IGCSE Biology: Reproduction — Practice Questions (Cambridge 0610)

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 — Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available from your board.

Each question practises a skill tested in the June 2024 Paper 42. After each answer there is an examiner insight, a mark-scheme insight or a tip, and (where a close match exists) the real question to try next. Questions marked (Extended) test Supplement content.

Tier note: questions marked (Extended) go beyond 0610 Core: exchange across the placenta (16.4), the advantages of sexual reproduction, and haploid and diploid nuclei (16.2). All other questions are answerable by a 0610 Core candidate.

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Questions

1. A gardener makes new strawberry plants in two ways: by pegging down runners so they grow roots, and by sowing seeds from strawberry flowers.

(a) State which method is asexual reproduction.

(b) State two events that must happen to produce the seeds that do not happen when plants grow from runners. [3]

2. State the function of each of these parts of the human female reproductive system:

(a) ovary

(b) oviduct

(c) uterus

(d) cervix. [4]

3. During pregnancy the fetus develops inside the amniotic sac, surrounded by amniotic fluid. Give two ways this fluid helps the developing fetus. [2]

4. (Extended) Describe the functions of the placenta and umbilical cord during pregnancy. [4]

5. (Extended) A population of wild rabbits reproduces sexually. A new disease spreads through the area where they live. Discuss the advantages of sexual reproduction for a population like this. [3]

6. (Extended) A human skin cell contains 46 chromosomes.

(a) State the number of chromosomes in a human sperm cell and in a zygote.

(b) Explain why it is important that gametes are haploid. [3]

7. State two adaptive features of a sperm cell and explain how each helps the sperm to fertilise an egg. [4]

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Answers

1. (a) Growing plants from runners [1].

(b) Any two of: gametes are formed (pollen nuclei and egg cells) [1]; pollination [1]; fertilisation, the fusion of the nuclei of a male and a female gamete to form a zygote [1]. Max [2].

Examiner insight (Cambridge 0610 June 2024 examiner report, Paper 42, Question 3(b)): Some candidates described fertilisation as the fusion of the gametes themselves (eggs and sperm) rather than the fusion of their nuclei. Always say nuclei.

Source for the examiner insights on this page: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 June 2024 Principal Examiner Report for Teachers, Paper 0610/42 section, paraphrased.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 3(b).

2. (a) Ovary: produces egg cells (female gametes) and releases oestrogen [1].

(b) Oviduct: carries the egg towards the uterus and is the site of fertilisation [1].

(c) Uterus: the site of implantation, where the embryo embeds in the lining and the fetus develops [1].

(d) Cervix: a ring of muscle at the base of the uterus that keeps the fetus in place during pregnancy and dilates during birth [1].

Examiner insight (Cambridge 0610 June 2024 examiner report, Paper 42, Question 5(c)): Answers on the cervix were often vague, and a few said the ovary makes “ovules”, which are plant structures. Use “egg cells” or “female gametes” for humans.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 5(c).

3. Any two of: protects the fetus from mechanical shock (bumps) [1]; supports the fetus [1]; helps keep the temperature of the fetus steady [1]; allows the fetus to move [1]. Max [2].

Examiner insight (Cambridge 0610 June 2024 examiner report, Paper 42, Question 5(d)(ii)): Many candidates wrote just “protection”, which needed qualifying, for example as protection from mechanical shock, especially as some thought the fluid gives immunity. A few also mixed up the jobs of the placenta and the amniotic sac.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 5(d)(ii).

4. (Extended) Oxygen and dissolved nutrients (such as glucose and amino acids) pass from the mother’s blood to the fetus’s blood [1]. Carbon dioxide and urea (excretory products) pass from the fetus to the mother [1]. These substances move by diffusion across the placenta, and the umbilical cord carries fetal blood between the fetus and the placenta [1]. The placenta keeps the two blood supplies separate and acts as a barrier to many toxins and pathogens [1].

Examiner insight (Cambridge 0610 June 2024 examiner report, Paper 42, Question 5(d)(i)): A few candidates did not state the direction of exchange for nutrients and wastes, or wrote “food” instead of “nutrients”. Many named specific nutrients, which is a good habit.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 5(d)(i).

5. (Extended) Sexual reproduction produces genetic variation in the offspring [1]. Some rabbits may have combinations of alleles that make them resistant to the new disease, so they survive and reproduce [1]. The population can therefore adapt by natural selection to a changing environment, so it is less likely to become extinct [1].

Examiner insight (Cambridge 0610 June 2024 examiner report, Paper 42, Question 5(b)): Most candidates knew that sexual reproduction gives variation, but fewer developed further points in enough detail. Take the idea on to survival, adaptation and a named change in the environment.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 5(b).

6. (Extended) (a) Sperm cell: 23 [1]; zygote: 46 [1].

(b) When two haploid gametes fuse at fertilisation, the zygote is diploid, so the chromosome number stays the same (46) from one generation to the next instead of doubling [1].

Tip: Haploid means one set of chromosomes (23 in humans); diploid means two sets (46). Meiosis halves the number; fertilisation restores it.

Try the real question next: Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610, June 2024, Paper 42, Question 3(a).

7. Any two feature-and-explanation pairs: flagellum [1], which lets the sperm swim towards the egg [1]; many mitochondria [1], which release energy by respiration for swimming [1]; enzymes in the acrosome [1], which digest the jelly coat of the egg so the sperm nucleus can enter [1]. Max [4].

Tip: A feature alone earns only half the credit. Link each feature to how it helps fertilisation.

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Where marks are usually lost

• Saying fertilisation is the fusion of gametes rather than of their nuclei.
• Writing “protection” for the amniotic fluid without saying protection from what.
• Mixing up the functions of the placenta and the amniotic sac.
• Not giving the direction in which substances cross the placenta, or writing “food” instead of “nutrients”.
• Stopping at “variation” when discussing the advantages of sexual reproduction.