M17/4/BIOLO/HP3/ENG/TZ1/XX/M

Markscheme

May 2017

Biology

Higher level

Paper 3

26 pages
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This markscheme is the property of the International

Baccalaureate and must not be reproduced or distributed to any
other person without the authorization of the IB Global Centre,
Cardiff.
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Section A

Question Answers Notes Total

1. a i spirometer Do not accept respirometer
OR
lung volume capacity bag/balloon
OR 1
chest belt
OR
pressure meter ✓
a ii a. set to zero mark / «re»calibrate ✓
b. sit up straight or stand up/same position ✓
c. inspire/inhale as deeply as possible «through mouthpiece» expire/exhale as
completely as possible ✓ 2 max
d. several times ✓
e. Detail specific to apparatus such as displacement of water when using a
balloon ✓
b a. «useful as» will increase FVC «over time» ✓
b. «not useful as» no effect on FEV «is similar to control / small increase» ✓
1 max
c. consequence not clear «maybe only runners with higher FVC succeed to
professional level» ✓
c age / sex / health / height / mass ✓ Do not accept BMI 1 max
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Question Answers Notes Total

2. a  50 ✓ Accept range  45 to  50
1
Calculation not required.

b a. place the object on the stage «centred» below the objective lens/above the
light ✓
b. focus by moving the objective lens and specimen apart rather than towards
each other ✓
c. use coarse/large focusing first/to find areas of interest and then fine/small 3 max
focusing «knob» ✓
d. use low power first/to find areas of interest
OR
use high power to look in detail ✓
e. adjust light intensity ✓
c living tissue can be observed / portable / cheaper / easier to use / possibility of 1 max
observing movements / image is in colour / larger field of view can be observed ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

3. a a. decrease in chlorophyll concentrations as decrease in phytoplankton/plants ✓ Accept other reasonable reason for
mp b. 2 max
b. due to increase in pollution / increase in sea temperatures / decrease in
pH/climate change ✓
b Advantages of mesocosm experiments: Needs to suggest advantage and
a. scientist can alter/manipulate/control environmental conditions ✓ limitation for full marks.

b. allows carrying out experiments with many samples / replicates ✓

c. ease of collection of continuous data ✓ 3 max

Limitations of mesocosm experiments:

d. difficult to mimic natural environmental conditions exactly ✓
e. Natural environments change /are not static ✓
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Section B
Option A — Neurobiology and behaviour

Question Answers Notes Total

4. a a. positive correlation «between grey matter volume and white matter volume» Do not allow directly proportional.
OR Accept answers in the converse.
as white matter «volume» increases so does grey matter «volume» ✓
b. as animal/brain size increase the volume of grey and white matter are 1 max
«approaching» equal
OR
as volume of grey matter increases, the ratio grey : white becomes closer to 1 ✓
b a. axon grows from an «immature» neuron ✓
b. chemical stimuli trigger the growth/direction of axon ✓
2 max
c. only one axon develops per neuron ✓
d. some axons extend beyond neural tube to reach other parts of body ✓
c Structure To achieve full marks needs to mention
one structure and one function.
a. divided into left and right hemisphere ✓
b. has extensive folding ✓
c. has a large surface area : volume ratio ✓
3 max
Function
d. responsible for higher order functions/learning/memory/language/thinking ✓
e. functions are located in specific areas of the cortex/lobes ✓
f. sensory/motor functions of the left hemisphere correspond to the right side of
the body ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

d a. «brain» cells/neurons carry out large amount of respiration/metabolic activity ✓
b. maintenance of resting potential requires energy/ATP
OR 1 max
functioning of Na-K pumps requires energy/ATP
OR
nerve impulse requires energy/ATP ✓
e gut muscles / heart rate/cardiac centre / vasomotor / breathing/ventilation rate / 1 max
reflex centre of vomiting/coughing/sneezing/swallowing ✓

5. a a. microphone outside the ear pick up sounds ✓

b. sound waves converted to electronic/digital signals ✓
c. electronic impulses sent to electrode in cochlea ✓ 3 max
d. «electrode» directly stimulates auditory nerve ✓
e. signals «generated by implant» sent to brain which recognizes signals as
sound ✓
b semicircular canals 1

c a. transmit the signals from the photoreceptors «rods and cones» to the ganglion
cells ✓
b. groups of/more than one rod cell synapse with one bipolar cell ✓
3 max
c. one cone cell synapses with one bipolar cell ✓
d. once light is absorbed bipolar cell depolarizes ✓
e. activates/depolarizes a ganglion cell ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

6. a a. jumping performance shows an improvement «during the first two/three
weeks»
OR
no/little improvement as error bars all overlap ✓ 2 max
b. «during the period of this investigation» it reaches a plateau ✓
c. the investigation was over a short time and is not conclusive of the effects of
training over a longer period ✓
b a. sensory/afferent neuron ✓ Two correct for [1]
b. motor/efferent neuron ✓ Three correct for [2] 2 max
c. relay neuron/interneuron ✓

c a. operant conditioning/classical conditioning/trial and error experiences ✓ Accept reward/punishment and/or

b. behaviour could be modified by positive/negative reinforcement ✓ examples such as food/electric shock.
2 max
c. animal makes an association between a particular behaviour and a
consequence ✓
d a. innate behaviour inherited/develops independently of environment eg
OR
b. synchronized oestrus in female lions
Changes in innate behaviour depend on change in frequency of alleles that
cause the behaviour ✓ c. female lions can share
responsibilities / females can suckle
b. example of an innate behaviour ✓ each other’s cubs allowing some
c. description of the behaviour ✓ mothers to hunt 3 max
d. outcomes affecting survival ✓ d. cubs are more likely to survive when
they are raised in a group «nursery»
rather than by a solitary mother /
group of male cubs can leave pride
together helping each other
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Question Answers Notes Total

7. a. examples are benzodiazepines / THC / cannabis / alcohol ✓
b. block / decrease synaptic transmission ✓
c. causing less transfer of information to the brain / decreasing brain activity ✓
d. benzodiazepines increase effect of GABA ✓
e. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter ✓
f. Increase permeability of neural membrane to chloride ions/hyperpolarizes the neuron ✓
6 max
g. alcohol enhances effect of GABA ✓
h. «alcohol» also decreases activity of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter ✓
i. THC/cannabis can block cannabinoid receptors ✓
j. «THC» inhibits release of neurotransmitters that excite postsynaptic
neurons/membranes ✓
k. use of psychoactive drugs can lead to dependence/addiction / alter dopamine levels ✓
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Option B — Biotechnology and bioinformatics

Question Answers Notes Total

8. a i lack of oxygen/anoxic/anaerobic conditions / acidic pH / warm temperature / Mark first answer given
methanogens / acidogenic bacteria ✓ 1 max
Reject bacteria alone

ii a. increased variety of substrates used ✓

b. change in the proportion of substrates used
OR
from 1997 to 2004 increase in slaughterhouse waste ✓ 2 max
c. less reliance on manure/increase use from food industry ✓
d. waste from food industry results in higher biogas yield ✓
b a. microbial population can be maintained in a state of exponential growth for a
long time
OR
concentration of microorganisms in fermenter stable ✓
b. «balanced growth is» maintained by keeping nutrients/medium/pH/
3 max
temperature/oxygen level constant ✓
c. nutrients are added and products removed «at steady rate» ✓
d. probes used to monitor conditions within fermenters ✓
e. open fermentation/fermenter ✓
c a. Gram-negative bacteria have a thinner peptidoglycan cell wall / Gram-positive
bacteria have a thicker peptidoglycan cell wall ✓
1 max
b. Gram-negative bacteria have an additional membrane of «lipopolysaccharide
and protein» outside the wall «whereas Gram-positive bacteria do not» ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

9. a a. identify a start codon and stop codon ✓
b. identify base sequences for a gene/that could code for a polypeptide ✓ 2 max
c. possible correlation with existing open reading frames in databases ✓

b a. represent common ancestors shared by the organisms that emanate from the
point ✓
1 max
b. indicates time since divergence ✓
c. indicates number of differences in DNA ✓
c a. plant cells made into protoplasts by removing their cell wall / use cellulase to
produce protoplasts ✓
b. physical methods such as electroporation /microinjection/biolistics ✓
2 max
c. chemical methods such as liposomes/calcium chloride/polyethylene glycol
«PEG» ✓
d. vectors such as Agrobacterium/tobacco mosaic virus ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

10. a i cooling- or heating-water systems / rocks at the bottom of a river / teeth «of most Accept other verified examples 1 max
animals» / prepared on sewage treatment plants / boat hulls / medical catheters ✓
ii a. have «new» properties that are not present in the individual microorganisms ✓
b. organisms form a matrix «EPS» / biofilms have a complex architecture ✓
c. increased resistance to antibiotics/treatments
OR
bioluminescence ✓ 3 max
d. biofilms can be formed by different types of micro organisms that
interact/cooperate ✓
e. quorum sensing
OR
high population/cell density determines expression of genes ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

11. a i A gene/DNA sequence «with a known location on chromosome» used for
1 max
identification ✓
ii a. to identify species/pathogenic organisms
OR
successful uptake of DNA in genetically modified organisms/GMOs ✓
b. to detect disease due to variation in DNA «substitution/deletion» ✓
c. to determine risk of developing certain disorders ✓ 2 max
d. to confer resistance to antibiotic/agent that would normally kill it ✓
e. to make cells containing gene look different
OR
green fluorescent tag makes cells visible under UV light ✓
b a. gene therapy trials have used viruses to deliver un-mutated copies of genes to
the «somatic» cells of the patient's body ✓
b. examples of the use of viral vectors ✓ eg gene therapy may provide a way to
cure genetic disorders, such as severe combined immunodeficiency
c. one of the main problems is immune response to viruses / may cause 2 max
toxicity/disease ✓
d. some viral vectors insert their genomes at a random location on one of the
host chromosomes «which can disturb the function of cellular gene» / enter
wrong cells «if targeting tumour» / could lead to cancer ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

11. c a. analyze tissue/blood sample for DNA sequence ✓ Allow specific examples of genetic
b. each spot «on microarray» has small quantity of specific DNA sequence/ diseases.
probe ✓
c. reverse transcriptase used to make cDNA ✓
d. fluorescent dye linked to cDNA ✓ 3 max
e. «cDNA» binds to/hybridizes with probes that have complementary base
sequences ✓
f. fluorescence/different colours shows probes have hybridized / which
sequences were in the tissue sample ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

12. Process (max [5]):
a. BLAST «Basic Local Alignment Search Tool» search enables comparison of
an unknown sequence with databases of sequences ✓
b. «software» finds similar sequences / aligns sequences by locating matches
between two sequences ✓
c. carries out statistical calculations «to find matches with other sequences» ✓
d. BLASTn used to align/show similarities in nucleotide sequences in nucleic
acids ✓
e. BLASTp used to align/show similarities in amino acid sequences in proteins ✓ 6 max
f. used to identify the gene of a protein ✓

Application (max [2]):

g. one application of BLAST ✓
h. second application of BLAST; ✓ eg BLAST can be used for identifying
species / locating domains /
establishing phylogeny / DNA mapping
/ other verifiable examples
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Option C — Ecology and conservation

Question Answers Notes Total

13. a a. higher frequency of medium length worms ✓ Allow correct numerical description of
these points. 1 max
b. shows normal distribution ✓
c. lower frequency at extremes ✓
b secondary consumer / third trophic level ✓ 1

c a. in parasitism only one organism benefits whereas in mutualism both benefit ✓ Do not allow B. italica or B. exodonta as
b. example for both parasitism AND mutualism ✓ examples.
eg parasitic: human tapeworms 2 max
AND
mutualism: bacteria in human digestive
tract
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Question Answers Notes Total

14. a a. increased biomass «with higher temperatures» ✓
b. «so» increased uptake of nutrients from soil «into the biomass» ✓
c. increased decomposition of litter «due to growth of decomposers» ✓
2 max
d. «so» increased nutrient composition of soil «L→ S» ✓
e. increased weathering of rocks «increasing minerals in soil» ✓
f. weather changes cause increased runoff from litter/leaching from soil ✓
b organism that is present/absent when specific environmental conditions exist
OR 1
organism used to assess a specific environmental condition ✓

c a. example ✓ eg: DDT / mercury / cadmium Only [2] if verified example not given.
b. substance accumulates in «fat» tissue/not excreted «when consumed» ✓
c. contaminated organisms consumed «in large quantities» by higher level
consumers ✓
d. pollutant becomes more concentrated at each higher trophic level / through 3 max
the food chain ✓
e. some pollutants are more likely to be biomagnified «accumulate in fat tissue»
OR
some organisms are more likely to be affected by biomagnification than others
OR
biomagnification not the same at each trophic level ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

14. d a. uncontrolled increase of numbers «in alien species»
OR
become invasive
OR
have no «natural» predators ✓
b. outcompetes native species / reduces biodiversity 2 max
OR
carries disease
OR
preys on local species decreasing population size
OR
disrupts food chains/webs ✓
e closed because islands do not exchange matter/nutrients with surroundings
OR 1 max
open because islands do exchange matter/nutrients with surroundings ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

15. a a. «not very successful as» less than half of the artificial inseminations have Accept answers in the converse: «not
resulted in live births ✓ very successful as» more than half do
not result in live births 1 max
b. there are no data for artificial insemination that did not result in pregnancy / no
data for normal breeding success «in zoos» ✓
b a. raise awareness / gain widespread public/political support for conservation
actions ✓
b. breed endangered species in captivity «for reintroduction» ✓
2 max
c. education/research opportunities ✓
d. lower maintenance/cost than in situ conservation ✓
e. protect endangered species ✓
c a. number of organisms of each species «present» ✓
b. «total» number of species 2 max
OR
«total» number of organisms of all species found ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

16. a a. production of fertilizers will decrease/price of fertilizers will rise ✓
b. less food production / increase in cost of foods ✓
c. development of alternative methods of agriculture ✓ 2 max
d. Phosphate needed by living organisms for nucleic acids/ATP so lack will affect
growth negatively ✓
b a. largest store of phosphorus «in ecosystems» is in marine sediments and
minerals/phosphate rock while nitrogen is in the atmosphere ✓
b. main source of release of phosphorous is by weathering of rocks «very slow
process»/ nitrogen is by bacterial action ✓ 2 max
c. high concentrations of nitrogen/low concentration of phosphorous
«compounds» in living organism ✓
d. phosphorus is not a very soluble mineral ✓
c a. assimilation by plants / conversion to amino acids ✓
b. denitrification to nitrogen gas / reduction to nitrogen «N2» by denitrifying
2 max
bacteria ✓
c. reduction of nitrates to nitrites ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

17. a. exponential growth occurs in ideal/unlimited environment ✓ Allow annotations on a sigmoid
population graph.
b. population growth determined by natality, mortality, immigration and emigration ✓
c. natality / births / reproduction increases population
OR
number of reproducing individuals determine the rate of growth ✓
d. as long as natality is higher than mortality ✓
e. low mortality leads to exponential growth ✓ 6 max
f. absence of limiting factors will lead to exponential growth ✓
g. «limiting factors» could be «competition for» resources/habitat / presence of
predators/diseases ✓
h. higher mortality and/or emigration compared to natality and/or immigration
cause population to decrease/rate of growth to slow ✓
i. graph with exponential curve/exponential part of sigmoid curve labelled ✓
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Option D — Human physiology

Question Answers Notes Total

18. a i infants from mothers with low levels of vitamin D have an increased chance of Accept answers in the converse
1
developing seizures ✓
ii lack of vitamin D in breast milk “Lack of vitamin D” alone is not
OR sufficient 1
lack of vitamin D leads to lack of bone mineralization/calcium uptake ✓

b it can be synthesized by humans «in skin» ✓ 1

c a. they cannot be synthesized by humans ✓

1 max
b. they must be present in the diet ✓
d a. tight junctions ✓
b. protein channels / membrane pumps ✓ 1 max
c. large number of mitochondria ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

19. a a. CHD has wider range/spread/more variation of diameter values / vice versa ✓ Accept numerical statement supporting
this 1 max
b. control has higher percentage/proportion/peak in middle values (accept
numbers between 8–12) ✓
b a. are branched/ have a Y-shape/ interconnected / connect to several Accept annotated drawings.
neighbouring «cardiac» cells ✓
b. intercalated discs are special regions of/junctions between plasma membranes ✓f.
c. provide electrical coupling / enable rapid transmission of «electrical» impulses
«between cells» ✓
3 max
d. ion channels in membranes ✓
e. «ease of» flow of ions allows action potentials to spread «between cardiac
cells»
OR
«ease of» flow of ions allows rhythmic depolarization ✓
f. trigger action potentials without nervous input ✓
c a. impulses from atria do not pass directly to ventricles «due to layer of fibrous
material» ✓
b. travel to ventricle via atrio-ventricular node/AVN in wall of right atrium ✓
2 max
c. impulses from AVN sent along Bundle of His /conducting fibres/Purkinje fibres ✓
d. ensures that the atria have ejected their blood into the ventricles first before
the ventricles contract ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

20. a a. the more milk taken in, the higher the iodine levels ✓ Accept answers in the converse.
b. when no milk consumed all girls «in study» were iodine deficient ✓
2 max
c. in all cases median value is mildly deficient so milk may have no effect ✓
d. increase above 1 cup/day may have no/little effect ✓
b a. iodine is absorbed/used/needed by the thyroid ✓
b. «needed» to synthesise thyroxin ✓
2 max
c. lack of iodine causes swelling of thyroid gland/goiter/hypothyroidism
OR
thyroxin used to regulate metabolic rate/generate heat ✓
c a. «peptide hormones» do not enter cells ✓
b. bind to «specific surface» receptors in plasma membrane ✓
c. leads to production /release of a secondary messenger inside cell ✓ 3 max
d. triggers a cascade of reactions in the cytoplasm ✓
e. usually involves activating or inhibiting enzymes ✓
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Question Answers Notes Total

21. a i a. air sacs/alveoli break down/rupture ✓
b. creating one larger air space instead of many small ones / reduces the surface
2 max
area of the lungs ✓
c. loss of elasticity of lung tissue ✓
ii supplemental oxygen / breathing techniques / bronchodilators / inhaled steroids /
1 max
lung surgery to remove damaged tissue / lung transplant ✓
b i curve has to be towards the right and starting together ✓ Must start together but can finish
slightly below the original curve.

1
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Question Answers Notes Total

21. b ii a. increased levels of CO2 lower the pH of the blood ✓
b. «which results in» decreased affinity of the hemoglobin for oxygen / greater 2 max
release of oxygen ✓
c. this shifts the oxygen dissociation curve to the right/Bohr shift ✓

22. a. erythrocytes rupture when they reach the end of their life span / after
120 days ✓
b. «erythrocytes» absorbed by phagocytosis ✓
c. Kupffer cells ingest/take in erythrocytes ✓
d. Kupffer cells in sinusoids in the liver ✓
6 max
e. hemoglobin split into globin and heme groups ✓
f. amino acids from the globin are recycled ✓
g. heme group is further broken down into iron and bilirubin / bile pigment ✓
h. iron stored in liver / transported to bone marrow/spleen ✓
i. bilirubin released into alimentary canal/becomes part of bile ✓