GCSE Combined Science Ecology questions by topic

This food chain is found in a meadow: grass → rabbit → fox.

1. (a)Name the producer and explain how it makes its own food.[2]
2. (b)Name the trophic level of the rabbit and of the fox.[2]

Describe the journey of a raindrop through the water cycle.

1. (a)Name the process that lifts water from the sea into the air.[1]
2. (b)Name the plant process that also adds water vapour to the air.[1]
3. (c)Name the process that turns vapour into clouds, and the process that returns water to the land.[2]

Follow a carbon atom through the carbon cycle.

1. (a)Name the process that removes carbon dioxide from the air.[1]
2. (b)Name two processes that release carbon dioxide into the air.[2]
3. (c)State which organisms break down dead material and return nutrients to the soil.[1]

Classify each adaptation.

1. (a)Classify: a hare’s white winter coat; a desert fox hunting only at night; a camel producing very concentrated urine; a cactus storing water in thick stems.[4]

A class samples daisies in a school field with ten 1 m² quadrats placed using random coordinates.

1. (a)Calculate the mean number of daisies per quadrat.[2]
2. (b)The field measures 30 m × 20 m. Estimate the total daisy population.[2]
3. (c)State why the quadrats were placed randomly.[1]

Explain three ways to make a quadrat survey valid.

1. (a)Explain why many quadrats are sampled rather than one.[1]
2. (b)Explain why the same size quadrat is used at both sites in a comparison.[1]
3. (c)State one rule for counting organisms that touch the quadrat edge.[1]
4. (d)Give one other control the students should keep the same.[1]

A new road is built through farmland.

1. (a)Explain two ways the road could reduce local biodiversity.[2]
2. (b)Suggest one measure the builders could take to reduce the harm.[1]
3. (c)State why high biodiversity benefits an ecosystem.[1]

Fertiliser spread on fields washes into a nearby stream.

1. (a)Describe the sequence that leads to fish dying in the stream.[4]
2. (b)Name this process.[1]

A council plans to replace a wildflower meadow with a car park. A local group objects using quadrat data.

1. (a)Describe how the group should collect data to support their objection.[3]
2. (b)Explain what the data would show about the effect of building the car park.[2]
3. (c)Suggest one compromise the council could adopt.[1]

Explain how carbon moves through an ecosystem, starting with a green plant.

1. (a)Describe how carbon enters the plant and how it passes to consumers.[2]
2. (b)Describe two routes by which carbon returns to the air.[2]
3. (c)State one human activity that adds extra carbon dioxide to the cycle.[1]

Design a quadrat investigation comparing plant populations in a mown park and an unmown meadow.

1. (a)State the independent and dependent variables.[2]
2. (b)Describe how to collect reliable data at both sites.[3]
3. (c)State one limitation of the method.[1]

Some bacteria live in hot springs at temperatures above 60 °C.

1. (a)Name the term for organisms adapted to extreme conditions.[1]
2. (b)Explain one adaptation such bacteria must have.[2]
3. (c)Suggest why such organisms interest scientists studying early life on Earth.[1]