Q1.
A student was asked to estimate how many clover plants there are in the school field.
The image below shows the equipment used.
 
This is the method used.
1.      Throw a quadrat over your shoulder.
2.      Count the number of clover plants inside the quadrat.
3.      Repeat step 1 and step 2 four more times.
4.      Estimate the number of clover plants in the whole field.
(a)     What is the tape in the image above used for in this investigation?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(b)     The teacher told the student that throwing the quadrat over his shoulder was not random.
The method could be improved to make sure the quadrats were placed randomly.
Suggest one change the student could make to ensure the quadrats were placed randomly.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(c)     How could the student improve the investigation so that a valid estimate can be made?
 
Tick two boxes.	 	
Weigh the clover plants		
Compare their results with another student’s results		
Count the leaves of the clover plants		
Place more quadrats		
Place the quadrats in a line across the field		
(2)
(d)     The table below shows the student’s results.
 
Quadrat number	Number of clover plants counted	
1	11	
2	 8	
3	11	
4	 9	
5	 1	
Total	40	
The area of the school field was 500 m2.
The quadrat used in the table above had an area of 0.25 m2.
Calculate the estimated number of clover plants in the school field.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Estimated number of clover plants = _________________
(3)
(e)     What was the mode for the results in the table above?
 
Tick one box.	 	
  1		
  8		
11		
40		
(1)
(f)     Suggest which quadrat could have been placed under the shade of a large tree.
Give one reason for your answer.
Quadrat number ___________________
Reason ____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 9 marks)
Q2.
The graph below shows the area of forest lost in Madagascar from 2009 to 2012.
 
(a)     The area of forest lost each year in Madagascar increased between 2009 and 2012.
Determine the total area of forest lost from the start of 2009 to the end of 2012.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Total area of forest lost = ___________ thousand hectares
(1)
(b)     What are the possible reasons for the change in the area of forest lost per year between 2009 and 2012?
 
Tick two boxes.	 	
The local people stop growing rice		
Fewer new houses are needed for the population		
The local people decided to farm cattle		
More trees have been planted		
A company starts growing plants for biofuels		
(2)
(c)     More forest was lost in 2012 than in 2009.
Use words from the box to complete the sentences.
 
carbon dioxide	excretion	nitrogen	
oxygen	photosynthesis	respiration	
The increase in the area of forest lost has caused an increase in the gas
___________________________________________________________________
The increase of this gas has been caused because less of the gas is being
absorbed by plants for the process of ______________________ .
(2)
(d)     Deforestation can have negative effects on our ecosystems.
What are the negative effects of deforestation?
 
Tick two boxes.	 	
Animals and birds migrate because there is less food		
More habitats are destroyed		
There is less acid rain		
There is more biodiversity		
The global temperature decreases		
(2)
(e)     Scientists try to reduce the negative effects of human activity on our ecosystems.
One way is to protect rare habitats.
Give one other way of reducing the negative effects of human activity on our ecosystems.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 8 marks)
Q3.
Figure 1 shows how energy and biomass pass along a food chain.
 
(a)    The parsley shown in Figure 1 carries out photosynthesis.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(b)    Which diagram shows the pyramid of biomass for the food chain in Figure 1?
Why is photosynthesis important in the food chain?
Tick (✔) one box.
 
(1)
(c)    Figure 2 shows the ways a swallowtail caterpillar transfers 20 J of energy from food.
 
What percentage of the energy in the caterpillar’s food is used for growth?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Percentage = __________________________
(2)
(d)    The organisms in the food chain are adapted for survival.
(i)     Figure 3 shows a swallowtail caterpillar seen from the back.
 
Suggest how the swallowtail caterpillar shown in Figure 3 is adapted to reduce the chance of being eaten by blue tits.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(2)
(ii)     Figure 4 shows a hawk.
 
Suggest two ways that the hawk is adapted to catch and kill blue tits.
1. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 9 marks)

Blue tit: ©JensGade/iStock
Parsley: © Warren_Price/iStock
Caterpillar ©prettyzhizhi/iStock
Hawk: © kojihirano/iStock
Swallowtail caterpillar: © Anna_Po/iStock
Q4.
A gardener investigates if turning over the waste in a compost heap makes the waste decay more quickly.
The gardener:
•        makes two separate heaps of garden waste, heap A and heap B
•        turns over the material in heap A every 2 weeks
•        does not turn over the material in heap B
•        estimates the amount of decay in the two heaps after 6 months.
The diagram shows the two heaps of garden waste at the beginning of the investigation.
 
(a)     Suggest two factors, other than time, the gardener should control to make the investigation fair.
1. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(b)     Name one type of living thing that causes decay.
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(c)     The gardener’s results are shown in the table.
 
Compost heap	Estimated amount of decay	
A	A lot	
B	Very little	
(i)      Why does turning over the material in heap A make the material decay more quickly?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(1)
(ii)     The gardener puts decayed material around his plants to help them grow.
Suggest why the plants in a woodland grow well each year without material from compost heaps being added.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 6 marks)
Q5.
This question is about carbon.
The graph shows the mass of carbon added to and removed from the atmosphere each year.
 
(a)     Name process X.
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(b)     (i)      Calculate the mass of carbon added to the atmosphere by respiration per year.
Answer = ____________________ billion tonnes
(1)
(ii)     Some scientists are concerned that the mass of carbon in the atmosphere is changing.
How does the data in the graph support this idea?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 3 marks)
Q6.
Human activity affects ecosystems.
(a)     Draw one line from each human activity to the effect on ecosystems.
 
(2)
(b)     (i)      Deforestation also affects the atmosphere.
Give two reasons why deforestation takes place.
1. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(2)
(ii)     Changes in the gases in our atmosphere can cause global warming.
Give two possible effects of a rise in the Earth’s temperature.
1. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 6 marks)
Q7.
Students investigated decomposition.
The students:
•        put some decaying grass cuttings into a vacuum flask
•        put a carbon dioxide sensor and a temperature sensor in the flask
•        attached the sensors to a data logger
•        closed the flask with cotton wool.
A vacuum flask was used to reduce the loss of thermal energy.
Figure 1 shows the investigation.
Figure 1
 
(a)     Give one advantage of using a temperature sensor attached to a data logger instead of a thermometer.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(b)     Figure 2 shows the results from the data logger for carbon dioxide concentration in the flask for the next 25 days.
Figure 2
 
(i)     Why did the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flask increase?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(3)
(ii)     Suggest what has happened in the flask to cause the carbon dioxide concentration to level off after 20 days.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 5 marks)

Mark schemes
Q1.
(a)     measure the length / area of the field
1
(b)     use (a) random number(s) (generator)
or
use coordinates method explained
1
(c)     compare their results with another student’s results
1
place more quadrats
1
(d)     0.25 × 5 = 1.25
1
500 / 1.25 = 400
1
(40 × 400 =) 16 000
allow 16 000 with no working shown for 3 marks
1
(e)     11
1
(f)     (quadrat) 5
both quadrat number and correct reason must be given for 1 mark
1
very few or only 2 growing (here)
[9]
Q2.
(a)     (140 + 240 + 380 + 450 = ) 1210
1
(b)     the local people decided to farm cattle
1
a company starts growing plants for biofuels
1
(c)     carbon dioxide
in this order only
1
photosynthesis
1
(d)     animals and birds migrate because there is less food
1
more habitats are destroyed
1
(e)     any one from:
•        breeding programmes (for endangered species)
•        regeneration (programmes)
•        reintroduction of field margins / hedgerows
•        awareness raising with politicians / public
•        recycling
1
[8]
Q3.
(a)     any two from:
•        idea of absorption of light / energy
•        transfer to chemical energy
allow produce sugars / glucose / starch / carbohydrate / food / biomass
•        provides food / energy for animals / caterpillar
•        releases oxygen
2
(b)      
1
(c)     15(%)
allow 1 mark for  with no answer or incorrect answer
or
allow 1 mark for 0.15
2
(d)     (i)     any two from:
•        markings look like eyes / face / mouth of much larger animal
•        looks fierce / scary / dangerous
allow it looks like a snake
•        to frighten blue tit / bird
max 1 if reference to camouflage
2
(ii)     any two from:
•        sharp / long / big claws
ignore strong
•        sharp / hooked beak
ignore strong / big
•        large wings or flies quickly
allow streamlined / aerodynamic
ignore powerful wings
•        good eyesight
2
[9]
Q4.
(a)     any two from:
•        amount of waste on each heap
allow size of heap
•        (type of) materials on each heap
if neither marking points one or two awarded, allow 1 mark for same waste
•        put heaps in same (environmental) conditions.
e.g. keep at same (outside) temperature
allow put in same place
2
(b)     microorganisms / microbes / bacteria / fungi / decomposers
ignore detritivores / examples (such as worms, maggots, insects)
ignore pathogens / germs
do not allow viruses
1
(c)     (i)      oxygen / air added (when turning over)
allow idea that decay will be aerobic
allow bacteria / microorganisms need oxygen / air
allow (microorganisms) respire faster
1
(ii)     any two from:
•        dead leaves / fruit / plants (fall off / onto the ground)
•        (fallen dead leaves / fruit / plants) decay
•        minerals / ions / nutrients are recycled / released.
ignore references to carbon dioxide
allow animal waste or dead animals
2
[6]
Q5.
(a)     photosynthesis
1
(b)     (i)      140
1
(ii)     (10 billion tonnes) more added (to atmosphere) than removed
allow ecf from part (b)(i)
1
[3]
Q6.
(a)      
extra lines from left cancels mark
2
(b)     (i)      any two from:
•        (to provide land) for farming / agriculture
•        (to provide land) for quarrying
•        (to provide land) for building
•        to provide wood for building materials
•        to provide fuel
•        to provide paper
2
(ii)     any two from:
•        changes in earth’s climate, ie droughts, flooding, hurricanes
ignore temperature rise
allow ice caps melt
•        rise in sea levels
•        reduce biodiversity
•        change in migration patterns
•        may change distribution of species
ignore acid rain and the ozone layer and forest fires
2
[6]
Q7.
(a)     any one from:
•        continuous readings
•        do not need to be there
allow automatic readings
•        (more likely to be) accurate
allow greater resolution
do not allow valid
•        reduces human error
allow easier to read
1
(b)     (i)      microorganisms
allow microbes / bacteria / fungi / decomposers for microorganisms, throughout
1
(microorganisms) respire
1
respiration / decay / microorganisms releases carbon dioxide
ignore carbon released
1
(ii)     all grass decomposed / decayed / rotted
allow idea that all microorganisms dead (due to accumulation of waste or lack of oxygen)
allow lack of / no oxygen (for respiration of microorganisms)
1
[5]