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Examiners' Report for January 2012 International GCSE Biology (4BI0) 2B. Most candidates did well with (a), fully appreciating that snail meat is low in fat and high in protein. Weaker candidates tended to repeat the text in the passage and did not show any signs of real comprehension.

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50 views6 pages

2012 - Jan 2B ER PDF

Examiners' Report for January 2012 International GCSE Biology (4BI0) 2B. Most candidates did well with (a), fully appreciating that snail meat is low in fat and high in protein. Weaker candidates tended to repeat the text in the passage and did not show any signs of real comprehension.

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Examiners Report/

Principal Examiner Feedback


January 2012

International GCSE Biology (4BI0)


Paper 2B

Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications


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January 2012
Publications Code UG030189
All the material in this publication is copyright
Pearson Education Ltd 2012

International GCSE Biology 4BI0 2B Report - January 2012


Question 1
It was pleasing to note that the comprehension allowed all candidates access
to the paper, including those new to the specification.
Most did well with (a), fully appreciating that snail meat is low in fat and high
in protein. In (b), the better candidates realised that snail farming helps to
conserve the natural snail populations by reducing their collection. Weaker
candidates tended to repeat the text in the passage and did not show any
signs of real comprehension. Most appreciated that the spider was the
organism used in biological control on snail farms and most appreciated that
an (exo) skeleton needs calcium or phosphate. Many gave a list of mineral
ions but were credited if calcium and/or phosphate were in the list. In (e)(i),
many understood that difficulty with digestion was an issue, but only the best
gave a full answer by naming cellulose as the molecule that could not be
digested because the organisms lacked the enzyme cellulase. Many candidates
merely repeated text from the passage defining the term AE, thus showing
little understanding. Credit was also given if candidates appreciated that
cellulose could not be absorbed or that there was a lack of symbiotic
organisms. Part (f) posed difficulty for many candidates who, though able to
comprehend that the metabolism of birds and mammals is greater, failed to
suggest why by making reference to their need to maintain body temperature
or that they are likely to be more active. Answers defining the term selective
breeding tended to lack any reference to human involvement and many
answers could equally be true of natural selection and, as such, gained no
credit. The term sterilised posed difficulty for weaker candidates who failed to
appreciate the need to prevent microorganisms causing harm to the snail
eggs.
Question 2
This question tested understanding of the cloning process. Despite its
apparent simplicity, the question discriminated very well. The most common
error was naming meiosis as the cell division, rather than mitosis. Candidates
are advised to use technical terms correctly, so only the term surrogate was
accepted in the final sentence.
Question 3
This question tested candidates on their understanding of a novel investigation
and explored understanding of data analysis. The correct average in (a) should
have been calculated by adding up all the values except any anomalous result
and dividing by the number of these values. The result for student 9 was
anomalous, so the total of 16 should have been divided by 9, not 10. The best
candidates were aware of this. Wrong answers could still gain one mark if the
examiners saw the number 16 in the working, showing correct addition of the
values. Most gave at least one acceptable response in (b). Candidates who
simply stated that sweat production differs in different people were not
credited unless they gave a valid explanation. Part (c) revealed that weaker
candidates are unaware of the correct way to calculate a percentage increase.
In (d) (i), most candidates appreciated that sweat production increases in hot
air in an attempt to cool the body. Part (d) (ii) was more challenging with only
the best candidates appreciating that there is less evaporation in humid air,
which leads to less heat loss and the response to sweat more in an attempt to

cool the body. There was much confusion between the terms sweating and
evaporation.
Question 4
The term hypothesis seemed unfamiliar to many candidates and, as such,
their attempts to construct a sentence that explained the observations made
in this investigation were disappointing. The examiners were looking for
answers that showed an understanding that light intensity affected the level of
carbon dioxide in the tubes. Candidates who repeated the information
describing the investigation or only made reference to the colour changes
gained no credit. In (b), credit was given for temperature, species of plant and
volume of indicator solution. Most candidates were able to gain at least one
mark showing that they have a good understanding of controlled variables.
Equally pleasing were answers to (c). Candidates appreciated the role of a
control to allow a valid comparison to be made between tubes A, B and C. Part
(d) expected students to offer explanations for the colours seen in the tubes.
The better candidates appreciated the roles of photosynthesis and respiration
and how the net change in carbon dioxide is affected by light intensity.
Weaker candidates described the colour changes or made reference to oxygen
gas. Only the best candidates appreciated that limewater can only show an
increase in carbon dioxide and, unlike hydrogencarbonate indicator, cannot
show a decrease in carbon dioxide.
Question 5
Most candidates coped well with having to draw the food chain, though a
surprising number included organisms not mentioned in the question. An
equally surprising number failed to put the arrows in the correct direction. In
(b)(i), most were able to appreciate that a hawk had more success with a
smaller number of pigeons in a group, but only the better candidates went on
to give a sensible explanation. Part (b) (ii) examined student knowledge of the
eye and a pleasing number of candidates appreciated the role of the ciliary
muscle, the suspensory ligaments and the lens in helping to focus on an
approaching hawk. Considerable confusion existed about the contraction /
relaxation, tightening / slackening and fattening / thinning of these eye parts.
The role of circular and radial muscles was not credited. Most candidates were
able to describe what happens to protein in the stomach and it was common
to award full marks for this part of the question.
Question 6
Part (a) of this question tested candidates understanding of a simple genetic
cross. Most chose a sensible upper and lower case letter to represent the
parental genotype but a surprising number chose different letters. In these
cases, no mark was given to the parental genotype but the concept of
transferred error was used to credit the gamete and offspring genotypes. In
(b)(i), a pleasing number appreciated the need to keep the plants isolated,
particularly from agents of cross-pollination such as insects. Many suggested
that Mendel himself transferred pollen from the anther to the stigma of the
same flower using a brush and due credit was given. Credit was also given to
those candidates who described self-pollination. In (b)(ii), no credit was given
for combinations of different letters such as T and D or T and d or T and S.
Defining genetic terms is a challenge for students but many appreciated that a

dominant allele is the one expressed in the heterozygote and that codominant
alleles are both expressed in the heterozygote.

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Order Code xxxxxxxx January 2012

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