Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Populations, Ecosystems and Sampling with Quadrats — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Populations, Ecosystems and Sampling with Quadrats, 24 marks, about 24 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Populations, Ecosystems and Sampling with Quadrats — the lesson that teaches it. Read the lesson first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
8 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Biology each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the lesson still loses the mark.
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- State what is meant by (1–2 marks)
- the definition
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer drawn from recall or from the data
- Describe (2–4 marks)
- developed, linked statements of WHAT happens — no reason required, but detail is Misread as: giving one bare statement where the tariff asked for a developed account
- Explain (2–4 marks)
- a causal chain — WHY it happens, each link a separate marking point Misread as: describing what happens without giving the reason it happens
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught biology to a situation not taught
- Calculate (1–3 marks)
- a numerical answer, with working where the tariff implies steps
- Evaluate (3–6 marks)
- evidence on both sides, then a judgement that follows from it
Assessed on Paper 1 (4BI1/1B) and Paper 2 (4BI1/2B), against AO1, AO2, AO3.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) — statements 4.1 · 4.2. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 10 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the lesson's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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Table 1 — the number of daisy plants counted in ten quadrats, each 0.25 m², placed at random on a school field measuring 60 m by 40 m. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daisy plants 6 2 9 0 4 7 3 5 8 6 (a)
(2)Calculate
Calculate the mean number of daisy plants per quadrat in Table 1.
Table 1 — the number of daisy plants counted in ten quadrats, each 0.25 m², placed at random on a school field measuring 60 m by 40 m. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daisy plants 6 2 9 0 4 7 3 5 8 6 (b)
(3)Calculate
Calculate an estimate for the total number of daisy plants on the whole field.
Table 1 — the number of daisy plants counted in ten quadrats, each 0.25 m², placed at random on a school field measuring 60 m by 40 m. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daisy plants 6 2 9 0 4 7 3 5 8 6 (c)
(1)Suggest
Suggest one reason why the estimate might be well above the true number of daisies on this field.
Table 1 — the number of daisy plants counted in ten quadrats, each 0.25 m², placed at random on a school field measuring 60 m by 40 m. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daisy plants 6 2 9 0 4 7 3 5 8 6 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which term describes all the organisms of all species living in one place?
Term A population B community C habitat D ecosystem (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(2)State what is meant by
State what is meant by an ecosystem.
(Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
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(1)Give
Give one reason for placing quadrats at random rather than choosing where to put them.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(3)Describe
Describe how a student could place ten quadrats at random on a rectangular field.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(2)Explain
Use Table 1 to explain why an estimate from ten quadrats is more reliable than one from two.
Table 1 — the number of daisy plants counted in ten quadrats, each 0.25 m², placed at random on a school field measuring 60 m by 40 m. Quadrat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Daisy plants 6 2 9 0 4 7 3 5 8 6 (Total for Question 6 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why quadrats are useful for counting daisies but not for counting rabbits.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(6)Evaluate
A student estimated the number of buttercups in a field from five quadrats placed where the flowers looked densest. Evaluate this method.
(Total for Question 8 = 6 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 10 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Populations, Ecosystems and Sampling with Quadrats to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Carl Linnaeus over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Populations, Ecosystems and Sampling with Quadrats — Four nested words for where organisms live — and how to count a population you could never count in full.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice