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Edexcel GCSE Biology

Topic questions Health and disease Pathogens

Pathogens

10 questions · 91 marks · about 1.5 hours

Pathogens questions

Edexcel 1BI0 Pathogens 10 questions

Paper 1 June 2025 Foundation tier, Question 7 12 marks

Also involves Farming techniques

(a)

Bacteria cause many diseases in humans.

(a)(i)

Which term describes a pathogen?

Question 7, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 7(a)(i)
(a)(ii)

In the UK, most children are immunised against serious infections such as measles.

Give two advantages of immunising children against measles.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 7(a)(ii)
(b)

Humans have physical barriers to prevent bacterial infections.

(b)(i)

Name two of these physical barriers.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 7(b)(i)
(b)(ii)

State the chemical in the stomach that destroys bacteria.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 7(b)(ii)
(c)

*(c) Many food crops are damaged by pests.

Some farmers use insects for the biological control of plant pests.

Figure 14 shows a ladybird which can be used for biological control.

Figure for question 7

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of biological control.

[6]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 7(c)

Paper 1 June 2025 Higher tier, Question 6 9 marks

(a)

The pathogen Vibrio cholerae causes the disease cholera.

Figure 7 shows Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

Figure for question 6
(a)(i)

Complete the table to show the function of structure P and structure Q.

Figure for question 6
[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 6(a)(i)
(a)(ii)

On the original image, the length of one bacterial cell is 12 mm.

The actual length of this bacterial cell is 2.0 µ m.

Calculate the magnification.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 6(a)(ii)
(a)(iii)

State one symptom of the disease caused by Vibrio cholerae.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 6(a)(iii)
(a)(iv)

State how the disease caused by Vibrio cholerae is transmitted.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 6(a)(iv)
(b)

Describe the specific immune response when a pathogen infects the body.

[3]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 6(b)

Paper 1 June 2024 Higher tier, Question 3 7 marks

(a)

Malaria is a disease that causes damage to the blood and liver.

(a)(i)

Which type of pathogen causes malaria?

Question 3, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(i)
(a)(ii)

State how the pathogen that causes malaria is spread.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(ii)
(b)

Measles is a disease caused by a virus.

Figure 4 shows the number of measles cases reported in England and Wales from 1985 to 2015.

Figure for question 3

Explain one conclusion that can be made about the change in the number of measles cases reported from 1985 to 2015.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(b)
(c)

Describe two ways the immune system will respond to an infection by a pathogen.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(c)
(d)

Beriberi is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin B1 in the diet.

Give one reason why beriberi is classed as a non‑communicable disease.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(d)

Paper 1 June 2023 Foundation tier, Question 9 13 marks

Also involves Culturing microorganisms

Figure 17 shows colonies of bacteria growing on an agar plate.

Figure for question 9

Each colony starts as one bacterium.

Every time bacteria reproduce, the number of bacteria in each colony doubles.

(a)

Calculate the number of bacteria in a colony after five hours, if each bacterium reproduces every 30 minutes.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 9(a)
(b)

Some bacteria are pathogens.

(b)(i)

State the meaning of the term pathogen.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 9(b)(i)
(b)(ii)

Explain why antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial infections.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 9(b)(ii)
(b)(iii)

A rod-shaped bacterium is 0.005 mm long.

A student draws the rod-shaped bacterium.

The bacterium in the drawing is 80 mm long.

Calculate the magnification of this drawing.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 9(b)(iii)
(c)

* (c) Figure 18 shows a bacterial cell and a plant cell.

Figure for question 9

Describe the similarities and differences of a bacterial cell and a plant cell.

[6]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 9(c)

Paper 1 June 2023 Higher tier, Question 3 7 marks

Also involves Asexual reproduction in plants

Figure 4 shows colonies of bacteria growing on an agar plate.

Figure for question 3

Each colony starts as one bacterium.

Every time bacteria reproduce, the number of bacteria in each colony doubles.

(a)

Calculate the number of bacteria in a colony after five hours, if each bacterium reproduces every 30 minutes.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)
(b)

Some bacteria are pathogens.

(b)(i)

State the meaning of the term pathogen.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(b)(i)
(b)(ii)

Explain why antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial infections.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(b)(ii)
(b)(iii)

A rod-shaped bacterium is 0.005 mm long.

A student draws the rod-shaped bacterium.

The bacterium in the drawing is 80 mm long.

Calculate the magnification of this drawing.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(b)(iii)

Paper 1 June 2022 Foundation tier, Question 1 7 marks

Some bacteria cause disease.

(a)

Which word describes an organism that causes disease?

Question 1, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(a)
(b)

Draw one straight line from each disease to the main way that the disease is spread.

disease
main way the

Figure for question 1
[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(b)
(c)

A scientist investigated the effect of temperature on the growth of bacteria.

The bacteria were grown at 10 °C and 20 °C.

The number of bacteria grown at each temperature were counted every two hours.

Figure 1 shows the result.

Figure for question 1

Figure 2 shows a graph of the results at 20 °C.

Figure for question 1
(c)(i)

Plot the points on the graph for the number of bacteria at 10 °C.

The first two points have been plotted for you.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(c)(i)
(c)(ii)

Draw a line of best fit on the graph for 10 °C.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(c)(ii)
(c)(iii)

Describe how the growth of bacteria at 10 °C was different from the growth of bacteria at 20 °C.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(c)(iii)

Paper 1 June 2022 Higher tier, Question 3 9 marks

(a)

Figure 2 shows the number of people diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK during 2017.

Figure for question 3
(a)(i)

State the sexually transmitted infection that has the median number of people diagnosed.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(i)
(a)(ii)

The population of the UK in 2017 was 66 million people.

Calculate the total number of people diagnosed with chlamydia in the UK in 2017.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(ii)
(a)(iii)

State why chlamydia can be described as a communicable disease.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(iii)
(a)(iv)

Give one way the transmission of chlamydia can be prevented.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(iv)
(a)(v)

Explain why chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(a)(v)
(b)

HIV is another sexually transmitted infection.

Explain how HIV can lead to the onset of AIDS.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 3(b)

Paper 1 November 2020 Foundation tier, Question 8 11 marks

(a)

Measles is a communicable disease caused by a virus.

(a)(i)

What can a virus also be classified as?

Question 8, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(a)(i)
(a)(ii)

Give one reason why measles is described as a communicable disease.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(a)(ii)
(b)

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can cause AIDS.

Which type of cell is destroyed by the HIV virus?

Question 8, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(b)
(c)

Describe how the specific immune system defends the body against disease.

[3]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(c)
(d)

Figure 13 shows the number of people per million of the population in five European countries who were diagnosed with measles in one year.

Figure for question 8
(d)(i)

The population of Belgium in that year was 11.18 million.

Calculate the number of people in Belgium diagnosed with measles.

Give your answer to three significant figures.

[3]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(d)(i)
(d)(ii)

Countries do not report the total number of people diagnosed with measles. Countries report the number of people diagnosed with measles per million of the population.

Give one reason why this is better.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(d)(ii)
(d)(iii)

Give one reason why the number of people per million diagnosed with measles is different in these countries.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 8(d)(iii)

Paper 1 November 2020 Higher tier, Question 2 9 marks

(a)

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can cause AIDS.

Which type of cell is destroyed by the HIV virus?

Question 2, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 2(a)
(b)

Describe how the specific immune system defends the body against disease.

[3]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 2(b)
(c)

Figure 1 shows the number of people per million of the population in five European countries who were diagnosed with measles in one year.

Figure for question 2
(c)(i)

The population of Belgium in that year was 11.18 million.

Calculate the number of people in Belgium diagnosed with measles.

Give your answer to three significant figures.

[3]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 2(c)(i)
(c)(ii)

Countries do not report the total number of people diagnosed with measles. Countries report the number of people diagnosed with measles per million of the population.

Give one reason why this is better.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 2(c)(ii)
(c)(iii)

Give one reason why the number of people per million diagnosed with measles is different in these countries.

[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 2(c)(iii)

Paper 1 June 2018 Foundation tier, Question 1 7 marks

Also involves The immune system

(a)

Pathogens cause disease.

Draw one straight line from each type of pathogen to the disease that is caused by that pathogen.

Figure for question 1
[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(a)
(b)

Antibiotics can be used to treat diseases.

Antibiotics kill

Question 1, shown as an image
[1]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(b)
(c)

Figure 1 shows the number of white blood cells in blood samples from three patients.

Figure for question 1

Explain why the data suggests that Patient Z has a bacterial infection.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(c)
(d)

HIV is diagnosed by blood tests.

State two safety precautions that need to be taken when handling blood samples.

[2]
Reveal mark scheme Mark scheme for question 1(d)

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