Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Biology 4BI1: Nutrition – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover sub-topic 2(e) Nutrition of the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) specification, Issue 3 (September 2024): statements 2.18–2.33B. The qualification is untiered. Only 2.33B is in bold with a B reference, so question 11 is labelled Paper 2 only; everything else can appear on either paper. A calculator may be used in both 4BI1 papers. Course links: 4BI1 Biology hub, printable checklist, the nutrition study guide and the nutrition revision notes. Questions on enzymes, temperature and pH are in the cell structure practice.

Questions

1. Photosynthesis takes place in the leaves of green plants.

(a) State the word equation for photosynthesis. [1] (b) Write the balanced chemical symbol equation for photosynthesis. [2]

2. A farmer’s crop has yellow leaves and is growing slowly. Soil tests show it is short of two mineral ions. State why the plant needs:

(a) magnesium ions [1] (b) nitrate ions [1]

3. Copy and complete the table.

Component	One good source	One function in the body
Vitamin C	…………	…………
Iron	…………	…………

[4]

4. Explain how two features of the mesophyll layers of a leaf adapt it for photosynthesis. [4]

5. A student investigates the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis in pondweed. The pondweed is in water containing sodium hydrogencarbonate. She counts the bubbles released per minute with a lamp at different distances.

Distance of lamp (cm)	Trial 1	Trial 2	Trial 3	Mean
10	48	52	50	50
20	31	29	33	31
30	18	21	15	……
40	10	12	8	10

(a) Calculate the mean number of bubbles per minute at 30 cm. [1] (b) Calculate the percentage decrease in the mean rate when the lamp is moved from 10 cm to 40 cm. [2] (c) Explain the effect of moving the lamp further away on the rate of photosynthesis. [2] (d) Give two variables the student should keep the same. [2] (e) Describe how the student could show the gas is oxygen. [1]

6. A plant with variegated leaves (green in the middle, white around the edge) is kept in the dark for two days. A strip of foil is then fixed across one leaf, and the plant is left in bright light for six hours. The leaf is then tested for starch.

(a) Explain why the plant was kept in the dark for two days. [2] (b) During the test, the leaf is placed in hot ethanol. Explain why ethanol is used, and why it is heated in a water bath. [2] (c) Predict which part of the leaf turns blue-black with iodine. Explain your answer. [2]

7. This question is about the human alimentary canal.

(a) Name the part where:

(i) most water is absorbed from undigested food [1] (ii) bile is stored [1] (iii) enzymes from the pancreas are released into the gut [1] (iv) faeces are stored before egestion [1]

(b) Explain how food is moved along the oesophagus. [2]

8. Complete the table about digestive enzymes.

Enzyme	Substrate	Product(s)
Amylase	Starch	…………
…………	Maltose	Glucose
Protease	Protein	…………
Lipase	Lipid	…………

[4]

9. A person has their gall bladder removed. Bile still reaches the duodenum, but in a slow trickle rather than in larger amounts after a meal.

(a) State where bile is produced. [1] (b) Explain why this person may digest fatty meals more slowly. [2] (c) Bile also affects the pH in the duodenum. Explain why this matters for digestion. [1]

10. Explain how the structure of a villus adapts the small intestine for the absorption of digested food. [4]

11. (Paper 2 only) A student burns a 0.40 g piece of cashew nut under a boiling tube containing 20 cm³ of water. The water temperature rises from 22.5 °C to 49.5 °C. It takes 4.2 J to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1 °C.

(a) Calculate the temperature rise. [1] (b) Calculate the energy released by the cashew nut, in J. [2] (c) Calculate the energy released per gram of cashew nut, in kJ/g. [1] (d) The packet states that cashew nuts contain 23 kJ/g. Give two reasons why the student’s value is lower. [2] (e) Suggest one change to the method that would make the value more accurate. [1]

12. The table shows the daily energy requirement of four people.

Person	Description	Energy requirement (MJ per day)
A	Woman, 30 years, office worker	9.5
B	Woman, 30 years, building worker	13.0
C	Woman, 75 years, retired	8.0
D	Woman, 30 years, office worker, pregnant	10.0

(a) Calculate the percentage by which B’s energy requirement is greater than A’s. Give your answer to 3 significant figures. [2] (b) Explain why B needs more energy than A. [2] (c) Explain why D needs more energy than A. [1] (d) Person D is advised to eat more foods rich in iron and in calcium. Explain why each is needed. [2]

Answers

1. (a) carbon dioxide + water → glucose + oxygen [1] (b) Correct formulae: CO₂, H₂O, C₆H₁₂O₆ and O₂ [1]. Balanced: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ [1]. Examiner insight: The balancing mark depends on correct formulae; light and chlorophyll may be written over the arrow but are not credited as reactants.

2. (a) To make chlorophyll [1]. (b) To make amino acids (for proteins) [1]. Examiner insight: “For healthy leaves” or “for growth” alone is too vague for either mark; name the molecule made.

3. Vitamin C: source, e.g. oranges, lemons or other citrus fruit [1]; function, e.g. healthy skin and gums / prevents scurvy [1]. Iron: source, e.g. red meat, liver or spinach [1]; function: making haemoglobin (in red blood cells) [1]. Examiner insight: “For blood” does not score the iron function mark; haemoglobin or carrying oxygen in red blood cells is needed.

4. Palisade cells contain many chloroplasts [1], so they absorb a lot of light for photosynthesis [1]. Spongy mesophyll has air spaces [1], so carbon dioxide can diffuse to the photosynthesising cells [1]. Also accept, as either feature: the palisade layer is near the upper surface, where light intensity is highest. Examiner insight: Each explanation mark is linked to its feature, so two features with no explanation score 2 out of 4, not 4.

5. (a) (18 + 21 + 15) ÷ 3 = 18 bubbles per minute [1]. (b) (50 − 10) ÷ 50 × 100 [1] = 80% [1]. (c) The rate decreases as the lamp moves further away [1] because light intensity falls, and light is the limiting factor [1]. (d) Any two: temperature; amount of sodium hydrogencarbonate (carbon dioxide); type or length of pondweed; time allowed to adjust [1][1]. (e) Collect the gas; it relights a glowing splint [1]. Examiner insight: In (b), an answer of 400% (dividing by the 40 cm value) scores 0; one method mark can be given for the correct subtraction set over 50.

6. (a) To use up / remove the starch already in the leaf [1], so any starch found must have been made during the six hours in light [1]. (b) Ethanol removes the chlorophyll, so the colour change can be seen [1]. Ethanol is flammable, so it must not be heated with a naked flame [1]. (c) Only the green part that was not covered by foil [1]. Photosynthesis needs both chlorophyll and light: the white edge has no chlorophyll, and the covered part had no light [1]. Examiner insight: In (c) the explanation mark needs both requirements; naming only light or only chlorophyll does not explain the whole result.

7. (a) (i) Colon / large intestine [1] (ii) Gall bladder [1] (iii) Duodenum [1] (iv) Rectum [1] (b) Peristalsis: waves of contraction and relaxation of the muscles in the oesophagus wall [1]. Circular muscle contracts behind the food, squeezing it forward [1]. Examiner insight: “Liver” for (a)(ii) is a common wrong answer: the question asks where bile is stored, not where it is made.

8. Amylase product: maltose [1]. Enzyme for maltose: maltase [1]. Protease product: amino acids [1]. Lipase products: fatty acids and glycerol [1]. Examiner insight: Glucose is not accepted as the product of amylase; both fatty acids and glycerol are needed for the lipase mark.

9. (a) The liver [1]. (b) Less bile is available to emulsify fat in a meal, so fat stays in larger drops [1]. Smaller surface area for lipase to act on, so digestion is slower [1]. (c) Bile is alkaline and neutralises stomach acid, giving the pH at which enzymes in the small intestine work best [1]. Examiner insight: Saying bile “breaks down” or “digests” fat gets no credit; the mark is for emulsifying and the surface area effect on lipase.

10. Villi (and microvilli) give a large surface area [1]. The wall is one cell thick, giving a short diffusion distance [1]. A dense capillary network carries absorbed food away [1], keeping a steep concentration gradient [1]. Also accept, as an alternative to any one point: a lacteal absorbs fatty acids and glycerol. Examiner insight: An “explain” question needs the effect as well as the feature: “thin wall” alone is usually not enough; add “short diffusion distance”.

11. (a) 49.5 − 22.5 = 27.0 °C [1]. (b) 20 × 4.2 × 27.0 [1] = 2268 J [1]. (c) 2268 ÷ 0.40 = 5670 J/g = 5.67 kJ/g [1]. (d) Any two: heat lost to the air; heat used to warm the boiling tube; the nut did not burn completely; some energy lost as light [1][1]. (e) Any one: insulate or use a draught shield around the tube; keep the flame close to the tube; relight the food until it burns completely; use a calorimeter [1]. Examiner insight: Allow error carried forward from (a) into (b) and (c); a correct number with the wrong unit (5670 kJ/g) loses the mark in (c).

12. (a) (13.0 − 9.5) ÷ 9.5 × 100 [1] = 36.8% [1]. (b) B is more physically active [1], so her muscles respire more and need more energy [1]. (c) Extra energy is needed for the growth of the fetus (and placenta) / to carry the extra mass [1]. (d) Iron is needed to make haemoglobin, for her own and the fetus’s red blood cells [1]. Calcium is needed for the fetus’s developing bones and teeth [1]. Examiner insight: In (b), “B does more work” without linking it to respiration or energy use in muscles usually gains only the first mark.

Where marks are usually lost

• Putting light or chlorophyll in the photosynthesis equation as a reactant.
• Unbalanced symbol equations, or writing O instead of O₂.
• Calling the x-axis factor limiting where the graph has levelled off.
• Mixing up magnesium (chlorophyll) and nitrate (amino acids).
• Forgetting to say why destarching matters: starch already present would give a false result.
• Naming the liver as the store of bile, or saying bile digests fat.
• Giving glucose as the product of amylase.
• Listing villus features without explaining how each speeds up absorption.
• Dividing by the wrong value in percentage-change questions.
• In the food energy practical, forgetting to divide by the mass of food, or giving J when kJ was asked for.

Next steps

• Recap with the nutrition revision notes.
• Rework anything you missed with the nutrition study guide.
• Practise enzymes and food tests with the cell structure practice.
• Course hub: 4BI1 Biology and the printable checklist.
• Try all free 10-minute diagnostics.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology (4BI1), Specification, Issue 3, September 2024, published by Pearson Education Limited. Topic 2: Structures and functions in living organisms, sub-topic (e) Nutrition, statements 2.18–2.33B.