Practical questions
You could be asked questions about the methods, safety precautions you might take and results and conclusions of experiments that you have carried out during the course. You may also be expected to apply your knowledge to unfamiliar practicals, but draw on your practical skills.
Sample question 1 - Foundation
Question
Alisha wanted to measure the length of a fossil she had found. The fossil was roughly the length of her hand. Suggest a piece of equipment she could use to accurately measure the length of the fossil.
This question has been written by a Bitesize consultant as a suggestion to the type of question that may appear in an exam paper.
15 cm or 30 cm ruler
When you want to take a length measurement accurately, it is best to use a piece of equipment that is similar in length but not smaller than the object you want to measure. For example, a metre ruler would be too long and would not allow an accurate measurement to be taken.
Sample question 2 - Higher
Question
Erythromycin is an antibiotic drug. It is important to get the dose of erythromycin right. Too much erythromycin can be harmful. However, recently some strains of bacteria have developed resistance to low concentrations of erythromycin. To see how effective erythromycin is, it is tested using bacteria grown on agar plates. This method is used:
- a petri dish is used that has the bacteria growing evenly over the surface
- a disc of filters is soaked in erythromycin
- the disc is placed in the centre of the petri dish using sterile forceps
- the dish is incubated at 37°C
Why did the scientists incubate the dish at 37°C rather than at higher or lower temperature? [2 marks]
OCR Gateway, GCE Biology, Paper J247 - Higher, 2016.
Any higher and the bacteria might be killed OR the bacterial enzymes denatured (1)
Any lower and the erythromycin would diffuse more slowly OR bacteria would reproduce more slowly so it would take longer to get the results (1)
Sample question 3 - Higher
Question
Scientists have tried to predict the effect of climate change on the growth of the fungus. They have used four different predictions for how the climate might change, A, B, C and D. They then tried different ways of calculating where the fungus cannot grow. Their results are shown in the table.
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | ||||
| Climate model | 1st calculation | 2nd calculation | 3rd calculation | 4th calculation |
| A | 87.6 | 87.9 | 87.7 | 87.8 |
| B | 88.4 | 88.6 | 89.0 | 88.8 |
| C | 91.1 | 91.5 | 91.4 | 91.3 |
| D | 88.4 | 88.9 | 89.5 | 89.2 |
| Climate model | |
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | 1st calculation |
| 2nd calculation | |
| 3rd calculation | |
| 4th calculation |
| A | |
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | 87.6 |
| 87.9 | |
| 87.7 | |
| 87.8 |
| B | |
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | 88.4 |
| 88.6 | |
| 89.0 | |
| 88.8 |
| C | |
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | 91.1 |
| 91.5 | |
| 91.4 | |
| 91.3 |
| D | |
| Percentage area of the world where fungus cannot grow (%) | 88.4 |
| 88.9 | |
| 89.5 | |
| 89.2 |
Which climate model produces the lowest range of results in the four calculations? Choose from A, B, C or D. [1 mark]
OCR Gateway, GCE Biology, Paper J247 - Higher, 2016.
Answer: A
The range is the largest reading minus the smallest reading. Pay attention to the question as in this example you need to find the lowest range.
