CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL BIOLOGY: WORKBOOK

Exam-style questions and sample answers have been written by the authors. In examinations, the way marks are awarded
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Workbook answers
Chapter 17 Area A results
10
Exercise 17.1 Using the t-test to analyse9 variation
1 a 
For Area A, the range is 12 to 21 mm. For Area B, the
8
range is 12 to 31 mm. So, we could divide
the lengths into classes of 2 mm intervals.
7
Area A results:

Number of leaves
6
length / mm 12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 24–25 26–27 28–29 30–31
5
tally
number 4 6 10 9 1 4
Area B results: 3

length / mm 12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21

2 22–23 24–25 26–27 28–29 30–31
tally 1

number 1 0 1 1 0 3 4 6 9 5
0
12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 23–24 25–26 27–28 29–30
b Length of leaf / mm
Area A results Area B results
10 10

9 9

8 8

7 7
Number of leaves

6
Number of leaves

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 23–24 25–26 27–28 29–30 12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 23–24 25–26 27–28 29–30
Length of leaf / mm Length of leaf / mm

Area B results
10
2 Area A: 16.3 mm Note: the vertical bars on either side of
9 this expression in the formula mean that
Area B: 26.1 mm we take the absolute value, and ignore the
8
3 a standard deviation for area A = s1 = 2.168 minus sign.
7 s12
standard deviation for area B = s2 = 4.299 = 4.70 ÷ 30 = 0.157
n
Number of leaves

6
x̄ – x̄2 = 16.3 – 26.1 = –9.8
1
s22
5 = 18.48 ÷ 30 = 0.616
n
4

1
1 Cambridge International AS & A Level Biology – Jones & Parkin © Cambridge University Press 2020
0
12–13 14–15 16–17 18–19 20–21 22–23 23–24 25–26 27–28 29–30
 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL BIOLOGY: WORKBOOK

So Comments on Example answer Y

t = 9.8 This is better than Example X, but it is still not a
√0.773 very good answer.
  = 9.8 ÷ 0.879 The first sentence correctly states that antibiotics
 = 11.15 act as selection pressures. This is good use of a
v = 30 + 30 – 2 technical term in an appropriate context.
= 58 The next sentence uses poor language and implies
that exposure to antibiotics might increase the
b 
We need to look in the last row of the
chance of resistance arising in a bacterium. This is
table. The largest value there is 3.29,
not correct. Note also alleles should be referred to
which represents only a 0.001 chance
here, term ‘genes that confer resistance’; they should
that the difference between the means
refer to alleles here, as it will be particular alleles of
is due to chance. Our value of t is
a gene, not particular genes, that confer resistance.
much greater than this (it is 11.15), so
the chance of the difference between The answer does then go on to mention
the means being due to chance is reproduction, but it is not clear that bacteria
much smaller than 0.001. So, we can with the alleles for resistance are more likely to
say with confidence that there is a reproduce than others.
significant difference between the Comments on Example answer Z
means for the two populations.
This is by far the best answer of the three. It uses
technical terms correctly (allele, rather than gene),
Exercise 17.2 Answering and follows the sequence of events through from
start (random mutation, before exposure to the
questions about selection antibiotic) to finish (the production of a whole
1 The best answer is Example Z. population of bacteria with resistance).
Comments on Example answer X It is very clear, in the first sentence, that even
before the exposure to the antibiotic, there will be
The first sentence is correct, but does not really
some bacteria that have alleles (note the use of the
lead very far.
correct term) that make them resistant. Note also
The second sentence introduces the idea of the use of the phrase ‘by chance’.
mutation, but because this follows on from the
The next sentence states clearly that the alleles
description of exposure to the antibiotic, it could
have arisen by mutation.
be taken to imply that the mutation happens after
the exposure, or even because of the exposure. The third sentence, beginning with ‘Normally...’,
then clearly explains that the bacteria that happen to
This sentence also suggests that the frequency of
have the resistance allele are more likely to survive.
alleles changes as a direct result of the mutation.
The fourth sentence then builds on this to explain
This is not correct. The frequency of alleles only
that they will therefore be more likely to reproduce.
changes after selection has taken place.
The last sentence then finishes the explanation by
The answer then states that ‘Some will become
showing how this can result in a whole population
resistant due to mutation and some will not.’ This
of bacteria with the resistance allele.
again seems to imply that the mutations happen
after the exposure to the antibiotic, and that some
individual bacteria will therefore become resistant. Exercise 17.3 Using the Hardy-
This is not the case. Any bacteria that don’t
already have a resistance allele before they are
Weinberg equations
exposed to the antibiotic will be killed. 1 a Frequency of homozygous recessive
This answer makes no reference to the important woodlice = q2
point that the bacteria that have the resistance 22 out of 350 are homozygous recessive,
allele will be the ones that are most likely to breed, so the frequency is:
passing on their alleles to the next generation. The
last sentence uses the term ‘selective advantage’, 22 ÷ 350 = 0.063
but there is no indication of understanding. So
Overall, this is a poor answer. q = √0.773 = 0.25

2 Cambridge International AS & A Level Biology – Jones & Parkin © Cambridge University Press 2020
 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL BIOLOGY: WORKBOOK

b p+q=1
So
p = 1 – 0.25 = 0.75
Frequency of homozygous dominant
woodlice = p2 = 0.752 = 0.56

Exercise 17.4 Assumptions

when using the Hardy-Weinberg
equations
1 Frequency of homozygous recessive
drongos = q2
15 out of 1270 drongos are homozygous
recessive, so q2 is 15 ÷ 1270 = 0.012.
So
q = 0.110
p+q=1
So p = 1 – 0.110 = 0.890
 he frequency of the recessive, albino allele
T
is 0.110, and the frequency of the dominant
allele for black pigment is 0.890.
2 a 
If all of the Hardy–Weinberg assumptions
are met, then we would expect these allele
frequencies to remain the same in the next
generation.
So the expected number of birds showing
the recessive phenotype would still be q2.
If q is still 0.110, then we would expect
0.110 × 2674 = 294 birds to be albino.
The remaining 2674 – 294 = 2380 birds
would be black.
b chi-squared test
3  he actual number of albino birds in the
T
second population is much smaller than we
would expect. This tells us that the frequency
of the recessive allele for albino colouration
has decreased. This suggests that selection
pressure is being exerted against the recessive
allele. Perhaps albino drongos are more easily
spotted by predators, so they are more likely
to be caught and killed before they have
reproduced. Perhaps black drongos do not
choose albino drongos as mates, so the albino
birds are less likely to reproduce and have
offspring.

3 Cambridge International AS & A Level Biology – Jones & Parkin © Cambridge University Press 2020