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2 alveoli – millions of tiny air sacs making up the gas exchange tissue
3 a) Breathing in: ribs lifted up and outwards (by muscles between ribs); diaphragm muscle
contracts, pulling diaphragm down and flat; chest volume increases, so pressure falls; air rushes
into lungs to equalise pressure.
b) Breathing out: ribs lower down as muscles relax; diaphragm relaxes and domes upwards again;
chest volume gets smaller, so pressure increases; air squeezed out of lungs
5 A – 4, B – 2, C – 1, D – 3
6 Oxygen is taken from the air in the lungs into the blood, so the level of oxygen in the air breathed out
is lower than the level in the air breathed in. In the lungs carbon dioxide moves from the blood into
the air, so the air breathed out contains more carbon dioxide than the air breathed in. About the same
amount of each gas is moved each way, so it is known as gas exchange.
7 a) A – thin-walled capillary
B – carbon dioxide diffuses out
C – air in
D – air out
E – single-cell thick wall of alveolus
F – oxygen diffuses in
b) Three from:
Thin walls of capillary and alveolus, so short distance for gases to diffuse
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Water lines the alveolus, so gases can dissolve, making diffusion easier
Rich blood supply maintains concentration gradient, making diffusion in both directions more
efficient
Large surface area for diffusion to take place over
into the lungs; nicotine affects the heart, making it beat faster; carbon monoxide takes up
haemoglobin, so smoker doesn’t have enough oxygen and can be breathless; tar can cause the
alveoli to break down, leading to COPD (emphysema); tar causes lung cancer, throat cancer, etc.
c) i) Carbon monoxide is picked up by the haemoglobin in the blood instead of oxygen. Less
oxygen is available to give the fetus, so it is constantly short of oxygen, which affects its
growth.
ii) The fetus can become addicted to nicotine, so the baby is fractious and does not settle and
feed. The cigarette smoke will go into the baby’s lungs and will affect them in the same
way as it does the mother. The baby will be more likely to get chest infections, etc. The
baby will also be affected by nicotine and become addicted.
9 a) Mucus fills the alveoli, stopping gas exchange from taking place. It also blocks the bronchioles,
stopping air from getting to the alveoli. The mucus is very thick, so the body cannot clear it by
coughing, therefore the patient gets increasingly breathless as the mucus builds up before
physiotherapy.
b) The larger air sacs have a smaller surface area than many small ones, so less gas exchange can
take place. If the bigger sacs also fill with water, people find it even more difficult to get the
oxygen they need from the air. This is why they feel breathless and may need to breathe oxygen.
c) If the tubes of the respiratory system become narrower as the linings swell, it is more difficult to
pull enough air through them to fill the lungs properly. The wheezing noise is caused by air
moving through narrow tubes. The extra mucus also makes gas exchange very difficult, so
people feel very short of breath until they can use their medication.
2 a) Carbohydrates are found in foods such as cereals, fruits and root vegetables.
b) Both carbohydrates and fats supply energy but the energy in the carbohydrates can be used
more easily by the body.
c) Fats are found in foods such as cheese, butter and margarine.
d) Too much, too little or the wrong sort of food causes malnutrition.
e) Proteins, important for growth and replacing cells, are found in meat, fish, eggs and pulses.
3 a) Calcium for strong bones and teeth, iron for red blood cells
b) Fat-soluble – A or D; water-soluble – any of the B vitamins, or C
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Vitamin A makes a chemical in the retina protecting the surface of the eye. Vitamin D helps
bones absorb calcium and phosphate. Vitamins B1, B2 and B3 help with cell respiration.
Vitamin C sticks together the cells lining surfaces such as the mouth, and can help protect
against infections.
c) Obesity
d) She could eat less fat and carbohydrate, more protein, more fruit and vegetables – any sensible
suggestion.
7 a) Bile is an alkaline liquid, so it neutralises the acidic material arriving from the stomach and so
keeps the pH neutral/slightly alkaline.
b) i) It breaks fats down physically into small droplets.
ii) It gives a large surface area for the action of digestive enzymes chemically breaking down
fats.
8 The large surface area of the villi greatly increases the surface area of the gut for dissolved food to
pass through. The villi have a rich blood supply to carry away the absorbed food (maintaining a
concentration gradient). They have very thin walls, so short diffusion distances – food can easily
reach the bloodstream.
2 a) As you look at the page, red on the right, blue on the left, with colours merging in the capillary
areas
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b) It is carried to the cells and oxygen diffuses from the blood to the body cells. Deoxygenated
blood is then returned to the heart.
c) Oxygen diffuses into the blood in the lungs.
d) Because the blood is circulated round the lungs, returns to the heart and is then circulated round
the body, so there are two separate circulation systems.
b) Arteries carry blood away from the heart, usually oxygenated blood. Veins carry blood towards
the heart, usually deoxygenated blood. Capillaries carry blood to the individual cells of the
body; substances diffuse in and out of the blood in capillaries.
c) Arteries have thick walls that can withstand the high pressure of blood, stretching as the blood
surges through them and returning to shape to keep the blood moving along. Veins have thinner
walls at lower pressure, with valves to prevent the backflow of blood. Capillaries are very small
to fit between cells, with walls only one cell thick, giving short diffusion distances.
5 a) If there is a ‘hole in the heart’, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are no longer kept separate.
They can mix, so the level of oxygen in the blood going round the body is not as high as it
should be. This explains the blue colour and the lack of energy. If surgeons close up the hole,
the heart works perfectly normally and the blood no longer mixes.
b) The heart muscle itself is starved of oxygen and so cannot work properly. This is why the chest
pain develops. If the damaged blood vessels are replaced with healthy ones or opened using a
stent, the blood flow to the heart muscle is restored, and the muscle is no longer starved of
oxygen and can work properly again.
6 plasma
These cells have no nucleus. They are packed with the red pigment haemoglobin which carries
oxygen.
These cells have a nucleus and help defend the body against microbes that cause disease.
platelets
7 a) Carbon dioxide – the cells; urea – the liver (cells); digested food – the gut
b) Carbon dioxide is transported to the lungs, from where it diffuses out into the air. Urea is
removed from the blood in the kidneys and passes out of the body in the urine. Digested food is
transported in the plasma to the liver and then to the cells where it is needed.
8 A – oxygen in, B – red blood cells with oxyhaemoglobin, C – oxygen out, D – red blood cells with
haemoglobin (without oxygen)
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9 a) People living at high altitude develop a high red blood cell count because they need more red
blood cells to be able to get enough oxygen from the air. Without the extra cells, they would be
breathless as soon as they tried to do anything and might collapse, as often happens when people
who live at low altitudes visit very high regions.
b) The athlete will have a high red blood cell count because they will have more blood than
normal. This means that their blood can carry more oxygen than normal, giving them an illegal
advantage during the race.
10 a) Phagocytes extend their cytoplasm (pseudopodia) around pathogens and enclose them in a
vacuole. They secrete digestive enzymes into the vacuole and break down and digest the
pathogen. Lymphocytes respond to antigens on the surface of a pathogen. They make antibodies
which destroy the pathogen or make it more likely to be digested by a phagocyte. Also some
lymphocytes form memory cells, which gives rise to a very rapid secondary immune response if
the pathogen gets into the body again. Large numbers of the right antibody are released very
rapidly, so the pathogen is destroyed before it can cause the symptoms of disease.
b) Vaccination introduces a weakened or dead strain of a pathogen. Your immune system responds
to the antigen and produces the right antibodies and memory cells without being exposed to a
serious disease. If you then meet the live pathogen, the immune system is ready and a rapid
secondary immune response makes sure you don’t become ill.
Chapter 6: Coordination
1 light sound ears chemicals – enable us to taste nose touch, pressure, pain
and temperature changes
3 a) They detect changes in the environment (or stimuli), e.g. eyes respond to light, ears to sound.
b) It receives information from all the sensory organs, makes sense of the information, and controls
the responses of various parts of our bodies. It also provides us with an image of the world
around us.
c) They carry impulses from the sense organs to the central nervous system.
d) They carry impulses from the central nervous system to the muscles.
4 a) A voluntary action involves conscious thought and control by the central nervous system. A
reflex action is very fast and does not involve conscious thought.
b) They allow important repetitive actions – breathing, control of the heart, gut, etc. – to take place
without using up conscious thought, and they allow a very rapid response to danger or pain,
faster than if conscious centres were involved.
c) i) Blow below kneecap à receptor in skin/tendon à sensory neurone à relay neurone in
spinal cord à motor neurone à muscles of leg à knee jerks
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ii) Pain from sharp point à receptor in skin à sensory neurone à relay neurone in spinal
cord à motor neurone à muscles of leg à foot withdrawn
iii) Sound/movement à eyes/ears à sensory neurone à relay neurone in brain à motor
neurone à muscles of eyelids à blink
6 retina sclera iris cornea lens optic nerve pupil ciliary muscles
suspensory ligaments
7 a) i)
ii)
iii)
b) The iris contains both circular and radial muscles. When the circular muscles relax and the
radial muscles are fully contracted, the pupil is pulled as wide and dilated as possible. When the
radial muscles are fully relaxed and the circular muscles are fully contracted, the pupil is pulled
in as small as possible. Different levels of relaxation and contraction of the muscles allow the
size of the pupil to be varied widely.
8 a) If the lens is cloudy, light cannot get through into the eye, making it impossible to see. (Able
pupils may comment that the blindness will be progressive as the lens becomes increasingly
cloudy.)
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b) The lens focuses light on the retina. If the eyeball is egg-shaped or bulbous, light from distant
objects will tend to be focused in front of the retina, so lenses are needed to bend the light from
distant objects before it enters the eye.
c) The retina contains light-sensitive cells, so if it becomes detached there are no working sensory
cells to detect light and it becomes impossible to see.
9 a) The light from nearby objects needs to be bent strongly to focus on the retina. When looking at
2 hormone – a chemical message carried in the blood that causes a change in the body
insulin – a hormone made in the pancreas that causes sugar to pass from the blood into cells where it
is needed for energy
oestrogen – a hormone made in the ovaries that controls the development of the female secondary
sexual characteristics
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7 Allows more light into the eyes and makes them more sensitive to movement.
8 For other animals, though not for people, makes the animal look larger and more
intimidating to an attacker.
4 a) Because the blood sugar level goes up after a meal, so the pancreas releases insulin, which
allows the sugar to go into the cells and the blood sugar level to drop.
b) The blood sugar level keeps on rising because no insulin is produced, so the sugar cannot get
into the cells and the level in the blood gets higher and higher.
IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers – Section B
c) Because the insulin injections allow sugar to get into the cells to provide the diabetic with
energy, and the blood sugar level does not get dangerously high. The pattern is then quite
similar to that of a person with a healthy pancreas.
5 If someone with this mild form of diabetes manages their diet carefully, they may not need to inject
insulin. It is important for them to eat a diet that is relatively low in carbohydrates, so that their blood
sugar level does not tend to go up too much and their pancreas can cope. It is particularly important
to avoid sugary food, which makes the blood sugar go up very rapidly. Starchy carbohydrates are
broken down slowly, so the blood sugar does not go up so fast.
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Substance Point A Point B Point C
glucose filtered from blood into actively taken back into the all glucose back in the blood
capsule blood
dissolved filtered from blood into those ions needed by the some ions in the blood,
ions capsule body are absorbed back excess in the tubule go into
into the blood urine
urea filtered into blood from none absorbed back into all remains in the tubule to
capsule the blood form urine
alcohol some filtered from blood some absorbed back into some alcohol remains in
into capsule the blood blood, some stays in tubule,
excreted in urine
4 a) The volume rose well over the normal level to a peak about 90 minutes after drinking the water.
It then gradually decreased until by 150 minutes the level was almost back to normal.
b) Drinking water makes the blood more dilute. This stops the production of the hormone ADH.
ADH makes the tubule walls more porous, so when it is not released the walls of the tubule are
less porous and less water is absorbed back into the blood. As a result, more urine is formed and
the blood concentration returns to normal.
c) As the volume of urine increased, the salt concentration decreased.
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d) The amount of salt being lost in the urine remains the same, but because there is a lot more
water in the urine, the salt is more diluted, so the concentration falls.
e) The volume of urine produced would fall below the normal level and continue to fall until
another drink was taken. As the volume of urine falls, the salt concentration of the urine would
increase, with the same amount of salt dissolved in smaller volumes of water.
7 a) The thermoregulatory centre in the brain is sensitive to the temperature of the blood flowing
through it. It also receives information about skin temperature from receptors in the skin and
coordinates the body responses to keep the core temperature at 37°C.
b) Temperature sensors in the skin send impulses to the thermoregulatory centre in the brain giving
information about the temperature of the skin, the surroundings and the things it touches. It is
important for maintaining the core temperature, because if the external surroundings and the
skin are cold, the body will tend to conserve heat to keep the core temperature up, and vice
versa.
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• The testes grow larger, become active and start producing sperm and the other chemicals
for semen.
• The penis enlarges and the skin of the penis and the scrotum may darken.
• The brain changes to an adult brain.
For girls, any three from the following:
• The whole body undergoes the adolescent growth spurt.
• Pubic hair and body hair (underarms) begin to grow.
IGCSE Biology Revision Guide Answers – Section B
4 a) A testis produces sperm, the male gametes. If it is damaged, no sperm may be produced.
b) An ovary produces mature ova, the female gametes. If it is damaged or does not work, there will
be no eggs to fertilise.
c) The oviduct is a tube along which the egg travels from the ovary to the uterus. If the oviduct is
damaged, the egg cannot reach the uterus, so there can be no pregnancy.
d) The sperm duct is a tube along which the sperm travel from the testis to the urethra. If the sperm
duct is damaged, the sperm cannot leave the testis.
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b) 1 Once a month, a surge of the hormone FSH from the pituitary gland in the brain starts a
few of the ova developing in the ovary. It also stimulates the ovary to produce the female
hormone oestrogen. This in turn stimulates the uterus to build up a thick, spongy lining
with lots of blood vessels ready to support a pregnancy.
2 About 14 days after the ova start ripening, one of them bursts out of its follicle. This is
called ovulation and when it happens the hormone levels from the pituitary begin to drop
dramatically.
6 a) Because a woman can become pregnant only when there is an egg available to be fertilised.
Sperm can survive a few days inside the body of a woman, but the egg survives for only about
24 hours, so pregnancy can occur only if both egg and sperm are present in that critical window.
b) Young girls do not produce mature ova each month because they are not yet sexually mature.
Older women cannot become pregnant because their ovaries are empty (they are past the
menopause) and they no longer have periods.
7 a) The placenta contains blood vessels from the mother and the embryo. It is here that the exchange
of food and oxygen takes place, as the mother provides the growing baby with the materials it
needs. Carbon dioxide and urea produced by the fetus as it grows are removed in the placenta and
carried away in the mother’s blood. The placenta also produces more and more progesterone,
taking over from the corpus luteum in the ovary. High levels of progesterone are needed to
maintain pregnancy. The placenta also acts as a barrier, protecting the developing fetus from many
microorganisms and drugs, which cannot cross from the mother to the fetus. The fetus is connected
to the placenta by the umbilical cord, which has a huge surface area for gas exchange to occur.
b) As pregnancy progresses, a pregnant woman needs to eat a little more food. Throughout
pregnancy it is important to eat a good balanced diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals, since
the mother has to supply the baby with everything it needs
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