INTERNATIONAL GCSE

BIOLOGY
9201/2 PAPER 2

Specimen material 1 hour 30 minutes

Materials
For this paper you must have:
• a ruler with millimetre measurements
• a calculator.

Instructions
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Fill in the boxes at the bottom of this page.
• Answer all questions.

Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 90.

Please write clearly, in block capitals, to allow character computer recognition.

Centre number Candidate number

Surname

Forename(s)

Candidate signature

9201/2
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Answer all questions in the spaces provided.

1 “CRAM” is a disease. It is an inherited condition which causes muscle breakdown.

The breakdown products enter the urine, making it dark-coloured.

Figure 1 below shows the inheritance of CRAM in one family.

Figure 1

0 1 . 1 CRAM is caused by a recessive allele, n.

The allele for normal health is N.

What is an allele?
[1 mark]

0 1 . 2 What does recessive mean?

[1 mark]
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0 1 . 3 Give evidence from the diagram that CRAM is caused by a recessive allele.
[1 mark]

0 1 . 4 Person 2 is homozygous for CRAM.

What does homozygous mean?

[1 mark]

0 1 . 5 Explain why none of person 2’s children have CRAM.

[2 marks]

Turn over 
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0 1 . 6 Persons 7 and 8 want to have another child.

What is the probability that this child will have CRAM?

Draw a genetic diagram to explain your answer.

Use the following symbols in your answer;

N = dominant allele for normal health (NOT having CRAM)

n = recessive allele for CRAM

[4 marks]

Probability = ________________________
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Turn over for the next question

Turn over 
 6

2 Table 1 shows the number of chromosomes found in each body cell of some
different organisms.

Table 1

Animals Plants

Species Number of chromosomes in Species Number of chromosomes in

each body cell each body cell

Fruit fly 8 Tomato 24

Goat 60 Potato 44

Human 46 Rice 24

0 2 . 1 Suggest why nearly every organism on earth has an even number of chromosomes
in its body cells.
[1 mark]

0 2 . 2 Body cells divide by mitosis.

Why is the ability of body cells to divide important?

[1 mark]

0 2 . 3 When a body cell of a potato plant divides, how many chromosomes will each of the
new cells contain?
[1 mark]
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Gametes are made in the testes by meiosis.

Look at the diagrams in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2

0 2 . 4 Which diagram, A, B, C or D, represents how cell division by meiosis produce

gametes in the testes?
[1 mark]

0 2 . 5 How many chromosomes will each goat gamete contain?

[1 mark]

Turn over 
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Stem cells from an embryo can be grown in special solutions.

Some facts about stem cells are given below.

• Stem cells from an embryo can grow into any type of tissue.

• Stem cells may grow out of control, to form cancers.

• Large numbers of stem cells can be grown in the laboratory.

• Stem cells may be used in medical research or to treat some human

diseases.

• Patients treated with stem cells need to take drugs for the rest of their life
to prevent rejection.

• Collecting and growing stem cells is expensive.

0 2 . 6 Use only the information above to answer these questions.

Give two advantages of using stem cells.

[2 marks]

0 2 . 7 Give two disadvantages of using stem cells.

[2 marks]
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During pregnancy, an umbilical cord and a placenta join the embryo to the
mother.

At birth the umbilical cord is cut.

Stem cells can be obtained from the umbilical cord.

Many people think that the stem cells for treating human conditions should be
obtained from umbilical cords rather than human embryos.

0 2 . 8 Suggest one reason why.

[1 mark]

Turn over 
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3 Figure 3 below shows the mass of carbon involved each year in some of the
processes in the carbon cycle.

Figure 3

0 3 . 1 Give the balanced symbol equation of plant respiration.

[2 marks]

__________ + ___________  ___________ + ___________ (+ energy)

0 3 . 2 Calculate the mass of carbon removed from the atmosphere each year.
[1 mark]

Answer = ______________ billion tonnes

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0 3 . 3 Calculate the percentage of this total which is removed by the photosynthesis of

land plants.
[2 marks]

Answer = _________________ %

0 3 . 4 Calculate the net gain of carbon by the atmosphere in one year.

[2 marks]

Answer = ________________ billion tonnes

0 3 . 5 Explain how the carbon contained in dead organisms can be made available to
plants.

Use Figure 3 to help you.

[3 marks]

Turn over 
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4 The diagram in Figure 4 shows the nervous pathway that is used to coordinate the
knee-jerk reflex.

When the tendon below the knee is tapped with a hammer, the lower leg jerks
upwards in a reflex action.

Figure 4

0 4 . 1 Name structure A.
[1 mark]

0 4 . 2 On the diagram in Figure 4, draw arrows next to the structures labelled A and B to
show the direction in which a nerve impulse travels.
[1 mark]
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0 4 . 3 How is information passed across the synapse at C?

[1 mark]

0 4 . 4 What is the effector in this response?

[1 mark]

Turn over 
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A group of students wanted to find out how the speed of the hammer affected
the distance the lower leg moved.

Figure 5 shows how the experiment was set up.

Figure 5

The student used a video to time the movement of the hammer.

In each trial, the experimenter held the hammer 20 cm from the subject’s knee
and then hit the subject’s knee.

For each trial the experimenter used the hammer at a different speed.

Table 2 shows some of the results.

Table 2

Trial number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Distance hammer moved to

20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
knee in cm

Time taken by the hammer to

0.50 0.46 0.40 0.33 0.30 0.26 0.23 0.20 0.07 0.07
move to the knee in s

Distance moved by toe in cm 0 0 5 5 4 10 10 10 10 10

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0 4 . 5 What variable did the experimenter control in this experiment?

[1 mark]

0 4 . 6 One of the results seems to be anomalous.

Draw a ring around the anomalous result in the table.

Suggest one reason why the anomalous result may have happened.
[2 mark]

0 4 . 7 Draw a conclusion from the results of the experiment.

[2 marks]

0 4 . 8 Suggest one way in which the precision of the experiment could have been
improved.
[1 mark]

Turn over 
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0 5 . 1 A cuckoo is a bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds.

The hen cuckoo flies down to another bird’s nest, pushes one egg out of the nest,
lays an egg and flies away.

A female may visit up to 50 nests during a breeding season.

Suggest two advantages to the cuckoo of this behaviour.

[2 marks]

0 5 . 2 When the cuckoo’s egg hatches, the chick will roll the other eggs out of the nest. If
the eggs have already hatched, the cuckoo chick will push the other chicks out of
the nest.

Suggest two advantages to the chick of this behaviour.

[2 marks]

0 5 . 3 The cuckoo chick has a begging call that sounds like a family of chicks.

Suggest why this is an advantage to the cuckoo chick.

[2 marks]
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Figure 6 shows a mound builder bird’s nest.

Figure 6

0 5 . 4 Mound builder birds open and close the air vents of the nest at different times of the
day.

Suggest reasons why it is necessary to open and close the air vents.
[3 marks]

0 5 . 5 The sex of a mound builder bird that hatches from an egg depends on the
temperature at which the egg was kept.

Suggest why it is important for mound builder birds to control the temperature of their
nests.
[1 mark]

Turn over 
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6 A student‘s breathing was monitored before and after vigorous exercise. The
student breathed in and out through a special apparatus.

The graphs in Figure 7 show the changes in the volume of air inside the
apparatus. Each time the student breathed in, the line on the graph dropped.
Each time the student breathed out, the line went up.

Figure 7
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0 6 . 1 How many times did the student breathe in per minute:

[1 mark]

before exercise;

after exercise?

0 6 . 2 On each graph, the line A – B shows how much oxygen was used.

The rate of oxygen use before exercise was 0.5 dm3 per minute.

Calculate the rate of oxygen use after exercise.

[2 marks]

Rate of oxygen use after exercise = __________________ dm3 per minute

0 6 . 3 The student suggested they should repeat the experiment twice more.

How would repeating the experiment improve the investigation?

[1 mark]

Turn over 
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Two other students did the same amount of vigorous exercise for 3 minutes.

One of the students was fit. The other student was unfit.

The graph in Figure 8 shows how the students’ heart rate changed during the
exercise and after the exercise.

Figure 8

0 6 . 4 Give two ways in which the graph shows student Y is fitter than student X.
[2 marks]

0 6 . 5 In order to compare the results of the two students they had to be matched for
a number of factors.

State two of these factors.

[2 marks]
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0 6 . 6 Explain two advantages to the students of the change in heart rate during
exercise.
[2 marks]

Turn over 
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7 A protease is an enzyme that digests protein.

A student investigated the activity of a protease enzyme at four different

temperatures.

The graph in Figure 9 shows how the activity of the protease varied with
temperature.

Figure 9

0 7 . 1 Protease digests protein.

What is the product of the digestion of protein?

Tick one box.

[1 mark]

Amino acids

Fatty acids

Glucose

Sucrose
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0 7 . 2 Describe what the graph shows about the effect of temperature on the rate of
reaction.

Use data to support your answer.

[2 marks]

0 7 . 3 The student concluded the optimum temperature for protease was between 35 °C
and 40 °C.

This conclusion may not be valid.

Describe how the experiment could be improved to find a more precise value for the
optimum temperature.
[2 marks]

Turn over 
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The student also investigated the effect of pH on the activity of the protease.

The student:
• used agar plates containing protein. The protein made the agar cloudy
• made four wells of equal size in the agar of each plate
• added a drop of protease solution to each of the wells. The protease
solution in each well was at a different pH
• incubated the agar plates for 4 hours at a constant temperature.

The diagram in Figure 10 shows the agar plates after they were incubated and
the pH of the protease solution in each well.

Figure 10

0 7 . 4 Describe how the student could have used these results to compare the activity
of the enzyme at different pH values.

[2 marks]
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0 7 . 5 Describe a control that would be necessary for this investigation.

[2 marks]

0 7 . 6 Give a reason why 35 °C is a suitable temperature for incubating the agar plates.

Use the graph in Figure 9 to help you.

[1 mark]

Turn over 
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8 Scientists investigated how temperature affects the rate of photosynthesis.

The scientists grew some orange trees in a greenhouse.

They used discs cut from the leaves of the young orange trees.

The scientists used the rate of oxygen production by the leaf discs to show the
rate of photosynthesis.

0 8 . 1 The leaf discs did not produce any oxygen in the dark.

Why?
[1 mark]

0 8 . 2 The leaf discs took in oxygen in the dark.

Explain why.
[2 marks]
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In their investigation, the scientists measured the rate of oxygen release by the
leaf discs in the light. The scientists then measured the rate of oxygen uptake
by the leaf discs in the dark.

The graph in Figure 11 shows the effect of temperature on

• oxygen production in the light

• oxygen production in the light added to oxygen uptake in the dark.

Figure 11

Use the information from the graph to answer each of the following questions.

0 8 . 3 Describe the effect of temperature on oxygen production in the light.

[2 marks]

Turn over 
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0 8 . 4 Explain the effect of temperature on oxygen production in the light when the
temperature is increased:
[3 marks]

from 25 °C to 35 °C

from 40 °C to 50 °C.

0 8 . 5 A farmer in the UK wants to grow orange trees in a greenhouse.

He wants to sell the oranges he produces at a local market.

He decides to heat the greenhouse to 35 °C.

Explain why he should not heat the greenhouse to a temperature higher than 35 °C.

Use information from the graph in your answer.

[2 marks]
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9 Influenza (flu) is an infectious disease caused by a virus.

People who are considered ‘at risk’ are offered a vaccination against flu each year.

The bar chart in Figure 12 shows the number of people in a population and the
percentage of those who were vaccinated against flu.

Figure 12

0 9 . 1 Describe the change in the percentage of people vaccinated against flu from
1990 to 2003.
[1 mark]

0 9 . 2 Calculate the change in the total number of people being vaccinated between
1990/91 and 2000/01.
[2 marks]

Turn over 
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0 9 . 3 A student suggested that some people were being vaccinated every year.

Explain how the information in the bar chart supports this suggestion.
[2 marks]

0 9 . 4 Suggest why it is advisable for people to be vaccinated against influenza every

year.
[3 marks]

0 9 . 5 An influenza virus consists of a protein coat surrounding nucleic acid.

The influenza vaccine consists only of the protein coat of the virus.

Explain how the influenza vaccine produces immunity in the body.

[2 marks]

END OF QUESTIONS
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