Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

BIOLOGY (US) 0438/41

Paper 4 Theory (Extended) October/November 2017
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 80

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the October/November 2017 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE®, Cambridge International A and AS Level components and some Cambridge O Level
components.

® IGCSE is a registered trademark.

This document consists of 9 printed pages.

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0438/41 Cambridge IGCSE – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2017
Mark schemes will use these abbreviations

• ; separates marking points

• / alternatives
• I ignore
• R reject
• A accept (for answers correctly cued by the question, or guidance for examiners)
• AW alternative wording (where responses vary more than usual)
• AVP any valid point
• ecf credit a correct statement / calculation that follows a previous wrong response
• ora or reverse argument
• () the word / phrase in brackets is not required, but sets the context
• underline actual word given must be used by candidate (grammatical variants excepted)
• max indicates the maximum number of marks that can be given

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

1(a)(i) absorption (of digested food / water) / movement of (small) molecules (from 1

small
intestine) into blood ;

1(b) 1 goblet cells labelled P ; 4

2 shaped described / produces mucus ;

3 lacteal / lymph vessel / lymphatic vessel, labelled Q ;

4 description / transports fatty acids / fats;

5 capillaries / blood vessel, labelled R ;

6 thin / one cell thick, walls / carries products of digestion ;

7 microvilli / epithelia labelled S ;
8 for microvilli accept – large surface area / thin, for diffusion / absorption ;

1(c)(i) watery faeces / AW ; 2 A water not absorbed from faeces

dehydration / described ;
loss of, salts / ions / electrolytes ; I nutrients
cramps / stomach pain ;
death ;

1(c)(ii) oral rehydration therapy ; 1 A antibiotics

1(d)(i) (blood) plasma ; 1

1(d)(ii) assimilation ; 1

1(d)(iii) protein ; 2 A (poly)peptides

named proteins ;; e.g. (named) enzymes, antibodies, insulin,
fibrinogen, haemoglobin, glucagon

I hormones

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

2(a) watch chest / abdomen, rise and fall /  use a spirometer ; 2

ref. to time / in one minute ;

2(b) exercise will increase breathing rate ; 2

after exercise the breathing rate, will start decreasing / levels off ;

2(c) description 6
carbon dioxide constant / at 4.7% , before exercise ; A 4.6%.
carbon dioxide highest / higher, at 6.0% / (immediately) after exercise ;
decreases;
falls below resting level / AW ;
comparative data quote ;

explanation
removal of excess carbon dioxide ;
more energy used during exercise means higher rates of respiration ;
aerobic respiration releases carbon dioxide ;
oxygen not supplied fast enough (from lung / heart) / more oxygen required by
muscles ;
oxygen debt ;
anaerobic respiration (in muscles) ;
(produces) lactic acid / lactate;
lactic acid is, broken down / respired / converted to glucose / converted to
carbon dioxide ;

2(d)(i) safety risk (not to over exercise) ; 1 A suitable suggestion related to CHD
CHD could change the expected result (for healthy people) ; I ‘danger’ unqualified
she does not show (named) risk factor ;

2(d)(ii) prevents blocked arteries / prevents thrombus formation ; 3

lowers blood pressure ;
lowers cholesterol / lowers fats / reduces risk of atheroma ;
weight loss / using fats / avoids obesity ;
lowers stress ;
(heart) muscle stronger  / lower (resting) pulse ; A  increased stroke volume

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

3(a) scent ; 3 I sticky pollen / stigma

nectar ; I stigma / anther, inside flower
‘honey’ guides ;
colourful petals ; A mimicry
large petals ;
pollen (as source of food) ;

3(b) pollen lands on stigma ; 5

pollen tube grows ;
through style ;
to ovary ;
(pollen nucleus / male gamete) enters ovule ;
through micropyle ;
pollen and ovule / egg, nuclei fuse ;

3(c)(i) a version / type, of a gene ; 1 A alternative form of a gene

3(c)(ii) test cross ; 1

3(c)(iii) parental phenotypes tall x dwarf

A ecf from parental genotypes.
parental genotypes TT ; x tt ;

gametes T T x t t;

offspring genotype Tt ;
offspring phenotype (100%) tall

3(c)(iv) tt  ; 2 A homozygous recessive

so that no dominant allele is present / all alleles are recessive / AW ;
recessive alleles only expressed if no dominant allele present ;

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

4(a)(i) stem (cells) ; 1

4(a)(ii) nucleus / nucleolus / nuclear membrane ; 2

cell membrane ;
cytoplasm ;
ribosomes ;
mitochondria ;
endoplasmic reticulum / ER ;
vesicle / vacuole ;. R large  permanent vacuole
AVP ; A Golgi apparatus, lysosome, centrioles

4(a)(iii) (transmit impulses) from one (distant) part of the body to another / AW; 1
so (impulse) is fast / AW ;

4(b)(i) motor (neurones) ; 1

4(b)(ii) muscle ; 1
gland ;

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

4(c)(i) letter from name description 5

Fig. 4.1 one mark per correct row

E mitochondrion / mitochondria ; component of the cell that

releases energy during
aerobic respiration
H neurotransmitters chemicals that transmit
signals from one neurone to
the next neurone
J synapse ; the gap between two
neurones
F/G vesicle ; the sac in which
neurotransmitters are
transported to the cell
membrane
K receptors ; the molecules that the
neurotransmitters bind to
M nucleus ; the structure that controls the
activities in the cell

4(c)(ii) brain / spinal cord / central nervous system / CNS ; 1

4(d) diffusion ; 3
from high concentration to low concentration / down a concentration
gradient ;
direction described ;
AVP ;

4(e) nerves faster / hormones slower ; 1

nerve impulses are a short lived response / ora ;

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

5(a) C6H12O6 + 6O2 → ; 2 max one mark if not balanced

6H2O + 6CO2 ;

5(b)(i) sugar beet ; 3

(one of three crops that) falls with appropriate temperature range /  ora ; wheat and corn also grow in suitable
sugar beet / corn requirement for rainfall, is in the range ; temp.(ecf )
wheat requires more rainfall ;
corn / wheat, has a lower productivity / energy yield ; A sugar beet has a higher energy yield than
appropriate use of data ; wheat (or corn).

5(b)(ii) stunted / reduced / no, growth / yield ; 3

used to make amino acids / proteins ;
amino acids converted to proteins ;
named molecule containing nitrogen ; e.g. DNA, enzymes, chlorophyll

5(b)(iii) 200 ÷ 0.0001 1
2 000 000 ÷ 2 × 106 ;

5(b)(iv) less land required ; 3

crops can be used as food (rather than fuel) ;
less habitat destruction / less deforestation ;
less disruption to food chains / greater diversity maintained ;
comparison of algae yield with any crop from Table 5.1, with units ;
AVP ;

5(c) development that provides for the needs of an (increasing) human 2

(population) ;
without harming the natural environment / ecosystems / habitat ;

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Question Answer Marks Guidance

6(a)(i) genetic material ; 2 A DNA / RNA

protein coat ;
parasitic / pathogenic ; A virus are non-living.
only reproduce in a host / do not show (other) features of living
organisms / AW ;
very small ;
they are not cellular / absence of named organelle;
AVP ; cannot be killed / cannot be treated, with antibiotics.

6(a)(ii) active immunity ; 5

harmless / dead / weakened / attenuated pathogen / microorganisms ; .
injected / ingested ;
ref. to antigens ;
(antigen) triggers antibody production ;
by lymphocytes ;
memory cells (are produced) ;
rapid response to reinfection ;
long-term immunity ;
prevention of spread person to person e.g. no host for pathogen / herd
ref to programmes of mass vaccination ;
AVP ;

6(b) shape / size / AW ; 1
genetic material (sequence / type) ;
host species / type of disease it causes ;
AVP ;

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