How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 8 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 56 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · right ✓

mia reckons plants eat soil to grow. right?

1. No, plants eat insects mostly — score 2
2. No, plants make their food from light, air and water — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
3. Yes, but only at night — no support
4. Yes, the soil goes up the stem — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 14, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 56, line 5: «Cartoons show plants eating soil with roots like spoons, and carnivorous plants swallowing people; real plants make their own food from light, air and water, a…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real plants» (+5); the same action «make» (+4); the same place «light» (+3); the same thing acted on «own food» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Van Helmont's willow gained about 74 kg in five years, but the soil lost only a few grams. Where did the weight come from?

1. Mostly from the air and the water — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. From the pot — no support
3. From worms in the soil — no support
4. From the soil, which grew back by itself — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 4 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 4, line 17: «Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand; they lay their heads flat on the ground to hide and turn their eggs in a nest scraped in the soil.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same place «soil» (+2); the same circumstance (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · right ✓

What would happen if you turned the bean jar upside down after the root had started?

1. The root would bend to grow down again and the shoot up — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. The root and shoot would swap places — no support
3. The bean would stop growing for ever — no support
4. The root would keep growing straight up into the air of the jar — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 56, line 7: «A seed carries its own food store, so it can grow before it has leaves; roots grow down and shoots up whichever way the seed lies, because they sense gravity.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «grow down» (+2); the same doer «roots» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

What would happen if you turned the cress pot round every day?

1. It would bend away from the light and lean towards the dark wall instead — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It would get dizzy and die — no support
3. It would grow in a spiral — no support
4. It would grow straighter, as no side stays in the shade — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

Where does almost all the oxygen we breathe come from?

1. The soil — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Plants and tiny algae in the sea — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Clouds and rain — no support
4. Volcanoes and hot springs — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

In a cartoon a giant plant swallows the hero whole. Can any real plant eat a person?

1. No, because people are poisonous to plants — no support
2. No, the biggest catch insects and, rarely, a frog or mouse — ✓ the right answer · score 2
3. Yes, the Venus flytrap when it is fully grown — score 3
4. Yes, deep in the jungle there are man-eating trees that grab people — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 56, line 5: «Cartoons show plants eating soil with roots like spoons, and carnivorous plants swallowing people; real plants make their own food from light, air and water, a…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «eat» (+2); the same doer «plants» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · wrong ✗

Why might a plant that lives in poor soil start eating insects?

1. Because it cannot get water — score 5
2. To get nitrogen the soil cannot give it — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. To stop insects eating it first — score 3
4. Because it is too lazy to make its own sugar from light — ← Mova's choice · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 56, line 5: «Cartoons show plants eating soil with roots like spoons, and carnivorous plants swallowing people; real plants make their own food from light, air and water, a…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real plants» (+3); the same place «light» (+3); the same action «make» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

Why does a potato in a dark cupboard grow long pale shoots?

1. Potatoes always grow pale — score 1
2. It is trying to reach the other potatoes in the bag to share their water — no support
3. The shoots stretch to look for light and cannot turn green — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. The cupboard is too cold — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 5, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 56, line 4: «Plants also move, slowly: a cress plant on the windowsill leans towards the light, and a sprouting potato in a dark cupboard sends out long pale shoots searchi…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «long pale shoots» (+3); the same action «search» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

My plant's all floppy, no wait, it's the lettuce on the table. why's it gone like that?

1. It has lost water, so its cells went soft — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. It needs more salt sprinkled on it — score -1
3. It has been nibbled by slugs in the night — no support
4. It is too cold — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 46, line 5: «Plants make their own food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide; this is photosynthesis, it uses the green chlorophyll in leaves and gives out oxygen; plant…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «plants» (+2); the same thing acted on «water» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · right ✓

If you painted a line on a tree trunk, would it move up as the tree grows?

1. No, it moves down into the ground — score 1
2. Yes, it moves to the top within a year — score 3
3. No, trees grow taller at the tips, so the mark stays at that height — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. Yes, it moves up a little each year as the trunk stretches upwards — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 3, line 10: «Rainforest soil is thin, so roots stay near the surface, and many tall trees grow wide buttress roots that prop them up like the walls of a tent.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+3); the same action «grow» (+2); the same doer «many tall trees» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

How would you test whether cress needs warmth to grow?

1. Water one pot with warm water and one with nothing — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Grow one pot in a cold dark cupboard and one warm on the windowsill — no support
3. Grow one pot and watch it carefully every day — no support
4. Grow two pots, one warm and one cold, keeping light and water the same — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the process by which green plants manufacture sugar from light, water and carbon dioxide.

1. Pollination of the flower — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Germination of the seed — no support
3. Photosynthesis — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Respiration of the leaf — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the mass of a mature tree?

1. It is derived principally from soil drawn up by the roots over many years — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It derives chiefly from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It is wholly contained within the original seed — no support
4. It is derived principally from rainfall alone — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning cress cultivated in total darkness.

1. It becomes elongated, pale and weak — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It becomes short, dark and vigorous — no support
3. It acquires a red colouration — no support
4. It remains wholly unaltered — no support

Why: Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

It is given that an investigator wishes to ascertain whether warmth is necessary for germination. Determine the variable to be altered.

1. Light, temperature and soil simultaneously — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. No variable whatsoever — no support
3. Temperature together with the supply of water and the quantity of light — no support
4. Temperature alone, all other conditions being held constant — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/56-how-plants-grow/