Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
The Kidney and the Nephron — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on the Kidney and the Nephron, 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 The Kidney and the Nephron — 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
- Name (1–2 marks)
- the correct term, spelled recognisably
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer drawn from recall or from the data
- 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
- Evaluate (3–6 marks)
- evidence on both sides, then a judgement that follows from it
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 2.73 · 2.74 · 2.72. 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 — the share of the heart's output received by four organs in a resting adult, and the mass of each. Organ Share of blood flow / % Mass / kg Both kidneys 22 0.30 Brain 14 1.40 Skeletal muscle 20 30.00 Skin 6 4.00 (a)
(1)Give
Give the organ in Table 1 that receives the largest share of the blood flow for its mass.
Table 1 — the share of the heart's output received by four organs in a resting adult, and the mass of each. Organ Share of blood flow / % Mass / kg Both kidneys 22 0.30 Brain 14 1.40 Skeletal muscle 20 30.00 Skin 6 4.00 (b)
(3)Calculate
Calculate how many times more blood flow per kilogram the kidneys receive than skeletal muscle. Give your answer to 2 significant figures.
Table 1 — the share of the heart's output received by four organs in a resting adult, and the mass of each. Organ Share of blood flow / % Mass / kg Both kidneys 22 0.30 Brain 14 1.40 Skeletal muscle 20 30.00 Skin 6 4.00 (c)
(2)Explain
Explain why the kidneys need so large a share of the blood flow.
Table 1 — the share of the heart's output received by four organs in a resting adult, and the mass of each. Organ Share of blood flow / % Mass / kg Both kidneys 22 0.30 Brain 14 1.40 Skeletal muscle 20 30.00 Skin 6 4.00 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which tube carries urine from a kidney to the bladder?
Tube A the urethra B the ureter C the renal vein D the collecting duct (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the knot of capillaries from which fluid is filtered at the start of a nephron.
Figure 1 — a single nephron and its blood supply. (Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(2)Give
Give the two functions of the kidneys.
(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)
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(3)Describe
Describe the parts of a nephron in the order that filtrate passes through them.
Figure 1 — a single nephron and its blood supply. (Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why the kidney has to filter the blood and then reabsorb from the filtrate, rather than simply removing the urea directly.
Figure 1 — a single nephron and its blood supply. (Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
A patient has one kidney removed. Their remaining kidney enlarges over the following months and produces almost as much urine as the pair once did. Suggest how this is possible.
Figure 2 — the human urinary system. (Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(6)Evaluate
Evaluate dialysis and a kidney transplant as treatments for a person whose kidneys have failed.
(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 the Kidney and the Nephron to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Marcello Malpighi over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- The Kidney and the Nephron — The kidney does not pick out the waste. It throws almost everything away and then takes back what it wants — and that is a far cleverer design than it sounds.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice