magnetic and non-magnetic materials, making magnets, everyday uses

Sample question

Ahmad dipped different parts of a bar magnet into a box of steel paper clips. He counted the clips that stuck to each part.
What can he conclude?
Table: Paper clips picked up. Columns: Part of magnet, Number of paper clips. End X: Number of paper clips 14. Middle: Number of paper clips 0. End Y: Number of paper clips 13.Paper clips picked upPart of magnetNumber of paper clipsEnd X14Middle0End Y13
  1. A The magnet is strongest at its two ends (poles).
  2. B The magnet is strongest in the middle.
  3. C Only end X is a pole.
  4. D The magnet does not attract steel.
Show the answer and working

Answer: (A) The magnet is strongest at its two ends (poles).

How:
Both ends picked up many clips (14 and 13), and the middle picked up none. So the magnet is strongest at its ends, the poles.

Why: The magnetic force of a magnet is strongest at its poles.

Science practices

Investigating

12 practice questions

  • Observe, compare and classify using tables and charts
  • Fair tests: what to change, keep the same and observe

Sample question

Study the classification chart.
A glass marble is waterproof and it sinks in water. In which group should it be placed?
Classification chart for objects. A diagram of 7 boxes. Arrows: Waterproof? to Floats on water? (yes); Waterproof? to Flexible? (no); Floats on water? to Group A (yes); Floats on water? to Group B (no); Flexible? to Group C (yes); Flexible? to Group D (no).Classification chart for objectsyesnoyesnoyesnoWaterproof?Floats on water?Flexible?Group AGroup BGroup CGroup D
  1. A Group A
  2. B Group B
  3. C Group C
  4. D Group D
Show the answer and working

Answer: (B) Group B

How:
Waterproof? Yes. Floats on water? No, it sinks. So the marble goes into Group B.

Why: A classification chart sorts objects one property at a time. Follow the arrows using what is known about the object.

Practise all 69 Primary 3 questions

With an account, practice adapts to your child: hints one step at a time, feedback on the mistake behind a wrong answer, review of older topics and a Primary 3 mock paper.

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