Cell Biology | AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Biology, Higher tier (8464)
Cell Biology
- 172 questions
- 11 subtopics
- Biology Paper 1
- Biology Paper 1
Cell Biology is examined in Biology Paper 1.
It covers eukaryotes and prokaryotes, animal and plant cells, cell specialisation and differentiation, and microscopy; chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycle; stem cells, therapeutic cloning and cloning plants; and diffusion, surface area to volume ratio, exchange surfaces, osmosis and active transport.
Sample questions from Cell Biology
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Eukaryotes and prokaryotes
What type of cell is a bacterial cell?
Show the answer
A prokaryotic cell. -
Animal and plant cells
What is made at the ribosomes?
Show the answer
Proteins. -
Cell specialisation and differentiation
How is a root hair cell adapted to its function?
Show the answer
It has a long thin extension giving a large surface area for absorbing water and mineral ions from the soil. -
Microscopy
Explain why an electron microscope can show structures a light microscope cannot.
Show the answer
Its higher resolving power lets two very close points be seen separately, so cells are shown in much finer detail. -
Chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycle
Describe the order of events in the cell cycle.
Show the answer
The cell grows and copies its DNA, then the nucleus divides by mitosis, and finally the cytoplasm and membranes divide. -
Stem cells in embryos, adults and meristems
What is the function of stem cells in an adult animal?
Show the answer
They replace cells that are worn out or damaged, in a limited range of cell types. -
Therapeutic cloning, its risks, and cloning plants
What is therapeutic cloning?
Show the answer
A process in which an embryo is produced carrying the same genes as the patient. -
Diffusion and the factors affecting its rate
Name two gases moved in and out of cells by diffusion during gas exchange.
Show the answer
Oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The 11 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Eukaryotes and prokaryotes | The features shared by plant and animal cells, what makes a cell eukaryotic or prokaryotic, how bacterial DNA, plasmids and the cell wall are arranged, and sizes in standard form. | 14 |
| Animal and plant cells | The functions of the nucleus, cell membrane, mitochondria, chloroplasts, plasmids and ribosomes, the permanent vacuole and cellulose cell wall of plant cells, estimating sizes, preparing, staining, focusing and drawing a slide under a light microscope, total magnification, and reducing the risks from glass and stains. | 18 |
| Cell specialisation and differentiation | How ciliated, sperm, nerve, muscle, root hair, xylem and phloem cells suit their jobs, why differentiation matters, and when animal and plant cells differentiate. | 15 |
| Microscopy | Magnification and resolution, how electron microscopes compare with light microscopes and what they revealed about sub-cellular structures, and calculating magnification, image size and real size, including conversion to micrometres and standard form. | 14 |
| Chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycle | Chromosomes, genes and why body cells hold them in pairs, the stages of the cell cycle from growth and DNA replication through mitosis to division of the cytoplasm, and why mitosis produces identical cells for growth, development and repair. | 17 |
| Stem cells in embryos, adults and meristems | What a stem cell is and what undifferentiated means, the roles of stem cells in embryos, adults and bone marrow, and what meristem tissue can become. | 14 |
| Therapeutic cloning, its risks, and cloning plants | Using stem cells to treat conditions such as diabetes and paralysis, therapeutic cloning and why its cells are not rejected, the risk of viral infection, ethical and religious objections, and cloning plants from meristem tissue to save rare species and grow identical crops. | 13 |
| Diffusion and the factors affecting its rate | The definition of diffusion and net movement, substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and urea that diffuse into and out of cells, and how concentration gradient, temperature and membrane surface area affect the rate. | 13 |
| Surface area to volume ratio and exchange surfaces | Why single-celled organisms rely on their outer surface, surface area to volume ratios of cubes, why large organisms need exchange surfaces and transport systems, adaptations of the small intestine, lungs, gills, roots and leaves, and the features that make exchange effective. | 16 |
| Osmosis | Osmosis and partially permeable membranes, plant tissue in pure water and sugar solution, percentage change in mass and water uptake, the potato cylinder method and its variables, accuracy, precision, repeatability and reproducibility, systematic, zero and random errors, gradients and y = mx + c, and a hypothesis. | 25 |
| Active transport | The definition of active transport and its energy supply from respiration, uptake of mineral ions by root hair cells and of sugar from the gut, and how active transport compares with diffusion and osmosis. | 13 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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 topics
AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Biology, Higher tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,080 questions with their answers.