Set B (AQA GCSE Biology): Exam Questions

Complete the sentence using the correct words from the box below.

You will not need to use every word from the box. 

A species is a group of similar _____________ that belong to the classification group below ___________. They can ____________ naturally with one another and produce _____________ offspring. 

Figure 1 shows a bald eagle, an iconic species in North America.

Figure 1

Which of A - D shows the correct way to write the bald eagle's binomial name? 

Seven levels of classification of organisms are shown in Table 1, in descending order of size.

Two of the group names have been placed in the wrong sequence.

Identify which two. 

Table 1

Name the biologist who gave his name to the system of classification referred to in Question 1c). 

Figure 1 shows a food chain in an ecosystem that has five different organisms occupying five trophic levels, A, B, C, D and E.

Figure 1

Name the type of organism not shown in the food chain in Figure 1 and explain the role it plays in an ecosystem.

Table 1 below shows the energy transferred to the next trophic level by each organism in one year.

Table 1

Explain why organism D transfers less energy to the next trophic level than organism A.

Explain why food chains rarely have more than five trophic levels.

Table 2 below, lists statements about either nerves or hormones.

Table 2

Complete the table by placing a tick (✔) for each statement, in the correct box that corresponds to either nerves or hormones.

Figure 1 shows the male endocrine system.

Figure 1

Structure X is often referred to as 'the master gland'.

Name structure X.

Why is structure X (in Figure 1) sometimes called the 'master gland'?

Blood glucose concentration is monitored and controlled by structure Y as shown in Figure 1.

Name structure Y.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body.

Every 30 minutes, 0.03 g of skin is lost. 

Calculate how many kg of skin is lost by the average human in 365 days.

Write your answer in standard form.

Name the type of cell division that occurs in the skin to replace those cells that are lost.

In the average adult human male, sperm are continually produced in the testicles by a process known as spermatogenesis.

Every second, around 1500 new sperm cells are made.

Calculate how many sperm cells are produced by an average adult male in 365 days.

Write your answer in standard form.

Compare the type of cell division that occurs in the testes with that that occurs in the skin.

Fish are the largest traded food commodity in the world, with over 3 billion people relying on fish as their main protein source.

There is a high level concern regarding the decline of fish stocks as a result of overfishing worldwide.

Many governments are trying to bring in measures to ensure that fishing is sustainable. 

Suggest what is meant by the term ‘sustainable fishing’.

Figure 2 shows an example of a food chain in the Atlantic Ocean.

Figure 2

Suggest the impact that would be caused by the extinction of cod in the Atlantic Ocean.

Describe and explain how different fishing techniques could be used to promote the recovery of fish stocks.

A group of students wanted to investigate gravitropism in bean seedling roots.

Figure 1 shows part of the set-up of their experiment.

Figure 1

This is part of the method they planned to use:

• Measure the length of the root of 5 bean seedlings

• Pin the 5 bean seedlings to a cork mat as shown in Apparatus A

• Place apparatus A in a dark cupboard for 3 days

• After 3 days, measure the length of the root in each seedling and make a drawing of each seedling

The students' teacher told them that their method was incomplete and that they needed to set up a control experiment (Apparatus B) for comparison.

Describe how a suitable control could be set up so that the students could improve their investigation.

Why was it important that the seedlings in the experiment were placed into a dark room?

The students carried out their experiment using 10 bean seedlings split across two sets of apparatus; Apparatus A and Apparatus B (the control).

The results of the student’s investigation are shown in Table 1 below. The table is incomplete.

Complete the table to calculate the mean change in length for the bean seedlings in Apparatus A and Apparatus B.

Table 1

Figure 2 shows the appearance of the seedlings at the end of the 3 days.

Figure 2

A plant hormone, made in the tip of the root, diffuses from the tip into the tissues of the root.

Explain how the hormone causes the appearance of the seedlings in Figure 2. 

You should refer to both seedlings A and B in your answer.

Fossils are vitally important for providing us with evidence of how different organisms have changed over time.

Figure 1 shows a representation of fossil records indicating how a prehistoric aquatic limbed animal (Ichthyostega) may have evolved from an earlier finned ancestor (Eusthenopteron).

Figure 1

From studying fossils, scientists believe that life on Earth began around 3 billion years ago.

Our understanding of the earliest forms of life however is lacking as the fossil record is incomplete.

Explain why.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in Italy in 79 AD, many people died in the settlements surrounding the volcano as a result of the release of molten rock and hot ash.

Many victims of the eruption were well preserved and body forms have been excavated by archaeologists.

Explain how and why humans were so well preserved after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. 

The intertidal zone is the area along a coast which is underwater at high tide and above water (exposed) when the tide is low.

A group of students on a field trip in Asia wanted to investigate the distribution of two species of seaweed (C. racemosa and C. microphysa) along a rocky shore to establish whether they could live at certain positions. 

Seaweeds are multicellular algae that produce glucose. 

Describe the role that seaweeds play in an ecosystem as producers.

Describe and explain a method that the students could use to investigate the distribution of the two species of seaweed along the rocky shore using a quadrat and a tape measure. 

You should explain how the students would collect valid data.

How could the students alter their method if they wanted to investigate the abundance of each type of seaweed along the coastline by measuring percentage cover?

Another group of students carried out the same investigation the year before.

Their results are shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1

Suggest and explain a conclusion that the students could draw from their results using information from Figure 1.

The Bering Strait is a narrow passage of the Pacific Ocean that separates Asia from North America.

At its narrowest, the strait is 82 km across.

It is generally accepted that when sea levels were lower in the past, a ‘land-bridge’ in the strait was exposed, allowing animals to migrate from Asia to North America, and vice versa. When sea levels rose, the land-bridge disappeared.

Explain how the emergence and disappearance of a land-bridge could have fuelled speciation.

Even though nylon wasn't invented until the 1940s, bacteria were soon isolated that could degrade nylon.

The bacterium Paenarthrobacter ureafaciens has special enzymes that allow it to metabolise nylon and use it as a sole energy source.

This is a very simple example of natural selection.

Describe how organisms can evolve through the process of natural selection.