MARKING SCHEME

231/1
Biology Theory
Paper 1
March/April 2019
Time: 2 Hours

NABISTA JET 3
Biology Examinations
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) - 2019

Instructions to candidates
1. Answer all questions in this paper in the spaces provided after each question.
2. This paper consists of 12 printed pages. candidates should check the question paper to
ensure all pages are printed as indicated and that no questions are missing.
3. Candidates should answer the questions in English.

For Examiners’ Use Only

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

TOTAL

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1. (a) Flowering plants can be divided into two groups; monocotyledons and dicotyledons.
Complete the table below to state the differences between these two types of flowering
plants. (2 marks)
Difference Monocotyledons Dicotyledons
Pattern of leaf veins Parallel; Branched/reticulate/network;
Number of petals present 3/multiples of 3 (up to 60); 4 or 5/ multiples of (up to 60);

(b) Explain why division Pteridophyta is considered more advanced than division
Bryophyta. (2 marks)
• Posses clearly defined vascular system;(having xylem and phloem)
• Highly differentiated into roots, stems and leaves;
• Fertilization in pteridophytes is independent of water availability;

2. Sometimes teeth develop dental decay. Describe how dental decay develops. (3 marks)

Bacteria (in mouth); change or respire sugar /named sugar (in food); to acid
/lactic acid ; acid dissolves / attacks enamel /teeth dentine;

3. (a) Define the following genetic terms. (2 marks)

Heterozygous – having two different alleles/ a dominant allele and a recessive allele;

Recessive allele – alternative form of a gene only expressed in absence of the

dominant (allele)/ if homozygous;

(b) People use sun-cream to protect their skin. Ultra-violet light from the sun is a type of
ionizing radiation. Suggest how using sun-cream reduces the damaging effect of the Sun’s
rays. (1 mark)
(Sun cream) absorbs / blocks /stops sun’s rays; prevents ionizing radiation
/harmful sun’s rays from reaching skin / cells / body;

4. The photograph below shows a gorilla with her baby.

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 Gorillas have characteristics that are only found in mammals, and not in any other
vertebrate group.
State:
(i) One mammalian characteristic visible in the above photograph. (1 mark)
Mammary glands; body covered with hair; 2 pinnae (external ear)
(ii) Two mammalian characteristics not visible in the photograph. (2 marks)
• Presence of sweat glands;
• Double circulatory exchange;
• Lungs for gaseous exchange;

5. (a) What is speciation? (1 mark)

The process through which a new species is formed from an already existing one.
(b) State two examples of highly successful artificial selection programs in Kenya.
(2marks)
Development of grade cattle (cross breeds between European dairy breeds and
Boran breeds);
Hybrid maize;

6. Arteries are made of three layers. The innermost layer is endothelium. Differentiate the
composition of the middle layer and the outer layer. (2 marks)

The middle layer is composed of elastic fibres and smooth muscles; while the
outer layer is formed of elastic muscular fibres (collagen fibres);

7. (a) Which graph shows the effect of temperature on the activity of an enzyme? (1 mark)

A B

Enzyme Enzyme
activity activity

0 50 100 0 50 100
temperature / °C temperature / °C

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 C D

Enzyme Enzyme
activity activity

0 50 100 0 50 100
temperature / °C temperature / °C
A;

b) Explain your answer in (a) above (3 marks)

(within a limited range of temperatures) the rate of an enzyme catalyzed reaction increases
as temperature rises up to optimum; Above optimum temperature, the reaction ceases;
since enzymes become denatured (leading to loss of biological activity);
8. State two uses of digested food in the bodies of animals. (2 marks)

• Growth
• Repair
• Protection
• Energy production

9. Two similar leaves are set up in test-tubes as shown below.

green leaf green leaf

black paper

orange
A hydrogen carbonate B
indicator solution

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 After a few hours, which colour would the hydrogen carbonate indicator solution be in each
tube? (2 marks)
A B

Purple; Yellow;

10. Which organelles are present in large numbers in cells that produce Insulin? Give a

reason for your answer. (2 marks)

Rough endoplasmic reticulum; to transport the insulin as proteins;
Golgi bodies; for the transport of the secretions/insulin
11. Give three advantages of fossil records. (3 marks)
• Show direct evidence of the type of organisms that existed during a given
geological time;
• Show transitional forms between groups of organisms;
• Show increase in complexity from simple organisms to complex organisms ;
• Show extinction of certain organisms;
• Fossils show that different classes of organism arose at different times;
12. Give the two forms of combinations, when bases pair up in the formation of DNA. (2mks)
Cytosine and Guanine;

13. Name two processes that bring about the translocation of manufactured food. (2mks)
• Active transport;
• Diffusion;
• Mass flow;
• Cytoplasmic streaming;

14. The diagram shows a villus. The arrows show the direction of flow within vessels
associated with the villus.

(a) Which vessel carries blood to the liver? (1 mark)

D / Hepatic portal vein;
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 (b) Name 2 substances transported to the liver by the vessel named in (a) above. (2mks)
Amino acid; Glucose;

15. State why the following processes are essential in living organisms.
Adaptability. (1 mark)
Enhances their ability to survive in a particular environment;
Reproduction. (1 mark)
Sustains or perpetuates the species so that they do not become extinct;
16. The herbivorous mammalian species were introduced into an ecosystem at the
same time and in equal numbers. The graph below represents their populations during
the first seven years. Study the graph and answer the questions that follow.

(a) Which species has a better competitive ability? (1 mark)

Species A;
(b) Give reason for your answer; (1 mark)
The rate of multiplication/ growth in A is faster than of species B
17. Toxoplasma is a single-celled organism that has no cell wall and no chlorophyll.
Gases are exchanged across the cell membrane of Toxoplasma.
Name:
(i) The gas produced by Toxoplasma (1 mark)
Carbon (IV) oxide

(ii) The process that produces the gas (1 mark)

(Aerobic) respiration

(iii) The method of removal of the gas (1 mark)

(Simple) diffusion

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18. What is the significance of diffusion to plant pollination? (1 mark)

The insects that carry out pollination are attracted by the smell from the flowers,
this may lead to pollination;
19. A researcher investigated the population growth of fish for fish farming. The
researcher stocked a farmer’s lake with a small number of these fish and recorded the
number of fish over the next five years. The researcher’s results showed that the
population of fish had increased exponentially.
(i) Use the axes to show the exponential growth in the population of fish. Label the axes
and draw a suitable curve. (3 marks)

Vertical axis – numbers / population;

Horizontal axis – time / years;
Curve showing exponential increase/ log phase;
20. Single-celled organisms with cell walls do not have contractile vacuoles. Suggest why.
(2 marks)
Cell walls, inelastic/ do not stretch / rigid / inflexible keep shape of cell; cells are
turgid / have high turgor pressure ; resist any increase in volume / pressure;
these cells do not absorb excess water ; the cells will not burst; (any 2)
21. Describe what is meant by the term sustainable resource, using forests as an example. (2
marks)
Renewable / self-renewing /regenerates e.g produced as rapidly as it is removed
Resource does not / will not run out / become exhausted ; replanting
/reseeding/re-growing e.g pollarding/coppicing;
22. Rhabdostyla lives in freshwater habitats, such as ponds, lakes and rivers where
solute concentration is low. Rhabdostyla has a contractile vacuole that fills with water
and empties at intervals as shown in. The contractile vacuole removes excess water.

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contractile
vacuole
contractile
vacuole expels
excess water

not drawn to scale

Explain, using the term water potential, why Rhabdostyla needs to remove excess water. (3
marks)
Water enters by osmosis; down a water potential gradient / high(er) to low(er)
water potential; through partially permeable membrane; needs to remove water to
prevent bursting
23. Name the disorder of the blood described by the following symptoms

(a) Inability of the blood to clot. (1 mark)

• Haemophilia;
(b) Crescent shaped red blood cells with abnormal haemoglobin. (1 mark)
• Sickle cell anaemia;
(c) Abnormal and uncontrolled production of white blood cells. (1 mark)
• Leukemia / blood cancer;
24. The diagram below shows a section of a long pea pod, the fruit of a pea plant.

Name the parts of the original pea flower from which structures A and B have developed.
(2 marks)
A – Ovary;
B – Ovule;
25. (a) Which organ produces urea? (1 mark)
• Liver ;
(b) Name two organs that remove excretory products from the blood? (2 marks)
• Kidney;
• Lung;
26. Name the root zone characterized by rapid and active absorption of water. (1 mark)
Zone of cell differentiation;

27. Explain the difference between self-pollination and cross pollination. (2 marks)

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Self pollination – transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of the
same flower;
Cross pollination – transfer of pollen grains from the anther of one flower to the
stigma of another flower but of the same species;

28. When blood is flowing through a vena cava, which main blood vessel will it flow through
next? (1mark)
• Pulmonary artery;

29. The diagram below represents a stage in the development of human foetus

(a) State one function of each of the structures labeled A and B (2 marks)
A – Has umbilical vein and artery to supply foetus with nutrients and removal of
waste products;
B – protects embryo from shock; regulate temperature of developing embryo;
suspends and supports embryo;
(b) Apart from the size of the foetus what else from the diagram illustrates that birth was
going to occur in the near future. (1 mark)
• Foetus head is turned towards the cervix;
30. Name the sites through which transpiration takes place in a plant. (3 marks)
• Stomata;
• Cuticle;
• Lenticel;
31. (i) Explain the role of enzymes in respiration. (1 mark)
They catalyze reactions / speed up rate of respiration;

(ii) Give a word equation for aerobic respiration. (1 mark)

Glucose + oxygen ® water + carbon (IV) oxide + energy
(iii) Explain two disadvantages of anaerobic respiration. (2marks)
• Less energy produced in anaerobic respiration since food is partially
oxidized while in aerobic respiration food is completely oxidized;
• Ethanol produced in plants poisons the tissues while lactic acid produced in
animals causes muscle fatigue/muscle cramp and may stop muscle contraction;

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 • Some metabolic wastes accumulate in cells affecting cellular functions,
such intermediate wastes are not produced in aerobic respiration;

32. Give two reasons for loss of energy from one trophic level to another in a food chain.
• Through excretion; e.g. urination and sweating
• Through respiration;
• Insufficient utilization of food resources; (wastage) e.g by defecation.

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