Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology · 4BI1 · Free · no account needed
Why Transport Systems Exist, and the Two Plant Vessels — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on why Transport Systems Exist, and the Two Plant Vessels, 23 marks, about 23 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 Why Transport Systems Exist, and the Two Plant Vessels — 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
- 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
- Compare (2–4 marks)
- explicit points of similarity or difference, each naming BOTH things
- 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
- 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
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 2.53 · 2.54 · 2.51 · 2.52. 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.
-
Table 1 — three cubes of agar jelly, used as a model of organisms of different sizes. Cube Side length / cm Surface area / cm² Volume / cm³ P 1 6 1 Q 2 24 8 R 4 96 64 (a)
(2)Calculate
Calculate the surface area to volume ratio of cube R in Table 1.
Table 1 — three cubes of agar jelly, used as a model of organisms of different sizes. Cube Side length / cm Surface area / cm² Volume / cm³ P 1 6 1 Q 2 24 8 R 4 96 64 (b)
(2)Describe
Describe how the surface area to volume ratio changes as the cubes get larger.
Table 1 — three cubes of agar jelly, used as a model of organisms of different sizes. Cube Side length / cm Surface area / cm² Volume / cm³ P 1 6 1 Q 2 24 8 R 4 96 64 (c)
(2)Explain
Explain what Table 1 shows about the maximum size an organism can reach without a transport system.
Table 1 — three cubes of agar jelly, used as a model of organisms of different sizes. Cube Side length / cm Surface area / cm² Volume / cm³ P 1 6 1 Q 2 24 8 R 4 96 64 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
-
(1)Which
Which plant tissue transports sucrose from a leaf to a root?
Tissue A xylem B phloem C epidermis D palisade mesophyll (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
-
(2)Name
Name the two substances transported in the xylem.
(Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
-
(1)State
State the direction in which substances move through the xylem.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
-
(3)Explain
Explain why a large multicellular organism needs a transport system but a single-celled organism does not.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
-
(3)Compare
Compare transport in the xylem with transport in the phloem.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
-
(3)Suggest
A flatworm several centimetres long has no blood system at all, and its body is less than a millimetre thick. Suggest how its cells are supplied with oxygen.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
-
(4)Compare
Compare xylem and phloem, in terms of what they carry, which way it moves, and the structure of the vessels.
(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 why Transport Systems Exist, and the Two Plant Vessels to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Stephen Hales 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
- Why Transport Systems Exist, and the Two Plant Vessels — Diffusion is fast across a cell and hopeless across a body. That single fact explains why big organisms need plumbing — and what a plant's two pipes carry.
- All of Incandio Biology · Incandio Exam Practice