IB Biology Answers ThemeA
IB Biology Answers ThemeA
IB Biology Answers ThemeA
Answers
Topic A1 – Molecules
1. Friction will vary from syringe to syringe but the plunger should start moving downwards with force of about
2 N.
2. Expected force required is less than that exerted by a kilogram of masses hanging from the barrel;
friction should not be relevant to final volume (as long as the weight is sufficient to overcome the frictional
force so the syringe moves)
pressure × volume = constant (at constant temperature and constant number of gas molecules – Boyle’s
Law)
p1 × V1 = p2 × V2 so
3. Volume can only increase if water separates to create new areas of water surface area with water vapour
between. Area = 2 × π × 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm = 3.5 × 10−4 m2
Surface energy of water (which is the same as surface tension but expressed as energy area rather than
force length) = 72 mN m−1
So energy required to create new surfaces is 3.5 × 10−4 × 72 × 10−3 = 2.5 × 10−5 J
By conservation of energy, this can be equated to work required to move the syringe over a distance
sufficient to separate the two water surfaces (work = force × distance) A rough estimate of the distance at
which the water surfaces would be separate is the length of a hydrogen bond = 0.35 nm therefore:
Mass required is around 7000 g. In practice, a break would occur with less mass between the water surface
and the inner surface of the syringe because the attractions are less strong. Also it is unlikely that all parts
of the apparatus would withstand a mass of 7 kg so there is likely to be a failure with less weight (e.g. an air
leak through the gate clip). Nevertheless, more than 1 kg of mass should hang from the plunger and it is
impressive that the hydrogen bonds in a 10 mL syringe can potentially withstand 7 kg of mass before
they break.
© Oxford University Press 2023 1
Page 7 Data-based questions: Tall trees
1. a. the researchers had a free choice of heights at which to measure xylem pressure;
b. xylem pressures depended on the height at which the researchers took measurements;
2. a. negative correlation / the greater the height, the lower the pressure;
b. lower pressure needed to pull water to a greater height;
lower pressures needed to overcome the pull of gravity;
lower pressures needed to overcome resistance to flow over longer distances in xylem vessels;
3. a. similarity: there is a negative correlation;
difference: at each height, the pressure is lower at midday;
b. more evaporation at midday which lowers pressures in xylem
4. 132 m;
extrapolate the line of best fit on the graph until it reaches −2.0 MPa;
Page 14 Data-based questions: Were comets the source of water in Earth’s oceans?
1. non-linear scale;
equal intervals are multiples, for example 1, 10, 100;
2. 3 × 10−4 / 0.03;
3. only one comet;
103P/Hartley 2;
4. reduces the likelihood;
because the D/H ratio is much higher than that of water on Earth;
5. asteroids;
because meteorites derived from them have D/H ratios closer to that of water on Earth than comets;
some higher and some lower so average from lots of asteroids could have given the Earth’s ratio:
1. 1.85%;
2. G pairs with C so the percentage of each will be equal and C will also be 7.3%;
100 − 14.6 = 85.4 is A + T;
A pairs with T so the percentage of each will be equal and half of 85.4 = 42.7%
3. advantage: narrower than double-stranded DNA so takes up less space inside the protein coat of the virus /
only 1 nm wide whereas double-stranded DNA is 2 nm wide;
disadvantage: bases more vulnerable to chemical attack when unpaired so more mutations;
4. 3.155 Mb = 3 155 000 base pairs;
3 155 000 ÷ 1440 = 2191;
ratio is 2191 : 1
5. Answers will vary.
1. a pellet is a solid that is spun to the bottom of the tube during centrifugation;
supernatant is the fluid that remains above the pellet at the end of centrifugation;
2. genetic material (of T2) will have been injected into the bacteria;
bacteria are relatively large so sediment in the pellet;
3. 80%
4. 35% in the supernatant;
100 – 35% = 65% in the pellet;
5. T2 genetic material must be injected into the bacteria (as they start making T2 proteins);
35
S is in the protein coat of T2 and 32P is in its DNA;
35
S is mostly in the supernatant and 32P is mostly in the pellet;
1. quantities of the four bases are reasonably similar across all of the eukaryotes;
relative quantities of bases in Mycobacterium are distinct from eukaryotes;
Mycobacterium has less adenine and thymine but more guanine and cytosine;
amount of adenine is approximately equal to amount of thymine in both;
amount of guanine is approximately equal to amount of cytosine in both groups;
2. 1.00 in both cases;
© Oxford University Press 2023 3
3. within experimental error the data supports the hypothesis;
differences in amounts of G/C and A/T are too small to be significant;
4. complementary base pairing between A and T would mean they would need to be present in equal
quantities;
same argument for C and G;
5. proportions of bases are not equal;
there cannot be a repeating sequence of the four bases;
6. polio virus may be single-stranded/may be RNA virus (need uracil data to know); bacteriophage T2 may be
double-stranded;
1 a. i. water
ii. water would have a more stable thermal environment;
fewer adaptations necessary for fluctuating temperatures in water habitat/less energy has to be spent
on maintaining body temperature;
homeothermic (warm-blooded) adaptations an advantage in air / poikilothermic (cold-blooded)
adaptations for water;
b. i. (0.6 / 0.28);
Water has 21.4 times greater thermal conductivity than air.
ii. water
c. i. air provides less buoyant force and therefore more energy is required to counteract the force of
gravity;
ii. air bladders full of air would lower the fish’s density and cause it to float higher in the water column;
the volume of air within the bladder could be altered to adjust the fish’s position in the water column;
d. i.
water is approximately 43 times more viscous than air;
ii. water offers the greater resistance to movement
e.
stable heat more energy as less stable less energy as more stable heat
environment heat environment environment
Topic A2 – Cells
1. a. when they are mixed with protocells that contain RNA, they decreased in size;
rapidly at first;
when they are mixed with protocells that do not contain vesicles, their size remains relatively stable;
though they both decrease in size;
b. membrane was captured by the vesicles containing RNA from those that did not contain the RNA;
2. a. when mixed with the unswollen cells that contained RNA, they did not grow;
which is consistent with them being unable to capture membrane;
when mixed with the unswollen cells that did not contain RNA, they did grow;
which is what was predicted;
1 a.
size of image (scale bar) = 20 mm;
actual size = 0.2 mm;
2. a. 31 mm = 31 000 µm so
c.
3. a. 20 µm × 2000 (magnification) = 40 000 µm;
(or 40 mm scale bar);
b.
4. a. hen’s egg is 9 mm wide in diagram;
ostrich egg is 25 mm long in diagram;
real hen’s egg is about 50 mm wide;
b.
Worm is 75 mm long measured with a string and ruler, and 5 mm wide
1. ribosomes;
high concentrations of enzymes/proteins;
2. circular;
3. divide into two cells;
each daughter cell receives one copy of the DNA/chromosome by receiving one of the nucleoids;
4. length of scale bar = 13 mm;
1. 150–160 µm;
= 460×;
2. food cannot pass through the test;
must fit through the aperture in the test; 40–45 µm;
3. lower solute concentration in freshwater habitat than in cytoplasm of cell;
water enters cell by osmosis; cytoplasm will increase in volume;
cell would burst at the aperture in the test;
contractile vacuole needed to expel water;
1. values for the two variables are directly proportional so would form a straight line when plotted on a graph;
2. a. as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase;
b. as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease;
3. a. viruses/bacteriophages can increase/multiply when there are more bacteria to use as hosts;
b. higher chlorophyll a indicates more algae which viruses can use as hosts;
c. higher salinity might reduce the numbers of potential hosts;
higher salinity in winter when there is less rainfall/fewer bacterial hosts/fewer algal hosts;
4. correlation does not indicate causation;
difficult to know whether a correlation is due to cause or to co-correlation with another variable;
5. 40%;
1. 30 000;
2. ORF1/1a;
because Bat CoV RaTG13’s nucleotide identity is closest to 100% indicating fewest base differences;
b. the spike protein is used as an antigen by the immune system so there may be more selective pressure
for it to change;
b. positive phototaxis;
in low concentration of carbon dioxide, mutant cells produce no carbohydrate and appear to use
carbon dioxide;
suggests that the pyrenoid functions to capture/store carbon dioxide for use in photosynthesis;
the data for the normal cells is more variable than the mutant cells;
the size of the error bars for normal cells suggests that there is no significant difference between the
different types of cells
g. there are two independent variables: level of CO 2 and mutant or normal pyrenoid;
the dependent variable is percent change in chlorophyll (an indirect measure of photosynthetic activity);
small size;
faster reproduction;
b. Quantitative:
the width of the rotifer body is approximately 4 times wider than the stalk;
within the transparent shell of the spirogyra, there is an alternating pattern of green matter and
transparent space;
c. 1.8 × 10–4 m
e.
= 180×
Thus, probably a combination of the 10× ocular and the 40× objective.
organisms produced by fusion of male and female gametes have two sets of chromosomes;
1. banding pattern of the long arm of chimp 13 is very similar to (much of) the long arm of human 2;
long arm of chimp 12 and short arm of human 2 have the same banding pattern;
some bands on the short arm of chimp 13 are missing from human 2;
3. centromere from chimp chromosome 12 has become the centromere of human chromosome 2;
4. evidence is strong;
1. positive correlation;
b. the high value shows that the data points fit the trend line closely;
most of the variation in the number of protein-coding genes is predictable from genome size;
4. a. 1000
3. a. 2n/38 chromosomes;
2. 6 + 3; = 9;
3. the evidence suggests that painted turtles and lizards are a clade;
more closely related to each other than to alligators / some other reptiles;
but this evidence suggests they are more closely related to birds than some other reptiles;
suggests that birds and reptiles are not separate clades / should not be classified separately:
point at which a common ancestral species split to form two or more clades
separated from all other species of Martes by node 35 whereas the other species separate at node
37;
Gulo gulo is more similar than Martes pennanti to the other species of Martes;
b. should be subdivided into smaller groups;
differences within the larger Mustelinae group are greater than between that group and the
Lutrinae;
splits between groups within the larger Mustelinae group happened before splits with the Lutrinae;
c. should not be included in the Mustelidae family;
much greater differences between B. astutus/P. lotor and the Mustelidae than within the
Mustelidae;
branched off/last common ancestor longer ago;
Page 130 Data-based questions: Similarities and differences in microbial cell wall structure
V–Y have cross-links/1–6 links between N-acetylglucosamine polymers and N-acetylmuramic acid whereas
Z does not;
b. first branch to Z; second branch to V; third branch to W; node with branches to X and Y
5. Z is fungi because the cell wall contains only N-acetylglucosamine so is chitin whereas V–Y have
peptidoglycan walls which also contain N-muramic acid;
[For reference: V is Gram negative bacteria, W–Y are Gram negative bacteria (W is Staphylococcus, X is
Corynebacterium, Y is Mycobacterium) and Z is fungi.]
1. a. Model C shows gorillas and chimps being more closely related and they both have the same number of
chromosomes.
b. The myoglobin evidence suggests a closer relationship between chimps and gorillas, which is model C.
However, the hemoglobin model suggests a closer relationship between chimps and humans.
c. Chimps would have gorilla-like teeth unlike humans.
d. tough bark and plant tissues such as lignified xylem with tough cells walls need to be ground by
chewing;
muscle tissue contains animal cells which do not have tough cell walls;
the sequences of chimp chromosome 12 and 13 are similar to the sequences found on chromosome 2;
Topic A4 – Ecosystems
1. cladistic analysis;
maximum parsimony / how all sequence differences can be accounted for with the fewest base changes;
3. multiple species give more evidence for base sequences of P and Q / the common ancestor;
4. chance is one in 1080 which is 1 × 10−80; which is a very small chance (but more than 1050 times larger than
1 × 10−132);
5. 1 × 10−132 is not zero chance / there is still a chance that the observed differences were due to another
cause;
1. migration to / from Malvinas/Falklands during GPG / when sea levels were low;
separation of populations when sea levels rose;
2. no: do not interbreed;
ranges do not overlap;
flightless so cannot travel far;
1. 6 × 3.5 km;
= 21 km2;
2. forest at 900, 110;
plowed land at 910, 116;
3. Part of Quatero forest;
light green in wet season and light brown in dry season;
no evidence of plowing;
no evidence of burning; probably grassland;
probably grazed by livestock;
4. on sloping ground;
too steep to plough / less accessible to livestock;
in river valleys;
dark green areas in the same pattern as river systems;
5. a. areas coloured dark brown; 881, 111 / other example;
smoke; 886, 113 / other example;
b. 5%
6. provides data for the government;
provides objective data;
quick and easy to identify areas of burning / plowing;
allows changes in land use to be detected;
allows violations of land use regulations to be detected;
discourages illegal burning or plowing;
allows natural habitats to be protected;
provides data for scientific research;
useful for investigating climate change;
1. a. 1980–1990;
b. 1960–1970;
2. a. 1974;
b. 2023;
3. a. 127 years;
b. 47 years;
c. 49 years;
this happened as the population rose from 2 to 4 billion and from 4 to 8 billion;
might be lower if climate change / pandemics / other harmful processes reduce birth rates;
might be higher if birth rates remain high because of nationalism / religious teaching / economic forces;
1. a. Note that a comparison requires identification of similarities. In both cases, there was a change in the
number of families.
b. while the number of immigrant families increased, the total number of all families combined declined;
the immigrant families might have led to the extinction of a species that was the only member of its
family;
c. 9 million years ago, there were 70 genera; presently there are 170 genera;
d. the total number of families went down but the number of genera went up;
an immigrant family might have started with ancestral species that eventually spread to different niches
in a process of adaptive radiation;
no two species can occupy the same niche in the same location at the same time;
less resources are put into developing the early embryo and eggs in placental mammals;
h. a single species from an immigrant family might have started with an ancestral species;
trout decrease tadpole numbers more than frog numbers / vice versa;
trout could catch/eat more tadpoles than frogs (as frogs not fully aquatic);
trout could introduce diseases/change breeding sites that affect frogs and tadpoles;
d. this may not lead to a permanent recovery since in Upper LeConte Lake numbers are decreasing after
2004;
because tadpoles/frogs can migrate from Upper to Lower LeConte as there are no barriers / reinvasion of
trout from streams / other valid reason;
release them;
do a second capture and the percentage that are marked allows for a calculation of the total population size
based on the number marked in the first capture;
3. a 200 m
by designing circular shaped reserves which maximize internal area: surface area ratio;