Exam Questions

AQA Trilogy
INHERITANCE
VARIATION AND
EVOLUTION

Q1-6 Foundation Tier

Q3-9 Higher Tier

Markscheme at the end of all

Page 1 of 34
 questions.

Q1.
In sexual reproduction, an egg fuses with a sperm.

(a) (i) Draw a ring around the correct answer to complete the sentence.

cloning.
An egg and a sperm fuse together in the process of fertilisation.
mitosis.
(1)

(ii) Egg cells and sperm cells each contain the structures given in the
box.

chromosome gene nucleus

List these three structures in size order, starting with the smallest.

1 ____________________________________________________
(smallest)

2
______________________________________________________
______

3 _____________________________________________________
(largest)
(2)

(iii) The egg and the sperm contain genetic material.

Draw a ring around the correct answer to complete the sentence.

carbohydrate.
The genetic material is made of DNA.
protein.

Page 2 of 34
 (1)

(b) The diagram below shows the inheritance of X and Y chromosomes.

(i) Draw a tick ( ) on the part of the diagram that shows a sperm cell.
(1)

(ii) What is the chance of having a female child?

Give the reason for your answer.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)
(Total 7 marks)

Q2.
Figure 1 shows a photograph of a fossil of a trilobite.

Figure 1

Page 3 of 34
(a) When were trilobites alive?

Tick one box.

Between 20 and 50 years ago.

Between 20 and 50 thousand years ago.

Between 200 and 500 thousand years ago.

Between 200 and 500 million years ago.

(1)

(b) Suggest how the fossil in Figure 1 was formed.

Tick one box.

The organism left a footprint behind.

The organism was buried by rocks.

The organism was frozen in ice.

The organism was replaced by minerals.

(1)

(c) Trilobites are extinct.

What does extinct mean?

Tick one box.

Page 4 of 34
 The species evolved into another species.

The species does not have any soft tissue parts.

There are no organisms of that species alive today.

There are not enough of the species alive to reproduce.

(1)

(d) Hyoliths are another type of fossil. Hyoliths were discovered in the 1800s
and thought to be a type of snail.

In 2017 scientists used modern techniques to place hyoliths into a

different group.

Suggest a modern technique that the scientists may have used.

Tick one box.

DNA analysis

Genetic modification

Light microscopy

Selective breeding

(1)

(e) Which scientist developed the traditional classification system for all living
organisms?

____________________
(1)

The fossil record is used to draw evolutionary trees.

Figure 2 shows an evolutionary tree for a group of dinosaurs.

Figure 2

Page 5 of 34
 (f) Suggest which two of these dinosaurs are most closely related.

____________________ and ____________________

(1)

(g) Name a common ancestor of Triceratops and Leptoceratops.

___________________________________________________________
________
(1)

(h) How does the fossil record provide evidence for Darwin’s theory of
evolution?

Tick one box.

Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.

Fossils have been found in most countries of the world.

Older fossils have a simpler structure.

Trilobites belong to the arthropod group of animals.

(1)
(Total 8 marks)

Q3.
This question is about reproduction.

(a) Complete the sentences.

Choose answers from the box.

Page 6 of 34
 asexual clones eggs gametes
meiosis mitosis sexual variation

Identical offspring are produced by ____________________ reproduction.

These offspring are called ____________________ .

In another form of reproduction male and female ____________________

join at fertilisation.

This leads to ____________________ in the offspring.

The embryo grows by a type of cell division called

____________________ .
(5)

(b) The body cells of a kangaroo have 16 chromosomes.

How many chromosomes will an egg cell of a kangaroo have?

Tick one box.

4 8 16 32

(1)

(c) Which sex chromosomes will be in the body cells of a male kangaroo?

Tick one box.

XX XZ XY YZ

(1)

Different species of animal have different numbers of chromosomes in their

body cells.

The table shows the chromosome number of some species.

Number of
Species of animal chromosomes in each
body cell

Giraffe 62

Human 46

Kangaroo 16

Snail 24

Page 7 of 34
 Zebra fish 50

(d) Plot the data from the table for the snail and for the zebra fish on the
graph.

(2)

(e) Look at the graph.

How many more chromosomes are there in the body cells of giraffes than
in the body cells of animal X?

___________________________________________________________
________

Number of chromosomes = ____________________

(1)

(f) A student concluded:

‘the bigger an animal, the more chromosomes it has in each body

cell.’

This is not a valid conclusion.

Give one reason why.

___________________________________________________________
________

Page 8 of 34
 ___________________________________________________________
________
(1)
(Total 11 marks)

Q4.
Glyphosate is a herbicide.

Crop plants have been genetically modified to make them resistant to

glyphosate.

(a) Why is it an advantage to make crop plants resistant to glyphosate?

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________
(3)

(b) Figure 1 shows how scientists produce genetically modified (GM) crop
plants.

The scientists use a GM-bacterium that can invade plant cells.

Page 9 of 34
(i) The ring of DNA shown in Figure 1 acts as a vector for the
resistance gene.

What is the scientific name for this ring of DNA?

______________________________________________________
________

Page 10 of 34
 (1)

(ii) At step 1 in Figure 1, the ring of DNA is cut open.

How do scientists cut open the ring of DNA?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(iii) At step 5 in Figure 1, plant cells and GM-bacteria are put on

agar containing glyphosate.

Explain why the scientists add glyphosate to the agar.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(c) Some people disagree with the use of GM herbicide-resistant crop plants.

Figure 2 shows data published on a website in 2013.

Page 11 of 34
A journalist used the data to claim: ‘Scientists show that GM crops cause
kidney disease in humans.’

Use information from Figure 2 to evaluate the evidence for this claim.

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________

Page 12 of 34
 ________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________
(4)
(Total 11 marks)

Q5.
The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) is a mammal that was once extinct in the wild.

The image shows an Arabian oryx.

(a) What is the genus of the Arabian oryx?

Tick one box.

leucoryx Oryx Oryx leucoryx

(1)

(b) Give two adaptations of the Arabian oryx to living in hot desert
environments.

Page 13 of 34
 Use information from the image.

1.
___________________________________________________________
______

___________________________________________________________
________

2.
___________________________________________________________
______

___________________________________________________________
________
(2)

(c) The Arabian oryx uses its long horns to fight for territory and mates.

Describe how the long horns could have evolved.

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________
(3)

Arabian oryx from many different zoos were interbred so that they could be
reintroduced to the wild.

(d) What is the name of this method of increasing the population of

endangered animals?

Tick one box.

Breeding programme

Page 14 of 34
 Genetic modification

Natural selection

Selective breeding

(1)

(e) Explain why it was important to use Arabian oryx from many different zoos
instead of one zoo.

___________________________________________________________
________

___________________________________________________________
________
(1)
(Total 8 marks)

Q6.
The diagram shows part of a DNA molecule.

(a) (i) In which part of an animal cell is DNA found?

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(ii) Complete the following sentence.

The letters A, C, G and T in the diagram represent four different

compounds

called __________________________ .

Page 15 of 34
 (1)

(iii) One strand of the DNA, in the section labelled X, contains the
following sequence of these compounds:

T A T G G G T C T T C G

How many amino acids would this section of the DNA code

for?
(1)

(iv) The section of DNA described in part (a) (iii) is a small part of a
gene.

The sequence of compounds A, C, G and T in the gene is important.

Explain why.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(b) Read the following information about genetic engineering.

The caterpillar of the European Corn Borer moth feeds on the fruits of
maize (sweet corn). There is a chemical called Bt-toxin which is poisonous
to the corn borer caterpillar but not to humans.

Scientists carried out the following steps.

1. The Scientists made a bacterial plasmid to which they added two

genes:
• Bt gene, which coded for production of the Bt-toxin
• kanr gene, which coded for resistance to an antibiotic called
kanamycin.

2. They used this plasmid to produce genetically modified bacteria

which could invade plant cells.

3. They mixed these genetically modified bacteria with pieces cut from
maize leaves.

Page 16 of 34
4. They placed the pieces of maize leaf on agar jelly in a Petri dish.
The agar jelly contained the antibiotic, kanamycin. The kanamycin
killed most of the pieces of maize leaf, but a few survived.

5. They took some cells from the surviving pieces of maize leaf and
grew them in tissue culture.

The result was maize plants that now contained the Bt gene, as well as
the kanr gene, in all of their cells.

(i) What is a plasmid (Step 1)?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(ii) Why did the scientists add kanamycin to the agar jelly (Step 4)?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(iii) The scientists grew each Bt-maize plant from a single cell which
contained the Bt gene.

Explain why all the cells in the Bt-maize plant contained the Bt
gene.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

Page 17 of 34
 ______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(iv) Kanamycin is an antibiotic.

Some scientists are concerned that the gene for kanamycin

resistance has been put into maize.

Suggest why.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)
(Total 13 marks)

Q7.
Polydactyly is an inherited condition caused by a dominant allele.

(a) The figure below shows the hand of a man with polydactyly. The man has
an extra finger on each hand.

The man’s mother also has polydactyly but his father does not.

Page 18 of 34
 © Ifness/iStock

(i) The man is heterozygous for polydactyly.

Explain how the information given above shows that the man is
heterozygous for polydactyly.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(3)

(ii) The man marries a woman who does not have polydactyly.

What is the probability that their first child will have polydactyly?

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(b) The man has red hair. His sister has brown hair.

Both of their parents have brown hair.

Page 19 of 34
 Brown hair is caused by the dominant allele, B.

Red hair is caused by a recessive allele, b.

Complete the genetic diagram below to show how the man’s parents were
able to have some children with red hair and some with brown hair.

Father Mother
Parental phenotypes _________________ _________________
Parental Genotypes _________________ _________________
Gametes ________ ________ ________ ________

Offspring genotypes:
_____________________________________________

Offspring phenotypes:
____________________________________________
(5)
(Total 9 marks)

Q8.
Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inherited condition. PKU makes people ill.

(a) PKU is caused by a recessive allele.

(i) What is an allele?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(ii) What is meant by recessive?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________

Page 20 of 34
 ________
(1)

(b) The diagram below shows the inheritance of PKU in one family.

(i) Give one piece of evidence from the diagram that PKU is caused by
a recessive allele.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(ii) Persons 6 and 7 are planning to have another child.

Use a genetic diagram to find the probability that the new child will
have PKU.

Use the following symbols in your answer:

N = the dominant allele for not having PKU

n = the recessive allele for PKU.

Probability = _________________________
(4)

(c) Persons 6 and 7 wish to avoid having another child with PKU.

A genetic counsellor advises that they could produce several embryos by

IVF treatment.

(i) During IVF treatment, each fertilised egg cell forms an embryo by
cell division.

Name this type of cell division.

______________________________________________________
________

Page 21 of 34
 (1)

(ii) An embryo screening technique could be used to find the genotype

of each embryo.

An unaffected embryo could then be placed in person 7’s uterus.

The screening technique is carried out on a cell from an embryo

after just three cell divisions of the fertilised egg.

How many cells will there be in an embryo after the fertilised egg
has

divided three times?

(1)

(iii) During embryo screening, a technician tests the genetic material of

the embryo to find out which alleles are present.

The genetic material is made up of large molecules of a chemical

substance.

Name this chemical substance.

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(d) Some people have ethical objections to embryo screening.

(i) Give one ethical objection to embryo screening.

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(ii) Give one reason in favour of embryo screening.

______________________________________________________
________
(1)
(Total 12 marks)

Q9.
The diagram below shows the production of human sperm cells.

Page 22 of 34
(a) Name the organ where the processes shown in the diagram above take
place.

______________________________
(1)

(b) (i) Not every cell in the diagram above contains the same amount of
DNA.

Cell A contains 6.6 picograms of DNA (1 picogram = 10-12 grams).

How much DNA is there in each of the following cells?

Cell B _____________ picograms

Cell C _____________ picograms

Cell E _____________ picograms

(2)

(ii) How much DNA would there be in a fertilised egg cell?

_____________________ picograms
(1)

(iii) A fertilised egg cell divides many times to form an embryo.

Name this type of cell division.

______________________________
(1)

(c) After a baby is born, stem cells may be collected from the umbilical cord.

Page 23 of 34
These can be frozen and stored for possible use in the future.

(i) What are stem cells?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(2)

(ii) Suggest why it is ethically more acceptable to take stem cells from
an umbilical cord instead of using stem cells from a 4-day-old
embryo produced by In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(iii) Stem cells taken from a child’s umbilical cord could be used to treat
a condition later in that child’s life.

Give one advantage of using the child’s own umbilical cord stem
cells instead of using stem cells donated from another person.

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)

(iv) Why would it not be possible to treat a genetic disorder in a child

using his own umbilical cord stem cells?

______________________________________________________
________

______________________________________________________
________
(1)
(Total 10 marks)

Page 24 of 34
Mark schemes

Q1.
(a) (i) fertilisation
1

(ii) in sequence:
accept 1 next to gene, 2 next to chromosome and
3 next to nucleus in box

1 gene
2 chromosome
3 nucleus
allow 1 mark for smallest or largest in correct
position
2

(iii) DNA
1

(b) (i) On diagram:

tick drawn next to X and / or Y from Parent 1

tick(s) must be totally outside grid squares
allow ticks around “parent ”
extra ticks elsewhere cancel
1

(ii) 0.5 / ½ / 50% / 1:1 / 50:50 / 1 in 2

allow 2/4 / 2 in 4 / 2 out of 4 / ‘even(s)’ / ‘fifty – fifty’
do not allow 1:2 or ‘50 / 50’ or ‘50 – 50’
1

2 (out of 4) boxes are XX

or

half of the sperm contain an X-chromosome

allow XY is male and 2 (out of 4) boxes are XY
1
[7]

Q2.
(a) between 200 and 500 million years ago
2

(b) the organism was replaced by minerals

1
 (c) there are no organisms of that species alive todays
1

(d) DNA analysis

1

(e) (Carl) Linnaeus

1

(f) Protoceratops and Triceratops

allow
Coronosaurus and Triceratops
or
Protoceratops and Coronosaurus
or
Marginocephalia and Pachycephalosaurus
1

(g) Marginocephalia
1

(h) older fossils have a simpler structure

1
[8]

Q3.
(a) asexual
1

clones
1

gametes
1

variation
1

mitosis
in this order
1

(b) 8
1

(c) XY
1

(d) both bars correctly plotted

1

correct labels on x-axis

 allow labels mark even if bars incorrect
1

(e) 30
1

(f) any one from:

• because zebra fish is small and has high number of chromosomes

• not all animals are listed

• not enough data

• animals have different sizes during their life but the chromosome
number stays the same
allow other sensible conclusions
1
[11]

Q4.
(a) kills weeds among crops / does not kill crops
1

(kills weeds) so less competition for named factor eg light / water /

ions
ignore space
1

crops grow better / higher yield

1

(b) (i) plasmid

1

(ii) use an enzyme

allow correct example
1

(iii) only some cells become GM / take up the plasmid / take up

resistance gene
allow idea of transfer of gene / plasmid to some
plant cells from bacteria
1

GM cells survive / non-GM cells are killed

1

(c) Pro:
(positive) correlation between use of glyphosate and number of
cases of kidney disease
allow 1 mark for justified conclusion that the claim
 is not justified
1

+ any three from:

Con:
• lack of controls / control group
• correlation does not prove a causal link
• some other factor could be the cause
accept obesity / infection
• no evidence that kidney patients actually consumed GM
crops / crops treated with glyphosate / no evidence about
amount consumed
or graph shows amount of herbicide not amount of GM crops
grown
or graph shows data only for maize and soya / not for other
(GM) crops
• data have been manipulated by carefully chosen scales to
make it look like they coincide
• data from some years is missing
• no data for the dosage of herbicide used
allow kidney disease has been around for much
longer than GM crops / better diagnosis of kidney
disease.
3
[11]

Q5.
(a) Oryx
1

(b) any two from:

• white / light colour (to reduce thermal gain)
• short fur (to reduce thermal insulation)
• little body fat
• large hooves (to walk in sand)
• camouflaged (against sand by light colour)
2

(c) any three from:

• variation in population
• animals with longest horns more likely to survive / reproduce
• passing on alleles for long horns
• repeated over many generations
3

(d) breeding programme

1

(e) any one from:

• to increase genetic diversity
do not accept to increase biodiversity
 • species may be unable to cope if environment changes
• all susceptible to same diseases / inbreeding problems
allow otherwise all offspring would have similar
genes or a decreased gene pool
• prevents inbreeding
1
[8]

Q6.
(a) (i) nucleus
correct spelling only
accept mitochondrion
ignore genes / genetic material / chromosomes
1

(ii) base(s)
Accept all four correct names of bases
ignore nucleotides and refs to organic / N-
containing
1

(iii) 4
1

(iv) codes for sequence / order of amino acids

ignore references to characteristics
1

codes for a (specific) protein / enzyme

or

the sequence / order of three bases / compounds / letters

codes for a specific amino acid

or

the sequence / order of 3 bases / compounds / letters

codes for the order / sequence of amino acids

1

(b) (i) DNA

1

circular / a ring or a vector / described

1

(ii) kills any cells not having kanr gene / so only cells with kanr
gene survive
 1

hence surviving cells will also contain Bt gene / plasmid

1

(iii) cells divide by mitosis

ignore ref to asexual reproduction
correct spelling only
1

genetic information is copied / each cell receives a copy of (all)

the gene(s) / all cells produced are genetically identical / form
a clone
1

(iv) any two from:

• gene may be passed to pathogenic bacteria

• cannot then kill these pathogens with kanamycin
or
cannot treat disease with kanamycin
• may need to develop new antibiotics
• gene may get into other organisms
• outcome unpredictable
2
[13]

Q7.
(a) (i) man has (inherited) polydactyly (PD) allele (from mother)
1

man has (inherited) other / normal / recessive allele from father

1

because father does not have PD allele or if father had it father

would have had PD or father only has normal allele or father is
homozygous recessive
1
allow gene for allele

(ii) 0.5 / ½ / 1 in 2 / 1:1 / 50%

do not allow 1:2 or 50/50
allow 50:50
1

(b) parental phenotypes: both brown

1

parental genotypes: both Bb

1

gametes: B b and B b
 1
allow only on gametes answer line
allow ecf from genotypes

offspring genotypes: BB (2)Bb bb

allow ecf from gametes
1

offspring phenotypes correctly assigned to genotypes:

BB & Bb = brown bb = red
do not penalise confusion of ‘phenotypes’ &
‘genotypes’ here
1
[9]

Q8.
(a) (i) one form of a / one gene
do not allow ‘a type of gene’
allow a mutation of a gene
1

(ii) not expressed if dominant / other allele is present / if

heterozygous

or

only expressed if dominant allele not present / or no other

allele present
allow need two copies to be expressed / not
expressed if only one copy / only expressed if
homozygous
1

(b) (i) two parents without PKU produce a child with PKU / 6 and 7
→ 10
allow ‘it skips a generation’
1

(ii) genetic diagram including:

accept alternative symbols if defined

Parental gametes:

6: N and n
and 7: N and n
1

derivation of offspring genotypes:

NN Nn Nn nn
 allow genotypes correctly derived from student’s
parental gametes
1

identification: NN and Nn as non-PKU

OR nn as PKU
allow correct identification of student’s offspring
genotypes
1

correct probability only: 0.25 / ¼ / 1 in 4 / 25% / 1 : 3

do not allow 3 : 1 / 1 : 4
do not allow if extra incorrect probabilities given
1

(c) (i) mitosis

correct spelling only
1

(ii) 8
1

(iii) DNA
allow deoxyribonucleic acid
do not allow RNA / ribonucleic acid
1

(d) (i) may lead to damage to embryo / may destroy embryos /

embryo cannot give consent
allow avoid abortion
allow emotive terms – eg murder religious
argument must be qualified
allow ref to miscarriage
allow idea of avoiding prejudice against disabled
people
allow idea of not producing designer babies
1

(ii) any one from:

• prevent having child with the disorder / prevent future

suffering / reduce incidence of the disease
ignore ref to having a healthy child
ignore ref to selection of gender
• embryo cells could be used in stem cell treatment
allow ref to long term cost of treating a child (with
a disorder)
allow ref to time for parents to become prepared
1
 [12]

Q9.
(a) testis / testes
allow testicle(s)
1

(b) (i) B = 13.2

C = 6.6
E = 3.3
all 3 correct = 2 marks
2 or 1 correct = 1 mark
If no marks awarded allow ecf for C and E based
on answer to B
ie C = ½ B and E = ½ C for one mark
2

(ii) 6.6
allow twice answer for cell E in part bi
1

(iii) mitosis
correct spelling only
1

(c) (i) any two from:

• cells that are able to divide
• undifferentiated cells / not specialised
• can become other types of cells / tissues or become
specialised /differentiated
allow pluripotent
2

(ii) 4-day embryo is a (potential) human life

or

destroying/damaging (potential) human life

allow cord would have been discarded anyway
ignore reference to miscarriage
allow cannot give consent
1

(iii) perfect tissue match or hard to find suitable donors

allow same/matching antigens
allow no danger of rejection
allow no need to take immunosuppressant drugs
(for life)
ignore genetically identical or same DNA
 1

(iv) stem cells have same faulty gene / allele / DNA / chromosomes
allow genetically identical
ignore cells have the same genetic disorder
1
[10]