A2 Biology assignment

Unit-4

1. DNA fingerprinting can be used to test the possibility of a man being the father of certain children.

The diagram below shows the DNA fingerprints of a mother (P) and her two sons (S1 and S2). The DNA
fingerprint of the man (Q), whom the mother claimed to be the father of the two boys, is also shown.
P S1 S2 Q

(a) Explain what the DNA fingerprints indicate about the possible relationship of the man to the two boys.

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(b)Explain why the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is often used in DNA fingerprinting.

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2. Extracts from the bark of a South American tree have been used as a treatment for tooth decay for many
years. To test whether the extract could be an effective antibiotic, the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in
the presence of the extract was studied.

(a) Describe a technique that you could use to measure the effects of an antibiotic on the growth of
bacteria.

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(b) Explain why there is a need to continue searching for new antibiotics.

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(c) Suggest a reason for testing the effect of the extract on mammalian cells.

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(d)The study involved counting the number of living Mycobacterium cells after growth in a range of
concentrations of the extract. The results are shown in the graph below.

L iv in g
M y c o b a c te r iu m
t u b e rc u l o s i s
/ c e l ls m 3

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C o n c e n t r a ti o n o f e x tr a c t / m g d m 3
In order to compare the effectiveness of the extract with other antibiotics, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
was calculated. This is the minimum concentration that will reduce bacterial growth by 90%.
(i) Use the information in the graph to find the MIC for this extract. Show your working.

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(ii) Explain why this extract would not make an effective antibiotic against Mycobacterium.

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(Total 12 marks)
3. Mycobacterium bovis is a bacterium which can be injected into the body to stimulate active immunity
against tuberculosis (TB). This is known as the BCG vaccine. TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
a bacterium that is closely related to M. bovis.
(a) Explain what is meant by active immunity.

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(b) Describe the role of B cells in active immunity.

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Another common bacterium, Mycobacterium fortuitum is harmless and often found in soil. In a
study to compare the effects of different Mycobacterium species, mice were infected with
Mycobacterium as shown in the diagram opposite. Enough time was allowed between injections for
an immune response to develop.
 Bacterium species Treatment A Treatment B Treatment C
injected

M. fortuitum

M. bovis

M. tuberculosis

Mouse dies of TB Mouse survives Mouse dies of TB

(c)Explain why the mouse died of TB after treatment A, but the mouse used for treatment B did not die of TB.

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(d) The BCG vaccine needs the M. bovis cells to grow and divide in order to provide protection. Suggest
reasons why the BCG vaccine in treatment C failed to protect the mouse against TB.

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(e) M. fortuitum often infects wounds in young children. Suggest one possible consequence of this in
later life.

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(Total 12 marks)
4.Lichens are organisms that can grow on tree trunks. The abundance of lichens as the distance from the ground
increases can be investigated by using a belt transect along the trunk. A suitable size quadrat is used and placed along
the north facing side of a tree trunk at regular distances of 0.5m from the ground upwards.

(a) Describe how the abundance of lichens can be estimated within each quadrat.

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b. Suggest the advantage of repeating the experiment on more than one tree.

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c.i. Give two ways in which you ensured that the data you collected for each tree was comparable.

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ii. Explain two ways in which variation in the bark could account for variation in abundance of the lichens that you
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d. The number of quadrats you used may have affected the reliability of the data you collected.

Explain one other way in which the method you used might have affected the reliability of the data you collected.

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5A person suspected of being exposed to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) may have their blood tested to
check for infection. Some tests determine whether antibodies which act against the virus proteins are present in
the blood.

(a)Explain how the presence of HIV proteins in the body results in the production of specific antibodies.

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(b) The graph below shows the change in the numbers of T helper cells in a person infected with HIV.
 900 –

800 –

T helper cells 700 –

/ number per
mm blood 600 –

500 –

400 –

300 –

200 –

100 –

0–

–
–
–

–
–
–

1 2 3 4 5 6 – 7 8 9 10 11 12
Time since infection / years

3
T helper cells are needed for all immune responses. Fewer than 200 cells per mm prevents an effective
immune response.

Use the information in the graph to describe how HIV infection is likely to affect this individual’s
health.

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6.(a) Edward Jenner pioneered vaccination in Britain. He based his experimental work on the folk-lore that milkmaids
who had contracted cowpox, a mild viral infection caught from infected cows, did not then contract smallpox.

Jenner deliberately infected an eight year old boy with material from a cowpox sore. After becoming ill with cowpox,
the boy recovered. Jenner then infected him with smallpox and the boy was protected so did not become ill. Despite
criticism from the scientific community, this type of vaccination became compulsory in 1853.

(i) Explain why catching cowpox gave protection against smallpox.

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(ii) Comment on the methods, including the ethical aspects that Jenner used when carrying out his pioneering work.

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(b) During the winter months, many elderly and ‘at risk’ patients become very ill with pneumonia (caused by
Streptococcus pneumoniae) and also influenza. The National Health Service in Wales recommends that these patients
should be protected from these diseases by vaccination.

• Vaccine against influenza needs to be given each year.

• Vaccine against pneumonia protects against 96% of the causes of pneumonia and needs only to be given once in a
person’s lifetime.

Explain why vaccination programmes for influenza and pneumonia are different.

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7. A group of students used randomly placed 0.25 m2 quadrats to analyse the distribution of plant
species in an area of chalk grassland. The data they recorded on two particular species, yarrow,
Achillea millefolium, and salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor, is shown in Table 7.1.

number of individual plants per quadrat

quadrat yarrow salad burnet

1 3 0
2 2 0
3 0 6
4 4 7
5 3 0
6 2 5
7 5 5
8 2 0
9 3 8
10 6 0
11 0 3
12 0 6
13 2 4
14 1 0
15 5 4
16 4 7
17 3 0
18 1 6
19 0 8
20 4 0
Table:7.1

(a) Explain how the students would have determined the most suitable size of quadrat to use in this investigation.

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(b) State which of the two plants shows the highest species frequency. Explain your reasoning.

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(c) Calculate the mean number of salad burnet plants per square metre.

Show your working.

number of plants = ......................................................m2 [2]

The students also investigated the quality of the soil in the area, by determining the percentage of water and organic
matter, including humus.

(d) Describe how they would have determined,

(i) the percentage of water;

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2 Proteomics can be used to study gene expression and to analyse the structure of proteins.

(a) Describe the structure of proteins.

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(b) The diagram below shows some of the steps involved in proteomics.

The analysis uses gel electrophoresis and immunoassays. Immunoassays identify protein fragments using
antibodies.

(i) Enzymes can be used to produce protein fragments from the isolated protein.

Put a cross in the box next to the description that completes the following statement.

Enzymes are (1)

 A fibrous proteins that decrease activation energy
B fibrous proteins that increase activation energy
C globular proteins that decrease activation energy
D globular proteins that increase activation energy
(ii) Enzymes digest proteins into fragments using

A condensation reactions
B esterification reactions
C hydrolysis reactions
D polymerisation reactions

(iii) Using your knowledge of gel electrophoresis in the analysis of DNA, suggest how gel electrophoresis could be
used to analyse the protein.

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(iv) Immunoassays use antibodies to identify the protein fragments.

Suggest why antibodies are suitable molecules for identifying protein fragments.

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(c) Gene expression can be analysed by isolating and studying mRNA.

However, the structure and number of mRNA molecules do not always correspond to the proteins in the cell.

Suggest why the mRNA molecules do not always correspond to the proteins in the cell.

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9. (a) Explain the term net primary production.

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(b)An area of deciduous forest in North America was destroyed by fire in order to create new farmland. Within a few
years the land was abandoned. The graph below shows the change in the net primary production of the land and
plant biomass over a period of 160 years, from the time the farmland was abandoned.

Net primary 40
production Plant biomass
/ kg dry mass Plant biomass
35 / kg dry mass m –2
m –2 year –1
Net primary
1.2 production 30

1.0 25

0.8 20

0.6 15

0.4 10

0.2 5

0 0
0 20
60 40
80 100 120 140 160
Time / years
(i)Once the land was abandoned, succession took place. Describe the changes that you would have expected to occur
over the 160 years.

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(ii)Calculate the percentage increase in biomass between 40 and 100 years.

Show your working.
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(iii)The units of plant biomass are kg dry mass m –2. Explain why it would be more informative to have determined the
energy content of the plants.

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(iv)Suggest why the biomass continued to increase over the 160 year period but the net primary production l evelled
off after 40 years.

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(Total 9marks)
 Unit-5
1.Researchers investigated whether the blood supply to slow and fast muscle fibres in a muscle changes with age.
They used diaphragms taken from hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). The diaphragm is in constant use for breathing.
They took diaphragms from groups of young, adult and old hamsters.

They removed the diaphragm from each animal and took a sample of muscle tissue.They examined it under an optical
(light) microscope. For each sample they selected several fields of view at random. In each field of view, they then
counted the number of capillaries associated with each type of muscle fibre.

This allowed the researchers to calculate the mean number of capillaries for each type of muscle fibre, for each age
group. The table below shows the researchers’ results which include standard deviation (SD).

(a) Give four precautions that the researchers took to make their calculations of mean number of capillaries per
fibre reliable.

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(b) The researchers examined the muscle of an animal in the old age group. They found one field of view containing
only slow muscle fibres. They counted 69 capillaries in this field of view.

(i) Use a calculation to estimate how many slow muscle fibres were visible in this field of view. Show your working.(2)

Number of slow muscle fibres = ____________________

(ii) The actual number of slow muscle fibres in the field of view was not the same as the number you calculated in
question (i). Give one reason why.

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(c) A student read the report of the researchers’ investigation. She thought that the investigation was unethical but
that a conclusion could still be made.

(i) Suggest why she thought the investigation was unethical.

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(ii) She concluded that age had a significant effect on the mean number of capillaries per fibre.

Evaluate this conclusion.

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 2. The diagram below shows part of a metabolic pathway which occurs in mitochondria.

cis-aconitate isocitrate oxalosuccinate

NAD+ NADH + H +

(a) Explain what is meant by the term metabolic pathway.

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+
(b)Suggest what happens to the NADH + H formed during the conversion of isocitrate to oxalosuccinate.

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(c) The conversion of cis-aconitate to isocitrate is catalysed by the enzyme aconitase. The leaves of some plants contain a
substance called fluoroacetate. If this is eaten by animals, it is absorbed into their cells where it is converted to
fluorocitrate. Fluorocitrate is an inhibitor of the enzyme aconitase.
Suggest what effect fluorocitrate would have on the production of ATP by mitochondria. Give an explanation for your
answer.

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3. Tachycardia is a heart condition in which the heart beats very rapidly, even when the patient is at rest. The diagram
below shows part of two electrocardiograms (ECGs), one from a person with a normal heart beat and one from a
patient with tachycardia.

(a) Describe the normal electrical activity that occurs in the heart during one complete heart beat.

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(b) Calculate the heart rate of the person with a normal heart beat, using the information in the ECG. Show your
working.(2)

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(c) Compare the ECG of the person with a normal heartbeat with the ECG of the patient with tachycardia.

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(d) Suggest what effects tachycardia could have on cardiac output. Explain your answer.

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4. The graph below shows the effect of light intensity on the area of the pupil in the human eye.

4
Pupil area
/ mm 2 3

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Light intensity / arbitrary units
(a)(i)Describe the effect of changing light intensity on the area of the pupil.

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(ii) Explain how the muscles in the eye bring about this change.

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(b) Change in area of the pupil is controlled by a reflex action. In this pupil reflex, name(2)

(i) the receptor.........................................................................................................................

the effector.........................................................................................................................
(ii) Explain why the pupil reflex still occurs in an unconscious person.

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(c) Atropine is used to dilate the pupil to allow the eye to be examined more easily.
Atropine inhibits the activity of acetylcholine. Suggest how atropine causes this inhibition.

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(d) The diagram shows a light sensitive cell from the eye. The activity of the cell in the dark is shown.
Dark
Rhodopsin pigment

Outer
segment
Sodium
(Na + ) ions
Inner
segment

Synapse Neurotransmitter released

Bipolar cell inhibited

Using the above diagram and your own knowledge, explain how light causes the depolarisation of the bipolar cell.

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5.The human brain has many different neurotransmitters which influence behaviour. One of these neurotransmitters is
serotonin. A lack of serotonin in the brain can cause depression and an excess cancause anxiety. Drugs that increase
levels of serotonin are used as antidepressants.
The diagram below shows a synapse in which serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter.
presynaptic postsynaptic
membrane membrane

synaptic
cleft

Serotonin
synthesis

Vesicle containing
serotonin

Key
Serotonin postsynaptic receptor

Serotonin re-uptake mechanism

Serotonin
(a) In sufferers of depression the levels of serotonin are reduced. Using the diagram above, suggest one explanation for
low serotonin levels.

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(b) Use the diagram and your own knowledge of synaptic transmission to explain how information is transmitted across a
synapse.

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(c)Using the information given, suggest and explain two ways antidepressants work.

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(d) The drug known as ecstasy (MDMA) can cause anxiety. The diagram below represents an ecstasy molecule. Using
your knowledge and the diagrams provided suggest how ecstasy may have this effect.

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6. Sea slugs are marine invertebrates with gills for gas exchange on their body surface. A sea slug is able to withdraw
its gill when touched. In an investigation into this response, the gill was touched and the time taken for the gill to be
exposed again after withdrawal was measured. This was repeated at half-minute intervals. The table below shows the
results of this investigation.
(a) Describe the effect of repeated touching on the time taken for the gill to be exposed again.

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(b) Name the type of learning shown by a sea slug in this investigation.

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(c) Explain how this learned response may be of benefit to the sea slug in its natural environment.

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(Total 8 marks)
7.Krabbe disease is an inherited condition caused by a mutation of the GALC gene. The neurones in people with
Krabbe disease gradually lose their myelin sheaths. Galactosylceramidase is an enzyme involved in maintaining the
myelin sheath in neurones.

The dominant allele of the GALC gene is involved in the synthesis of galactosylceramidase.

(a) Describe how the GALC gene is transcribed in the synthesis of galactosylceramidase.

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(b) Suggest how the transmission of a nerve impulse is affected by Krabbe disease.

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(c) Krabbe disease can affect the function of different parts of the brain.

Complete the table by naming the part of the brain most likely to be affected by Krabbe disease. (2)

(d) Explain why two healthy parents can produce a child with Krabbe disease.

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(Total 10 marks)

8 Ventilation of the lungs is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms.

Six students carried out an investigation to compare the longest time they could hold their breath at rest, after
exercise and after breathing in and out deeply three times.

The table below shows the mean results with standard deviations from the investigation.
(a) Comment on the reliability of this investigation and data.

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*(b) Use your knowledge of the control of ventilation to explain these results.

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(c) An investigation was carried out into the effect of smoking on ventilation.

A group of smokers and a group of non-smokers were asked to breathe in as fully as possible and then breathe out
as fully as possible into a spirometer.

The graph below shows the results of this investigation.

(ii) Use the information in the graph to compare the results of the non-smokers with those of the smokers.

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(Total 10 marks)
 Unit-6

1 Many scientists are concerned about the effect climate change could have on the development of organisms.
Climate change could have an effect on the yield of many important farmed foods, such as maize, wheat, rice and
fish.

(a) Describe an experiment to investigate the effect of temperature (the independent variable) on the development of
organisms such as brine shrimps. Include details of a suitable dependent variable.

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(b) (i) State two variables, other than temperature, which could affect this investigation.

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 (ii) Choose one of the variables from (i). Suggest how this variable could have been controlled. Describe what effect
it could have had on the results if it had not been controlled.

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(c) Some plants are adapted to live in low environmental temperatures. When the environmental temperature
increases the gross primary productivity increases, but the net primary productivity decreases. This may cause the
yield of some crops to decrease.
Explain why an increase in environmental temperature causes the yield of some crops to decrease.

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(Total marks=15)
2.Whilst investigating the distribution of plants on coastal sand dunes, a student noticed that reeds only seemed to
grow in the low-lying areas where the soil was wet. He formed the hypothesis that the number of reeds growing in the
area increased as the water content of the soil increased.

To test his hypothesis, he selected an area of wet soil where there were many reeds growing. Using a 0.25 m2
quadrat, he laid out a belt transect from this area into the surrounding drier soil. He placed 8 quadrats along the
transect and counted the number of separate reed plants in each quadrat. He also took a small sample of soil from
exactly the same depth from the centre of each quadrat. To find the water content, he weighed each soil sample, then
dried it in an oven and reweighed it. An extract from his field records is shown below.

(a) Calculate the percentage water content of each of the soil samples. Then prepare a table and organise the data in
a suitable way so that the percentage water content of the soil can be related to the number of reed plants. (4)
(b) Use the data in your table to present the information in a suitable graphical form.(4)

(c) To test the relationship between soil water content and the number of reed plants, the student used a rank
correlation coefficient.
(d) The critical value of rs at p = 0.05 for this investigation is 0.738. Using your calculated value of rs, what
conclusion concerning the relationship between soil water and number of reed plants can be drawn from this
investigation?

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3.A student observed honeybees that were visiting flowers to collect nectar (a sugary product from flowers). He
noticed that they showed a preference for collecting nectar from flowers of a particular colour.
Design an investigation, which you could personally carry out in the laboratory or field, to test the hypothesis that
when collecting nectar, honeybees are able to recognise colour.

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(b) Suggestions for preliminary work that you might undertake to ensure your proposed method would provide
meaningful data.

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(c) A detailed method explaining exactly how you would carry out this investigation and how important variables are
to be controlled or monitored.

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(d) A clear explanation of how your data is to be analysed in order to make conclusions concerning this hypothesis.

(e) The limitations of your proposed method.

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