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Syllabus code 0610 · checked against the board on 2026-09-13 · 9 questions available on this subject's topics (25 marks)
Which structure is present in a plant cell but not in an animal cell?
1 mark · State · Cells, microscopy and organisation
Answer: Chloroplast
Watch the wording: cell wall is plant-only, but cell membrane is not. Questions like this are testing whether you read the word.
Explain how water reaches the leaves at the top of a 20 m tall tree.
3 marks · Explain · Transport in plants and water relations
Answer: Transpiration from the leaves pulls water up the xylem; the pull is transmitted because water molecules are cohesive, and the narrow xylem walls support the column by adhesion.
Three separate mechanisms earn three marks: transpiration pull, cohesion, and the xylem structure. Naming only one caps the answer at one mark.
In an experiment, amylase digests 0.80 g of starch in 2.0 minutes. Calculate the rate of reaction in g per minute.
2 marks · Calculate · Enzymes, digestion and absorption
Answer: 0.40 g/min
Rates always carry two units — grams and minutes. A bare 0.40 loses the unit mark, and it is the easiest mark on the question.
A plant in a sealed greenhouse is given extra carbon dioxide and its rate of photosynthesis increases. Providing more carbon dioxide then makes no difference, but increasing the light intensity does. Explain these observations.
3 marks · Explain · Photosynthesis and limiting factors
Answer: Carbon dioxide was the limiting factor at first; once it was supplied in excess, light became the limiting factor, so only more light increased the rate.
Limiting factor questions are answered by elimination: whatever change produces an increase is the factor that was limiting. Say that logic out loud in your answer.
Explain why a food chain rarely contains more than five trophic levels.
3 marks · Explain · Ecology, food chains and energy transfer
Answer: Only about a tenth of the energy transfers at each level; the rest is lost in respiration, movement and undigested material, so too little energy remains to support another level.
Name the losses rather than saying "energy is lost". The named losses are what the mark scheme looks for, and it is the same three every year.
A farmer ploughs a field and leaves the bare soil exposed for three weeks before planting. Compare the soil conditions on the ploughed field with those under the undisturbed grassland beside it, and explain why the ploughed field loses more topsoil.
4 marks · Compare · Ecology, food chains and energy transfer
Answer: Ploughed soil is loose, has little plant cover and dries out; the grassland has roots binding particles and a litter layer. Loose bare soil is lifted by wind and washed by rain, so both wind and water erosion remove more topsoil.
In compare questions, keep the two sides in the same sentence. A structure of "Field: ... Grassland: ..." repeated beats a long paragraph about one and a short afterthought about the other.
Figure 2 describes four features of a root hair cell: a long, thin extension of the cell surface; a large permanent vacuole filling much of the cell; no chloroplasts; and many mitochondria.
4 marks · Annotate / Label · Cells, microscopy and organisation
Answer: Root hair (extension) — increases surface area for water uptake. Large permanent vacuole — stores cell sap and keeps the cell rigid. No chloroplasts — the cell is underground, in darkness, so photosynthesis cannot occur. Many mitochondria — release energy for active transport of mineral ions.
Label questions are the cheapest marks on the paper and the most commonly rushed. Draw the line, name the part, then add its job in three or four words — the job is usually the mark you are actually being tested on.
Which instrument is most suitable for measuring 25.0 cm³ of dilute acid to the nearest 0.1 cm³?
1 mark · Choose · Units, measuring instruments and significant figures
Answer: Burette
Instrument questions are answered in two steps: what precision is demanded, then which instrument provides at least that precision.
Figure 1 describes a cross-section of a leaf: an upper layer of tightly packed cells containing many chloroplasts; a lower layer of loosely packed cells with air gaps; a waxy layer across the top surface; and small openings on the lower surface, each bordered by two curved cells.
4 marks · Describe · Transport in plants and water relations
Answer: Palisade layer: packed with chloroplasts for photosynthesis. Spongy layer: air gaps allow gas movement. Waxy cuticle: reduces water loss. Stomata with guard cells: allow carbon dioxide in and control water loss.
Describe means say what is there and what it does, in the order the figure presents it. Candidates lose marks by describing the whole leaf from memory instead of answering the figure in front of them.