Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Homeostasis and the Control of Body Temperature — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Homeostasis and the Control of Body Temperature, 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 Homeostasis and the Control of Body Temperature — 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
- State what is meant by (1–2 marks)
- the definition
- 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 2.93 · 2.81 · 2.82 · 2.80. 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 — core body temperature and skin blood flow measured on one person during and after twenty minutes of hard exercise in a warm room. Time / min Core temperature / °C Blood flow to the skin / cm³ per minute 0 (rest) 36.9 310 10 37.4 1180 20 (end of exercise) 38.1 2050 40 37.2 760 (a)
(2)Calculate
Calculate how many times greater the blood flow to the skin was at 20 minutes than at rest.
Table 1 — core body temperature and skin blood flow measured on one person during and after twenty minutes of hard exercise in a warm room. Time / min Core temperature / °C Blood flow to the skin / cm³ per minute 0 (rest) 36.9 310 10 37.4 1180 20 (end of exercise) 38.1 2050 40 37.2 760 (b)
(3)Explain
Explain the change in blood flow to the skin during the twenty minutes of exercise.
Table 1 — core body temperature and skin blood flow measured on one person during and after twenty minutes of hard exercise in a warm room. Time / min Core temperature / °C Blood flow to the skin / cm³ per minute 0 (rest) 36.9 310 10 37.4 1180 20 (end of exercise) 38.1 2050 40 37.2 760 (c)
(1)Suggest
Suggest why the core temperature at 40 minutes is still slightly above the resting value.
Table 1 — core body temperature and skin blood flow measured on one person during and after twenty minutes of hard exercise in a warm room. Time / min Core temperature / °C Blood flow to the skin / cm³ per minute 0 (rest) 36.9 310 10 37.4 1180 20 (end of exercise) 38.1 2050 40 37.2 760 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which response helps to cool the body when it becomes too warm?
Response A vasoconstriction B shivering C vasodilation D hairs standing up (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(2)State what is meant by
State what is meant by homeostasis.
(Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
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(3)Describe
Describe the stimulus, the receptor and the effector involved when a person begins to shiver in the cold.
(Total for Question 4 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain how vasodilation helps to lower body temperature.
Figure 1 — a section through human skin. (Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(2)Explain
Explain why sweating cools a person less effectively on a very humid day.
(Total for Question 6 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why keeping body temperature close to 37 °C matters to a mammal, even though the surroundings vary far more than that.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(4)Explain
Explain how the skin responds when the body becomes too hot, and how those responses lower the body temperature.
(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 Homeostasis and the Control of Body Temperature to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Antoine Lavoisier over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Homeostasis and the Control of Body Temperature — Why the inside of you barely changes while the outside changes constantly — and exactly what the skin does about heat.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice