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Characteristics of Living Organisms

Question Paper
Course Edexcel IGCSE Biology

Section 1. The Nature & Variety of Living Organisms
Topic Characteristics of Living Organisms
Difficulty Medium
Time allowed: 60
Score: /50
Percentage: /100
Page 1 of 10
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Question 1
Human populations are at risk from infectious disease.
Describe the different types of pathogen.
Refer to a disease that each type of pathogen causes in your answer.
[6 marks]
Question 2a
Compare the structure of a plant cell with the structure of a bacterial cell.
[6 marks]
Page 2 of 10
Question 2b
Some bacteria are able to carry out photosynthesis, despite not containing chloroplasts.
Using your knowledge of photosynthesis, suggest how this could be possible.
[1 mark]
Question 2c
The diagram below shows a bacterium cell.
Use the following equation to calculate the image size of this bacterium cell.
Give your answer in mm. (1mm = 1000μm)
Image size
Magnification =
Actual size
[3 marks]
Page 3 of 10
Question 3a
The diagram shows Amoeba proteus, a type of unicellular microorganism found in fresh water.
Name the group of organisms that this species belongs to.

[1 mark]
Question 3b
The Amoeba proteus gets its nutrition by surrounding other unicellular organisms with its pseudopodia and engulfing the
prey, digesting the nutrients internally and storing the nutrients in the food vacuole.
(i)
Compare this process to saprotrophic nutrition in fungi.
(3)
(ii)
As well as nutrition, which other life process is being demonstrated during this process?
(1)
[4 marks]
Page 4 of 10
Question 3c
The Amoeba is found in fresh water and must control its internal conditions by balancing the amount of water that moves in
and out of the cell across the cell membrane.
The Amobea contains a structure called a contractile vacuole, which expels excess water from the cell. As well as excess
water, they also remove waste materials from the cell.
Which of the life processes does the contractile vacuole carry out?
[1 mark]
Question 4a
A mosquito is an example of an animal. The image below shows an Anopheles mosquito.
Photo Credit: James Gathany Content Providers(s): CDC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
(i)
List three features of organisms, such as this mosquito, which allow them to be identified as animals.
(3)
(ii)
Mosquitoes can spread diseases with their bite. Why is the mosquito not classed as a pathogen?
(2)
[5 marks]
Page 5 of 10
Question 4b
The diagram shows a simplified version of a cell of Plasmodium falciparum. This cell can be carried in the mouthparts of
female Anopheles mosquitoes and can cause malaria in humans.
(i)
What kind of organism is the Plasmodium?
(1)
(ii)
A student reaches the conclusion:
"Plasmodium is not alive because it cannot respire. The evidence from this diagram shows that it does not have lungs and cannot breathe".
Using evidence from the diagram, explain why the student is incorrect in their conclusion.
(2)
[3 marks]
Page 6 of 10
Question 4c
When inside the human body Plasmodium can live inside red blood cells and get their nutrition by digesting haemoglobin and
absorbing the broken down nutrients.
Haemoglobin carries oxygen around the body in the blood.
(i)
Suggest what symptoms a person with malaria might experience if they have reduced haemoglobin in their blood. Explain
your answer.
(3)
(ii)
Using the information from parts (a) to (c) about Plasmodium, suggest why it is beneficial for Plasmodium to live inside red
blood cells.
(2)
[5 marks]
Page 7 of 10
Question 5a
The diagram below shows three different types of virus.
Virus A is a bacteriophage, which injects its genetic material into bacterial cells
Virus B is TMV, which infects the cells of certain species of plants, such as tobacco, tomatoes and peppers.
Virus C is a coronavirus, such as the one that causes the disease Covid-19, and it can infect human cells.
The diagrams are not drawn to scale.
(i)
Name two structural features that are universal for all types of virus.
(2)
(ii)
Suggest why it is necessary for the three types of virus to have differences in their structure.
(3)
[5 marks]
Page 8 of 10
Question 5b
Another example of a virus pathogen that can infect humans is HIV.
HIV can be spread through exchange of bodily fluids.
List three other ways pathogens can spread between people.
[3 marks]
Question 5c
When someone is infected with the HIV virus they can develop a condition called AIDS.
People with AIDS are susceptible to infections by pathogens, and can die from infections that most people without AIDS
could recover from easily.
(i)
HIV infects the white blood cells of the infected person and stops them from working. Why might that cause people to be
more susceptible to infections?
(1)
(ii)
One way of preventing this from occurring is for people with HIV to take medication to prevent the viruses from replicating.
Explain why this can prevent the infected person from developing AIDS.
(2)
[3 marks]
Page 9 of 10
Question 5d
The graph below shows an estimation of the number of people worldwide that died from AIDS-related illnesses between the
years 1990 and 2020.
(i)
Describe the trend of data in the graph.
(2)
(ii)
Suggest two reasons why the number of AIDS-related deaths has declined in recent years.
(2)
[4 marks]
Page 10 of 10

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Characteristics of Living Organisms

Course Edexcel IGCSE Biology

Name the group of organisms that this species belongs to.

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