Practise 62 real questions on Coordination and response from 2021 to 2026. See the answer and explanation as soon as you answer.
Coordination and response is one of the 13 main topics in our O Level Biology (Cambridge (CAIE) 5090) question bank, and about 11% of its real questions come from it. Tayyari Karo has 62 real questions on this topic from 2021 to 2026, from Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 4; 50 are multiple choice and marked instantly, and the rest are structured questions with a model answer. By difficulty: 44 medium, 13 easy, 5 hard.
Work through the questions below, then open the explanation for each one. Redo the ones you missed a few days later.
These are real past-paper questions. Think of your answer first, then open the explanation.
A patient's heart is beating faster than usual and they are taking faster and deeper breaths even while sitting at a desk. The doctor concluded that the level of a hormone in the blood might be higher than normal. Which hormone could this be?
Answer: B. adrenaline
Adrenaline increases heart rate and breathing rate.
Which row shows what happens in the eye when focusing on a nearby object?
Answer: D. ciliary muscle contracts / lens becomes rounder
The ciliary muscle contracts, slackening the suspensory ligaments so the lens becomes fatter for near vision.
Which diseases can be treated effectively with antibiotics? 1 HIV 2 malaria 3 cholera
Answer: D. 3 only
Antibiotics treat bacterial diseases; cholera is bacterial, HIV and malaria are not.
The diameter of the pupil was measured at different light intensities. What is the percentage decrease in pupil diameter (to 1 decimal place) when moving from complete darkness to light intensity 10 000?
Answer: D. 54.4%
On a warm sunny day, a swimmer climbs out of a pool and sits on the edge to dry. After a few minutes the skin feels cold.
What has caused this?
Answer: D. Water on the skin absorbs heat from the body and evaporates.
Evaporation of water from the skin removes heat, cooling the body.
An experiment on the growth of a young plant shoot was set up with the shoot tip covered by aluminium foil, light from one side. What does the shoot look like after 48 hours?
Answer: A. A
6 A beam of light enters a human eye for 2 s and onto one side of a plant stem tip for several days.
(a) Describe how the human and the plant coordinate their responses, including stimulus detection and method of responding. [6]
(b) Describe the role of synapses in a reflex arc. [4]
(a) Human: detected by retina/light receptors; involves neurones/nervous system/electrical impulses; response is muscular contraction in the iris causing pupil constriction.
Plant: detected by the stem tip; involves auxin; more auxin moves to the shaded side; more elongation on the shaded side; stem grows/bends towards the light (positive phototropism).
(b) Synapses transmit impulses between neurones, in one direction; a neurotransmitter is released into the gap, diffuses across and binds to receptors.
Light causes pupil constriction in humans but phototropic growth in plants via auxin.
The body is coordinated by nerve impulses and hormones. (a) Compare these two types of coordination. (b) A girl sees a fast vehicle approaching as she crosses a road; this triggers nerve impulses and adrenaline release. Describe the role of the nerve impulses and adrenaline in helping her react.
(a) Both trigger responses and act on specific effectors. Nerve impulses: fast, electrical, short-term, travel along neurones, generated by receptors. Hormones: slow, chemical, longer-term, travel in blood/plasma, from glands, different chemicals. (b) Eye receptors detect vehicle; impulses travel via sensory -> relay -> motor neurones to muscles (quick response). Adrenaline from adrenal glands travels in blood to heart/lungs/muscles: heart beats faster, glycogen -> glucose, more glucose/oxygen/blood to muscles, airways widen, pupils dilate, enabling rapid escape.
| Session | Paper 1 | Paper 2 | Paper 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May/June 2026 | 6 | – | – |
| May/June 2025 | 4 | – | 1 |
| Oct/Nov 2025 | 3 | 2 | – |
| May/June 2024 | 9 | 1 | – |
| Oct/Nov 2024 | 2 | 1 | – |
| May/June 2023 | 9 | 2 | – |
| Oct/Nov 2023 | 5 | 1 | – |
| May/June 2022 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Oct/Nov 2022 | 2 | 1 | – |
| May/June 2021 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Oct/Nov 2021 | 4 | 1 | – |
62 real O Level Biology (5090) questions on Coordination and response from 2021 to 2026, from Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 4. Each one shows the year, session and paper it came from.
Yes. Every question shows the correct answer and a short explanation the moment you answer.
You can start free with no signup. A small set of papers per subject is free, and Premium unlocks every paper, the full question bank and the paper PDFs.
