Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Comparing Cells, and Stem Cells — exam questions
9 original Incandio exam-style questions on Comparing Cells, and Stem Cells, 20 marks, about 20 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 Comparing Cells, and Stem Cells — 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
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer drawn from recall or from the data
- State (1 mark)
- one precise fact, no justification
- 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
- Discuss (3–6 marks)
- an account that puts more than one consideration side by side and reaches a position
- Name (1–2 marks)
- the correct term, spelled recognisably
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught biology to a situation not taught
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 2.4 · 2.5 · 2.6. 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 9 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 patient with a blood disorder is treated with stem cells taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor. The transplanted cells settle in the patient's own bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells.
(a)
(1)Name
Name the type of cell that has been transplanted into this patient.
A patient with a blood disorder is treated with stem cells taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor. The transplanted cells settle in the patient's own bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells.
(b)
(2)Explain
Explain how the transplanted cells are able to produce new blood cells.
A patient with a blood disorder is treated with stem cells taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor. The transplanted cells settle in the patient's own bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells.
(c)
(3)Suggest
Suggest why doctors would prefer to use the patient's own stem cells rather than a donor's, if that were possible.
A patient with a blood disorder is treated with stem cells taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor. The transplanted cells settle in the patient's own bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells.
(Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which structure is present in a palisade cell but absent from a nerve cell?
Structure A cell membrane B cytoplasm C chloroplast D mitochondrion (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(2)Give
Give two structures found in a plant cell that an animal cell does not have.
Figure 1 — a generalised plant cell. (Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
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(1)State
State one structure that plant cells and animal cells both contain.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(2)Describe
Describe what happens when a cell differentiates.
(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why differentiation is necessary in a multicellular organism but not in a single-celled one.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(5)Discuss
Discuss the use of stem cells to treat human disease.
(Total for Question 7 = 5 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 — 9 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Comparing Cells, and Stem Cells to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Theodor Schwann 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
- Comparing Cells, and Stem Cells — What plant and animal cells share and where they differ — then why a cell specialising is one of the most powerful ideas in biology.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice