Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Seeds and Germination — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Seeds and Germination, 25 marks, about 25 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 Seeds and Germination — 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.
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- State (1 mark)
- one precise fact, no justification
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Design (4–6 marks)
- a workable method: variables, control, measurement, repeats
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 3.5 · 3.6. 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 — five tubes of cress seeds left for one week. Each tube held twenty seeds on cotton wool. Tube Water Air Temperature / °C Seeds germinated A yes yes 20 19 B none yes 20 0 C yes excluded by boiled water and oil 20 1 D yes yes 4 2 E yes yes 20, but in complete darkness 18 (a)
(1)Give
Give the tube in Table 1 that acts as the control.
Table 1 — five tubes of cress seeds left for one week. Each tube held twenty seeds on cotton wool. Tube Water Air Temperature / °C Seeds germinated A yes yes 20 19 B none yes 20 0 C yes excluded by boiled water and oil 20 1 D yes yes 4 2 E yes yes 20, but in complete darkness 18 (b)
(3)Explain
Explain what the result for tube E shows.
Table 1 — five tubes of cress seeds left for one week. Each tube held twenty seeds on cotton wool. Tube Water Air Temperature / °C Seeds germinated A yes yes 20 19 B none yes 20 0 C yes excluded by boiled water and oil 20 1 D yes yes 4 2 E yes yes 20, but in complete darkness 18 (c)
(2)Suggest
Suggest why one seed germinated in tube C even though air had been excluded.
Table 1 — five tubes of cress seeds left for one week. Each tube held twenty seeds on cotton wool. Tube Water Air Temperature / °C Seeds germinated A yes yes 20 19 B none yes 20 0 C yes excluded by boiled water and oil 20 1 D yes yes 4 2 E yes yes 20, but in complete darkness 18 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which three conditions are needed for a seed to germinate?
Conditions A water, light and warmth B water, oxygen and warmth C light, oxygen and soil D water, carbon dioxide and light (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)State
State where a germinating seed gets its food from before its first leaves open.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(2)Explain
Explain why a germinating seed needs oxygen.
(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)
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(3)Describe
Describe how a germinating seed uses its food store.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why a seed will not germinate in a refrigerator even when it has water and air.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why a large seed such as a broad bean can be sown deeper in the soil than a very small seed such as a poppy.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(6)Design
Design an experiment to show that water, oxygen and a suitable temperature are all needed for cress seeds to germinate.
(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 Seeds and Germination to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Jan Ingenhousz 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
- Seeds and Germination — What a seed needs to start growing, what it lives on before it has a single leaf — and why light is not on the list.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice