Exam practice
Exam questions
Write your answer. Then open the mark scheme and tick each point you made.
- Question 1 of 104 marks
State the four jobs of the skeleton.
Mark scheme
- Support
- Protection (accept: protects organs)
- Movement
- Making blood cells
- Question 2 of 102 marks
Name the part of the skeleton that protects the brain, and the bones that protect the heart and lungs.
Mark scheme
- Brain: the skull
- Heart and lungs: the ribs (accept: rib cage)
- Question 3 of 101 mark
State where in the body new blood cells are made.
Mark scheme
- In bone marrow (accept: inside some bones)
- Question 4 of 102 marks
Name one hinge joint and one ball and socket joint in the body.
Mark scheme
- Hinge joint: elbow or knee (accept: a finger joint)
- Ball and socket joint: shoulder or hip
- Question 5 of 102 marks
State what cartilage does in a joint, and what ligaments do.
Mark scheme
- Cartilage reduces friction between the bones (accept: stops the bones rubbing together)
- Ligaments join bone to bone (accept: hold the bones of the joint together)
- Question 6 of 102 marks
Describe what happens to a muscle when it contracts, and what this does to the bone it is joined to.
Mark scheme
- The muscle gets shorter (and fatter)
- It pulls on the bone (accept: the tendon pulls the bone)
- Question 7 of 102 marks
Explain why muscles work in pairs.
Mark scheme
- A muscle can only pull (accept: a muscle cannot push)
- So a second muscle is needed to pull the bone back the other way
- Question 8 of 102 marks
A student’s arm is bent at the elbow. Describe what the biceps and the triceps do to straighten it.
Mark scheme
- The triceps contracts
- The biceps relaxes
- Question 9 of 102 marks
A footballer tears a tendon in her leg. Explain why she cannot move the leg normally.
Mark scheme
- Tendons join muscles to bones
- So when the muscle contracts, it cannot pull on the bone
- Question 10 of 101 mark
A student finds that she can push much harder on a force meter with her leg than with her arm. Suggest one reason why.
Mark scheme
- The muscles in the leg are bigger than the muscles in the arm (accept: there is more muscle; the leg muscles are used and trained more)