AQA GCSE Biology Paper 2 Foundation June 2018 question paper 8461/2F

Figure 1 shows a food chain in a river.

Draw one line from each scientific term to the correct organism in the food chain.

Organism Scientific term

Table 1 shows the biomass of the organisms at each stage in the food chain.

Calculate the percentage of the biomass of the invertebrate animals that is transferred to the large fish.

Use the equation:

A large amount of biomass is lost from the food chain.

Complete the sentences.

Choose answers from the box.

When the small fish eat the invertebrate animals, not all of this material is

Materials absorbed from the gut may enter the body cells of the small fish.

These materials are broken down into carbon dioxide and

The carbon dioxide and other waste materials from the body cells are removed

A disease kills many of the small fish.

Why does the number of invertebrate animals increase?

Figure 2 shows some changes that occur during the menstrual cycle.

Figure 2 shows that the lining of the uterus thickens between days 7 and 27.

What is the purpose of thickening the lining of the uterus?

Tick one box.

Which hormone causes thickening of the lining of the uterus?

Tick one box.

On which day is fertilisation most likely to occur?

Use information from Figure 2.

Table 2 gives information about some different methods of contraception.

A man and a woman decide to use the condom as their method of contraception.

Suggest three reasons for this decision.

Use information from Table 2 and your own knowledge.

Fossils give evidence about organisms that lived a long time ago.

Scientists have found very few fossils of the earliest life forms.

Give one reason why.

Figure 3 is a photograph of a fossilised fish.

Suggest how the fossil in Figure 3 was formed.

The species of fish shown in Figure 3 is now extinct.

Give two possible causes of extinction.

Modern fish species have evolved from fish that lived a long time ago.

Evolution is caused by mutation and natural selection.

What is a mutation?

Tick one box.

Describe the process of natural selection.

In the mid-19th century, a scientist studied inheritance in pea plants.

The scientist’s work was the beginning of our modern understanding of genetics.

What is the name of this scientist?

Tick one box.

In the mid-20th century, other scientists identified the chemical substance that makes up genetic material.

What is the name of the chemical substance that makes up genetic material?

Tick one box.

A gene often has two alleles.

One allele is dominant and the other allele is recessive.

When is a recessive allele expressed as a characteristic?

Tick one box.

A scientist investigated the inheritance of height in pea plants.

The scientist crossed tall pea plants with short pea plants.

Figure 4 shows the scientist’s results.

In Questions 04.4 and 04.5, use the following symbols to represent alleles:

T = the dominant allele for tall. t = the recessive allele for short.

In Figure 4, the genotype of plant 1 is TT.

Give the genotype of plant 2.

The scientist crossed plant 3 with plant 4.

Complete Figure 5 to show the offspring produced from this cross.

Draw a circle around one of the homozygous offspring in Figure 5.

What is the ratio of tall plants: short plants in the offspring in Figure 5 ?

A person with Type 1 diabetes cannot make enough insulin.

Which organ makes insulin?

Tick one box.

A person with Type 1 diabetes can control the concentration of glucose in the blood by injecting insulin.

Complete the sentences.

Choose answers from the box.

Insulin acts on an organ called the.

This organ then takes in excess glucose from the blood and changes

Insulin cannot be taken as a tablet. This is because insulin is a type of protein.

What would happen to the insulin in the tablet if it reached the stomach?

Two people each drank the same volume of a glucose drink. Person A has Type 1 diabetes. Person B does not have diabetes.

Figure 6 shows how the concentration of glucose in their blood changed.

How much higher was the highest concentration of glucose in the blood of person A than the highest concentration in person B ?

Use information from Figure 6.

Describe one other way that the results for person A were different from the results for person B.

Use information from Figure 6.

Type 2 diabetes is another form of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is common in obese people.

People with Type 2 diabetes make enough insulin, but still cannot control their blood glucose concentration. This is because the body cells are not sensitive to the insulin.

Figure 7 shows information about abdominal fat and insulin sensitivity in body cells.

What type of relationship is shown in Figure 7 ?

Tick one box.

A person is at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Suggest two ways the person could lower the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Some weed killers are selective.

Selective weed killers kill broad-leaved weed plants, but do not kill narrow-leaved grass plants.

Figure 8 shows some weeds growing on a grassy lawn.

Some students investigated the effect of a selective weed killer on the weeds growing in a lawn. They used 0.5 m 0.5 m quadrats.

The lawn was 20 metres long and 10 metres wide.

This is the method used.

1. Divide the lawn into two halves, side A and side B.

2. Place 5 quadrats in different positions on side A.

3. Place 5 more quadrats in different positions on side B.

4. Count the number of weed plants in each quadrat.

5. Spray side A with weed killer solution.

6. Spray side B with the same volume of water.

7. Repeat steps 2-4 after 2 weeks.

Suggest a method the students should have used to place each quadrat.

Give the reason for the method you suggested in Question 06.1.

Explain why the students used water on one side of the lawn instead of weed killer.

Table 3 shows the students’ results.

Calculate the mean value, X, in Table 3.

Calculate the percentage decrease in the number of weeds on side A after 2 weeks.

Use the following equation:

One student thought the results were not valid.

Suggest one improvement the students could have made to the method to make the results more valid.

Give the reason for your answer.

Mycoprotein is a protein-rich food.

Mycoprotein is made from the fungus Fusarium.

Figure 9 shows a fermenter used for growing Fusarium.

Explain why the fermenter is sterilised before use.

Cold water is pumped through the cooling coil at point X.

This maintains a constant temperature inside the fermenter.

Suggest the temperature at which Fusarium grows fastest.

Tick one box.

Glucose and bubbles of air enter the fermenter.

The bubbles of air supply oxygen.

Explain why Fusarium needs glucose and oxygen.

The bubbles of air also move materials around the fermenter.

Suggest why it is useful for bubbles of air and materials to move around inside the fermenter.

100 grams of chicken meat contains 22 grams of protein.

100 grams of mycoprotein contains 11 grams of protein.

A man ate 100 grams of chicken in one meal.

How many grams of mycoprotein would the man need to eat to get the same mass of protein as in 100 grams of chicken?

Tick one box.

Some students investigated phototropism in plant seedlings.

This is the method used.

1. Measure the lengths of the shoots of 20 seedlings.

2. Set up four groups of seedlings as follows:

• A – bottom of shoot covered in aluminium foil

• B – tip covered in aluminium foil

• C – tip removed

• D – no changes.

3. Put the seedlings in a cardboard box.

4. Use a lamp to shine a light into the box through a hole in one side.

5. After one day, re-measure the lengths of the shoots.

6. Make a drawing of the appearance of one seedling from each group.

Figure 10 shows the appearance of one seedling in each group at the start of the investigation.

Which two conditions should the students have kept constant for each group of seedlings?

Tick two boxes.

What is the purpose of the aluminium foil?

Tick one box.

Figure 11 shows the students’ results.

Suggest how the students measured the lengths of the curved shoots of seedlings A and D at the end of the investigation.

The students concluded that the tip of the shoot is needed for the plant to respond to light.

Give evidence for this conclusion from Figure 11.

A hormone stimulates growth in shoots.

Which distribution of the hormone would cause the results seen in shoot D ?

Tick one box.

Many human actions are reflexes.

Which two of the following are examples of reflex actions?

Tick two boxes.

Figure 12 shows how the size of the pupil of the human eye can change by reflex action.

Name one stimulus that would cause the pupil to change in size from A to B, as shown in Figure 12.

Structure Q causes the change in size of the pupil.

Name structure Q.

Describe how structure Q causes the change in the size of the pupil from A to B.

Figure 13 shows some structures involved in the coordination of a reflex action.

Describe how the structures shown in Figure 13 help to coordinate a reflex action.

Many scientists think that global air temperature is related to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Figure 14 shows changes in global air temperature and changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Complete Table 4. Use information from Figure 14.

Choose answers from the box.

You may use each answer once, more than once or not at all.

Many scientists think that an increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere causes an increase in air temperature.

How would an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause an increase in air temperature?

Evaluate evidence for and against the theory that an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes an increase in air temperature.

Use data from Figure 14 and your own knowledge.

In each year, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher in the winter than in the summer.

Give one human activity that could cause the higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the winter.

Give one biological process that could cause the lower concentration of carbon dioxide in the summer.

Give two possible effects of an increase in global air temperature on living organisms.

It is important to maintain water balance in the body.

Figure 15 shows how much water a person gained and lost by different methods in one day.

When water is balanced, the volume of water taken in by the body is equal to the volume of water lost from the body.

Calculate the volume of water the person lost in one day in faeces.

Use information from Figure 15.

Figure 15 shows that one method of gaining water is by metabolism.

Which metabolic process produces water?

Tick one box.

The next day, the person ran a 10-kilometre race.

The volume of water lost from the body through the skin and by breathing increased.

Explain why more water was lost through the skin during the race.

Explain why more water was lost by breathing during the race.