Run for Your Life | Edexcel A-Level Biology A (Salters-Nuffield) (9BN0)

Run for Your Life

213 questions
15 subtopics
Topics 7 and 8, examined on Paper 2 and Paper 3
Paper 2 and Paper 3

Covers the body in action: how muscles contract, how respiration supplies the ATP, how the heart and breathing are controlled and measured, how core temperature is held steady, and the effects and ethics of exercise and its enhancement..

It covers muscles and Movement, the myofibril and the sarcomere, the sliding filament theory, calcium and ATP, slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibres, glycolysis and the link reaction, the Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation and oxygen debt, the conduction system: SAN, AVN and Purkyne fibres, the sequence of cardiac excitation, the electrocardiogram, cardiac output and stroke volume, the cardiovascular and ventilation control centres, spirometry and ventilation during exercise, homeostasis, feedback and gene control by hormones, thermoregulation and the hypothalamus, the effects of too much and too little exercise and medical technology and performance-enhancing substances.

Sample questions from Run for Your Life

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Muscles and Movement

Why do muscles need to work in pairs to produce movement at a joint?

Show the answer
Because muscles can only generate force by contracting (pulling) and cannot push, so a second muscle is needed to produce movement in the opposite direction
The myofibril and the sarcomere

During muscle contraction, what happens to the width of the I band?

Show the answer
It gets shorter (narrower)
Slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibres

Which form of respiration do fast-twitch fibres mainly rely on?

Show the answer
Anaerobic respiration (glycolysis)
Glycolysis and the link reaction

Why would the fluid in a respirometer barely move if the soda lime were left out and the organisms were respiring glucose aerobically?

Show the answer
Aerobic respiration of glucose releases the same volume of carbon dioxide as the volume of oxygen taken up, so the gas volume in the tube would stay almost the same.
The conduction system: SAN, AVN and Purkyne fibres

After the SAN generates an impulse, where does it spread to next?

Show the answer
The impulse spreads across the atria (atrial muscle).
The sequence of cardiac excitation

Describe the direction of ventricular contraction and explain why this pattern is important.

Show the answer
The ventricles contract from the apex upwards, which pushes blood efficiently towards the aorta and pulmonary artery at the top of the heart.
The cardiovascular and ventilation control centres

What types of receptors provide input to the cardiovascular control centre?

Show the answer
Chemoreceptors (detecting blood pH, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels) and baroreceptors (detecting blood pressure).
Spirometry and ventilation during exercise

How does breathing rate change during exercise?

Show the answer
Breathing rate increases to ventilate the lungs more frequently.

The 15 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Muscles and Movement	Recall questions on antagonistic muscle pairs, tendons and ligaments, and how the skeleton and muscles produce movement.	13
The myofibril and the sarcomere	Recall questions on actin and myosin, the sarcomere and Z lines, and the A band, I band and H zone.	16
The sliding filament theory, calcium and ATP	Recall questions on calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, troponin and tropomyosin, cross-bridge formation and the power stroke, the roles of ATP and ATPase, and how the muscle relaxes.	13
Slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibres	Recall questions on the structure, respiration and fatigue resistance of each fibre type and the activities each suits.	11
Glycolysis and the link reaction	Recall questions on why aerobic respiration releases so much energy over many steps, the substrates and products of glycolysis and the link reaction, lactate in anaerobic conditions, and setting up a respirometer and calculating its results.	22
The Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation and oxygen debt	Recall questions on the products of the Krebs cycle, chemiosmosis and ATP synthase, and on oxygen debt after exercise.	10
The conduction system: SAN, AVN and Purkyne fibres	Recall questions on myogenic contraction, and on the position and role of the sinoatrial node, atrioventricular node, bundle of His and Purkyne fibres.	14
The sequence of cardiac excitation	Recall questions on the order in which the impulse spreads, why the delay at the AVN matters, and why the ventricles contract from the apex upward.	14
The electrocardiogram, cardiac output and stroke volume	Recall questions on the P wave, QRS complex and T wave, arrhythmia and fibrillation, and calculating cardiac output.	14
The cardiovascular and ventilation control centres	Recall questions on where each centre sits, the receptors that feed it, and how heart rate and breathing are adjusted.	8
Spirometry and ventilation during exercise	Recall questions on tidal volume, breathing rate and minute ventilation, reading a spirometer trace, and how each changes with exercise.	15
Homeostasis, feedback and gene control by hormones	Recall questions on negative and positive feedback and dynamic equilibrium, and on how transcription factors and steroid hormones switch genes on and off.	14
Thermoregulation and the hypothalamus	Recall questions on how core temperature is detected, and on vasodilation, vasoconstriction, sweating, shivering and the erector pili muscles.	16
The effects of too much and too little exercise	Recall questions on joint damage and suppressed immunity from excessive exercise, and on the cardiovascular and metabolic effects of too little.	19
Medical technology and performance-enhancing substances	Recall questions on keyhole surgery and prostheses, the categories of performance-enhancing substance, and the ethical arguments on both sides.	14

Run for Your Life is 213 of the 1,892 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.