Section C: Plant Physiology

Chapter 10: Plants and food

1

photosynthesis

a)

light

chlorophyll

chloroplasts

water

sugar (glucose)

starch

Water from the root moves up to the leaf through the stem.
Sunlight provides energy.
Sugars are made in the leaf and provide the plant with food.
Oxygen is produced and released into the air.
b) Carbon dioxide + water + energy from the Sun sugar + oxygen
3

a)

Starch

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

Carbon dioxide gas is absorbed from the air.

b) The mass of the potato crop depended on the amount of sunlight in the growing season, being
larger with more sunlight and smaller with less. Most of the mass of a potato is made of starch,
and starch is made as a direct result of photosynthesis. The amount of photosynthesis that can
take place depends on the amount of sunlight available to supply the energy, so the amount of
sunlight is directly linked to the size of the potato crop.
5

a)

Any five from

Product made

How it is used in the plant cells

starch

storage compound

cellulose

cell walls

protein

cytoplasm, enzymes

DNA

genetic material, contains instructions for making new cells, etc.

chlorophyll

captures light energy for photosynthesis

sucrose

for transport around the body

amino acids

to build up into proteins

b) Respiration to supply energy for the cells

1

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

a)

b) The palisade layer is closely packed with lots of chloroplasts and close to the surface of the leaf
so that it can capture as much light as possible for photosynthesis.
The spongy layer consists of loosely packed cells with lots of air spaces, giving a large available
surface area for gaseous exchange between the cells and the air, while the chloroplasts allow
some photosynthesis to take place.
The upper epidermis protects the cells in the leaf from damage. It is transparent so that light
passes through to the palisade cells beneath.
The chloroplast is the cell organelle that contains chlorophyll, the green pigment that captures
light energy for photosynthesis.
A stoma (plural stomata) is a pore that allows gases to diffuse into and out of the leaf.
A guard cell controls the opening and closing of the stomata.
7

a)

Bubbles of gas escape from the end of the stem.

b) i)
ii)
c)

More bubbles / It would bubble faster.

Fewer bubbles/ It would bubble more slowly.

Because plants need light for photosynthesis. If they have more light, they can photosynthesise
faster, but with less light they will photosynthesise more slowly.

d) The temperature might be changing because the light gets hot.

8

a)

Correctly plotted graph with labelled axes, etc.

b) Seedlings in 85% sunlight receive much more light energy than those in 30% sunlight. This
means they can carry out more photosynthesis and use the sugars they make to build up more
new tree. Thus the seedlings grown in higher light levels grow taller than those grown in lower
light levels.
9

a)

2530C

b) It causes a steady increase in the rate of photosynthesis up to around 30C, after which the rate
of photosynthesis starts to fall.
c)
2

50C

d) Because in respiration the plant uses the food it makes in photosynthesis, so when the difference
between the two is greatest, the largest amount of sugar will be available to turn into tomato,
resulting in the biggest crops.
e)

25C

Plant B is lacking in nitrogen and needs a nitrogen-rich fertiliser.

Plant C is lacking in phosphate and needs a phosphate-rich fertiliser.

Chapter 11: Transport in plants

1

a)

There is a lower concentration of water molecules inside the membrane bag than outside it.
There is a lower concentration of sugar molecules outside the membrane bag than inside it.
Water molecules move into the bag by diffusion along a concentration gradient through the
partially permeable membrane.
Sugar molecules are too large to pass through the membrane by diffusion, so the imbalance of
molecules and the diffusion gradient for the water molecules are maintained.
Water continues to move into the bag by osmosis, so the water level in the tube rises.

b) Because the root hair cell is similar to the partially permeable membrane bag. Water moves into
the cell from the soil along a concentration gradient, but sugars, etc., cannot leave the cell.
c)

Sugars such as glucose are osmotically active, so a build-up of these sugars in cells would lead
to the movement of water into those cells by osmosis. This water movement might not be useful
to the plant.

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

10 Plant A is lacking in potassium and needs a potassium-rich fertiliser.

Starch is not osmotically active, so carbohydrates can be stored in plant cells in the form of
starch without causing water to move into the cells as well.
Plants can move water internally by converting glucose to starch or vice versa.
d) Active transport it uses energy.

e)

The constant evaporation of water from the leaves causes water molecules to be pulled up
through the plant transport system as the water molecules stick together. Thus water is
constantly being removed from the roots, raising the concentration of the cytoplasm in the root
hair cells and thus causing water to move into those cells by osmosis from the soil water around
the roots.

f)

Because the roots have a large surface area, many root cells are in close contact with soil and
soil water, so a lot of water can move by osmosis from the soil into the roots.

a)

The cell contents contain a much higher concentration of solutes than the distilled water. The
solution is much more concentrated, so has a much lower concentration of water. This means
that water moves into the cells making up the cylinders by osmosis down a concentration
gradient. The cells become very turgid and expand, so the potato cylinder expands.
The weak sugar solution has a similar concentration to the cell contents, so there is little or no
net movement of water by osmosis and the cylinders stay the same.

The strong sugar solution is more concentrated than the cell contents. Water moves out of the
potato cells by osmosis. They become flaccid or plasmolysed, so the cylinder shrinks.

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

b)

support

stomata

transpiration

waxy

Water loss by evaporation in a plant is known as transpiration.

Plants keep relatively cool in hot sun because transpiration cools them down.
Transpiration also creates a risk that the plant will lose too much water and wilt.
Transpiration is more rapid in hot, dry and windy conditions.

a)

In the leaves (and in the green parts of the stem, from high-ability pupils)

b) Through the roots in the soil

c)

Xylem

d) Phloem

e)

Xylem

f)

Phloem cells are living, xylem cells are dead.

a)

A process by which a plant loses water from the leaves by evaporation through the stomata

b) The waxy cuticle.

Very little effect, as the waxy cuticle is on the top surface and most stomata are on the bottom of
the leaf.

d) Most stomata are on the lower surface of leaves. Vaseline on the lower surface would cover the
stomata, preventing the loss of water by evaporation and so slowing the rate at which water is
taken up.
e)

The air bubble would move rapidly towards the plant, because the fan would increase the rate of
water lost by evaporation from the surface of the leaves and so the uptake of water would
increase.

f)

Uptake of water, not water lost by transpiration. A small amount of the water taken up will be
used for photosynthesis, etc.

Chapter 12: Chemical coordination in plants

1

stimuli

a)

light

gravity

growing

hormones

towards

b) away from
c)
3

towards

a)

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

c)

b) A: The tip makes a hormone in response to one-sided light and this passes down to the growing
region. The shoot grows more on the dark side and so bends towards the light.
B: As A. The hormone is water soluble and passes through the agar jelly.
C: The hormone cannot pass through glass, so the shoot remains growing upright.
D: Light does not reach the tip of the shoot through the foil cap, so the shoot continues to grow
upright.
c)

a)

Plants respond to gravity and light (and some to moisture).

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

b) They are relatively slow, and they are brought about by growth and by chemical messages.
5

Because the roots must grow down into the ground as the seed germinates, to absorb water and
minerals and to anchor the developing plant so it is not blown away. The roots must keep growing
down into the soil throughout the life of the plant. The shoots must grow towards the light to get the
maximum amount of light energy onto the leaves, so they can photosynthesise and make as much
food as possible.

Use young bean seedlings, which normally grow straight up and down. Attach some seedlings
horizontally to a clinostat that is slowly rotating vertically to make sure the effect of gravity is felt
equally all around the plant. Expect growth of both shoots and roots to continue horizontally. Attach
other seedlings horizontally to a clinostat that is not rotating so that the seedlings are affected by
gravity on one side only. Expect the shoots to grow upwards and the roots downwards, although the
seedling is kept horizontal.

Chapter 13: Reproduction in plants

1

asexually/sexually
coloured
scent

a)

sexually/asexually

flowers

pollinated

wind

brightly

Sexual: sex cells produced, fertilisation involved, variation in offspring, good in a changing
environment
Asexual: no sex cells produced, no fertilisation involved, no variation in offspring, good in a
stable environment

b) i)
ii)

Asexual
Runner

iii) Special stems emerge from the parent plant. A new small plant forms on the end, which is
identical to the parent plant. Roots grow down into the soil and the runner drops away.
This is a form of asexual reproduction.
3

a)

Runners come from the stems, and a new identical plant forms where a runner touches the
ground.

b) A piece of stem with few leaves is cut from a healthy plant, put in damp compost or water until
roots grow and then planted on to become a full-sized plant (extra mark for mention of hormone
rooting powder). This is asexual reproduction because no sex cells are produced, the new plant
is identical to the parent plant, etc.
4

propagator

humid

light

cuttings

transpiration

a)

b) The transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma, either within the same flower (selfpollination) or between different flowers (cross-pollination)
c)
6

By insects, because it has large, brightly coloured petals and the sex organs are inside the petals

a)

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

b)

a)

The joining of the male nucleus from the pollen with the female nucleus in the ovule

b) B 1, D 2, E 3, C 4, A 5
7

a)

To avoid competition for nutrients, water, light, etc., between the parent plant and the offspring,
and between the seedlings.

b) Plums, which have a fleshy, sweet fruit, are eaten by animals. The seeds pass through the
animals body or are thrown away.

IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers Section C

Cockleburs have hooks that attach themselves to an animals coat. The animal carries them
along until it grooms itself and removes the burs, or they fall off.
Maple seeds are dispersed by the wind. The wings allow them to catch the wind and be blown
quite a long way from the parent tree.
9

a)

A food store for the young plant as it germinates

b) The embryo root

c)

The embryo shoot

d) The wall of the ovule which forms a tough, protective seed coat
10 a)

The seeds may drift down like parachutes, be shaped like wings to catch the wind, or be very
small and light.

b)

11 a)

Warmth for efficient enzyme action, water for chemical reactions to take place in solution and
for hydrolysis reactions, and oxygen for respiration

b) Any appropriate demonstration which shows awareness of the need to control other variables,
provide a control, etc.
12 We use rooting hormones in cuttings to make roots develop reliably and quickly. We also use
hormones to encourage the growth of cells and then tiny plants in plant tissue cloning.