Name: _______________________________________________

biology B1 core practicals

Date:

Time:

Total marks available:

Total marks achieved: ______

Questions

Q1.

Figure 3 shows a diagram of a red blood cell from a turtle and a diagram of a red blood cell from a
human.

Figure 3
(i) These cells are animal cells.
Animal cells do not have
(1)
A cytoplasm
B a cell membrane
C a cell wall
D mitochondria

(ii) The actual length of the red blood cell from a turtle is 20.5 μm.
Calculate the length of the magnified image of the red blood cell of the turtle when magnified 400 ×.
(2)

........................................................... μm
(iii) The width of the human red blood cell, when magnified 400 ×, is 3.08 mm.
Calculate the actual width of the cell and show your answer in standard form.
(2)

........................................................... mm

(Total for question = 5 marks)

Q2.

Some students investigated the effect of sucrose concentration on the change in mass of beetroot chips.
A beetroot chip was weighed, immersed in water for 30 minutes and then reweighed.
This was repeated using five more beetroot chips and five different concentrations of sucrose solution.
The results are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6
(i) Calculate the percentage change in mass for chip 5.
Give your answer to an appropriate number of decimal places.
(3)

........................................................... %
(ii) Explain the difference in the changes in mass of chip 5 and chip 2.
(3)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................

(Total for question = 6 marks)

Q3.

A student investigated the time taken for amylase to breakdown a 10% starch solution into glucose at
37°C. The student repeated the investigation five times.
Figure 11 shows the results.

Figure 11
(i) Calculate the rate of amylase enzyme activity for the 10% starch solution.
(3)

rate = ............................................................ s–1

The investigation was done at 37°C.
(ii) State one other variable that the student should have controlled during this investigation.
(1)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................

(Total for question = 4 marks)

Q4.

Factors affecting the rate of diffusion can be investigated using agar cubes.
The agar cubes contain an indicator called phenolphthalein.
Phenolphthalein is colourless, but turns pink in the presence of an alkali, such as sodium hydroxide
solution.
Cubes of agar, with sides 3 cm, 2 cm and 1 cm, are placed into sodium hydroxide solution for 10 minutes.
The cubes are then cut in half to see how far the sodium hydroxide solution has diffused into them.
Figure 5 shows the results.
 Figure 5
(i) Calculate the surface area to volume ratio for the cube with side 3 cm.
(1)

...........................................................
(ii) Calculate the rate of diffusion for the 10 minutes of the investigation.
(1)

........................................................... cm per min

(iii) Describe the effect of the size of the cube on the rate of diffusion.
(1)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(iv) Explain why the sodium hydroxide diffuses into the cube.
(2)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................

(Total for question = 5 marks)

Q5.

Figure 4 shows a photomicrograph of onion cells.

Figure 4
(i) The width of the labelled cell in Figure 4 is 6 mm. The cell has been magnified 750 times.
Calculate the actual width of this cell in mm.
Give your answer in standard form.
(3)

........................................................... mm
(ii) The most appropriate unit of measurement to record the length of a cell under a light microscope is a
(1)
A centimetre
B micrometre
C nanometre
D picometre

(Total for question = 4 marks)

Q6.

Figure 1 is an electron micrograph showing a cross section through a neurone.

 Figure 1
The myelin sheath of this neurone is 250 nm in thickness.
Calculate the magnification of this electron micrograph.
(3)

magnification ...........................................................

(Total for question = 3 marks)

Q8.

Catalase is an enzyme.
Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water.
(a) The effect of pH on the activity of catalase was investigated. The volume of oxygen produced in one
minute at each pH was recorded.
The results can be seen in Figure 11.
 Figure 11
(i) Describe the effect of pH on the activity of catalase.
(2)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(ii) Explain why the volume of oxygen produced changes above pH 7.
(3)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(iii) The investigation was improved.
State two variables that should be controlled in the improved method.
(2)
1 ..........................................................................................................................................
2 ..........................................................................................................................................

(b) The results for the improved method are shown in Figure 12.
 Figure 12
(i) Calculate the most appropriate mean volume of oxygen produced at pH 7.
(2)

........................................................... cm3
(ii) Describe how the method could be developed to find the optimum pH for catalase activity.
(2)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................

(Total for question = 11 marks)

Q9.

A student was provided with one Petri dish containing sterile agar jelly.
She transferred a culture of bacterium A onto the Petri dish.
(i) Describe how the student would distribute the bacteria over the surface of the agar jelly.
(3)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(ii) The student then placed three paper discs, each with a 5 mm diameter, onto the agar jelly.
Disc C contained sterile water.
Disc 1 contained the antibiotic tetracycline.
Disc 2 contained the antibiotic penicillin.
The Petri dishes were incubated for 48 hours.
Figure 13 shows the Petri dishes before and after incubation.

Figure 13
Describe the effect of the two antibiotics on bacterium A.
(2)
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................
(iii) Disc 1 has a zone of inhibition with a diameter of 7 mm.
Disc 2 has a zone of inhibition with a diameter of 18 mm.
Calculate the area of the zone of inhibition for disc 2.
(2)

........................................................... mm2

(Total for question = 7 marks)

Mark Scheme

Q1.
Q2.
Q3.
Q4.

Q5.
Q6.
Q7.

Q8.
Q9.