Cells and Control | Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Biology, Foundation tier (1SC0)
Cells and Control
- 76 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1
Cells and Control is examined in Paper 1, Biology 1.
It covers mitosis and the cell cycle, growth, repair and cancer, differentiation and percentile charts, stem cells in medicine, and neurones, synapses and the reflex arc.
Sample questions from Cells and Control
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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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. -
Mitosis and the cell cycle
What does it mean to say a body cell is diploid?
Show the answer
It contains two copies of every chromosome, which is 23 pairs in a human body cell. -
Why mitosis matters: growth, repair and cancer
Why are offspring produced by asexual reproduction genetically identical to their parent?
Show the answer
They are made by mitosis, which produces cells with exactly the same chromosomes as the parent cell. -
Why mitosis matters: growth, repair and cancer
What sort of change inside a cell can lead to cancer?
Show the answer
A change in the genes that normally control how often the cell divides. -
Growth, differentiation and percentile charts
In which parts of an animal's body does cell division take place during growth?
Show the answer
Throughout the body, rather than only in special growth regions as in a plant. -
Growth, differentiation and percentile charts
What is a percentile chart used for?
Show the answer
To compare the growth of one child with the growth of a large number of other children of the same age. -
Stem cells and their use in medicine
What is a meristem?
Show the answer
A region at the tip of a plant shoot or root containing unspecialised cells that keep dividing. -
Stem cells and their use in medicine
Why is it an advantage to treat a patient with stem cells taken from their own body?
Show the answer
Their immune system is far less likely to reject cells that carry their own antigens.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Mitosis and the cell cycle | Interphase, mitosis and cytokinesis as the cell cycle, the events of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase, why the two daughter cells are diploid and genetically identical to the parent, and why DNA is copied before a cell divides. | 14 |
| Why mitosis matters: growth, repair and cancer | How mitosis brings about growth, repair and the replacement of gut lining cells, asexual reproduction such as strawberry runners, and cancer as uncontrolled cell division caused by changes in genes, forming tumours that damage healthy tissue. | 12 |
| Growth, differentiation and percentile charts | Growth by cell division, elongation and differentiation in plants and animals, how differentiation produces specialised cells such as red blood cells and root hair cells, and using percentile charts to monitor a baby's mass, length and head circumference over time. | 19 |
| Stem cells and their use in medicine | What a stem cell is, how embryonic and adult stem cells differ, what meristems can become, and the uses, sources, risks and objections in medical treatment. | 14 |
| Neurones, receptors and the reflex arc | Sensory receptors, sensory, relay and motor neurones, dendrons, axons and the myelin sheath, how neurotransmitters carry an impulse one way across a synapse, reflex actions and the parts of a reflex arc, effectors, and the reflex response to touching a hot pan. | 17 |
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
Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Biology, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 904 questions with their answers.