NATURE STUDIES EXAM

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Duration – 1 hour and 30 minutes

Each correct answer is worth 1 mark out of a total of 100, unless stated otherwise.

1. Look carefully at the drawing of a typical flowering plant below. Using the words in the box below, label the picture. (6 marks)

One has been done for you.

2. All life forms are mostly made up of four essential elements. What are they? (2 marks)

     1. _________________

3. There are three main types of land plants – spore plants, gymnosperms and angiosperms. In the box below briefly describe the three different types and give one example. (6 marks)

4. Each part of the flowering plant has an important role to play in the plants survival and reproduction.

Why are petals important?

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6. Briefly describe how the plant transports nutrients and water from the soil to the rest of the plant. (2 marks)

Make sure you mention all the parts of the plant that are involved in this process.

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7. Now take a look into the flower. This is where the reproductive parts of the plants are situated. Using the words in the box below, label the picture. (3 marks)

8. The following paragraph describes the first stage of a plants reproduction process – pollination.

Read it through carefully and fill in the missing words – use your labelled pictures in Questions 1 and 7 as a guide. (3 marks)

For plants to reproduce, the pollen from one plant must connect to the ovules of

another plant. Plants rely on ___________, _____________ and _________ to spread

pollen from one flower to another. The pollen is contained at the end of each _______

where there is a swollen sack called the _________. After the pollen has been

transported to another plant, the pollen grains land on the top part of the pistil, called

the ___________. They then travel down the _____________ to the _______.

This contains the eggs of the plant called the __________.

9. What is the next stage after pollination and what happens to the ovules and the ovary? (2 marks)

The next stage is called ____________________.

The ovules turn into ______________________.

The ovary swells up and becomes the _________.

10. What happens to the petals at this point and why?

11. The final part of the reproduction process is called germination. Before germination can happen the seeds need to travel away from the parent plant. What is the name for this process?

Tick the correct answer.

1. Seed dismissal
2. Seed distribution
3. Seed dispersal
4. Seed distance

12. Most plants produce seeds that are very light and will easily travel in the wind. However some plants produce larger seeds that only a hurricane or a tornado could pick up. Without the wind to transport its seeds, what must these ‘big’ seed plants rely upon? Give details of two examples. (2 marks)

Example 1
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Example 2
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13. Once the seed has been transported it falls to the ground. However seeds cannot grow anywhere and most will never germinate because they have landed in the ‘wrong’ place.

Look at the pictures below. Beside each picture place a tick in the box if you think the seed will grow and a cross if you think it will die.

Also in the space provided, give a reason why you have ticked or crossed the box.

(3 marks)

Reason _________________________ 

Reason __________________________

Reason _________________________       
                                                                                   

Reason __________________________

Reason _________________________

14. After seeds have fallen into fertile ground most will spend the winter ‘hibernating’. What is the correct term for this process?

Tick the correct answer.

1. Seed dormitory
2. Seed dormancy
3. Seed sleeping
4. Seed snoozing

15. During this period the seed is almost completely dry. At the beginning of spring the outer shell starts to weaken. This allows a vital element and a vital compound to enter the seed. Can you name them?

Element - ________________

Compound - ______________

16. Look carefully at the picture of the inside of a seed below. Using the words in the box below, label the picture. (2 marks)

17. From what part of the seed does the embryo receive food at the beginning of germination?

_____________________

18. Which part of the embryo breaks through the seed coat first, the embryonic shoot or the embryonic root, and why?

The _________________ breaks through first.

Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. Once the seedling has fully germinated it can begin to make its own food. What is the name given to this process?

Tick the correct answer.

1. Fertilisation
2. Pollination
3. Chloroplasts
4. Photosynthesis

20. Describe how this process works. (3 marks)

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21. What very important waste product is released when the plant is making its own food?

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22. The plant stores it food as starches in the roots, which acts like the plants fridge. Which two of the following vegetables are in fact swollen starch roots?

Circle the two correct answers.

Green bean          Carrot          Broccoli          Cauliflower          Potato          Tomato

23. Why do the leaves of most plants appear to us as green?

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24. Below is a mixed up list of record breaking plants and their particular records. Draw a line between each plant and its record. (2 marks)

Giant Sequoia                                                   Most Common Plant

Algae                                                                 Longest Living Plant

Rafflesiaceae                                                     Tallest Flower

Grass                                                                  Largest Plant

Titan Arum                                                        Smallest Plant

Lomatia Tasmania                                             Largest Flower

SECTION 2 – EVOLUTION (22 marks)

25. Evolution is essentially the process whereby all living things are able to develop and adapt to a changing environment.

Imagine a world where evolution stopped occurring. What do you think would happen? (2 marks)

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26. Can you give an example of an animal that evolved in order to cope with the extreme weather changes caused by the Ice Age?

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27. It would seem that 65 million years ago a giant meteor crashed onto Planet Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs.

Why do you think the dinosaurs failed to evolve and cope with this event?

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Name the species, the climate change and how they evolved.

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Can you give an example of this?

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30. Living things not only have to compete with other species they also sometimes have to compete with one another. This is especially true in ‘sexual selection’ where animals and plants are competing for mates.

Give an example of sexual selection evolution in either an animal or a plant.

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31. Below is a table of a basic evolution timeline. The dates are in the left hand column. The right hand column is empty.

Using the different types of animals and plants in the box below, complete the table.

One has been done for you. (3 marks)

Key - mya = Millions of years ago

32. Throughout history the idea that life evolved, had been considered by a number of scientists. However it was not until Charles Darwin published his famous book, ‘On the Origin of Species’ that evolution began gradually to be accepted as scientific fact.

Which group of people were fiercely opposed to the idea of evolution, before, during and after Darwin’s lifetime, and why?
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33. In his book ‘On the Origin of Species’, Charles Darwin records his study and observations of the Galapagos Finches. He discovered that there were 14 different species of the finch on the tiny Galapagos Islands.

How did he explain why there was so many species of one bird on such a small island?

How did this help prove that evolution existed?

(2 marks)

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For example, what caused some species to evolve whilst others became extinct?

After reading a book by Thomas Malthus called ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’, Darwin found his answer to this question.

What did Malthus’ book help Darwin to understand? (2 marks)

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35. In his book ‘On the Origin of the Species’, Darwin showed that the characteristics of the parents are passed onto the next generation. However he did not know how these characteristics were passed on.

Were the characteristics of the mother and father blended together in the new generation or did the characteristics of one dominate over the other?

The answer to this question was available in Darwin’s lifetime, but tragically he never read the scientific work that would have solved the mystery.

Gregor Mendel’s ‘Laws of Inheritance’, published in 1866, showed how ‘characteristics’ were passed on from one generation to the next.

Briefly describe Mendel’s experiments and his basic laws of inheritance. (2 marks)

36. What is the correct scientific term we now use for the word ‘characteristics’?
Tick the correct answer.

1. Genes
2. Jeans
3. Molecules
4. Hereditary Units

37. What is the name of the molecule that carries the genetic information?

__________________ 

38. What are mutations and how do they play a vital role in evolution? (2 marks)

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SECTION 3 – THE ENVIRONMENT (20 marks)

39. There are a number of important environmental issues facing our world today. Each one is a complex combination of different causes and effects.

The table below highlights one of these issues – Deforestation.

In the left hand column there is a list of sub-headings. Fill in the right hand column, listing all the different ‘resources at stake’, ‘causes’, ‘effects’ and ‘solutions’ you can think of, in the appropriate boxes. (6 marks)

40. Another important issue for the environment is human population growth.

Look carefully at the chart below. It shows the historical growth rate of the World’s population from 1000 AD to 2100 AD (estimated figure).

Now go to the questions on the following page.

1. Why do you think the world’s population has increased so rapidly since 1800, with a major increase since 1900? (2 marks)

      Give at least two different reasons.                   

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2. In which areas of the world has the population explosion been greatest? Why?

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3. How does rapid population growth endanger the environment?

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41. Rivers only make up 0.006% of the world’s water. However rivers are vital to life on earth. Why?

Give at least two different reasons.

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42. Why is it important that rivers sometimes flood? What is the name of the ‘flood area’?

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Name of ‘flood area’ ___________________________________________________

43. The tallest mountain range in the world is the Himalayas in Asia. How were the Himalayas created? What type of mountains are the Himalayas? (2 marks)

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44. True or False? The higher up a mountain you go, the more oxygen there is to breathe.
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45. How can studying the layers of rock in a cliff help us understand the history of the planet?

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46. Cliffs and mountains are good examples of soil erosion.

What creates soil erosion? Give 3 natural causes and 3 human causes.
(2 marks)

47. The most disastrous soil erosion creates deserts. Explain how a forest can turn into a desert. Include in your explanation a description of what happens to the different layers of soil. (2 marks)

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SECTION 4 – MAPS (10 Marks)

48. Label the map of the world below with the following landmarks (5 marks) –

EUROPE       ASIA       AFRICA       AUSTRALASIA       NORTH AMERICA     SOUTH AMERICA        ANTARTICA        PACIFIC OCEAN      ARCTIC OCEAN
ATLANTIC OCEAN     INDIAN OCEAN     HIMILAYAS     THE ALPS     ANDES
ROCKYS        SAHARA DESERT        KALAHARI DESERT       GOBI DESERT
MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE          BRAZILIAN RAINFORESTS          RIVER NILE     RIVER AMAZON         RIVER THAMES         LAKE VICTORIA

49. Label this map of Asia with the following countries. (5 marks)

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