13/03/2024

FORM 4 BIOLOGY WORKSHEET

Digestive System
SECTION 1
1. What is digestion and why is digestion important? (2)
2. Distinguish between physical and mechanical digestion. (4)
3.
a. Compare the types of teeth found in a 5-year-old child compared to his
parent, an adult. (2)
b. Identify the types of teeth found in the mouth of the adult.
Give the function of each type mentioned. (8)
4. Draw a labelled diagram to show the internal structure of a tooth. (10)
5. Give the function of each of the following parts of the tooth: (4)
a. Blood vessels in the pulp cavity
b. Dentine
c. Cement
d. Periodontal membrane
6. Outline FOUR factors that can contribute to tooth decay. (4)
7. As people age, they lose some of their teeth. Explain how this can affect their
ability to digest food. (4)
8. Suggest why Sandra, who is in her mid-sixties, is finding that her teeth is
becoming more sensitive to eating ice cream and drinking hot coffee as she is
getting older. (4)
9. Ramon develops a toothache which he tries to ignore, however it gradually
gets worse until he is in agony and is forced to visit his dentist.
a. Explain what happened to cause Ramon to develop an agonizing
toothache. (7)
b. Outline SIX procedures Ramon should implement to prevent the same
thing happening to any of his other teeth. (6)

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SECTION 2
1.
a. What are enzymes? (2)
b. Give THREE properties of enzymes other than the effect of temperature
and pH on their activity. (3)
2. Name the THREE categories of digestive enzymes produced in the alimentary
canal. For EACH category named, identify the macronutrient digested and the
products of digestion. (6)
3. Starting with the mouth, list the organs that make up the alimentary canal in
the correct order. (10)
4. State the function of each of the following: (5)
a. Oesophagus d. Colon
b. Pyloric sphincter e. Rectum
c. Liver
5. Outline how food moves through the intestines and name the process
involved. (4)
6. Hailey decided to use a ‘biological’ washing powder containing enzymes to
remove food stains from her clothes, but she was advised to keep the
temperature of the water between 35 ⷪC and 45 ⷪC and definitely not let it get
above 60 ⷪC. Suggest an explanation for these pieces of advice. (5)
7. For lunch, Xavier consumes a lean steak accompanied by a baked potato with
butter. Complete the blank spaces in the table below to show how Xavier’s
lunch is digested. (5)
FOOD MAIN REGION OF DIGESTIVE ENZYMES PRODUCTS OF
ITEM MACRONU ALIMENTARY DIGESTION
TRIENT CANAL
Lean Protein • Stomach • Pepsin • Peptides
steak • Small intestine • Trypsin • Peptides
• Small intestine • Peptidase • Amino Acids
Baked • • • Salivary amylase • Maltose
potato • Small intestine • Pancreatic Amylase • Maltose
• • Maltase • Glucose
• Lipid • Small intestine • Pancreatic Lipase •

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 8. Suggest why the different enzymes that are involved in breaking down protein
are located un different regions of the alimentary canal. (5)
9. Eduardo has his gall bladder removed. Discuss and explain the changes he
would have to make to his diet after the operation. (5)
10. To determine the effect if pH on the activity of amylase, Marcia placed 2cm3 of
amylase solution and 5 drops of iodine solution into each of five test tubes.
She added 1cm3 of buffer solution with a different pH to each tube and shook
the tubes. She then added 2cm3 of starch solution to the first tube, shook the
tube thoroughly and recorded the time taken for the blue-black colour to
disappear completely. She repeated this for the other four test tubes. Her
results are given in the table below.

TABLE SHOWING THE RATE OF BREAKDOWN OF STARCH BY AMYLASE UNDER

DIFFERENT PH CONDITIONS

pH of the test Time taken, t, for blue-black Rate of breakdown of

tube contents colour to disappear (s) starch (1000/t)
5 142 7.0
6 40
7 30
8 44
9 148
a. Complete the table by calculating the rate of breakdown of starch to 1
decimal place using the following formula: (4)
1000
Rate of breakdown =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
b. What condition, not mentioned in the method, must be kept constant
for all tubes to ensure that the results are accurate? (1)
c. Plot a graph to show the rate of breakdown of starch against pH. (5)
d. Explain the trends in enzyme activity shown in the graph. (7)
e. The experiment was repeated using a buffer solution of pH 10 and the
blue-black colour did not disappear. Explain the reason for this. (2)
f. If Marcia carried out a similar experiment using pepsin and other
appropriate reagents, how would the optimum pH for the action of
pepsin differ from the optimum pH for the action of amylase found in
her first experiment? Explain your answer. (3)

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SECTION 3
1. Explain what happens during absorption in the small intestine. Your answer
must include the names of the processes involved. (4)
2. Why is the small intestine of an adult over 5m long? (2)
3. Name the blood vessel that transports the products of digestion from the small
intestine to the liver. (1)
4. Identify THREE ways that the villus is adapted to absorb the products of
digestion. (3)
5. Distinguish between excretion and egestion. (2)
6. Outline the uses made by the body of any glucose absorbed into the
bloodstream. (6)
7. Coeliac disease causes the villi of the small intestine to be destroyed. Discuss
and explain the possible consequences of this to a person suffering from the
disease. (5)
8. Explain why it is essential that Gavin eats a balanced diet containing sufficient
protein but it may be unwise for him to eat excessive amounts of protein daily.
(5)

CORRECTIONS WILL BE DONE ON THURSDAY NIGHT 8:30 –

9:30pm (NOT FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS BUT FOR THE MAIN
ONES THAT CAN HELP YOU ON FRIDAY). The remainder of
questions will be done next week.