Q1.

Potatoes have just been planted in a field.

The rows of potatoes are covered with clear plastic strip.

(a) (i) The potatoes were planted in winter.

How will the plastic strips help the potatoes to start to grow?

................................................................................................................
1 mark

(ii) Complete the sentences below with words from the list.

air heat light water

The plastic strips covering the growing potato plants must be

clear so the leaves will get enough ..........................................

The potato plants grow well because the gaps between the plastic

strips will let ...................................... and ......................................

get into the soil.

3 marks

(b) The plastic strips break down naturally after a few weeks.

Suggest why it is useful that the plastic strips break down naturally.

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

................................................................................................................
1 mark

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 (c) Aphids are insects that feed on potato leaves.

Aphids and potato plants are part of the food chain shown below.

not to scale

(i) Some farmers put ladybirds on their potato plants to get rid of aphids.

How do ladybirds get rid of aphids?

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

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

(ii) What else could farmers use to get rid of aphids?

Tick the correct box.

fertiliser insecticide

slug pellets weedkiller

2 marks
maximum 7 marks

Q2.
Joe bought a potted plant. He kept it well watered but some of the leaves turned
yellow.

Joe thought that the plant did not have enough light for photosynthesis. He moved the
plant closer to the window but more leaves turned yellow.

(a) He then thought that the plant did not have enough minerals.

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 The table below gives information about minerals.

mineral why the mineral is

needed
magnesium to make chlorophyll

nitrogen to make protein

phosphorus to grow and transfer
energy
potassium to make fruit

(i) Joe’s plant did not have enough of one of the minerals in the table.
Use the information in the table to suggest which mineral this was.

.............................................................
1 mark

(ii) A plant growing in a pot is more likely to be affected by a shortage of

minerals than a plant growing in a garden.
Give the reason for this.

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

...............................................................................................................
1 mark

(b) Joe bought some fertiliser for his plant.

The names and formulae of four different fertilisers are shown below.

(i) Give the letter of one box of fertiliser, A, B, C or D, that would provide each
of the minerals in the table below.
Write the letters in the table.

mineral letter of fertiliser

magnesium

nitrogen

phosphorus

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 potassium
3 marks

(ii) Easy Grow is ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3.

How many different elements are present in ammonium nitrate?

.............
1 mark

(iii) How many atoms are present in the formula of ammonium nitrate?

.............
1 mark
maximum 7 marks

Q3.
(a) Plants need nitrogen compounds for growth.
Give the name of the type of plant cell that absorbs water and nitrogen compounds
from the soil.

...........................................................
1 mark

(b) The photograph shows a pitcher plant.

Pitcher plants get nitrogen compounds from insects.
They digest insects in leaves shaped like containers called pitchers.

In the bottom of the pitcher there is a liquid. Insects are attracted to the plant. They
fall into the liquid.

The inner surface of the pitcher is very smooth and slippery with downward pointing
hairs as shown below.

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 Suggest the function of the smooth, slippery surface with downward pointing hairs.

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

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) There are useful bactieria living in the liquid. They produce enzymes to help digest
the insects.
Both the bacteria and the pitcher plant absorb some of the products of digestion.

How does the number of insects that fall into the liquid affect the number ot these
useful bacteria?

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

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(d) Pitcher plants also have ordinary green leaves where photosynthesis takes place.

(i) Complete the word equation for photosynthesis.

........................................ + water → glucose + ............................................

2 marks

(ii) Glucose is a carbohydrate.

Why are carbohydrates needed by living things?

Tick the correct box.

to provide energy to provide liquid

to provide immunity to provide minerals

1 mark
maximum 6 marks

Q4.

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The diagram below shows a plant cell.

(a) In which part of a plant would you find this type of cell?

........................................................
1 mark

(b) (i) Give the function of the nucleus.

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

...............................................................................................................
1 mark

(ii) Give the function of the chloroplasts.

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

...............................................................................................................
1 mark

(iii) Give the function of the cell wall.

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

...............................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) Give the names of two labelled parts that are not present in animal cells.

1. .............................................................

2. .............................................................
2 marks

(d) Tick one box in each row to show whether the statement is true for
photosynthesis or for respiration.

statement photosynthesis respiration

carbon dioxide is produced

light is needed

it occurs in plants and animals

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 oxygen is produced
2 marks
maximum 8 marks

Q5.
Suzi investigated how temperature affects the number of bubbles produced by
waterweed in one minute.

She set up the experiment as shown below.

When the temperature of the water was 10°C the waterweed did not produce bubbles.

(a) Suzi increased the temperature of the water in the water-bath to 20°C.
The waterweed started to produce bubbles.
She waited two minutes before starting to count the bubbles.

Explain why she waited for two minutes before she started to count the bubbles.

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

......................................................................................................................
1 mark

(b) Suzi counted the number of bubbles produced at six different temperatures.

Her results are shown on the graph below.

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 (i) Draw a smooth curve on the graph.
1 mark

(ii) Use your curve to find the temperature of water which produced the most
bubbles per minute.

..............°C
1 mark

(c) Suzi predicted that the higher the temperature the more bubbles would be
produced.

Which points on the graph support Suzi’s prediction?

......................................................................................................................
1 mark

(d) Suzi’s data does not show clearly the exact temperature at which most bubbles
were produced.

How could she improve the data she collects to find this temperature?

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

......................................................................................................................
1 mark
maximum 5 marks

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Mark schemes

Q1.
(a) (i) any one from

• it protects them from frost

accept ‘protects them from the cold or weather’
accept ‘it keeps them warm’
accept ‘it warms the soil’
‘protects them’ is insufficient

• the soil is kept moist

accept ‘they do not dry out’

• it protects them against birds or insects or animals

accept ‘it stops animals digging them up’
1 (L4)

(ii) • light
answers may be in either order
1 (L3)

• air
1 (L3)

• water
1 (L3)

(b) any one from

• so (potato) plants can grow

accept ‘more space to grow’
‘more space’ is insufficient

• it prevents pollution

• it protects the environment

• it will not get tangled with machinery or animals

• it does not have to be picked up

1 (L4)

(c) (i) • ladybirds eat aphids

accept ‘they eat them’
‘they kill them’ is insufficient
1 (L4)

(ii) • insecticide
if more than one box is ticked, award no mark
1 (L3)
[7]

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Q2.
(a) (i) magnesium
1 (L6)

(ii) any one from

• a potted plant has a limited amount of soil or minerals

accept the converse
answers must indicate that the soil available to the
potted plant is limited or may not be replenished

• less chance of minerals being returned to the soil by dying

or decaying plants or by microbes or fungi or bacteria
or worms
‘the garden has more minerals’ is insufficient
‘lack of sunlight’ is insufficient

• no room for roots to extend and find more minerals

accept ‘no room for roots to grow’
1 (L6)

(b) (i)
letter of
mineral
fertiliser

magnesium B

nitrogen A or C

phosphorus D

potassium C

accept ‘Epsom Salts’ or ‘MgSO4’ or ‘magnesium sulphate’

accept ‘A and C or ‘Easy Grow’ or ‘NH4NO3’
or ‘ammonium nitrate’ or ‘Saltpetre’ or ‘KNO3’
or ‘potassium nitrate’
accept ‘Superphosphate’ or ‘Ca(H2PO4)2’
accept ‘Saltpetre’ or ‘KNO3’ or ‘potassium nitrate’
if all four answers are correct, award three marks
if three answers are correct, award two marks
if one or two answers are correct, award one mark
3 (L6)

(ii) 3
1 (L6)

(iii) 9
1 (L6)
[7]

Q3.
(a) root hair
‘root’ is insufficient
1 (L5)

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 (b) any one from

• they prevent insects or flies from crawling out

‘to attract insects’ is insufficient

• insects slide in

• they make it difficult for them to crawl out

1 (L5)

(c) the more insects there are or food there is the more bacteria there will be
accept the converse
1 (L6)

(d) (i) carbon dioxide + water →

1 (L6)
glucose + oxygen
1 (L6)

(ii) to provide energy

if more than one box is ticked, award no mark
1 (L5)
[6]

Q4.
(a) • leaf
accept ‘stem’ or ‘stalk’
1 (L5)

(b) (i) • it controls the cell or cell’s activities

accept ‘it tells the cell what to do’
‘it is the brain of the cell’ is insufficient
accept ‘it contains or passes on (genetic)
information or genes or DNA’
1 (L5)

(ii) any one from

• absorbs light or Sun’s energy

accept ‘traps or catches light’
do not accept ‘it attracts light’

• photosynthesis
accept ‘it makes food or glucose or sugar
or starch or carbohydrate’
‘it produces oxygen’ is insufficient
1 (L6)

(iii) any one from

• gives the cell its shape

‘it protects the cell’ is insufficient

• supports the cell

1 (L6)

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 (c) any two from

• cell wall
accept ‘wall’

• vacuole

• chloroplast
2 (L6)

(d) •
photosynthesis respiration

if all four answers are correct, award two marks

if two or three answers are correct, award one mark
if more than one box is ticked in any row, do not credit that
row
2 (L6)
[8]

Q5.
(a) any one from

• to make sure the water in the boiling tube had reached the
required temperature
accept ‘time for the water in the test-tube to heat up’

• to make sure the rate stabilised or adjusted to the new temperature

accept ‘let it settle first’; ‘the bubbles reach a steady pace’;
‘to get rid of bubbles from the liquid’;
‘to get rid of trapped bubbles’
1 (L5)

(b) (i) a smooth curve through all six points

1 (L6)

(ii) a temperature from 32 to 38

accept any reading consistent with the maximum
point on the drawn curve
1 (L6)

(c) any one from

• A, B, C
accept ‘A, B, C and D’

• the first three readings

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 • between 10°C and 30°C
accept ‘between 10°C and 40°C’
accept ‘10°C, 20°C and 30°C’ or ‘10, 20, 30’

• between A and C
accept ‘between A and B’ or ‘between A and D’
or ‘between B and D’
do not accept ‘between C and D’
1 (L6)

(d) any one from

• use smaller intervals of measuring the temperature

accept an example of specific intervals such as
‘do it at intervals of 2°C’

• use temperatures between 30°C and 40°C

accept ‘take more measurements’
accept ‘take a reading at 35°C’
answers must refer to the collection of data rather
than to the presentation of data ‘repeat the test’
is insufficient but may be accepted with additional
measurements
1 (L6)
[5]

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