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IBBiologySLExam QuestionsToolsTool 1: Experimental Techniques

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2023

First exams 2025

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Tool 1: Experimental Techniques (SL IB Biology)

Exam Questions

26 mins9 questions

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Tool 1: Experimental Techniques

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Tool 1: Experimental Techniques

1a2 marks

Some students used paper chromatography to separate out the photosynthetic pigments in a leaf. The resulting chromatogram can be seen below.

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Using the measurements made by the students, calculate the Rf values for carotene and chlorophyll B and complete the table below.

Pigment Rf value
Carotene  
Chlorophyll B  

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1b2 marks

Explain what the results in part (a) show about the properties of the photosynthetic pigments.

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1c3 marks

The method used to prepare the photosynthetic pigments for chromatography requires the use of propanone. As a health and safety precaution, a student using this method decided to use water instead of propanone.

State what the student’s results would have shown and explain why..

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2a6 marks

Describe how a student would prepare a microscope slide containing a sample of cells from a piece of plant tissue, and how the student would view this sample under a light microscope.

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2b
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Name the two pieces of equipment, used as accessories to a standard light microscope, to measure the size of the specimen being viewed.

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3a
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A small island off the coast of Iceland formed around 200 years ago. The graph shows data collected from historical records and more recent scientific research, estimating the percentage cover of different plant species since the island was formed. 

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The island is small, with a surface area of about 100 square metres. Describe how the group of biologists could determine the present-day mean percentage cover of grass on the island.

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3b
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If the biologists just wanted to study the abundance of broad-leaved trees on the island in part (a), they could have used frequency rather than percentage cover.

Suggest why this would be possible.

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