AQA GCSE Biology (8461), Higher tier · Organisation › Animal tissues, organs and organ systems
Practise Blood. 14 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
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Blood is a tissue. Name the liquid part of the blood.
plasma
Urea is transported in the plasma. Complete the sentence. Urea is carried from the ____________ to the ____________ .
liver; kidneys
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy4 marks
Blood is a tissue.
(a) Name the liquid part of the blood.[1]
(b) Which part of the blood helps the blood to clot at a wound? Tick (✓) one box.[1]
Plasma
Platelets
Red blood cells
White blood cells
(c) Name the substance in red blood cells that combines with oxygen.[1]
(d) Give one function of white blood cells.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: plasma
plasma
(b)Answer: Platelets
(c)Answer: haemoglobin
haemoglobin
(d)
to protect the body against pathogens / infection (e.g. by ingesting pathogens or producing antibodies)
Question 2Medium5 marks
Red blood cells are adapted to carry oxygen.
(a) Red blood cells have no nucleus. Explain how this helps them to carry out their function.[2]
(b) Red blood cells are shaped like biconcave discs. Explain the advantage of this shape.[2]
(c) Red blood cells are small and flexible. Suggest why this is important.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
there is more space for haemoglobin
so more oxygen can be carried
(b)
it gives a large surface area (to volume ratio)
so oxygen diffuses into and out of the cell faster
(c)
so they can squeeze through narrow capillaries
Question 3Hard8 marks
An athlete trained at high altitude for four weeks. The air at high altitude has a lower concentration of oxygen than the air at sea level. The number of red blood cells in 1 mm3 of the athlete's blood increased from 5.0 × 106 to 5.6 × 106.
(a) Calculate the percentage increase in the number of red blood cells.[2]
(b) Explain how the extra red blood cells could help the athlete to perform better in races at sea level.[3]
(c) A person with a low number of platelets bruises and bleeds easily. Explain why.[2]
(d) A person with leukaemia has large numbers of white blood cells that do not work properly. Suggest why this person gets infections more often.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: 12%
(5.6 − 5.0) ÷ 5.0 × 100
12 (%)
(b)
more haemoglobin in the blood
so more oxygen can be carried to the muscles
so more aerobic respiration happens in the muscle cells
releasing more energy for contraction / less anaerobic respiration so less lactic acid
(c)
platelets help the blood to clot
so bleeding from damaged blood vessels continues for longer (under the skin or from wounds)
(d)
there are few working white blood cells, so pathogens are not destroyed