Cell Structure | OCR A-Level Biology A (H420)
Cell Structure
- 68 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Module 2: Foundations in biology
- Component 01, Component 02 and Component 03
Cell structure is the first section of Module 2 and the foundation the rest of the course builds on.
It covers the three types of microscope and how a slide is prepared and stained, magnification and resolution and the calculations behind them, the organelles of a eukaryotic cell and the route a secreted protein takes, and how prokaryotic cells differ.
Sample questions from Cell Structure
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
-
Microscopy, slide preparation and staining
When preparing a microscope slide, what is the first step involving the specimen?
Show the answer
Place a thin specimen on a glass slide. -
Microscopy, slide preparation and staining
After focusing on the stage micrometer, what must be done with the eyepiece graticule?
Show the answer
Align the eyepiece graticule with the stage micrometer. -
Biological drawings, magnification and resolution
State the formula used to calculate magnification.
Show the answer
Magnification = image size ÷ actual size (M = I/A). -
Biological drawings, magnification and resolution
Calculate the image size when actual size = 0.000824 mm, magnification = 179850.
Show the answer
Image size = 0.000824 × 179850 = 148 mm. -
Eukaryotic cell ultrastructure
What is the Golgi apparatus and what role does it play in the cell?
Show the answer
A stack of flattened membrane sacs that modifies, packages and sorts proteins and lipids into vesicles for secretion or use within the cell. -
Eukaryotic cell ultrastructure
Describe the plant cell wall and state its functions.
Show the answer
A rigid layer outside the plasma membrane made primarily of cellulose, providing structural support and preventing the cell from bursting. -
The secretory pathway and the cytoskeleton
What happens to proteins when they reach the Golgi apparatus?
Show the answer
The Golgi modifies and packages the protein. -
The secretory pathway and the cytoskeleton
How does the cytoskeleton provide mechanical strength to cells?
Show the answer
It maintains cell shape and resists external forces.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Microscopy, slide preparation and staining | Light, transmission electron and scanning electron microscopes, preparing and mounting a slide, calibrating an eyepiece graticule against a stage micrometer, and differential staining. | 16 |
| Biological drawings, magnification and resolution | The rules a biological drawing follows, the magnification equation and its rearrangements, and why an electron microscope resolves detail that a light microscope cannot. | 15 |
| Eukaryotic cell ultrastructure | The nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, lysosomes, chloroplasts, centrioles, cilia and flagella, and how each appears in an electron micrograph. | 17 |
| The secretory pathway and the cytoskeleton | The route a protein takes from ribosome to Golgi apparatus to the cell surface, and the cytoskeleton that gives a cell its strength, internal transport and movement. | 10 |
| Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared | Size, ribosomes, cell wall composition, plasmids and the way DNA is held, together with the structures both cell types share. | 10 |
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.
Nearby sections
OCR A-Level Biology A Active Recall Guide
Every section, not just this one. 1,833 questions with their answers.