Mathematics Literacy

PISA Mathematics Literacy Items and Scoring Guides (2006, 2012)

The Mathematics Literacy Items and Scoring Guides document contains 11

mathematics assessment units and 24 items associated with these units. These
released items from the PISA 2006 and 2012 assessments are distinct from the secure
items, which are kept confidential so that they may be used in subsequent cycles to
monitor trends.
Mathematics Literacy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

UNIT NAME PAGE

CAR DRIVE .......................................................................................................................... 1

HEIGHT ................................................................................................................................ 4

MAKING A BOOKLET ......................................................................................................... 7

BICYCLES............................................................................................................................ 9

SEEING THE TOWER ........................................................................................................ 12

CHARTS ............................................................................................................................. 14

SAILING SHIPS.................................................................................................................. 18

DRIP RATE ........................................................................................................................ 22

REVOLVING DOOR ........................................................................................................... 25

APARTMENT PURCHASE................................................................................................. 28

SAUCE ............................................................................................................................... 30
Mathematics Literacy

CAR DRIVE
Kelly went for a drive in her car. During the drive, a cat ran in front of the car. Kelly slammed
on the brakes and missed the cat.

Slightly shaken, Kelly decided to return home.

The graph below is a simplified record of the car’s speed during the drive.

Kelly’s drive
72
60

Speed 48
(km/h) 36
24
12
0
9:00 9:04 9:08 9:12
Time

Question 1: CAR DRIVE M302Q01

Question intent: Change and relationships

What was the maximum speed of the car during the drive?

Maximum speed: ................................... km/h.

SCORING

Correct

60 km/h.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 95%

U.S.: 94%

1
Mathematics Literacy

Question 2: CAR DRIVE M302Q02 - 0 1 9

Question intent: Change and relationships

What time was it when Kelly slammed on the brakes to avoid the cat?

Answer: .................................................

SCORING

Correct

9:06

OR

Six minutes past nine.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 81%

U.S.: 82%

2
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: CAR DRIVE M302Q03 - 0 1 9

Question intent: Change and relationships

Was the route Kelly took to return home shorter than the distance she had traveled from home
to the place where the incident with the cat occurred? Give an explanation to support your
answer, using information given in the graph.

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

SCORING

Correct

Answer that the route home was shorter, with an adequate explanation.

Explanation refers to BOTH lower average speed AND (approximately) equal time on
return journey, or equivalent argument. Note that an argument based on the lower
area under the graph for the return journey would also be given Correct.
• The first part was longer than the trip home – it took the same amount of time but in the
first part she was going much faster than the second part.
• The route Kelly took home was shorter because it took her less time and she was
traveling slower.

Incorrect

Correct answer without adequate explanation.

• It was shorter because when she slammed on the brakes she had just gone over half
time.
• The route home was shorter. It only covered 8 squares while the route there covered 9
squares.
OR

Other responses.

• No it was the same because it took her six minutes to get back but she drove slower.
• Looking at the graph if you include the time Kelly took to slow down for the cat it may have
been a couple of seconds quicker but rounding off it was the same.
• You can tell by the graph that it was the same distance to where she stopped as the
distance back home.
Percentage of students answering
correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 29%

U.S.: 24%

3
Mathematics Literacy

HEIGHT
There are 25 girls in a class. The average height of the girls is 130 cm.

Question 1: HEIGHT M421Q01 - 0 1 9

Question intent: Uncertainty

Explain how the average height is calculated.

SCORING

Correct

Explanations that include: Sum the individual heights and divide by 25.
• You add together every girl’s height and divide by the number of girls.
• Take all the girls’ heights, add them up, and divide by the amount of girls, in this case 25.
• The sum of all heights in the same unit divided by the number of girls.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 63%

U.S.: 60%

4
Mathematics Literacy

Question 2: HEIGHT M421Q02

Question intent: Uncertainty

Circle either “True” or “False” for each of the following statements.

Statement True or False

If there is a girl of height 132 cm in the class, there must be a
True / False
girl of height 128 cm.
The majority of the girls must have height 130 cm. True / False

If you rank all of the girls from the shortest to the tallest, then
the middle one must have a height equal to True / False
130 cm.
Half of the girls in the class must be below 130 cm, and half of
True / False
the girls must be above 130 cm.

SCORING
Correct

False, False, False, False

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 16%

U.S.: 16%

5
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: HEIGHT M421Q03

Question intent: Uncertainty

An error was found in one student’s height. It should have been 120 cm instead of 145 cm.
What is the corrected average height of the girls in the class?

A 126 cm
B 127 cm
C 128 cm
D 129 cm
E 144 cm

SCORING

Correct

D. 129 cm.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 34%

U.S.: 27%

6
Mathematics Literacy

MAKING A BOOKLET
Question 1: MAKING A BOOKLET M598Q01 - 0 1 9

Question intent: Space and shape

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows how to make a small booklet. The instructions are given below:

• Take a piece of paper and fold it twice.

• Staple edge a.

• Cut open two edges at b.

The result is a small booklet with eight pages.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows one side of a piece of paper that is used to make such a booklet. The page
numbers have been put on the paper in advance.

The thick line indicates where the paper will be cut after folding.

7
Mathematics Literacy

Write the numbers 1, 4, 5 and 8 in the correct boxes in the following diagram to show which
page number is directly behind each of the page numbers 2, 3, 6 and 7.

SCORING

Correct

Page numbers placed correctly in the following positions (ignore the orientation of the
numbers):

1 8

4 5

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 60%

U.S.: 60%

8
Mathematics Literacy

BICYCLES
Justin, Samantha and Peter ride bicycles of different sizes. The following table shows the
distance their bicycles travel for each complete turn of the wheels.

Distance traveled in cm

1 turn 2 turns 3 turns 4 turns 5 turns 6 turns

Peter 96 192 288 384 480 …

Samantha 160 320 480 640 800 …
Justin 190 380 570 760 950 …

Question 1: BICYCLES M810Q01

Question intent: Quantity

Peter pushed his bike for three complete turns of his wheel. If Justin did the same with his bike,
how much further would Justin’s bike travel than Peter’s? Give your answer in centimeters.

Answer: ................................................. cm.

SCORING

Correct

282 cm.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 62%

U.S.: 60%

9
Mathematics Literacy

Question 2: BICYCLES M810Q02

Question intent: Quantity

How many turns of the wheel does it take for Samantha’s bike to travel 1,280 cm?

Answer: ................................................. turns.

SCORING

Correct

8.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 69%

U.S.: 62%

10
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: BICYCLES M810Q03 - 00 11 12 21 99

Question intent: Change and relationships

Peter’s bicycle has a wheel circumference of 96 cm (or 0.96 m). It is a three-speed bicycle with
a low, a middle and a high gear. The gear ratios of Peter’s bicycle are:

Low 3:1 Middle 6:5 High 1:2

How many pedal turns would Peter take to travel 960 m in middle gear? Show your work.

NOTE: A gear ratio of 3:1 means 3 complete pedal turns yields 1 complete wheel turn.

SCORING

Fully Correct

1,200 pedal turns, with a fully correct method. Note that the correct answer, even when no work
is shown, implies a fully correct method, and should be given full credit.

• 960 m requires 1,000 wheel turns, which corresponds to1,000 × 6/5 =1,200 pedal turns

Partially Correct

12 pedal turns, calculated by a correct method but without the correct conversion of units.
• 960 m requires 10 wheel turns (student forgot that distance in the table is given in cm),
which corresponds to 10 × 6/5 =12 pedal turns

Correct method but with other slight computational error or incomplete calculation.
• 3 pedal turns give 2.5 wheel turns, and 1 wheel turn = 0.96 meters, so 3 pedal turns = 2.4
meters. Therefore 960 m takes 400 pedal turns.
• 1,000 wheel turns are needed (960/0.96) to travel 960 m, so 833 pedal turns are required
in middle gear (5/6 of 1000). [The method is correct, but the ratio has been inverted.]
• 5 x 0.96 = 4.8, and 960/4.8 = 200. So 200 turns. Now 200/5 = 40 and 40 x 6 = 240. So,
240 pedal turns are required [A single error, the redundant first multiplication by 5, but an
otherwise correct method.]

Incorrect

Other responses.
• 96,000/5 = 19,200, and 19,200 × 6 = 115,200 pedal turns. [The wheel circumference has
not been taken into account.]

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 19%

U.S.: 12%

11
Mathematics Literacy

SEEING THE TOWER

Question 1: SEEING THE TOWER M833Q01

Question intent: Space and shape

In Figures 1 and 2 below, you see two drawings of the same tower. In Figure 1 you see three
faces of the roof of the tower. In Figure 2 you see four faces.

Figure 1 Figure 2

In the following diagram, the view of the roof of the tower, from above, is shown. Five positions
are shown on the diagram. Each is marked with a cross ( × ) and they are labeled P1 – P5.

From each of these positions, a person viewing the tower would be able to see a number of
faces of the roof of the tower.

P2
×
P1
×
P3
×

P5
×
P4
×

12
Mathematics Literacy

In the table below, circle the number of faces that could be seen from each of these positions.

Position Number of faces that could be seen

from that position

(circle the correct number)

P1 1 2 3 4 more than 4

P2 1 2 3 4 more than 4

P3 1 2 3 4 more than 4

P4 1 2 3 4 more than 4

P5 1 2 3 4 more than 4

SCORING

Correct

The following responses are circled for points P1-P5 respectively: 4, 3, 1, 2, 2

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2006:

OECD average: 30%

U.S.: 24%

13
Mathematics Literacy

CHARTS
In January, the new CDs of the bands 4U2Rock and The Kicking Kangaroos were released. In
February, the CDs of the bands No One’s Darling and The Metalfolkies followed. The following
graph shows the sales of the bands’ CDs from January to June.

Sales of CDs per month

2,250
Number of CDs sold per month

4U2Rock

2,000
The Kicking Kangaroos
1,750
No One’s Darling
1,500
The Metalfolkies
1,250

1,000

750

500

250

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Month

Question 1: CHARTS PM918Q01

Question intent: Uncertainty and data

How many CDs did the band The Metalfolkies sell in April?

A 250
B 500
C 1,000
D 1,270

14
Mathematics Literacy

SCORING

Correct

B. 500

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 87%

U.S.: 92%

15
Mathematics Literacy

Question 2: CHARTS PM918Q02

Question intent: Uncertainty and data

In which month did the band No One’s Darling sell more CDs than the band The Kicking
Kangaroos for the first time?

A No month
B March
C April
D May

SCORING

Correct

C. April

Incorrect

Other responses

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 80%

U.S.: 77%

16
Mathematics Literacy

Question 5: CHARTS PM918Q05

Question intent: Uncertainty and data

The manager of The Kicking Kangaroos is worried because the number of their CDs that sold
decreased from February to June.

What is the estimate of their sales volume for July if the same negative trend continues?

A 70 CDs
B 370 CDs
C 670 CDs
D 1,340 CDs

SCORING

Correct

B. 370 CDs

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 77%

U.S.: 77%

17
Mathematics Literacy

SAILING SHIPS
Ninety-five percent of world trade is moved by
© by skysails
sea, by roughly 50,000 tankers, bulk carriers
and container ships. Most of these ships use
diesel fuel.

Engineers are planning to develop wind

power support for ships. Their proposal is to
attach kite sails to ships and use the wind’s
power to help reduce diesel consumption and
the fuel’s impact on the environment.

Question 1: SAILING SHIPS PM923Q01

Question intent: Quantity

One advantage of using a kite sail is that it flies at a height of 150 m. There, the wind speed is
approximately 25% higher than down on the deck of the ship.

At what approximate speed does the wind blow into a kite sail when a wind speed of 24 km/h is
measured on the deck of the ship?

A 6 km/h
B 18 km/h
C 25 km/h
D 30 km/h
E 49 km/h

SCORING

Correct

D. 30 km/h

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 60%

U.S.: 50%

18
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: SAILING SHIPS PM923Q03

Question intent: Space and shape

Approximately what is the length of the rope for the kite sail, in order to pull the ship at an angle
of 45° and be at a vertical height of 150 m, as shown in the
diagram opposite?

A 173 m
B 212 m
C 285 m
D 300 m
Rope
150 m

45º 90º

Note: Drawing not to scale.

© by skysails

SCORING

Correct

B. 212 m

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 50%

U.S.: 44%

19
Mathematics Literacy

Question 4: SAILING SHIPS PM923Q04 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Change and relationships

Due to high diesel fuel costs of 0.42 zeds per liter, the owners of the ship NewWave are thinking
about equipping their ship with a kite sail.

It is estimated that a kite sail like this has the potential to reduce the diesel consumption by
about 20% overall.

Name: NewWave

Type: freighter

Length: 117 meters

Breadth: 18 meters

Load capacity: 12,000 tons

Maximum speed: 19 knots

Diesel consumption per year without a kite sail: approximately 3,500,000 liters

The cost of equipping the NewWave with a kite sail is 2,500,000 zeds.

After about how many years would the diesel fuel savings cover the cost of the kite sail? Give
calculations to support your answer.

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

Number of years: ...................................

20
Mathematics Literacy

SCORING

Correct

A solution from 8 to 9 years is provided with adequate (mathematical) calculations.

• Diesel consumption per year without a sail: 3.5 million liters, price 0.42 zed/liter,
costs for diesel without a sail 1,470,000 zeds. If 20% is saved with the sail this
results in a saving of 1,470,000 x 0.2 = 294,000 zeds per year. Thus: 2,500,000 /
294,000 ≈ 8.5, i.e.: After about 8 to 9 years, the sail becomes (financially)
worthwhile.

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 15%

U.S.: 12%

21
Mathematics Literacy

DRIP RATE
Intravenous drips are used to deliver fluids and drugs to patients.

Nurses need to calculate the drip rate, D, in drops per minute for intravenous drips.
dv
They use the formula D = where
60n

d is the drop factor measured in drops per milliliter (mL)

v is the volume in mL of the intravenous drip

n is the number of hours the intravenous drip is required to run.

22
Mathematics Literacy

Question 1: DRIP RATE PM903Q01 – 0 1 2 9

Question intent: Change and relationships

A nurse wants to double the time an intravenous drip runs for.

Describe precisely how D changes if n is doubled but d and v do not change.

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

SCORING

Fully Correct

Explanation describes both the direction of the effect and its size.
• It halves
• It is half
• D will be 50% smaller
• D will be half as big

Partially Correct

A response which correctly states EITHER the direction OR the size of the effect, but not BOTH.
• D gets smaller [no size]
• There’s a 50% change [no direction]
• D gets bigger by 50%. [incorrect direction but correct size]
Incorrect
Other responses.
• D will also double [Both the size and direction are incorrect.]

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 22%

U.S.: 19%

23
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: DRIP RATE PM903Q03 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Change and relationships

Nurses also need to calculate the volume of the intravenous drip, v, from the drip rate, D.

An intravenous drip with a drip rate of 50 drops per minute has to be given to a patient for 3
hours. For this intravenous drip the drop factor is 25 drops per milliliter.

What is the volume in mL of the intravenous drip?

Volume of the intravenous drip: ......................... mL

SCORING

Correct

360 or a correctly transposed and substituted solution.

• 360
• (60 × 3 × 50) ÷ 25 [Correct transposition and substitution.]

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 26%

U.S.: 30%

24
Mathematics Literacy

REVOLVING DOOR
A revolving door includes three wings which rotate within a circular space.
The inside diameter of this space is 2 meters (200 centimeters). The three door wings divide the
space into three equal sectors. The plan below shows the door wings in three different positions
viewed from the top.

Entrance

Wings

200 cm

Exit

Question 1: REVOLVING DOOR PM995Q01 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Space and shape

What is the size in degrees of the angle formed by two door wings?

Size of the angle: .................................. º

SCORING

Correct

120 [accept the equivalent reflex angle: 240].

Incorrect

Other responses.
Percentage of students answering
correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 58%

U.S.: 47%

25
Mathematics Literacy

Question 2: REVOLVING DOOR PM995Q02 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Space and shape

Possible air flow in

The two door openings (the dotted arcs in the diagram) are the same this position.
size. If these openings are too wide the revolving wings cannot provide a
sealed space and air could then flow freely between the entrance and
the exit, causing unwanted heat loss or gain. This is shown in the
diagram opposite.

What is the maximum arc length in centimeters (cm) that each door
opening can have, so that air never flows freely between the entrance
and the exit?

Maximum arc length: ................... cm

SCORING

Correct

Answers in the range from 103 to 105. [Accept answers calculated as 1/6th of the circumference
100π
( 3
). Also accept an answer of 100 only if it is clear that this response resulted from using π =
3. Note: Answer of 100 without supporting work could be obtained by a simple guess that it is
the same as the radius (length of a single wing).]

Incorrect

Other responses.

• 209 [states the total size of the openings rather than the size of “each” opening].

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 4%
U.S.: 2%

26
Mathematics Literacy

Question 3: REVOLVING DOOR PM995Q03

Question intent: Quantity

The door makes 4 complete rotations in a minute. There is room for a maximum of two people
in each of the three door sectors.

What is the maximum number of people that can enter the building through the door in 30
minutes?

A 60
B 180
C 240
D 720

SCORING

Correct

D. 720

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 46%

U.S.: 45%

27
Mathematics Literacy

APARTMENT PURCHASE
This is the plan of the apartment that George’s parents want to purchase from a real estate
agency.

Scale:
Kitchen 1 cm represents 1 m
Bathroom

Living room

Terrace

Bedroom

Question 1: APARTMENT PURCHASE PM00FQ01 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Space and shape

To estimate the total floor area of the apartment (including the terrace and the walls), you can
measure the size of each room, calculate the area of each one and add all the areas together.

However, there is a more efficient method to estimate the total floor area where you only need
to measure 4 lengths. Mark on the plan above the four lengths that are needed to estimate the
total floor area of the apartment.

28
Mathematics Literacy

SCORING

Correct

Has indicated the four dimensions needed to estimate the floor area of the apartment
on the plan. There are 9 possible solutions as shown in the diagrams below.

2
• A = (9.7m x 8.8m) – (2m x 4.4m), A = 76.56m [Clearly used only 4 lengths to measure and
calculate required area.]

Incorrect

Other responses.

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 45%

U.S.: 38%

29
Mathematics Literacy

SAUCE
Question 2: SAUCE PM924Q02 – 0 1 9

Question intent: Quantity

You are making your own dressing for a salad.

Here is a recipe for 100 milliliters (mL) of dressing.

Salad oil: 60 mL

Vinegar: 30 mL

Soy sauce: 10 mL

How many milliliters (mL) of salad oil do you need to make 150 mL of this dressing?

Answer: ……………….. mL

SCORING

Correct

90
• 60 + 30

Incorrect

Other responses.
• 1.5 times more

Percentage of students answering

correctly in PISA 2012:

OECD average: 64%

U.S.: 51%

30