GCSE BiologyAQA, Edexcel and OCR
40 biology questions on coordination and control. Pick your answer, then tap to see if you were right and why. Every answer comes from the Show Working science bank, checked against the GCSE content every board in England teaches.
01 / Quiz yourselfTry it, then tap to check
Choose your answer before you open it. Then read why, so it sticks.
01 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: D The brain and spinal cord
The central nervous system is the brain and the spinal cord. It receives impulses from receptors, decides on a response and sends impulses out to effectors.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 42
02 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: D Motor neurones
Sensory neurones carry impulses from receptors to the CNS. Motor neurones carry impulses from the CNS to effectors (muscles and glands). Relay neurones link the two inside the CNS.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 42
03 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: D To detect a stimulus
Receptors are cells that detect stimuli, such as light, sound, touch or temperature. Effectors carry out the response: muscles contract and glands release substances such as hormones.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 41
04 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
The right order:
In a reflex arc the impulse goes: receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone (in the spinal cord or brain), motor neurone, effector. The path is short and does not need the conscious part of the brain.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 42
05 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: A They skip the conscious brain
Reflexes are automatic and rapid because they do not involve the conscious part of the brain. They protect us, for example pulling a hand away from something hot before we have time to think.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 42
06 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: B A chemical diffuses across the gap
A synapse is a tiny gap between two neurones. The impulse arriving at the end of one neurone releases a chemical (a neurotransmitter) that diffuses across the gap and starts a new impulse in the next neurone.
Checked against OpenStax Biology 2e, 35.2 How neurons communicate
07 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: A They are carried in the blood
Hormones are chemical messengers released by endocrine glands straight into the blood, which carries them to target organs. Their effects are slower than nerve impulses but last longer.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 45
08 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: A The pituitary gland
The pituitary gland in the brain is the master gland: its hormones act on other glands and make them release their own hormones. The pancreas makes insulin, the ovaries oestrogen and the testes testosterone.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 45
09 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: A A faster heart rate
The adrenal glands release adrenaline in times of fear or stress. It raises heart rate and boosts the delivery of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, getting the body ready for fight or flight.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 49
10 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: C The basal metabolic rate
Thyroxine is made by the thyroid gland in the neck. It sets the basal metabolic rate, how quickly the body’s chemical reactions run at rest, and is important for growth and development.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 49
11 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: B A change sets off a response that reverses it
Thyroxine is controlled by negative feedback. When it falls, the pituitary releases TSH, which makes the thyroid release more thyroxine. When the level is back to normal, thyroxine inhibits the release of TSH, so the level stays steady.
Checked against Pearson Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) specification, page 25
12 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: C Testosterone
At puberty, reproductive hormones cause secondary sexual characteristics to develop. Oestrogen, the main female reproductive hormone, is made in the ovaries. Testosterone, the main male one, is made in the testes and stimulates sperm production.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 48
13 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: B An egg being released from an ovary
From puberty, eggs mature in the ovaries and one is released about every 28 days. This release is called ovulation and happens roughly halfway through the cycle.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 48
14 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: C Oestrogen and progesterone
Oestrogen makes the uterus lining build up and progesterone keeps it thick. If no embryo implants, progesterone falls, the lining breaks down and a period starts. Day 1 of the cycle is the first day of the period.
Checked against Pearson Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) specification, page 25
15 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: D It inhibits FSH and stimulates LH
Rising oestrogen inhibits FSH, so no more eggs mature, and stimulates a surge of LH, which causes ovulation. Progesterone then inhibits both FSH and LH while it keeps the uterus lining thick.
Checked against OpenStax Biology 2e, 43.4 Hormonal control of human reproduction
16 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: B The pituitary gland
FSH and LH come from the pituitary gland; oestrogen and progesterone come from the ovaries. The hormones control one another, so the cycle repeats about every 28 days.
Checked against Pearson Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) specification, page 25
17 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: D It stops eggs maturing
The combined pill contains oestrogen and progesterone. They inhibit FSH, so no eggs mature and none are released. Implants and injections slowly release progesterone (in a man-made form called a progestogen), which stops eggs maturing and being released for months or years.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 48
18 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: C Condom
Barrier methods such as condoms and diaphragms stop sperm reaching an egg. They contain no hormones. Condoms are the only common method that also helps protect against STIs.
Checked against NHS website: Contraception: condoms
19 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: B It works for years once fitted
An implant works for 3 years, so there is nothing to remember each day, but it can have side effects and gives no STI protection. Spermicides are chemicals that kill or disable sperm.
Checked against NHS website: Contraceptive implant
20 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: C One or two embryos
In IVF the mother is given FSH and LH so several eggs mature. The eggs are collected and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. When the embryos are tiny balls of cells, one or two are inserted into her uterus.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 49
21 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: D FSH and LH
A fertility drug containing FSH and LH helps eggs mature and be released, so a woman may become pregnant in the normal way. IVF is stressful, success rates are not high, and it can lead to twins or triplets, which is a risk to babies and mother.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 49
22 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: A Keeping internal conditions steady
Homeostasis means keeping the conditions inside the body steady, even when things change inside or outside it. In humans it controls blood glucose, body temperature and water levels.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 41
23 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: B So enzymes work at their best
Cells only work well in narrow conditions: enzymes need the right temperature and pH. Control systems use receptors, coordination centres (such as the brain or pancreas) and effectors to put conditions back to normal.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 41
24 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: C Makes cells take in glucose
When blood glucose is too high, the pancreas releases insulin. Insulin makes glucose move from the blood into cells. In liver and muscle cells the extra glucose is turned into glycogen and stored.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 46
25 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
The right order:
The pancreas monitors blood glucose. After a meal it rises, so the pancreas releases insulin, cells take up glucose and the level falls back to normal.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 46
26 / Coordination and controlHigher only
Answer: A Turn glycogen into glucose
If blood glucose falls too low, the pancreas releases glucagon. Glucagon makes the liver turn glycogen back into glucose and release it into the blood. Insulin and glucagon work against each other in a negative feedback cycle.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 46
27 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: D The pancreas makes too little insulin
In type 1 diabetes the pancreas makes little or no insulin, so blood glucose rises out of control. It usually starts in childhood or young adulthood and is treated with insulin injections, or an insulin pump.
Checked against NHS website: Type 1 diabetes
28 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers
Answer: A Cells do not respond well to insulin
In type 2 diabetes the body cells no longer respond properly to insulin (and the pancreas may not make enough). It is often treated with a carbohydrate-controlled diet and more exercise, and many people also need medicines. Obesity is a big risk factor.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 46
29 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B The retina
The retina at the back of the eye contains receptor cells sensitive to light intensity and colour. The optic nerve carries impulses from the retina to the brain.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 44
30 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: D Controls how much light gets in
The iris is the coloured ring of muscle around the pupil. In bright light it makes the pupil smaller to protect the retina; in dim light it makes the pupil bigger to let more light in.
Checked against OCR Gateway Biology A (J247) specification, page 26
31 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: C To refract light into the eye
The cornea is the clear front of the eye and does most of the bending (refraction) of light. The sclera is the tough, white outer layer that protects the eye.
Checked against OpenStax Biology 2e, 36.5 Vision
32 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B Accommodation
Accommodation is changing the lens shape to focus. For a near object the ciliary muscles contract, the suspensory ligaments slacken and the lens gets thicker. For a distant object the muscles relax, the ligaments pull tight and the lens is pulled thin.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 44
33 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: D In front of the retina
In short sight (myopia) distant objects look blurred because light focuses in front of the retina, often because the eyeball is too long. A concave lens spreads the rays out a little so they focus on the retina.
Checked against NHS website: Short-sightedness
34 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B Behind the retina
In long sight (hyperopia) near objects look blurred because light would focus behind the retina, often because the eyeball is too short. A convex lens bends the rays inwards so they focus on the retina.
Checked against NHS website: Long-sightedness
35 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B It reshapes the cornea
Short and long sight can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Newer options include laser surgery, which changes the shape of the cornea, and replacing the lens with an artificial one.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 44
36 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B The cerebellum
The cerebral cortex, the wrinkled outer layer of the cerebrum (cerebral hemispheres), handles consciousness, memory, language and intelligence. The cerebellum coordinates balance and movement. The medulla, in the brain stem, runs unconscious actions such as breathing and heartbeat.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 43
37 / Coordination and controlHigher only · separate only
Answer: D It is complex and easily damaged
The brain is very complex and delicate, and it is hidden inside the skull, so it is hard to study without harm. Scientists map brain regions by studying people with brain damage, by electrically stimulating parts of the brain and by scans such as MRI, CT and PET.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 43
38 / Coordination and controlHigher only · separate only
Answer: C Nerve tissue repairs itself very poorly
Nerve tissue has a very limited ability to repair itself, so spinal and brain injuries are often permanent. Many parts of the nervous system are hard to reach, and treating them, for example removing a tumour, can damage the tissue around them.
Checked against OCR Gateway Biology A (J247) specification, page 26
39 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: D Auxin makes cells on the shaded side elongate
Auxin is made in the shoot tip. Light from one side makes it collect on the shaded side, where it makes cells elongate more. That side grows faster, so the shoot bends towards the light: positive phototropism.
Checked against AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, page 50
40 / Coordination and controlBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: D Slows down cell elongation
Gravity makes auxin collect on the lower side of roots and shoots. In roots, auxin slows elongation, so the upper side grows more and the root bends down (positive gravitropism). In shoots it speeds elongation, so shoots grow up.
Checked against OpenStax Biology 2e, 30.6 Plant sensory systems and responses
02 / Longer answersMarked by levels
Write your answer first, on paper. Then open it and tick off the points you made. How 6-mark questions are marked.
6 marks / A reflex arc in actionBoth tiers
Someone touches a hot pan and pulls their hand away before they feel any pain.
The heat of the pan is the stimulus, and it is detected by receptors in the skin of the hand. The receptors send electrical impulses along a sensory neurone to the spinal cord, which is part of the central nervous system. Where the sensory neurone meets a relay neurone there is a small gap called a synapse. When the impulse arrives, a chemical is released that diffuses across the gap and starts a new impulse in the relay neurone. The relay neurone passes the impulse across another synapse to a motor neurone. The motor neurone carries the impulse to an effector, which here is a muscle in the arm. The muscle contracts and pulls the hand away from the pan. The impulse goes through the spinal cord and does not have to go through the conscious part of the brain, so the person does not have to think about it. This makes the response automatic and very fast. Reflexes are useful because this speed protects the body from harm, for example reducing how badly the hand is burned.
Mixing up the neurones. The sensory neurone carries impulses from the receptor to the spinal cord, and the motor neurone carries them to the muscle. At a synapse it is a chemical that diffuses across, not the impulse.
6 marks / Insulin and glucagon working togetherHigher only
A student eats a large bowl of pasta at lunch, then plays a long football match in the afternoon without eating anything else.
After lunch the starch in the pasta is digested into glucose, which is absorbed into the blood, so the blood glucose concentration rises. The pancreas detects this rise and releases the hormone insulin into the blood. Insulin causes glucose to move out of the blood and into body cells. In the liver and muscles, insulin also causes glucose to be converted into glycogen, which is stored. This brings the blood glucose concentration back down. During the football match the muscles respire quickly to release energy for movement, so they take a lot of glucose from the blood and the concentration starts to fall. The pancreas detects the fall and releases a different hormone, glucagon, and releases less insulin. Glucagon travels in the blood to the liver, where it causes the stored glycogen to be converted back into glucose. This glucose is released into the blood, so the concentration rises back towards normal. Insulin and glucagon work against each other in a negative feedback cycle: whichever way the level moves, the pancreas responds to reverse the change.
Mixing up glucose, glycogen and glucagon. Glucose is the sugar in the blood, glycogen is the store in the liver and muscles, and glucagon is the hormone. Insulin does not break glucose down.
6 marks / Hormones of the menstrual cycleHigher only
At the start of the cycle the pituitary gland releases FSH. FSH causes an egg to mature inside a follicle in the ovary, and it also stimulates the ovary to make oestrogen. Oestrogen causes the lining of the uterus to repair and thicken after a period. As the oestrogen level rises, it inhibits the release of FSH, so no more eggs start to mature. High levels of oestrogen also stimulate the pituitary gland to release LH. A sudden surge of LH causes ovulation, when the mature egg is released from the ovary, at around day 14. After ovulation the empty follicle, called the corpus luteum, releases progesterone. Progesterone keeps the uterus lining thick, ready for an embryo to implant, and it inhibits the release of both FSH and LH. If the egg is not fertilised, the corpus luteum breaks down and the progesterone level falls. The uterus lining is no longer maintained, so it breaks down and is lost as a period. With less progesterone, FSH is no longer inhibited, so it is released again and the cycle starts once more.
Saying LH makes the egg mature. FSH matures the egg and LH triggers its release. Most marks come from saying which hormone stimulates or inhibits which, so name both hormones each time.
6 marks / Type 1 and type 2 diabetes comparedBoth tiers
In both types of diabetes the body cannot control its blood glucose concentration properly, so the level can rise too high, and both can cause long-term damage if they are not managed. The causes are different. In type 1 diabetes the pancreas makes little or no insulin, because the cells that produce it have been destroyed. In type 2 diabetes the pancreas still produces insulin, but the body cells no longer respond to it properly, so glucose is not taken up from the blood. Type 1 usually starts in childhood or early adulthood, whereas type 2 usually develops in older adults, although more young people now get it. Type 2 is strongly linked to obesity and lack of exercise, whereas type 1 is not caused by lifestyle. Because people with type 1 cannot make enough insulin, they must inject insulin, or use an insulin pump, every day and match the dose to their meals and activity. People with type 2 are usually treated first with a diet that controls carbohydrate intake and an exercise programme, and they may later need medicines or insulin.
Saying people with type 2 make no insulin, or that diabetes is treated by injecting glucose. In type 2 insulin is made but the cells do not respond, and diet and exercise come first.
6 marks / Cooling down during a hot runHigher only · separate only
A runner’s core body temperature starts to rise during a long race on a hot day.
Body temperature is monitored by the thermoregulatory centre in the brain, which is called the hypothalamus. It has receptors that are sensitive to the temperature of the blood flowing through it, so it detects that the core temperature is rising. Temperature receptors in the skin also send impulses to it. The thermoregulatory centre then sends nerve impulses to effectors in the skin. The sweat glands produce more sweat. When the water in the sweat evaporates from the skin, it transfers energy from the body to the surroundings, which cools the runner. At the same time, the blood vessels that supply the skin capillaries dilate, which is called vasodilation. This lets much more blood flow close to the surface of the skin, so more energy is transferred from the blood to the surroundings by radiation. Together these responses bring the core temperature back down towards about 37 °C. As the temperature returns to normal, the thermoregulatory centre reduces the responses again. This is an example of negative feedback, because a change in temperature causes responses that reverse the change.
Saying the blood vessels move closer to the skin. They do not move: the vessels supplying the skin widen, so more blood flows near the surface. And sweat cools you as it evaporates, not because it is cold.
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