A student estimated the number of daisies in a field 50 m long and 40 m wide. She placed a 0.25 m² quadrat at five random positions and counted the daisies in each.
Daisies in five quadrats: 4, 7, 0, 5, 9.
Quadrat
1
2
3
4
5
Number of daisies
4
7
0
5
9
.1
Calculate the mean number of daisies per quadrat.
[2 marks]
.2
Estimate the number of daisies in the whole field.
[3 marks]
5 marksFoundation and Higher
Spec and skills
Original practice question
Answer and supported method checks
The body cells of a species of fish contain 30 chromosomes, in 15 pairs.
.1
Give the number of chromosomes in one of this fish's gametes.
[1 mark]
.2
Give the number of chromosomes in a fertilised egg cell of this fish.
[1 mark]
.3
Describe what happens to the chromosomes when a cell divides by meiosis to form gametes.
[3 marks]
5 marksFoundation and Higher
Spec and skills
Original practice question
Answer and supported method checks
A student investigated the effect of pH on the time taken for amylase to break down starch.
She mixed amylase, starch and a buffer solution in a water bath at 35 °C. Every 30 seconds she put a drop of the mixture onto iodine solution on a spotting tile. She recorded the time when the iodine no longer turned blue-black.
Time for starch to be broken down: pH 5, 150 s; pH 6, 90 s; pH 7, 60 s; pH 8, 120 s; pH 9, 240 s.
pH
Time for starch to be broken down (s)
5
150
6
90
7
60
8
120
9
240
.1
The rate of reaction can be found with:
rate =time1000
Calculate the rate of reaction at pH 7.
[1 mark]
.2
Explain why the starch took much longer to break down at pH 9.
[2 marks]
.3
Suggest how the student could find the optimum pH of amylase more precisely.
[1 mark]
.4
Sampling every 30 seconds limits the accuracy of the times.
Explain why.
[1 mark]
4 marksFoundation and Higher
Spec and skills
Original practice question
Answer and supported method checks
Scientists studied the risk of lung cancer in adults who smoked different numbers of cigarettes each day. The graph shows how many times greater the risk was than for non-smokers.
051015202530510152025Cigarettes smoked per dayRisk compared with non-smokers1481522
.1
Describe the pattern shown in the graph.
[1 mark]
.2
Calculate how many times as great the risk is for a person smoking 20 cigarettes a day as for a person smoking 5 a day.
[1 mark]
.3
A correlation does not always mean that one factor causes another.
Explain what other evidence scientists needed before concluding that smoking causes lung cancer.
[2 marks]
3 marksFoundation and Higher
Spec and skills
Original practice question
Answer and supported method checks
Evolution is a change in the inherited characteristics of a population over time through natural selection.
.1
Put the stages of natural selection in order, starting with the first.
