review

BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES

Vol.17, No.4, April 2005

TeachersNotes
Introduction
Another January has passed and with it another set of unit tests.
They have reinforced what is now a familiar pattern. Those firsttime candidates who prepared well for their early AS and A2
units have done well. Many have shown a good knowledge of
basic facts as well as a sound understanding of underpinning
principles and concepts. The situation is very different, however,
with those few candidates who have retaken synoptic elements.
Perhaps not surprisingly their preparation has been less than
thorough but, even allowing for this, the clear understanding of
early modules has faded noticeably with time. It is still not
widely appreciated that synoptic units require preparation and
that this preparation should concentrate on an understanding of
basic principles.
From a teaching point of view, one of the most valuable
features of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW is that it requires an
understanding of the basic biological principles that form the
A-level core to appreciate articles where the context is novel.
Thus, in this edition, the article on Optimality builds on an understanding of selection, while that on Bird Vision provides an
opportunity to bring together ideas about the mammalian eye,
behaviour and, again, selection.
As this is the last issue of the current academic year, it
seemed worth while concentrating in these Teachers Notes on
the synoptic units to provide two exercises based on articles in
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW that will encourage students to bring
together the skills they have acquired during their A-level course
as well as knowledge from different parts of the specification.

Hair growth in mammals:

adaptation to the seasons
(pp. 3740)
The first worksheet is about wool. The questions require an
understanding of the structure of hair, which may be obtained
from the above article (perhaps an opportunity to improve
comprehension skills?) In addition, students will require information from different parts of the specification, in particular diet
and digestion and genetic engineering, to answer the questions.
It may be worth encouraging them to look through earlier notes
on these topics before embarking on the exercise, so that a lack
of factual knowledge will not prove too limiting. Additional
questions have been inserted which require calculation. A-level
biologists need to appreciate that a degree of mathematical
APRIL 2005

competence is essential, and they must expect to be asked to

demonstrate this skill. Neither of the relevant questions in this
exercise is in any way demanding but experience shows that
there will be many who are disinclined to attempt any question
involving numbers.

Urea: a product of excess

dietary protein (pp. 68)
The article on which this exercise is based has a distinctly
synoptic theme. It considers both the metabolism of amino acids
and the cycling of nutrients in the nitrogen cycle. This worksheet
looks at another, less familiar, aspect of the biology of urea; its
involvement in osmoregulation in marine sharks. The biology
required to answer the questions is grounded on principles that
should have been firmly established at AS: water potential and
osmosis, diffusion and active transport. As such, the exercise
might be useful as a synoptic question to be used towards the
end of the A2 year, or it could be used to extend more able AS
candidates, since there is little that should be in any way unfamiliar. The last question in the exercise requires students to
consider how they might investigate the effect of urea concentration on the rate of reaction of a named enzyme, thus applying
the skills of planning and experimental design that should have
developed during the course.

These Teachers Notes are compiled by Bill Indge. Bill has had many
years experience as a Chief Examiner in A-level biology. He is the author
of The Complete AZ Biology Handbook, published by Hodder and
Stoughton, and is also a member of the BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW
Editorial Board.

TeachersNotes
Hair growth in mammals:
adaptation to the seasons (pp. 3740)

Wool
Read the article on seasonal hair growth in mammals on
pp. 3740 of the April 2005 issue of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW.
The section on how hair is made (pp. 3738) will give you some
important background information. This worksheet is about
wool another name for sheep hair. You will need information
from different parts of your specification as well as from this
article to answer the questions. Before you start you should
look at the following key topics in your notes:
G diet and digestion
G genetic engineering
Wild sheep have a double coat. Primary follicles produce
thick guard hairs. Underneath these is an undercoat of short,
fine fur hairs produced from secondary follicles. Figure 1 shows
sections taken through the skin of two breeds of sheep, Lincoln
and Merino, and a cross between them.
Primary
follicle
Secondary
follicle

Lincoln

Figure 1

Lincoln Merino
cross

Merino

the ratio of secondary to primary follicles (the

S:P ratio) in each of these sections, so that you could
1 (a) Calculate
use this ratio to compare the follicles in different
sections.
(2 marks)
(b) Describe the relationship between the S:P ratio and the
fineness of the wool.
(1 mark)

Merino sheep weighing 50 kg produces about 4 kg of wool

year. About 3 kg of this is keratin. The remaining 1 kg
5 Aaconsists
of water, dirt and one important organic substance.
Use the information in the article to identify this substance.
(1 mark)
In order to produce this wool, a sheep needs to synthesise 8 g of
keratin per day. This is made from amino acids, which the sheep
gets from its food.
each 10 g of protein eaten, a sheep can digest and
absorb 2.5 g. How much protein must a sheep eat just
6 (a) For
to produce 8 g of keratin?
(1 mark)
(b) Keratin contains 120 g kg1 of sulphur-containing
amino acids. The plant protein eaten by the sheep
contains 30 g kg1 of these amino acids. Use these
figures to produce a more accurate estimate of the
amount of protein a sheep requires in its diet to produce
8 g of keratin.
(1 mark)

Australian scientists have

recently produced a genetically modified strain of clover
containing a protein with a
high concentration of sulphurcontaining amino acids. They
hoped that feeding sheep on
this genetically modified clover
would increase wool yield.
Figure 2 shows the piece of
DNA they prepared. The piece
of DNA was inserted into
isolated cells from a clover
plant. The cells were cloned
and eventually produced new
clover plants.

Gene coding for a protein

with a high concentration
of sulphur-containing
amino acids
Gene that ensures protein
is made in leaf cells
Gene that prevents the
protein being digested by
bacteria in the gut of a
sheep

Figure 2

from the proportion of fur hairs to guard hairs, what

other difference do these sections suggest between Lincoln
2 Apart
how ligase enzymes would be used in
and Merino wool? Explain your answer.
(2 marks)
producing the piece of DNA shown in Figure 2.
7 (a) Describe
( 1 mark)
(b)What is the advantage of inserting the piece of DNA into
Do you think variation in wool quality in sheep is caused by
or environmental factors? Use evidence from
3 genetic
isolated clover cells rather than into an actual clover
Figure 1 to support your answer.
(2 marks)
plant?
(2 marks)
Wool consists mainly of the protein keratin. Keratin is rich in
sulphur-containing amino acids.

explain why the scientists added a gene which:

8 Briefly
(a) ensured that the protein was made in leaf cells
(1 mark)

the part played by sulphur-containing amino acids

4 Describe
in the structure of proteins.
(2 marks)

(b) prevented the protein from being digested by bacteria in

the gut of a sheep
(1 mark)

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCESREVIEW

Vol. 17, No. 4

Urea: a product of excess dietary protein

(pp. 68)

Sharks and urea

Read the article on urea on pp. 68 of the April 2005 issue of
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REVIEW. In it you will read that urea is a
waste product of protein metabolism and a substance that is
removed from the body of a mammal by the kidneys. In another
group of animals, the sharks, urea plays an important role and
is retained in the blood. You will need information from
different parts of your specification as well as from this article to
answer the questions. Before you start you should look at the
following key topics in your notes:
G water potential and osmosis
G diffusion and active transport

The sodium and chloride ions that enter from the surrounding
water are removed from the sharks body by special saltsecreting cells in the rectal gland. Figure 1 shows how one of
these cells works. Figure 2 is a drawing made from an electron
micrograph of one of these cells.
ATP
Blood

Na+
Cl

Na+
Saltsecreting
cell

ADP + Pi

Urea is a small molecule and because of this it has a tendency to

diffuse out of the body. To avoid this loss, 95% of the urea in the
glomerular filtrate of sharks is reabsorbed in the distal tubule.

Figure 1

and explain what causes the concentration of urea

in human urine to differ from its concentration in shark
1 Describe
urine.
(2 marks)

Blood

The table shows the concentrations of some substances in sea

water and in the blood plasma of sharks and frogs. The units in
the table are milliosmoles per cubic decimetre. They are a
measure of the concentration of osmotically active particles.

Figure 2

Sea water
Shark plasma
Frog plasma

|
|
|
|
|
|

Cl
Protein

Surrounding
water

Concentration/mOsmol dm3
Na+

450
289
92

||
|
|
|

K+

10
4
3

||
|
|
|

Urea

0
444
1

Total osmotic
|| concentration
| 1154
| 1243
| 200

why a frog could not survive in sea water but a

shark can.
(3 marks)
2 Explain
sodium ions enter the blood of the shark from the
3 Some
surrounding water.
(a) Explain what causes this to happen.
(2 marks)
(b) From which organs would you expect sodium ions to
enter the sharks body? Give a reason for your answer.
(2 marks)

APRIL 2005

Surrounding
water

information in Figure 1 to give the process by which

sodium and chloride ions:
4 Use
(a) enter the cell from the blood
(1 mark)
(b) return to the surrounding water from the cell
(1 mark)
the part played by two features of the cell shown in
Figure 2 in the efficient removal of sodium and chloride
5 Describe
ions from the blood.
(4 marks)
A high concentration of urea denatures human proteins such as
haemoglobin and many enzymes. Shark proteins, however, are
not denatured by similar concentrations of urea.
briefly how you could investigate the effect of urea
concentration on the rate of reaction of a named enzyme.
6 Describe
(3 marks)

TeachersNotes
Suggested marking scheme
In this marking scheme, the following conventions are used:
; denotes separate marking points
/ denotes alternatives within a particular marking point

Exercise 1 Wool

Exercise 2 Sharks and urea

(a) 2 marks for ratios expressed in comparable terms:

5:1, 10:1, 20:1
1 mark for any other correct expression of ratio:
15:3, 20:2, 60:3
(2)
(b) The greater the ratio the finer the wool;
(1)
Many students delight in turning questions around and offering the
converse to what is expected by way of a response. Examiners normally
accept such answers but this is not the case where ratios are required.

Concentration of urea is higher in mammalian urine;

Kidney/nephron does not reabsorb/reabsorbs little urea; (2)
1
Although this is a straightforward question, it raises two issues. First,

it provides an opportunity to stress the difference between urea and

urine, terms that many A-level candidates hold to be synonymous.
Second, by asking what causes, use of the word why is avoided.
This question requires students to explain the cause of the higher urea
concentration, not its effect.

hairs and fur hairs are finer/thinner in Merino;

Water potential of sea water is lower/more negative than
As follicles are smaller in diameter;
(2) 2 that of frog plasma and higher/less negative than shark
2 Guard
plasma;
Water would move out of the frog by osmosis (leading to
The S:P ratio of the hybrid/cross is intermediate between
that of the parents, suggesting a genetic influence;
3 Since
dehydration);
sample from single animals, little/no evidence as to
Little/some movement into shark;
whether or not an environmental factor is involved;
(2)
Do not give credit for yes or no. The point of wording the question
in this way is to give a clear focus to the argument.
Form disulphide bridges;
tertiary structure;
4 Maintaining
5 Sebum/lipid;

(2)
(1)

(a) 32 g
(1)
(b) 128 g
(1)
These calculations are very straightforward and do not merit the
award of more than 1 mark each. As such, details of the method are
not required.

Join genes/pieces of DNA together;

(1)
(b) The genetically modified cell will develop into a
7 (a)
complete plant;
Each cell in the plant will contain the new gene;
The offspring will also contain the new gene; (2 max)
Accept the converse argument for insertion into an actual clover plant.

(a) The leaf is the part of the plant eaten by sheep (so it is
important that the protein is made here);
(1)
(b) Likely to be incorporated into bacterial protein so may
be lost in faeces;
(1)

Excess water can be excreted/removed by kidneys;

(3 max)
Students should be encouraged to explain osmotic phenomena in terms
of water potential wherever possible.
concentration in water
Sodium ions diffuse into blood;
3 (b)(a) Higher
Gut/intestine and gills;

than in plasma;
(2)

Permeable/other substances taken up/exchanged in

these organs;
(2)
Active transport/uptake;
(1)
(b) Facilitated diffusion;
(1)
4 (a)
provide ATP/energy;
For active transport/movement against a concentration
5 Mitochondria
gradient;
Infoldings of membrane increase surface area;
More transport proteins;
(4)
Do not credit the first marking point if the student refers to such
thermodynamically incorrect statements as making energy.
student could use many different approaches here, so a specific
is inappropriate. Award credit for the following:
6 Amark-scheme
Method of varying urea concentration;
Method of maintaining constant pH and temperature;
Method of monitoring enzyme activity;
(3)

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCESREVIEW