Edexcel GCSE Biology, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide (1BI0)
Edexcel · GCSE
Edexcel GCSE Biology, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification 1BI0 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 1,218 questions across 9 topics and 90 subtopics, at Foundation tier, covering Paper 1 and Paper 2.
- Edexcel
- GCSE
- Specification 1BI0
- 1,218 questions
Guide overview All topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
Edexcel GCSE Biology (specification 1BI0) is one of the three separate sciences and is examined by two written papers of 1 hour 45 minutes and 100 marks each, worth 50% apiece. Both papers are sat at the same tier. This is the Foundation tier: grades 1 to 5 are available, and the higher-tier content is not examined.
Biology at GCSE is a large number of small, precise things: a definition, a core practical, an equation, a named process. Almost none of it can be worked out in the hall from first principles, which makes recall the whole problem and a question list the instrument that matches it.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 1 Biology 1 |
Key Concepts in Biology Cells and Control Genetics Natural Selection and Genetic Modification Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines |
1 hour 45 minutes | 100 marks | 50% |
|
Paper 2 Biology 2 |
Key Concepts in Biology Plant Structures and Their Functions Animal Coordination, Control and Homeostasis Exchange and Transport in Animals Ecosystems and Material Cycles |
1 hour 45 minutes | 100 marks | 50% |
What is in the guide
All topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells
Explain why muscle cells contain very large numbers of mitochondria.
Show the answer
Mitochondria are the site of aerobic respiration, and contracting muscle needs a large and continuous supply of energy. -
Mitosis and the cell cycle
Where do the chromosomes move to during metaphase?
Show the answer
They line up across the middle of the cell, attached to spindle fibres. -
Asexual and sexual reproduction
Explain why a new disease can wipe out an entire population of asexually produced organisms.
Show the answer
Every individual is genetically identical, so if one is susceptible to the pathogen they all are. -
Darwin, Wallace and the theory of evolution
Name the book, published in 1859, in which Darwin set out the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Show the answer
On the Origin of Species. -
Health, disease and susceptibility
Describe the difference between a communicable and a non-communicable disease.
Show the answer
A communicable disease can be passed from one organism to another, while a non-communicable disease cannot be transmitted. -
Photosynthesis as an endothermic reaction
Explain why animals depend on photosynthetic organisms for their food.
Show the answer
Animals cannot make their own food, so they must obtain it by eating producers or by eating other animals that ate producers. -
Hormones, endocrine glands and homeostasis
Which organ lying behind the stomach releases hormones that control blood glucose?
Show the answer
The pancreas. -
Why multicellular organisms need exchange surfaces
State why mineral ions must be transported to cells.
Show the answer
Cells need mineral ions to build substances such as haemoglobin and to keep their chemical processes working.
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.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Key Concepts in Biology160
- Cells and Control112
- Genetics142
- Natural Selection and Genetic Modification103
- Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines183
- Plant Structures and Their Functions117
- Animal Coordination, Control and Homeostasis121
- Exchange and Transport in Animals128
- Ecosystems and Material Cycles152
- What are the two main parts of the cell cycle?
- What happens to a cell during interphase?
- Name the four stages of mitosis in the order in which they happen.
- Describe what happens to the chromosomes and the nucleus during prophase.
- Where do the chromosomes move to during metaphase?
- Describe what happens during anaphase.
- What happens during telophase?
- What is cytokinesis?
- How many daughter cells are produced when one cell divides by mitosis?
- Interphase, in which the cell grows and copies its DNA, followed by mitosis and cytokinesis, in which the cell divides.
- The cell grows and makes more sub-cellular structures such as mitochondria and ribosomes, and each chromosome is copied.
- Prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase.
- The chromosomes condense so they become visible, and the membrane around the nucleus breaks down.
- They line up across the middle of the cell, attached to spindle fibres.
- The spindle fibres pull the two copies of each chromosome apart, so one copy moves to each end of the cell.
- A new membrane forms around each of the two groups of chromosomes, so the cell now has two nuclei.
- The division of the cytoplasm and cell membrane, which finally separates one cell into two.
- Two.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I do Combined Science, not separate sciences.
Then you need a different guide. Combined Science is 1SC0, a double award worth two GCSEs sat as six papers, and it examines less biology than the separate Biology GCSE. Working from this guide would mean learning content your papers will not ask for.
The one you want is Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Biology, Foundation.
Higher or Foundation. Which do I need?
This is the Foundation tier guide, offering grades 5 to 1.
Edexcel sits the same numbered papers at either tier, so Paper 1 and Paper 2 is what you sit whichever tier you are entered for. The tier changes the content and the grades available, not the paper numbers.
Your teacher decides the entry, usually during Year 11. If you are moved up to Higher you will need the Higher guide, which adds the higher-tier content.
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1, Biology 1, covers Key Concepts in Biology, Cells and Control, Genetics, Natural Selection and Genetic Modification, Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines. Paper 2, Biology 2, covers Key Concepts in Biology, Plant Structures and Their Functions, Animal Coordination, Control and Homeostasis, Exchange and Transport in Animals, Ecosystems and Material Cycles.
Note that the first topic appears on both papers. The full breakdown is here.
Are the core practicals examined?
Yes, on the written papers. Edexcel does not assess them separately, so questions about method, apparatus, variables and results appear inside the topics: microscopy, food tests, enzyme rate and pH, osmosis, photosynthesis rate, respiration rate, and field investigations using quadrats and transects.
Those questions are in the guide in the topics they belong to.
Edexcel GCSE Biology, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.