Page 168 How is blood sugar concentration kept
1 litre
in balance?
1. a) Glucagon.
b) Insulin.
2. Insulin.
3. a) Fasting/no food consumed during the night;
cell respiration/use of glucose during the
night by cells.
b) Sugary breakfast causes a rapid rise in blood
sugar; which causes secretion of insulin;
which causes blood sugar to drop; which
causes feelings of hunger.
4. Glucagon is secreted; causing release of glucose by
the liver; from breakdown of glycogen/from
conversion of amino acids to glycogen; adrenalin
is secreted; adrenalin also causes glucose
production from glycogen/from amino acid
conversion; glucose released into the blood stream
from liver cells.
Page 171 Experiment
1. 10 micrometres/µm to 10 nanometres/nm; 10
micrometres = 10,000 nanometres; ratio is 1,000
to 1.
2. 20 micrometres x 1,000 = 20,000 micrometres; =
20 millimetres.
3. Scale model; more realistic; more likely to behave
like the thing being modelled.
Page 173 How is the solute concentration of the
blood kept in balance?
1. a) Water removed.
b) Removed.
c) Added.
d) Removed.
e) Added.
f) Removed
2. Seawater has a higher solute concentration than
blood plasma/body fluids; therefore seawater in
the gut causes water to be removed from the wall
of the gut/body tissues by osmosis; so the
concentration of solutes in the plasma is
increased.
3. Dissolved proteins in blood plasma help excess
water to be drawn out of tissues; by osmosis; so
fluid does not accumulate in body tissues; without
these plasma proteins the solute concentration of
blood plasma is reduced; so excess water remains
in the tissues; and they become swollen.
4. (5 litres/100) x 20 = 1 litre
1
5. a) (1 litre/100) x 10 = 0.
b) 0.1 litre x 60 x 24 = 144 litres
6. (1.5/144) x 100% = 1% not reabsorbed; 100% –
1% = 99% reabsorbed.
7. Less urine produced during the night; less need to
get up to empty the bladder.
Page 176 How does feedback control work?
1. a) Negative feedback.
b) Positive feedback.
c) Positive feedback.
d) Negative feedback.
2. Negative feedback; but with the set point raised to
a higher temperature.
Page 177 Data-based question: How can salmon
adapt from fresh water to seawater?
1. a) Gills gain water.
b) Gills lose water.
2. a) Water absorbed by gills; must be removed to
avoid blood becoming hypotonic.
b) Some sodium and chloride ions are lost in
urine; and must be replaced to avoid body
fluids becoming hypotonic.
3. a) Water lost by gills; must be replaced to avoid
blood becoming hypertonic.
b) Active transport from gills to seawater;
removal in urine; urine must be hypertonic.
4. Increase in drinking rate; decrease in volume of
urine produced; increase in salt/solute
concentration of urine; pumps for active transport
installed in gills; sodium ions pumped from blood
to water in gills; active transport.
Page 178 What factors can cause the exponential
growth of a population?
1. Years on the x-axis; UK population on y-axis;
points plotted correctly on graph; points joined
with a series of ruled lines/a curve passing
through all the points.
2. a) Second graph arranged as first one but with
log population values on the y-axis.
b) Yes – was exponential or very close to
exponential; straight line can be drawn
passing through/close to all points; perhaps
increase is slowing at the end.
3. Rose from 4 to 18,855; 4 → 8 → 16 → 32 → 64 →
128 → 256 → 512 → 1024 → 2048 → 4096 →
8192 → 16384; so the population doubled twelve
times.
© Oxford University Press 2017
4. a) No – the population will remain constant.
b) No – the population will fall.
c) Yes – the population will rise exponentially.
5. There is exponential growth if the birth rate
remains higher than the death rate.
6. Ample means of subsistence is a good diet; so the
population will be healthy and therefore be able to
reproduce; poor diet can reduce the birth rate;
early marriage means there can be more years of
child-bearing; more children born to each mother;
unless contraception/family planning is practiced.
Page 182 How are supplies of mineral elements
sustained in an ecosystem?
1. a) Rotation of wheat with other crops; because
yields are higher in the two trials with 3-year
rotation.
b) Little difference; both increase growth by a
similar amount above yields with no fertilizer
is applied.
2. Yields increased; as long as fertilizer was applied;
yields doubled approximately.
3. There must be sources of nutrient elements other
than fertilizers; supply of minerals/P/K from
underlying rock; nitrogen from atmospheric
deposition.
Page 184 What processes keep atmospheric CO2
in balance?
1. Gains and losses are balanced; respiration =
photosynthesis; release from oceans = dissolving
in oceans.
2. Cycle diagram should show as a minimum: CO2 in
the atmosphere; absorption of CO2 for use in
photosynthesis; carbon in the biomass of
trees/plants/producers; producer respiration
returning CO2 to the atmosphere; consumers
eating producers; carbon in the biomass of
consumers; consumer respiration returning CO2 to
the atmosphere; death and decomposition of
producers and consumers; carbon in the biomass
of decomposers; decomposer respiration
returning CO2 to the atmosphere.
3. Carbon dioxide dissolving in the oceans; making
them more acidic.
4. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration greatly
increased; greatly increased greenhouse effect;
climate patterns of the Earth altered significantly;
more hurricanes/cyclones/extreme weather
events; melting of polar ice/glaciers; sea level rise;
coastal flooding; species extinctions;
famine/war/large scale migrations of humans.
© Oxford University Press 2017
Page 185 Balancing photosynthesis and
respiration
1. Control of variables; only the independent
variable should affect the results/affect the
dependent variable; if the volume inside the
tubes/volume of indicator was different then the
times taken for colour changes would not be
comparable.
2. Run out of oxygen; cause suffering; possibly cause
death of the animals; unethical.
3. Control tube; shows that the colour changes of
indicator are due to the organisms in the tubes;
shows the indicator doesn’t change colour over
time by itself.
4. Purple in tube 2 due to absorption of carbon
dioxide for photosynthesis; yellow in tube 3 due to
release of carbon dioxide from respiration; red in
tube 4 if photosynthesis and respiration are
balanced/orange in tube 4 because the amount of
respiration will exceed the amount of
photosynthesis.
5. Only possible to determine this experimentally;
enough leaf tissue is needed to absorb carbon
dioxide at the same rate as it is emitted from
respiration.
6. Yellow; due to respiration in the leaf tissue in the
dark; and no photosynthesis.
Page 187 What causes the rapid rise in carbon
dioxide concentration at the end of a glaciation?
1. Highest was 310 ppmv (parts per million by
volume); lowest was 185 ppmv
2. Positive correlation; when carbon dioxide
concentration rises temperature also rises;
correlation is close.
3. 310 – 185 = 125 ppmv; 9 x 10/125 = 0.72 °C
4. a) 400 ppmv
b) 90 ppmv higher.
c) Burning of fossil fuels; and (to a lesser extent)
deforestation.
d) Yes - they should be taking action; informing
politicians/the public about the causes and
consequences; developing methods of
preventing further carbon dioxide
concentration increases; doing research to
learn more about the causes and
consequences.
Page 188 Questions on glaciations and
interglacials
1. More heating if more insolation; variation due to
cycles in eccentricity, axial tilt and precession;
more warming when the northern hemisphere
gets more intense insolation.
2. An active area of research; difficult to find
convincing theories other than Milankovitch
cycles/changes in the Earth’s orbit/tilt.
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3. Snowball Earth from 720 million years ago; initial
60 million year period (Sturtian); then another 10
million year period after a gap (Marinoan);
Scotland then located on the equator and has
rocks from this period showing evidence of
glaciation/ice sheet coverage or at least
permafrost; positive feedback due to the cooling
effect of ice cover; various hypotheses for the
trigger that started the snowball Earth periods;
high-obliquity/high-tilt hypothesis; zipper-rift
hypothesis.

Page 189 El Nino – disruption to balance

1.  Diagram of normal conditions should show:
air rising in the western Pacific due to
convection; air drawn westwards across the
Pacific (trade winds); air falling in the eastern
Pacific; eastwards air currents at high
altitude; westward water currents near the
surface of the Pacific; upwelling of cold water
in the eastern Pacific; eastward movement of
deeper water; rainfall in the western Pacific.
 Diagram of El Nino conditions should show:
air rising in the middle of the Pacific due to
convection; air drawn eastwards and
westwards across the Pacific; air falling in the
western and eastern Pacific; westward and
eastward air currents at high altitude;
westward and eastward water currents near
the surface of the Pacific; weakened upwelling
of cold water in the eastern Pacific; rainfall in
middle and eastern Pacific; droughts in the
western Pacific.
2. Although impacts in some parts of the world are
much smaller, they are still real and should be
shown with a little text and clear visually
appealing diagrams.

© Oxford University Press 2017

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Summative assessment: Salmon farming
1. Water lost from gills to seawater; by osmosis; blood solute/sodium ion
concentration rises too high; damage to body tissues/dehydration; not yet
possible for the salmon to drink seawater and expel the excess ions; pumps for
removing sodium ions not yet present in the gills.

2. Eutrophication/enrichment of the water with mineral elements/N/P/fertilizer;

growth of algae stimulated; algal numbers not limited by supply of mineral
elements; cell division/mitosis; exponential growth of algae; too many algae for
primary consumers to eat.

3. Too many salmon farms; salmon feces/uneaten salmon food released into
seawater; release of mineral elements/N/P; by decomposition of feces; leaching
of mineral elements from agriculture; insufficient regulation of salmon farms by
the Chilean authorities.

4. Reduce the number of salmon farms; site salmon farms in deeper water where
the wastes from them will disperse better; reduce fertilizer use/reduce leaching
of mineral elements/N/P from farms; reduce salmon farming during El Nino
events.

5. Award marks for the hypothesis on a scale from 0 marks for no hypothesis or an
unreasonable hypothesis or a hypothesis not based on scientific understanding,
to 3 marks for a reasonable hypothesis clearly based on scientific
understanding, for example shortage of nitrogen and phosphorus limits the
numbers of algae.

6. Award marks for the design on a scale from 0 marks for an entirely inadequate
design, up to 7 marks for an exemplary design that includes the method of
altering the variable cited in the hypothesis together with the number of repeats
and the way in which control variables will be kept constant.

7. Award marks on a scale from 0 marks for an entirely inadequate answer, up to 5

marks for naming the dependent variable clearly and explaining in full how it
will be measured, for example by monitoring how numbers of algae or mass of
algae per unit volume changes.

8. a) Dense distribution; in sheltered seawater; close the coast; especially in

river mouths/estuaries.
b) Reduction; to fewer than half/another quantitative comparison;
disappearance of all salmon farms in some areas.

9. Prevalence of ISA rose to 40% of farms in winter 2008-09; ISA on 90 salmon

farms; many salmon farms ceased to operate; number of operating farms
eventually dropping to 70; negative correlation/as the number/% of ISA
infected farms increased the number of operating farms decreased; at the end of
the time period the number/% of ISA infected farms was very low and the
number of operating farms was starting to increase.

10. a) Higher density of salmon; ISA spreads more easily from fish to fish; salmon
farms use Atlantic rather than Pacific salmon; Atlantic salmon have lower
resistance to ISA.
b) Virus could spread in seawater; could spread if infected fish escape; could
spread from hatcheries; could spread if infected salmon are transferred
from one farm to another; spread easier because salmon farms are close
together.

11. Award marks on a scale from 0 for an essay that is entirely lacking in merit to 15
marks for an exemplary essay that offers a convincing answer to the question.

© Oxford University Press 2017

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