Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Bacteria, Viruses and Pathogens — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Bacteria, Viruses and Pathogens, 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 Bacteria, Viruses and Pathogens — 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
- Name (1–2 marks)
- the correct term, spelled recognisably
- 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
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer drawn from recall or from the data
- Discuss (3–6 marks)
- an account that puts more than one consideration side by side and reaches a position
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 1.3 · 1.4. 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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A student is shown an electron micrograph of a single-celled organism. It has a cell wall, one long coiled loop of DNA lying free in the cytoplasm, several much smaller separate rings of DNA, and no nucleus.
(a)
(1)Give
Give the name of the smaller separate rings of DNA seen in this cell.
A student is shown an electron micrograph of a single-celled organism. It has a cell wall, one long coiled loop of DNA lying free in the cytoplasm, several much smaller separate rings of DNA, and no nucleus.
(b)
(2)Explain
Explain why this organism is described as a prokaryote.
A student is shown an electron micrograph of a single-celled organism. It has a cell wall, one long coiled loop of DNA lying free in the cytoplasm, several much smaller separate rings of DNA, and no nucleus.
(c)
(3)Suggest
Suggest one advantage to this organism of carrying some of its genes on the smaller rings rather than on the main loop.
A student is shown an electron micrograph of a single-celled organism. It has a cell wall, one long coiled loop of DNA lying free in the cytoplasm, several much smaller separate rings of DNA, and no nucleus.
(Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which structure is found in a bacterial cell but never in an animal cell?
Structure A a nucleus B a plasmid C a cell membrane D ribosomes (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)State what is meant by
State what is meant by the term pathogen.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the structure that surrounds the genetic material of a virus.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(3)Describe
Describe the structures found inside a bacterial cell.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why a virus can only reproduce inside a living cell.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
A crop disease spreads through a field of tomatoes. The organism responsible is found only inside plant cells, is far too small to see with a light microscope, and consists of RNA in a protein coat. Suggest which type of pathogen it is, and give the evidence for your choice.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(6)Discuss
Discuss why antibiotics are useful against a bacterial throat infection but useless against a viral one, and why doctors are reluctant to prescribe them when they are not sure which it is.
(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 Bacteria, Viruses and Pathogens to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Martinus Beijerinck over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
Completely free. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no account needed to start.
Back to the lesson
- Bacteria, Viruses and Pathogens — What a prokaryote is, why a virus is not classed as living at all, and what the word pathogen actually covers.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice