AQA GCSE Synergy Paper 1: Life and environmental sciences Higher November 2020 question paper 8465/1H

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a species of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

Which term describes E. coli cells?

Tick (✓) one box.

Some strains of E. coli are resistant to antibiotics.

Table 1 shows the number of infections caused by antibiotic resistant E. coli.

Calculate the percentage increase in the number of infections caused by antibiotic resistant E. coli between 2014 and 2018.

Use the equation:

Antibiotics are used to treat many different bacterial infections.

The government wants scientists to research and develop a new ‘antibiotic test’ that:

• takes less than 30 minutes

• shows doctors if an antibiotic is needed for an infection

• shows doctors which antibiotic to use.

Suggest two reasons why research into antibiotics is needed.

The new test should mean that fewer people take antibiotics.

What are two effects of fewer people taking antibiotics?

Tick (✓) two boxes.

A vaccine against E. coli is being trialled.

Suggest what this vaccine contains to cause immunity to E. coli.

This question is about solids and liquids.

Describe two ways the arrangement of particles in a solid is different from the arrangement of particles in a liquid.

You should answer in terms of the particle model.

Liquid water can freeze to form solid ice.

Grit is spread on roads to reduce the formation of ice.

Grit contains a mixture of salt and sand.

Explain why less ice is formed when salt is spread on roads.

Figure 1 shows the mass of ice melted by 1 kg of grit at different temperatures.

Draw a line of best fit on Figure 1.

Predict the mass of ice that 1 kg of grit would melt at −20 °C

Use Figure 1.

Describe the effect of changing temperature on the mass of ice that 1 kg of grit can melt.

Use Figure 1.

Grit is spread on roads when low temperatures are expected.

Some roads are built with temperature sensors in the surface.

The sensors indicate when to spread grit on the roads.

Suggest one advantage of having temperature sensors in roads rather than relying on weather forecasts.

Sewers are often blocked by ‘fatbergs’.

Fatbergs are made of very large lumps of fat and other solids.

The fat and solids come from waste being washed down drains and flushed down toilets.

Figure 2 shows a person holding a small fatberg.

The chemical composition of fatbergs can be tested.

Describe how a sample from a fatberg could be tested for fat and for protein.

Positive result for fat

Positive result for protein

Some fats in fatbergs come from undigested food in faeces.

Most fat that humans eat is digested.

Give the two products of fat digestion.

It may be possible to use fatbergs as a fuel in power stations.

Burning 1.0 kg of fatbergs transfers 40 MJ of energy.

A power station could burn 1250 kg of fatbergs each hour.

Calculate the energy output from the power station in 1 year.

1 year = 8760 hours

Evaluate burning fatbergs in power stations compared with burning coal in power stations.

Figure 3 shows part of one liver cell.

The photograph was taken with an electron microscope.

Name structure X.

Describe the function of mitochondria.

Protein synthesis occurs at ribosomes.

Describe the structure of a protein molecule.

The storage substance in liver cells is a carbohydrate.

Name the carbohydrate storage substance found in liver cells.

Electron microscopes have higher resolving power than light microscopes.

What is the resolving power of a microscope?

Tick (✓) one box.

An electron microscope has a magnification of × 650 000

The length of a cell structure in an image from the electron microscope was 27 mm

Calculate the real length of this cell structure in mm

Give your answer to 2 significant figures.

The electromagnetic spectrum is made up of waves with different wavelengths and frequencies.

Give the type of electromagnetic wave with the lowest frequency.

A wave has a wavelength of 2.5 km and a velocity of 300 000 000 m/s

Calculate the frequency of the wave.

Figure 4 shows equipment that is used to investigate the emission of infrared radiation from different colours of surface.

The four hollow metal cubes are each painted a different colour.

The cubes can be filled with hot water before the lid is put on.

Describe a method to investigate which colour of surface emits infrared radiation at the greatest rate.

Which colour of surface will emit infrared radiation at the greatest rate?

Tick (✓) one box.

It is important to identify people at airports who may have infectious diseases, such as measles.

Explain how cameras that detect the rate of infrared emission can identify people with infectious diseases such as measles.

Plant leaves contain chlorophyll.

Nitrate ions are needed to produce chlorophyll.

Name one other mineral ion needed to produce chlorophyll.

Do not refer to nitrate in your answer.

Some mineral ions are in a lower concentration in the soil compared with inside plant root hair cells.

Name the process that moves mineral ions from a lower concentration in the soil into plant root hair cells.

Explain how mineral ions move from root hair cells to the leaves.

Which two factors increase the rate of movement of mineral ions through the plant?

Tick (✓) two boxes.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition.

The allele for having cystic fibrosis is recessive, r.

The dominant allele is R.

A person who has the genotype Rr is a ‘carrier’ of cystic fibrosis.

Carriers do not have symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

What scientific term describes the carrier’s genotype, Rr ?

Figure 5 shows the inheritance of cystic fibrosis in one family.

Person 6 and person 7 plan to have another child.

Draw a Punnett square diagram to show the probability of the child having cystic fibrosis.

Identify the genotypes of any offspring with cystic fibrosis.

Use Figure 5.

Mucus is produced in the breathing system.

In people with cystic fibrosis the mucus is thicker than the mucus produced in an unaffected person.

Explain why a person with cystic fibrosis has an increased risk of lung infections.

Some medical products are produced by genetically modified (GM) organisms.

Hamsters are small mammals.

GM hamster cells are used to produce drugs to treat some human genetic disorders.

Describe how a human allele can be transferred into the genome of a hamster cell.

Name a medical product that can be produced by GM bacteria.

Give the name of the disorder the product is used to treat.

Figure 6 shows two isotopes of neon.

Compare the number of sub-atomic particles in an atom of neon-20 and an atom of neon-21

There are 18 neon atoms in every million particles of air.

Of these 18 neon atoms, 0.27% are neon-21 atoms.

Calculate the percentage of particles in air that are neon-21 atoms.

Figure 7 shows a sign containing neon.

The sign is connected to an electrical supply.

The neon atoms gain energy when the sign is switched on.

Explain why the sign glows when the electrical supply is switched on.

HIV infection can prevent the body’s immune system from destroying pathogens.

Explain the roles of white blood cells when a pathogen enters the body.

Name the type of drug that can be used to treat HIV.

Describe how AIDS is different from HIV infection.

Figure 8 shows a wound dressing put over a cut on a person’s hand.

‘Smart’ wound dressings contain tiny electronics and sensors.

Smart dressings constantly monitor the wound to show if the wound is infected.

The information from the smart dressing can be sent wirelessly to the mobile phones of the patient and their doctor.

Smart dressings can release antibiotics if needed.

Evaluate the use of smart dressings compared with the use of the wound dressing shown in Figure 8.