Chapter 15

Variation
 CHAPTER 15 : VARIATION
SECTION A

1. Figure 1 shows a result a student after investigating variation in human.

FIGURE 1

Which of the following characteristics is X ?

A. Body weight
B. Height
C. Ability to roll the tongue
D. Inteligence

2. The graph in the Figure 2 shows the height distribution of students in a school.

FIGURE 2

Which of the following statements describes the graph ?

A. The height of students is a discontinuous variation.
B. Variation shown by the graph represents qualitative values.
C. There is no intermediate values among the individuals.

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 D. The graph shows normal distribution.
3. Figure 3 shows two types of graph, X and Y.

FIGURE 3

Which of the following characteristic listed below can be represented

by graphs X and Y respectively ?

X Y
A Body weight Height
B cleverness Ability to roll
tongue
C Finger print Height
pattern
D Blood group Ability to roll
tongue

4. Figure 4 shows a bar chart for the traits shown by a group of people.

FIGURE 4

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 Which of the following are variations that could produce a bar chart such as the one in
diagram.
l. ABO blood group
ll. ability to roll the tongue
lll. fingerprints
lV. height
A. l and lll
B. ll, and lV
C. l, ll and lll
D. ll, lll and lV

5. Which of the following is the correct meaning of variation.

A. The varieties of plant species.
B. The varieties of animal species.
C. The similarities and differences found among individual of the same spesies.
D. The similarities and differences found among individual of different spesies.

6. What are the benefits of variation to the organisms ?

l. produces new spesies or variety of organism.
ll. produces organisms with the same characteristics
lll. allows the organism to adapt in the enviroment.
A. l and ll
B. l and lll
C. ll and lll
D. l, ll and lll

7. Which of the following variations are affected by enviromental factors ?

I inteligence
II. ability to sing
lll. blood group
lV. Fingerprint
A. l and ll
B. lll and lV
C. l, lll and lV

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 D. l, ll, lll and lV

8. Factors that cause variation are..

l. genetic content
ll. light intensity
lll. random combinations of chromosomes during meiosis
lV. Nutrition
A. l, ll and lll
B. l, ll and lV
C. l, lll and lV
D. l, ll, lll and lV

9. Which of the following characteristics is not influenced by enviromental factors ?

A. Skin colour
B. Height
C. Body weight
D. Finger prints

10. Which of the following statements is true about discontinuous variation ?

A. it’s a quantitative variation
B. Exibits a continuous series will all possible gradation in between.
C. It is influenced by enviromental factors
D. It does not show clear differences from one group to another.

11. Figure 5 shows a normal distribution graph of the height of a class of students.

FIGURE 5
Which of the following statements is true about the graph ?
l. Height of students is a discontinuous variation.
ll. Height is influenced by enviromental factors.

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 lll. There is continuous gradation between one group of heights to the next
lV. Each student show a clear distinction in height.

A. l and ll
B. ll and lll
C. l and lll
D. l and lV

12. Figure 6 shows an example of variation among the pupils in a class.

FIGURE 6
Another example of the same type of variation is …
A. body weight
B. blood group
C. type of ear lobe
D. the ability to roll the tongue

13. Which of the following play important roles in variation.?

l. Sexual reproduction
ll. Meiosis
lll. Mitosis
lV. Enviromental factors.
A. l , ll and lll
B. ll , lll and lV
C. l, ll and lV only
D. l, ll , lll and lV

14. Which of the following variation is caused by the interaction between

genetic factors and enviromental factors
A. Eye colour
B. Skin colour
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 C. Colour blindness
D. Hair colour

15. The sources of variation due to genetic factors are

l. food diet
ll. chemical mutagen
lll. crossing over during meiosis
A. l and lV
B. ll and lll
C. l, ll and lll
D. ll, lll and lV

16. Variation that can be inherited are caused by..

l. meiosis
ll. recombination
lll. mutation
lV. enviroment
A. l and lll
B. lll and lV
C. l, ll and lll
D. l, lll and lV

17. Continuous variation is usually caused by factors such as..

l. temperature
ll. chemical mutagen
lll. light
lV. food diet
A. l and ll
B. lll and lV
C. l, lll and lV
D. ll only

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18. Figure 7 shows the percentages of a human population with different ability to roll the
tongue and the percentages of pea plant seed population with green colour and yellow
colour.

FIGURE 7
Which type of variations is shown in each population ?

Humans Pea plants

A Discontinuous Continuous variation

variation
B Continuous variation Continuous variation

C Discontinuous Discontinuous
variation variation
D Continuous variation Discontinuous
variation

19. Figure 8 shows Lily has natural curly hair while Mei Ching has straight hair.

FIGURE 8
Which of the following are true about the phenotypes shown in the Figure 8 ?
l. it shows discontinuous variation
ll. the variation is normally controlled by a single gene.
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 lll. the enviroment plays a minimal role in this type of variation.
lV. the variation can be inherited.

A. l and II
B. ll and lV
C. l, ll and lV
D. ll, lll and lV

20. Which of the following characteristics is caused by the interaction of genetic and
enviromental factors ?
A. rolling of tongue
B. attachment of ear lobes
C. body weight
D. blood group

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 SECTION B

1. The presence of dimples in a human is controlled by pair of alleles.

Table 1 shows the result obtained from an activity to investigate the presence of
dimples among a group of students.

Characteristic Number of students

Presence of dimples 4
Absence of dimples 28

TABLE 1

(a) (i). State one factor that causes variation among the students.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

[ 1 mark ]

(ii). State how the factor mentioned in (a) (i) causes variation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

[ 2 marks ]

(b) (i). Sketch a graph of the number of students against the characteristic of the presence
or absence of dimples.

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 [ 2 marks ]

(ii). What is the type of variation shown ?

...................................................................................................................................
[ 1 mark ]

(iii). Give two reasons for your answer in (b) (ii).

………………………………………………………………………………………………...

………………………………………………………………………………………………...

[ 2 marks ]
(c) . State two traits other than the presence of dimples that exhibit the same variation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

[ 1 mark ]

(d) Figure 1 shows the graph obtained from a study on the heights of students.

FIGURE 1

Compare the differences between the graph in Figure 1 with the graph in (b) (i)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………...

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 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………...

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. A group of students collected earthworms from the school garden. The length of each
earthworm is recorded Table 2.

Lengths of earthworms (mm)

50 61 66 70 55 62 58 64 63 63

70 54 66 70 57 66 58 61 63 62

73 52 54 66 81 68 59 58 63 67

77 60 55 69 72 61 65 65 77 65

74 75 67 68 73 71

TABLE 2

(a) (i). Fill the number of earthworms according to the following range of measurement in
Table 3.

Length (mm) 50- 53 54-57 58-62 62-65 66-69 70-73 74-77 78-81
Number of
earthworms 2 1

TABLE 3

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 (ii). Draw a histogram based on your answer in (a) (i).

[ 3 marks ]

(iii). Join the mid-point of the top of the bars in the histogram drawn in (a)(ii).
[ 1 mark ]

(b) (i). What type of variation is shown by the graph drawn in (a)(ii) ?

………………………………………………………………………………………..
[ 1 mark ]

(ii). State one characteristic of the variation mentioned in (b) (i).

………………………………………………………………………………………..
[ 1 mark ]

(iii). State two trait other than the lengths of earthworms that show the same type of
variation.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

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 ……………………………………………………………………………………….
[ 1 mark ]

3. Figure 2 shows the bar graph that represents two types of variation
among student in a class.

FIGURE 2

(a). Write the defination for variation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
[ 1 mark ]

(b). State two factors of variation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
[ 2 marks ]

(c). What type of variation is shown in Figure (i) and Figure (ii).

i. …………………………………………………………………………………………….

ii. …………………………………………………………………………………………….
[ 2 marks ]

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(d). List two differences between the two types of variation shown in the figure above.

i. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………

ii. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….

[ 2 marks ]

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 SECTION C

1. Figure 1 shows various types of thumbprints

FIGURE 1

(a) (i). Explain the type of variation shown.

[ 6 marks ]

(ii) Compare the variation shown in Figure 1 with the type of variation shown by the
body mass.
[ 6 marks ]

(b). Two parents who are both thin and are able to roll their tongues have a son who is fat
and is able to roll his tongue. Explain how this happen.
[ 8 marks ]

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 MARK SCHEME
SECTION A

NO ANSWERS NO ANSWERS
1 C 13 C
2 D 14 B
3 B 15 B
4 C 16 C
5 C 17 C
6 B 18 C
7 A 19 C
8 D 20 C
9 D
10 A
11 B
12 A

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 SECTION B

1. (a) (i). Genetic factor [ 1 mark ]

(ii). Various alingnment of homologous chromosomes during metaphase together with

crossing over during prophase 1 produce different combination of alleles in
gametes. [ 2 marks ]

(b) (i).

[ 2 marks ]

(ii). Discontinuous variation. [ 1 mark ]

(iii). No intermediate values among individuals , discrete distribution. [ 2 marks ]

(c). Thumbprints, blood group. [ 1 mark ]

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 (d). The graph of the heights of students shows normal distribution whereas the graph of the
presence of dimples shows discrete distribution.
There are no intermediate values in the graph of the characteristic of dimples whereas
there no clear cut values for the range of values of student height.
[ 2 marks ]

2. (a) (i).

[ 2 marks ]

(ii) [ 3 marks ] for histogram

(iii) [ 1 mark ] for join the mid-point

(b).(i). Continuous variation. [ 1 mark ]

(ii). There are intermediate values. [ 1 mark ]

(iii). Mass of earthworms, size of earthworms. [ 1 mark ]

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3. (a). Difference in charactristic between individuals from the same spesies. [ 1 mark ]

(b). Enviromental factor and genetic factor. [ 1 mark ]

(c). (i). Continuous variation [ 1 mark ]

(ii). Discontinuous variation [ 1 mark ]

(d) (i). Continuous variation shows vague differences in the characteristic , while
discontinuous variation shows clear differences in the characteristic. [ 1 mark ]

(ii). Continuous variation has intermediate values, while discontinuous variation has no
intermediate values between the two extreme groups. [ 1 mark ]

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 SECTION C

1. (a). (i). - continuous variation

- constrasting features
- no intermediate value
- caused by genetic factors
- can be herited
- discrete distribution [ 6 marks ]

(ii).
Body mass
- continuous variation
- feature change gradually
- caused by genetic factor and
affected by enviromental factor
- Cannot be in herited if characteristic
affected by enviromental factor.
- graph shown normal distribution.
- intermediate values
Thumbprints
- discontinuous variation
- contrasting features
- caused by genetic factor
- can be inherited
- Graph shows discrete distribution
- no intermediate values

[ 6 marks ]

(b). - Thin parents can have a fat son even though the son inherits genes for thinness
from his parent.
- body size is affected by enviromental factors
- continuous variation

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- due to diet, the size of body changes
- the ability to roll the tongue is determined by genetic factors.
- alleles for the ability to roll the tongue can be inherited.
- genes for the characteristic is dominant
- hence, the son can roll his tongue.
[ 8 marks ]

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