CAMBRIDGE IGCSE™ BIOLOGY: COURSEBOOK
Chapter 13
Science in context:
Bird droppings
1 Possible suggestions include:
• keeping excretory products away from the
developing chick in the egg
• conserving water, so they do not need to
drink as much
• keeping weight down for flight, as they
don’t need to have as much liquid in their
bodies to get rid of urine.
2 Reptiles, like birds, develop in an enclosed egg,
so you would expect them to excrete a
paste-like urine, and they do.
Questions
1 Excretion is the removal of the waste products
of metabolism and substances in excess of
requirements. Carbon dioxide is a waste
product of respiration, which is a metabolic
reaction.
2 Oxygen, which diffuses out of the leaves
through the stomata.
3 liver, kidneys
4 Urine is a solution of urea and ions in water.
5 The ureters transfer urine from the kidneys to
the bladder. The urethra transfers urine from
the bladder to the outside of the body.
Activity 13.1
1 The brown structures are nuclei. There is no
other structure that could be that large in a
cell.
2 They are microvilli. They increase the
surface area of the cell, to increase the rate
of absorption, just like the microvilli on the
surface of the villi in the small intestine.
37 Cambridge IGCSE™ Biology – Jones © Cambridge University Press 2021
Questions
6 The liver uses amino acids to synthesise
proteins. These become part of the liver cells,
or they may be released into the blood (as
plasma proteins) and transported to other
parts of the body, where cells make use of
them.
7 Deamination is the removal of the nitrogen-
containing part of excess amino acids. It
happens in the liver.
8 a Glucose is a small molecule, which
therefore passes through the filter from
the glomerulus into the lumen of the
nephron.
b All of the glucose is reabsorbed from the
lumen of the nephron into the blood,
before the filtrate reaches the ureters.
9 Being long and narrow increases the surface
area that is in contact with the filtrate, and the
time for which this contact is made (because
it takes longer for the filtrate to flow through
than if it was short). Having blood capillaries
in close contact reduces diffusion distance.
10 They are made by an endocrine gland (the
pancreas), are transported in the blood, and
affect target organs (in this case, the liver).
11 a It begins at 85 mg per 100 cm3 and does
not change until 20 minutes after eating.
It then rises until 1 hour 20 minutes
after eating, to a maximum of 105 mg
per 100 cm3. It falls to a minimum of just
below 80 mg per 100 cm3 at 4 hours, and
then rises to 85 mg per 100 cm3 at 5 hours.
b It took time for the starch in the food to be
digested by amylase and maltase producing
glucose. The glucose then had to be
absorbed.
 CAMBRIDGE IGCSE™ BIOLOGY: COURSEBOOK

Chapter 13 continued
c The pancreas detected the increased blood Exam-style questions
glucose concentration and responded
to this by secreting insulin. Insulin was 1 C ; [1]
transferred to the liver in the blood, and
the liver responded to the insulin by taking 2 B ; [1]
up glucose from the blood, using some 3 C ; [1]
in respiration and converting the rest to
glycogen and storing it. 4 D ; [1]
Also, body cells are constantly using 5 D ; [1]
glucose for respiration, which also causes
the concentration in the blood to fall. 6 a i by amylase [1] ; in the mouth [1] ;
and in the small intestine [1] ;
d As the blood glucose level fell below
the set point, the pancreas detected ii small intestine / ileum ; [1]
this and secreted glucagon, which was
transferred in the blood to the liver, which b Any two from:
responded by breaking down glycogen • the contents of the cells would
and releasing glucose into the blood. This be more dilute than the solution
took time, during which the blood glucose around them ;
concentration continued to fall.
• so, they would lose water by osmosis ;
12 Proteins are made by joining amino acids
together on the ribosomes. Ribosomes are • metabolic reactions in the cells
found on rough endoplasmic reticulum. The cannot take place if they lose too
process requires energy, which is provided much water ; [Max. 2]
by aerobic respiration in mitochondria. As c i pancreas ; [1]
the islet cells in the pancreas make a lot of
proteins, they need a lot of these structures. ii reduces blood glucose concentration ;
 [1]
13 All the glucose is reabsorbed from the filtrate
as it flows through the nephron. 7 a A = cell membrane [1] ; B = nucleus [1] ;
14 This sensor detects the actual concentration b through the pancreatic duct [1] ; in
of glucose in the blood, and gives a precise pancreatic juice [1] ; to the duodenum [1] ;
reading for it. The dipstick only measures
c in the blood [1] ; dissolved in the
glucose in urine, which is an indirect way of
plasma [1] ; to all parts of the body /
finding out how much glucose there is in the
to the liver [1] ;
blood, and in any case only tells you how
much there was some time ago, when the urine
was produced (rather than ‘now’). So the first
sensor is better because it gives a real-time,
more accurate value.
15 It would be broken down to its constituent
amino acids by proteases in the stomach and
small intestine.

38 Cambridge IGCSE™ Biology – Jones © Cambridge University Press 2021