Cambridge IGCSE™

Answered by mrs / Gehan Ramadan

* 5 3 5 3 1 0 8 7 2 7 *

BIOLOGY 0610/61
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Paper 6 Alternative to Practical October/November 2021
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1 hour

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions.
● Use a black or dark blue pen. You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams or graphs.
● Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
● Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
● Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
● Do not write on any bar codes.
● You may use a calculator.
● You should show all your working and use appropriate units.

INFORMATION
● The total mark for this paper is 40.
● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].

This document has 12 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (CE/SW) 203243/3
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
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1 (a) Dialysis tubing can act as a partially permeable membrane because it has microscopic holes
that allow small soluble molecules to pass through by diffusion.

A student investigated the molecules that can diffuse through dialysis tubing.

Step 1 A piece of dialysis tubing was soaked in water and a knot was tied at one end to form
a bag.

Step 2 The unknotted end of the dialysis tubing was opened and 20 cm3 of a solution, M,
was put into the dialysis tubing bag.

Step 3 The outside of the dialysis tubing bag was rinsed with distilled water.

Step 4 The dialysis tubing bag was put inside a large test-tube and the open end of the
tubing was folded over the top of the large test-tube. It was secured with an elastic
band, as shown in Fig. 1.1.

Step 5 The large test-tube was then filled with distilled water, as shown in Fig. 1.1.

open end of the dialysis tubing

folded over the top of test-tube elastic band

solution M inside the dialysis

tubing bag

distilled water knotted end of the dialysis tubing bag

Fig. 1.1

Step 6 The large test-tube was left in a test-tube rack for 15 minutes.

Step 7 After 15 minutes, the dialysis tubing bag was removed from the large test-tube and
the contents of the bag were emptied into a beaker labelled M. 2 cm3 samples of
solution M were tested for reducing sugars, protein and starch.

Step 8 The liquid remaining in the large test-tube was emptied into a beaker labelled T.
2 cm3 samples of this liquid were also tested for reducing sugars, protein and starch.

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28

Testing for Biological Molecules

You need to know how you can test for biological molecules using different chemicals.

You Can Test for Sugars Using Benedict’s Solution

There are lots of different types of sugar molecules. Due to their chemical properties, many sugars
(e.g. glucose) are called reducing sugars. You don’t need to know exactly what reducing sugars are,
but you do need to know how to test for them:

1) Add Benedict’s solution (which is blue) to Benedict’s water bath

a sample and heat it in a water bath that’s solution
set to 75 °C.
2) If the test’s positive it will form a coloured
precipitate (solid particles suspended in
the solution).
3) The higher the concentration of reducing food
sugar, the further the colour change goes sample colour change if reducing
— you can use this to compare the amount sugar present
of reducing sugar in different solutions.
|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|| | |
The colour of the precipitate changes from: There won’t be a
| | | | | | |

| | | | | | | ||
colour change if no
blue green yellow orange brick red sugars are present.
||

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

higher sugar concentration

The Biuret Test is Used for Proteins

If you needed to find out if a substance contained protein you’d use the biuret test.

1) First, add a few drops of Negative Positive |

| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
You could use biuret
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

potassium hydroxide solution result result

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
test solution, solution instead,
to make the solution alkaline. potassium hydroxide which is just a
2) Then add some copper(II) sulfate and mixture of potassium
solution (which is bright blue). copper(II) sulfate hydroxide and
solution copper(II) sulfate
3) If there’s no protein, solutions.
the solution will stay blue.
|

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

solution staying blue

4) If protein is present, indicates no protein purple colour
the solution will turn purple. indicates protein

Starch is Tested for with Iodine

Just add iodine solution to the test sample. iodine
colour changes
solution
1) If starch is present, the sample to blue-black if
changes from browny-orange starch is present
to a dark, blue-black colour.

colour remains
2) If there’s no starch,
browny-orange if
it stays browny-orange.
food sample starch isn’t present

Section 4 — Biological Molecules and Enzymes

 29

Testing for Biological Molecules

There are a couple more tests coming up on this page — for fats and oils, and vitamin C.

Use the Ethanol Emulsion Test for Fats and Oils

To find out if there are any fats or oils in a sample:

1) Shake the test substance with ethanol for about a minute

until it dissolves, then pour the solution into water.
| | | | | | | | | |
|| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |
An emulsion is when one

|| | | | | | |
liquid

| | | | | | | | |
2) If there are any fats or oils present, they will precipitate doesn’t dissolve in another
—
out of the liquid and show up as a milky emulsion. it just forms little droplets.

|
| | | |
|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|

3) The more fat there is, the more

noticeable the milky colour will be.

Test substance Shake Add to Milky colour

and ethanol water indicates fat

Use the DCPIP Test for Vitamin C

To find out how much vitamin C is in a food sample you’d use DCPIP solution.

1) Add DCPIP solution drop by drop to a food DCPIP blue colour

sample containing vitamin C (e.g. juice). solution remains if
2) DCPIP solution changes from blue to vitamin C is
colourless when vitamin C is present. not present
3) Keep adding DCPIP until the blue colour no
longer disappears when it’s mixed with the
sample. (Vitamin C reacts with DCPIP solution, blue colour
making it colourless. The colour stops changing disappears if
when all the vitamin C has been used up.) vitamin C
food sample is present
4) The higher the volume of DCPIP solution added
before the blue colour stops disappearing, the containing
more vitamin C the food sample contains. vitamin C

Make sure you think about all of the hazards...

ICAL
PRACT Iodine solution is an irritant to the eyes, and the chemicals used in the biuret test are dangerous,
TIP
so wear safety goggles when carrying out these tests. If you spill any of the chemicals on your
skin, wash them off straight away. Be careful around the water bath in the Benedict’s test, too.

Section 4 — Biological Molecules and Enzymes

s
W. Tu
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The student’s results are shown in Fig. 1.2.

>
-

solution M:
reducing sugars – orange, protein - purple, starch - blue-black

liquid T:
reducing sugars – orange, protein - blue, starch - brown

Fig. 1.2

(i) Prepare a table to record the results shown in Fig. 1.2.

Colour observed
Solution
Reducing sugar Protein Starch

M Orange Purple Blue-black

|t) x3 +
2 +(

T Orang Blue Brown

' -
[3]

(ii) State the names of the food-testing reagents that would be used to test for the presence
of each substance.

Benedict reagent
reducing sugars .................................................................................................................

Biuret reagent
protein ...............................................................................................................................

Iodine solution
starch ................................................................................................................................
[3]

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(iii) State which substances are present in solution M.

Starch, protein and reducing sugar

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iv) Conclude, based on the results, if any of the substances in solution M diffused through
the dialysis tubing membrane.

State the evidence from the results for this conclusion.

Reducing sugar
substance(s) ......................................................................................................................

Positive test, orange colour

evidence ............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[1]

(b) Explain why it was important to rinse the outside of the dialysis tubing bag in step 3.
-

some of solution M might have got on to the outside of the tub

...................................................................................................................................................

would give false results as solution M would be in the distilled

...................................................................................................................................................

water and avoid contamination

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) Identify one hazard in the investigation described in 1(a) and state one precaution to reduce
the risk of this hazard.

damage to skin from food testing reagents

hazard .......................................................................................................................................

goggles / eye protection / gloves

precaution .................................................................................................................................

En
...................................................................................................................................................
Heat proof gloves [2]

hot water and flame while heat. (forBenedict’s test

stand up during practical work during use of a water-
bath .
Wearnig(heat-proof) gloves and use of tongs to hold
-

tube awy

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(d) Starch can be broken down into reducing sugars. The enzyme amylase catalyses this
reaction.

Plan an investigation to find out the effect of pH on the activity of the enzyme amylase.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
Take two.test tubes. labelled A with pH 2, Test tube. B. with. pH. 8
...................................................................................................................................................

In each test tube using buffer solution

...................................................................................................................................................

add starch solution made with crushing 20 gms of potato and 10 ml

...................................................................................................................................................

of water. Keep the test tubes at the same starting temperature and
...................................................................................................................................................

mantain the temperature using a thermostatically controlled water

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
bath.Add 10 cm3 of amylase to each of the test tube and mix the
...................................................................................................................................................
solution with a stirrer. Now take 5ml of the solution from test
...................................................................................................................................................

tube A...................................................................................................................................................
and add it in a test tube and place it on a white tile add iodine
soltion...................................................................................................................................................
to
observe the colour chsnge from yellow brown to blue black.
............................................................................................................................................. [6]

Repeat the same procedure with solution from test tube B and
[Total: 17]

record the colour change. repeat the experiment with both test tübe
atleast 3 times. to take average , reduce error and identify
anomalous results.
Wear a lab coat and safety glasses thröugh the experiment."

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2 (a) A student used an aquatic plant to investigate the effect of temperature on the rate of
photosynthesis.

Fig. 2.1 shows the apparatus used by the student.

gas collecting in the

measuring cylinder

measuring cylinder
containing water

funnel
lamp
beaker containing water

10 cm aquatic plant producing gas

Fig. 2.1

A lamp was placed at a distance of 10 cm from the apparatus. Sodium hydrogencarbonate

was added to the water to provide a source of carbon dioxide.

The student measured the volume of gas produced in 20 minutes at six different temperatures.

(i) State the variable that was changed (independent variable) in this investigation.

Temperature
..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) State two variables that should be kept constant in this investigation.

1 light intensity by using same light source kept at the same distance from the plant .
........................................................................................................................................
Same type, species, size, and age of the plant
2 ........................................................................................................................................
Same concentration of coz by using the Sam amount of hydrogen carbonate [2]

(iii) Only one set of results was collected in the investigation described in 2(a).

Explain why repeating the investigation two more times would be an improvement to the
method.

...........................................................................................................................................
Repeat to take average , reduce error to identify anomalous results.
...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]
-

any two from: 2 light intensity / distance of lamp/light (from plant) /

wattage of light bulb ; colour or wavelength of light ; time, for collecting

*
gas / for equilibration ; same / type / species / size / mass / age, of
plant ; amount / mass / concentration, of sodium hydrogencarbonate /
carbon dioxide, added ;
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(b) The results of the investigation are shown in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1

volume of gas collected in

temperature rate of photosynthesis
20 minutes
/ °C / cm3 per minute
/ cm3
5 5.0 0.25
10 7.8 0.39
15 12.0 0.60
20 22.8 1.14
25 21.0 1.05
30 16.0 0.80

(i) Calculate the percentage increase in the volume of gas produced from 10 °C to 15 °C.

Give your answer to two significant figures.

,
Final-intial
Space for working.
X 100%
Initial

⑤-
12.0 - 7.8
7.8 7.8
X 100% 53.8
= 53.8

54
............................................................ %
[3]

&

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(ii) Use the information in Table 2.1 to plot a line graph on the grid to show the effect of
temperature on the rate of photosynthesis.

1,2
-

I
-

-S

0.
Rate of
photosynthesis 0.f ⑤

/Cm3 per
minute
0.4 A

02
0
02
-
10 ↑

xo.
S 10 15 20 25 30

[4]
Temperature /c.
(iii) Describe the pattern shown by the data in your graph.

...........................................................................................................................................
Over all. As temperature increases the rate of photosynthesis km3 per minute increase then
...........................................................................................................................................
decrease
...........................................................................................................................................
As the temperature increases from 0 / C to 20 /C the rate of gas collected increases from
...........................................................................................................................................
0.25 /cm3 per minute to 1.14 /cm3 per minute then decrase to 0.8cm3/min
..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iv) Use your graph to estimate the rate of photosynthesis when the temperature is 17 °C.

Show on your graph where you took your readings.

0.86 ~, 0.9
....................................... cm3 per minute
-

[2]

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(c) Fig. 2.2 is a photograph of one flower of an aquatic plant, Cabomba caroliniana.

X stigma

magnification ×6

Fig. 2.2

(i) Make a large drawing of the flower shown in Fig. 2.2.

Label the stigma on your drawing.

Make sure you use a sharp pencil

• Your outline is clear

• The drawing should be as large as space provided.
• It has definite outlines (no 'sketchy' lines)
• No shading,
No arrow heads when labelling
• Lines point exactly at the labelled part. '

[5]
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(c) Fig. 2.2 is a photograph of one flower of an aquatic plant, Cabomba caroliniana.

IY

I
X stigma

magnification ×6

Fig. 2.2

(i) Make a large drawing of the flower shown in Fig. 2.2.

Label the stigma on your drawing.

⑲
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Stigma

[5]
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(ii) Measure the length of line XY on Fig. 2.2.

90
length of line XY ....................................... mm

Calculate the actual width of the flower shown in Fig. 2.2 using your measurement and
the formula.
length of line XY on Fig. 2.2
magnification =
actual width of the flower

Include the unit.

Space for working.

90
=
6
15 mm
................................................................
[3]

[Total: 23]

A M

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