AQA GCSE BIOLOGY 8461/1H PAPER 1
HIGHER TIER PAPER & MARK SCHEME
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE 2026 FULL
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ What are the tissues found in plants?.
Answer: -Mesophyll tissue- where most of the photosynthesis occurs in the
plant- Xylem and Phloem- transport things like water, mineral ions and
sucrose around the plant- Epidermal tissue- this covers the whole plant
◍ How can you make your results more reliable (valid, reproducible,
repeatable)?.
Answer: take a large sample size e.g. use as many quadrats and transects as
possible in your sample area. bigger samples are more representative of the
whole population so its more reliable
◍ Light microscope- why can we see the nucleus and cell wall but not the
mitochondria.
Answer: Too small and not stained
◍ What two glands produce digestive juices?.
Answer: pancreas and salivary glands
◍ Cross section of leaf- palisade mesophyll.
Answer: Photosynthesis happens
◍ Where is aspirin from.
Answer: Willow bark
◍ What is a cell membrane important for.
Answer: Determines what goes in and out of the cell
,◍ What happens to enzymes if the pH is too high or too low?.
Answer: It interferes with the bonds holding the enzyme together - changing
its's shape and denaturing it
◍ What five things affect the distribution of organisms?.
Answer: - temperature - amount of light- availability of: - water - nutrients -
oxygen & carbon dioxide
◍ How is a leaf cell adapted to carry out photosynthesis?.
Answer: - the leaf has mesophyll tissue - the mesophyll cells contain
chloroplasts which can photosynthesise
◍ Digestive system- Gaul bladder.
Answer: Stores bile
◍ What is the median?.
Answer: the middle value of the readings when written in order
◍ Describe the cardiovascular system.
Answer: Blood gets pumped from heart to lungs hoes back to heart and then
gets bumped around the rest of the body
◍ How do you remove lactic acid from your muscles?.
Answer: - through breathing harder, you get more oxygen into your blood. -
blood flows through the muscles to remove the lactic acid by oxidising it to
harmless carbon dioxide and water
◍ What do digestive enzymes do?.
Answer: break down big molecules into smaller ones
◍ What three things do new drugs need to be tested for.
Answer: Toxicity-how much should be taken before side effects occur
efficacy- how efficient it is. Does it work better or worse than what's on the
marketdose-how much do you need to take for the drug to be effective
◍ Investigating osmosis- what are the results.
Answer: High concentration of sugar in solution- water moves out of potato
cells into the solution.potato gets smaller, low concentration potato gets
, bigger
◍ What is chlorophyll?.
Answer: a green substance found in chloroplasts which absorbs sunlight and
uses it to convert carbon dioxide (from the air) and water (from the soil) into
glucose. oxygen is a by-product
◍ What are the top, middle and bottom layers of a leaf?.
Answer: top - upper epidermis middle - spongy mesophyll bottom - lower
epidermis
◍ What is DNA finger printing?.
Answer: a way of cutting up a persons DNA into small sections and
separating them
◍ HIV - type of pathogen, spread, implications and damage.
Answer: Virus, spread by unprotected sex. Sharing needles, child birth from
mother to child, infected blood, breastfeeding from infected mother.
Implications- attracts white blood cells which are a important part of
immune response. damage- can develop into aids
◍ Why is the fossil record incomplete?.
Answer: - fossils that formed millions of years ago may have been destroyed
by geological activity- many early organisms were soft bodied, and soft
tissue tends to decay away completely. so no traces were left behind- we
haven't found all the fossils yet
◍ What are stem cells?.
Answer: The unspecialized cells from which differentiated cells develop
◍ What are playlets important for.
Answer: Cloting
◍ What does the liver do?.
Answer: produces bile
◍ How to test for reducing sugar.
Answer: Add benedicts and heat for 2 mins. Turns red
HIGHER TIER PAPER & MARK SCHEME
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE 2026 FULL
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ What are the tissues found in plants?.
Answer: -Mesophyll tissue- where most of the photosynthesis occurs in the
plant- Xylem and Phloem- transport things like water, mineral ions and
sucrose around the plant- Epidermal tissue- this covers the whole plant
◍ How can you make your results more reliable (valid, reproducible,
repeatable)?.
Answer: take a large sample size e.g. use as many quadrats and transects as
possible in your sample area. bigger samples are more representative of the
whole population so its more reliable
◍ Light microscope- why can we see the nucleus and cell wall but not the
mitochondria.
Answer: Too small and not stained
◍ What two glands produce digestive juices?.
Answer: pancreas and salivary glands
◍ Cross section of leaf- palisade mesophyll.
Answer: Photosynthesis happens
◍ Where is aspirin from.
Answer: Willow bark
◍ What is a cell membrane important for.
Answer: Determines what goes in and out of the cell
,◍ What happens to enzymes if the pH is too high or too low?.
Answer: It interferes with the bonds holding the enzyme together - changing
its's shape and denaturing it
◍ What five things affect the distribution of organisms?.
Answer: - temperature - amount of light- availability of: - water - nutrients -
oxygen & carbon dioxide
◍ How is a leaf cell adapted to carry out photosynthesis?.
Answer: - the leaf has mesophyll tissue - the mesophyll cells contain
chloroplasts which can photosynthesise
◍ Digestive system- Gaul bladder.
Answer: Stores bile
◍ What is the median?.
Answer: the middle value of the readings when written in order
◍ Describe the cardiovascular system.
Answer: Blood gets pumped from heart to lungs hoes back to heart and then
gets bumped around the rest of the body
◍ How do you remove lactic acid from your muscles?.
Answer: - through breathing harder, you get more oxygen into your blood. -
blood flows through the muscles to remove the lactic acid by oxidising it to
harmless carbon dioxide and water
◍ What do digestive enzymes do?.
Answer: break down big molecules into smaller ones
◍ What three things do new drugs need to be tested for.
Answer: Toxicity-how much should be taken before side effects occur
efficacy- how efficient it is. Does it work better or worse than what's on the
marketdose-how much do you need to take for the drug to be effective
◍ Investigating osmosis- what are the results.
Answer: High concentration of sugar in solution- water moves out of potato
cells into the solution.potato gets smaller, low concentration potato gets
, bigger
◍ What is chlorophyll?.
Answer: a green substance found in chloroplasts which absorbs sunlight and
uses it to convert carbon dioxide (from the air) and water (from the soil) into
glucose. oxygen is a by-product
◍ What are the top, middle and bottom layers of a leaf?.
Answer: top - upper epidermis middle - spongy mesophyll bottom - lower
epidermis
◍ What is DNA finger printing?.
Answer: a way of cutting up a persons DNA into small sections and
separating them
◍ HIV - type of pathogen, spread, implications and damage.
Answer: Virus, spread by unprotected sex. Sharing needles, child birth from
mother to child, infected blood, breastfeeding from infected mother.
Implications- attracts white blood cells which are a important part of
immune response. damage- can develop into aids
◍ Why is the fossil record incomplete?.
Answer: - fossils that formed millions of years ago may have been destroyed
by geological activity- many early organisms were soft bodied, and soft
tissue tends to decay away completely. so no traces were left behind- we
haven't found all the fossils yet
◍ What are stem cells?.
Answer: The unspecialized cells from which differentiated cells develop
◍ What are playlets important for.
Answer: Cloting
◍ What does the liver do?.
Answer: produces bile
◍ How to test for reducing sugar.
Answer: Add benedicts and heat for 2 mins. Turns red
