Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Alveoli, Exercise and Smoking — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Alveoli, Exercise and Smoking, 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 Alveoli, Exercise and Smoking — 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
6 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
- 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
- Calculate (1–3 marks)
- a numerical answer, with working where the tariff implies steps
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 2.49 · 2.48 · 2.50. 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 — breaths per minute recorded for three students, at rest and immediately after three minutes of step-ups. Student At rest After exercise A 14 31 B 17 38 C 13 27 (a)
(2)Calculate
Calculate the mean number of breaths per minute after exercise for the three students in Table 1.
Table 1 — breaths per minute recorded for three students, at rest and immediately after three minutes of step-ups. Student At rest After exercise A 14 31 B 17 38 C 13 27 ............................ breaths per minute
(b)
(3)Explain
Explain why every student in Table 1 breathed faster after the exercise.
Table 1 — breaths per minute recorded for three students, at rest and immediately after three minutes of step-ups. Student At rest After exercise A 14 31 B 17 38 C 13 27 (c)
(1)Suggest
Suggest why the three students in Table 1 did not all reach the same rate after exercise.
Table 1 — breaths per minute recorded for three students, at rest and immediately after three minutes of step-ups. Student At rest After exercise A 14 31 B 17 38 C 13 27 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which substance in tobacco smoke binds to haemoglobin in place of oxygen?
Substance A tar B nicotine C carbon monoxide D carbon dioxide (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the component of tobacco smoke that paralyses the cilia lining the airways.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(3)Describe
Describe three ways in which an alveolus is adapted for rapid gas exchange.
Figure 1 — an alveolus and the capillary running over it. (Total for Question 4 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain how carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke reduces the amount of oxygen delivered to a smoker's tissues.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
In emphysema the walls between neighbouring alveoli break down, so many small air spaces become a few large ones. Explain why this leaves a person breathless.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop chest infections.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(4)Explain
Explain how the alveoli are adapted for rapid gas exchange, and how emphysema reduces that rate.
(Total for Question 8 = 4 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 Alveoli, Exercise and Smoking to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Richard Doll over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Alveoli, Exercise and Smoking — Why a lung holds a tennis court's worth of surface, what exercise does to breathing, and exactly how smoking dismantles both.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice