Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Natural Selection and Antibiotic Resistance — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Natural Selection and Antibiotic Resistance, 29 marks, about 29 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 Natural Selection and Antibiotic Resistance — 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
7 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.
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer drawn from recall or from the data
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- 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
- 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
- Calculate (1–3 marks)
- a numerical answer, with working where the tariff implies steps
- 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 3.38 · 3.39. 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 hospital recorded the percentage of Staphylococcus aureus samples from its wards that were resistant to one antibiotic, over eleven years.
Table 1 — the percentage of samples resistant to the antibiotic, by year. Year Resistant samples / % 1 2.7 3 6.4 5 14.1 7 29.8 9 48.3 11 61.2 (a)
(2)Describe
Describe the trend shown in Table 1.
A hospital recorded the percentage of Staphylococcus aureus samples from its wards that were resistant to one antibiotic, over eleven years.
Table 1 — the percentage of samples resistant to the antibiotic, by year. Year Resistant samples / % 1 2.7 3 6.4 5 14.1 7 29.8 9 48.3 11 61.2 (b)
(2)Calculate
Calculate the percentage increase in resistant samples between year 1 and year 11. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
A hospital recorded the percentage of Staphylococcus aureus samples from its wards that were resistant to one antibiotic, over eleven years.
Table 1 — the percentage of samples resistant to the antibiotic, by year. Year Resistant samples / % 1 2.7 3 6.4 5 14.1 7 29.8 9 48.3 11 61.2 percentage increase = ............................
(c)
(4)Explain
Explain the trend in Table 1 in terms of natural selection.
A hospital recorded the percentage of Staphylococcus aureus samples from its wards that were resistant to one antibiotic, over eleven years.
Table 1 — the percentage of samples resistant to the antibiotic, by year. Year Resistant samples / % 1 2.7 3 6.4 5 14.1 7 29.8 9 48.3 11 61.2 (Total for Question 1 = 8 marks)
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(1)Give
Give the original source of the variation on which natural selection acts.
(Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Which
Which statement about natural selection is correct?
Statement A Organisms change themselves to suit their environment. B Variation already present is acted on by the environment. C Useful characteristics acquired in life are passed to offspring. D All members of a species are equally likely to survive. (Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(4)Explain
Explain how a population of bacteria becomes resistant to an antibiotic.
(Total for Question 4 = 4 marks)
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(2)Suggest
Suggest why a doctor asks a patient to finish a course of antibiotics even after they feel better.
(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)
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(4)Explain
A species of moth living on pale tree bark is mostly pale, with a few dark individuals. Soot from a nearby factory darkens the bark over several decades. Explain what happens to the moth population.
(Total for Question 6 = 4 marks)
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(3)Describe
Describe what Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection states.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(6)Discuss
Discuss how a population of rats can become resistant to a poison within a few years, and why saying the rats adapted to the poison is a poor description of what happened.
(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 Natural Selection and Antibiotic Resistance to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Alexander Fleming 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
- Natural Selection and Antibiotic Resistance — One argument in four steps — and the version of it happening in hospitals now, fast enough to watch.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice