OCR GCSE Combined Science A (Gateway) Biology Paper 1 Foundation June 2025 question paper J250/01

Which chamber of the heart pumps blood to the kidneys?

A Left atrium

B Left ventricle

C Right atrium

D Right ventricle

What is the shape of a red blood cell?

A Biconcave

B Cuboidal

C Cylindrical

D Spherical

Which statement is correct about anaerobic respiration in plants?

A It produces glucose.

B It produces carbon dioxide.

C It produces lactic acid.

D It produces oxygen.

What are proteins made up of?

A Amino acids

B Fatty acids

C Glycerol

D Sugars

Which statement describes the relationship between insulin and blood sugar levels?

A Insulin decreases blood sugar levels.

B Insulin has no effect on blood sugar levels.

C Insulin increases blood sugar levels.

D Insulin only effects blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes.

What is the role of mitosis in a multicellular organism such as a human?

A To make gametes

B To make genetically different cells

C To make genetically identical cells

D To make stem cells from body cells

Which label is pointing to the left ventricle ?

Four students measure their reactions by dropping a ruler and measuring the distance the ruler falls before they catch it.

Each student does this five times.

The table shows their results.

Which student has results where the median and the mode are equal?

What is the main source of testosterone in the human body?

A Adrenal glands

B Pancreas

C Pituitary gland

D Testes

Which substance has a net outward movement from plants during the day?

A Nitrates

B Nitrogen

C Oxygen

D Urea

The nervous system allows the body of animals to respond to the environment.

The diagram shows a reflex arc of a dog stepping on a pin.

Moving a paw away after standing on a pin is an example of a reflex.

Explain how a reflex arc prevents harm to the dog.

Complete the flow diagram to show the order that structures are stimulated in this reflex arc.

One has been done for you.

Choose words from the list.

motor neurone receptor relay neurone sensory neurone

Microscopes are used in biology to see objects too small for the human eye.

A student makes a microscope slide of a layer of onion epidermal cells.

The student uses a coverslip to make the slide.

Describe the function of the coverslip.

When the student looks down the microscope, they see an image like the one below.

Identify subcellular structure X and describe its function.

The student prepared the slide by covering the onion epidermal cells with water.

The student looks at the cells again after one hour and the vacuoles look larger.

Explain why the vacuoles look larger.

Use your knowledge of transport in cells.

Plants and animals have stem cells.

These are cells that have not undergone changes to become specialised cells.

Which process do stem cells go through to become specialised cells?

Tick (✓) one box.

The table gives features of different types of stem cells.

Complete the table by putting one tick (✓) in each row.

One type of specialised cell in a plant is a root hair cell, shown in the diagram.

Give a function of a root hair cell and state how it is adapted for that function.

One role of a root hair cell is to move ions into the plant against the concentration gradient.

State the name given to this type of transport.

Hormones are important in the menstrual cycle.

Draw three lines to connect each hormone and its role in the menstrual cycle.

* Contraception is used to prevent pregnancy. The effectiveness of a contraceptive depends on the method and if it is used correctly.

The table shows the typical effectiveness of three methods of contraception.

The contraceptive implants and the combined pill contain hormones.

• Explain how hormones can be used to prevent pregnancy.

• Suggest reasons for the differences in the effectiveness of these three contraceptives.

Most animals have a circulatory system that consists of a heart and blood vessels.

Describe the role of the valves in the heart.

Explain why the heart is described as a ‘ double pump ’ in mammals.

Describe the pathway of a red blood cell as it travels from the right side of the heart to the left side.

It is important to maintain internal environments in the human body.

Diabetes is a medical condition that can affect blood glucose levels.

Give three ways that type 1 diabetes is different to type 2 diabetes.

Plants need to move water and other molecules through their stems.

A student uses this apparatus to estimate water uptake by a leafy shoot.

State the name of this apparatus.

Describe how the student can use this apparatus to find the rate that the gas bubble moves in cm/minute.

To find this estimate of water uptake in 10 minutes, the student took measurements for 60 minutes and divided their answer by 6.

Suggest why they did this.

The student wanted to check the reproducibility of their results.

State one way that they could do this.

The student wants to extend their experiment to investigate the effect of leaf area on the rate of water uptake.

Suggest how the student could measure the area of a leaf.

The student then investigates the number of stomata on the upper and the lower surfaces of one of the leaves from the shoot.

The table shows their results.

Calculate the mean number of stomata on the upper surface.

Mean number of stomata =........ per mm²

The mean number of stomata on the lower surface of the student’s leaf is 49 per mm². (i)

Use this value and the graph to find the transpiration rate for this plant.

Transpiration rate =........ arbitrary units

Suggest two conclusions that can be made from the trends shown in this graph.