Mass transport: AQA A‑Level Biology questions

Every AQA A-Level Biology exam question on 3.3.4 Mass transport, 2016–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

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1,383 questions

Q06.1
June 2025 · Paper 1
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q06.2
June 2025 · Paper 1
3 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q10.3
June 2025 · Paper 1
5 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q07.1
June 2025 · AS Paper 1
1 mark3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q07.3
June 2025 · AS Paper 1
1 mark3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q07.4
June 2025 · AS Paper 1
4 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q01.1
June 2025 · AS Paper 2
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q01.2
June 2025 · AS Paper 2
1 mark3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q01.4
June 2025 · AS Paper 2
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q04.4
June 2025 · AS Paper 2
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q09.2
June 2025 · AS Paper 2
5 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q08.1
June 2024 · Paper 1
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q08.2
June 2024 · Paper 1
3 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q08.3
June 2024 · Paper 1
3 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q07.2
June 2024 · Paper 3
25 marks3.2.3 Transport across cell membranes 3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q01.2
June 2024 · AS Paper 2
3 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q01.3
June 2024 · AS Paper 2
1 mark3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q07.5
June 2024 · AS Paper 2
2 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
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Q09.1
June 2024 · AS Paper 2
5 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
The whole paper ↗
Q02.3
June 2023 · Paper 1
3 marks3.3.4 Mass transport
The whole paper ↗

All 96 questions on Mass transport, as a list

June 2025, Paper 1, Q06.1 (2 marks): Crab blood contains the respiratory pigment haemocyanin. Figure 3 shows the dissociation curve for oxyhaemocyanin in a species of crab at two temperatures. Figu
June 2025, Paper 1, Q06.2 (3 marks): Figure 4 shows the colour of haemocyanin with increasing concentrations of oxygen. Figure 4 A calibration curve can be used to determine the percentage oxygen s
June 2025, Paper 1, Q10.3 (5 marks): Describe the pathway taken by blood between a kidney and the coronary arteries. Include names of the major blood vessels (arteries and veins) and heart valves i
June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q07.1 (1 mark): Name the main carbohydrate transported through the phloem. [1 mark]
June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q07.3 (1 mark): The total radioactivity of the phloem and xylem tissues shown in Table 4 was lower than the total radioactivity absorbed by the enclosed leaf. Suggest one reaso
June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q07.4 (4 marks): The mass flow hypothesis states that organic substances are transported through the phloem, from leaves to all parts of plants. Evaluate whether the information
June 2025, AS Paper 2, Q01.1 (2 marks): Name the blood vessels labelled B and E in Figure 1. [2 marks] B E
June 2025, AS Paper 2, Q01.2 (1 mark): Give the letters of all the blood vessels shown in Figure 1 that transport deoxygenated blood. [1 mark]
June 2025, AS Paper 2, Q01.4 (2 marks): The mountain goat lives at high altitudes where the pO2 is lower than where the domestic goat lives. Use Figure 2 to explain how the mountain goat is adapted to
June 2025, AS Paper 2, Q04.4 (2 marks): Give two conclusions that can be made from Figure 9. [2 marks] 1 2
June 2025, AS Paper 2, Q09.2 (5 marks): Describe and explain how tissue fluid is formed and how it is returned to the circulatory system. [5 marks]
June 2024, Paper 1, Q08.1 (2 marks): Give two structural features of an aorta wall and explain how they are related to the function of an aorta. [2 marks] 1 2
June 2024, Paper 1, Q08.2 (3 marks): Small tears may occur in the layers of tissue in an aorta wall. These tears weaken the wall without bursting the aorta. Scientists: • measured the aorta diamete
June 2024, Paper 1, Q08.3 (3 marks): A scientist investigated changes in a diseased heart and changes in a healthy heart during cardiac cycles. For each heart, the scientist obtained a value for: •
June 2024, Paper 3, Q07.2 (25 marks): The mechanisms and importance of transport within organisms. [25 marks]
June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q01.2 (3 marks): Figure 1 shows that water loss from a porous pot can cause the upward movement of water. Figure 1 Biologists have concluded that the experiment in Figure 1 supp
June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q01.3 (1 mark): An air bubble was introduced into the glass tubing in Figure 1. The air bubble moved a distance (d) of 1.5 cm in 120 minutes. The radius of the lumen (hole) of
June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q07.5 (2 marks): A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a common feature of Edwards’ syndrome. A VSD is a hole in the wall between the two ventricles of the heart. A VSD can cause
June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q09.1 (5 marks): Describe the role of haemoglobin (Hb) in the loading, transport and unloading of oxygen. [5 marks]
June 2023, Paper 1, Q02.3 (3 marks): Lignin is a polymer found in the walls of xylem vessels in plants. Lignin keeps the xylem vessel open as a continuous tube. Explain the importance of the xylem
June 2023, Paper 1, Q07.1 (3 marks): Carbon monoxide (CO) is released during incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Figure 7 shows the dissociation curve for oxyhaemoglobin when: • not exposed to C
June 2023, Paper 1, Q07.2 (3 marks): The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that to avoid long-term health effects, COHb concentrations should be kept below 2.5%. WHO recommends that people s
June 2023, Paper 1, Q09.6 (2 marks): The dengue virus causes damage to capillaries so that blood proteins move out of the capillaries into the tissue fluid. Explain how this would affect the return
June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q09.1 (3 marks): Explain how sucrose-transport proteins in leaf cells enable the production of a pressure gradient in the phloem. [3 marks]
June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q09.2 (2 marks): Potato plants with fewer sucrose-transport proteins produce fewer potatoes and accumulate sugars in their leaves (lines 4, 5 and 6). Explain why. [2 marks]
June 2023, AS Paper 2, Q04.1 (2 marks): This question is about the flow of blood into and through the heart. Add the numbers 1 to 6 to Table 2 to give the order of structures through which blood will
June 2023, AS Paper 2, Q04.2 (2 marks): Scientists investigated the heart activity of humans at rest, during medium-intensity exercise and during high-intensity exercise. Figure 2 shows the scientists
June 2023, AS Paper 2, Q04.3 (3 marks): Name the type of blood vessel that controls blood flow to muscles and explain how these blood vessels change blood flow during exercise. [3 marks] Name of blood
June 2022, Paper 1, Q06.1 (4 marks): Explain the rate of transpiration between 5 am and midday shown in Figure 9. [4 marks]
June 2022, Paper 1, Q06.2 (2 marks): Use Figure 9 to calculate the percentage increase in the rate of transpiration from 1 pm to 2 pm. [2 marks] Percentage increase in rate of transpiration %
June 2022, Paper 1, Q08.4 (2 marks): Use Figure 12 to complete Table 5 to show two differences between the circulation of blood in fish and the circulation of blood in a mammal. [2 marks] Table 5 D
June 2022, Paper 1, Q09.1 (5 marks): Describe the transport of carbohydrate in plants. [5 marks]
June 2022, Paper 3, Q01.4 (1 mark): Figure 3 shows an oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve for haemoglobin in normal conditions. Sketch a curve on Figure 3 to show the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation cur
June 2022, Paper 3, Q01.5 (2 marks): Suggest and explain when it would be an advantage to a human for BPG to bind to haemoglobin. [2 marks]
June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q04.2 (3 marks): Figure 4 shows the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve for a lugworm. Figure 4 The oxygen saturation in the blood of a lugworm is 92% The lugworm has 0.2 cm3 of b
June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q04.3 (2 marks): The intensity of the red colour in blood is affected by the pO2 of the blood. The intensity of the colour in a solution is measured using a colorimeter. The sci
June 2022, AS Paper 2, Q06.1 (2 marks): A student dissected a sheep’s heart. He prepared a risk assessment on: • carrying a scalpel • using a scalpel. Complete Table 3 by giving three control measures
June 2022, AS Paper 2, Q06.2 (2 marks): A scientist measured the changes in blood volume inside the left ventricle of a mammalian heart during one heartbeat. Figure 5 shows her results. Figure 5 Use F
June 2022, AS Paper 2, Q06.3 (4 marks): Using information in Figure 6 and Figure 7, evaluate the effect of these treatments on reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in patients with a
June 2022, AS Paper 2, Q07.2 (4 marks): Using information in Table 4, what can you conclude about the effect of different factors on the mean shelf life of cut flowers? Explain your conclusions. [4 ma
June 2022, AS Paper 2, Q07.3 (3 marks): Other than a change in temperature, give one change the scientist could make to the environmental conditions to increase the cut flowers’ shelf life. Explain yo
November 2021, Paper 1, Q04.1 (2 marks): Suggest two ways the student could improve the quality of his scientific drawing of the blood vessels in this dissection. [2 marks] 1 2
November 2021, Paper 1, Q04.2 (2 marks): Identify the type of blood vessel labelled as X and the type of blood vessel labelled as Y in Figure 4. Describe one feature that allowed you to identify the bl
November 2021, Paper 1, Q04.3 (2 marks): Describe two precautions the student should take when clearing away after the dissection. [2 marks] 1 2
November 2021, Paper 3, Q06.3 (1 mark): The scientists hypothesised that lower rates of sucrose transport from leaves would cause reduced growth. To test this hypothesis, the scientists provided leave
November 2021, Paper 3, Q06.4 (2 marks): In type B plants, the percentage of 14C remaining in the leaves does not reach zero per cent, as shown in Figure 5. Suggest two reasons why. [2 marks] 1 2 The s
November 2021, Paper 3, Q06.5 (4 marks): Use all the information to suggest and explain how the physiological factors in Table 3 would contribute to the decreased dry mass observed in type A plants. [4
November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q06.1 (3 marks): Give the pathway a red blood cell takes when travelling in the human circulatory system from a kidney to the lungs. Do not include descriptions of pressure chan
November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q06.2 (2 marks): Identify the type of blood vessel labelled M in Figure 6. Explain your answer. [2 marks] Type of blood vessel Explanation
November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q06.3 (4 marks): Tissue fluid is formed from blood at the arteriole end of a capillary bed. Explain how water from tissue fluid is returned to the circulatory system. [4 marks]
November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q09.2 (2 marks): Explain the biological advantage to athletes of injecting synthetic EPO (lines 7−8). [2 marks]
November 2020, Paper 1, Q03.1 (2 marks): At P on Figure 3, the pressure in the left ventricle is increasing. At this time, the rate of blood flow has not yet started to increase in the aorta. Use evide
November 2020, Paper 1, Q03.2 (2 marks): At Q on Figure 3 there is a small increase in pressure and in rate of blood flow in the aorta. Explain how this happens and its importance. [2 marks]
November 2020, Paper 1, Q03.3 (2 marks): A student correctly plotted the right ventricle pressure on the same grid as the left ventricle pressure in Figure 3. Describe one way in which the student’s cu
November 2020, Paper 1, Q03.4 (1 mark): Use information from Figure 3 to calculate the heart rate of this dog. [1 mark] Heart rate beats minute–1
November 2020, Paper 1, Q09.4 (4 marks): A journalist saw Figure 10 and suggested that future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration could result in less transpiration. Evaluate his sugg
November 2020, Paper 3, Q06.1 (2 marks): Describe the advantage of the Bohr effect during intense exercise. [2 marks]
November 2020, Paper 3, Q06.6 (2 marks): A heart attack is caused by a lack of glucose and oxygen being delivered to cardiac muscle via the coronary arteries. The overuse of EPO can increase the risk o
November 2020, Paper 3, Q06.7 (2 marks): The normal haematocrit for human males is 47(±5)%. For professional male cyclists, the maximum haematocrit allowed is 50%. A student suggested that professional
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q03.1 (2 marks): Explain how an arteriole can reduce the blood flow into capillaries. [2 marks]
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q03.2 (4 marks): What can you conclude from the appearance of valves in Figure 1 about heart muscle activity and blood movement between: 1. ventricles and arteries? [2 marks] 2.
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q03.3 (1 mark): Tick () one box next to the blood vessel carrying blood at the lowest blood pressure. [1 mark] Capillary Pulmonary vein Renal vein Vena cava
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q03.4 (2 marks): A scientist measured the heart rate and the volume of blood pumped in a single heart beat (stroke volume) of an athlete before exercise and calculated the cardi
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q08.1 (2 marks): A scientist measured the pressure in a phloem tube in a willow plant stem. He repeated his measurements to obtain nine readings. His results are shown in Table
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q08.2 (3 marks): The mass flow hypothesis is used to explain the movement of substances through phloem. Use your understanding of the mass flow hypothesis to explain how pressur
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q08.3 (1 mark): The scientist also measured changes in the phloem pressure and changes in the rate of water movement in the xylem of a willow plant at intervals during a day. H
November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q08.4 (3 marks): Phloem pressure is reduced during the hottest part of the day. Use information in Figure 6 along with your understanding of transpiration and mass flow to expla
June 2019, Paper 3, Q03.1 (1 mark): Name valve A and chamber B. [1 mark] Valve A Chamber B
June 2019, Paper 3, Q03.2 (1 mark): Give two safety precautions that should be followed when dissecting a heart. [1 mark] 1 2
June 2019, Paper 3, Q03.3 (2 marks): Explain how valve A in Figure 2 maintains a unidirectional flow of blood. [2 marks]
June 2019, Paper 3, Q03.5 (1 mark): Before taking the drink, the mean heart rate of Group J was 68 beats per minute. Fifteen minutes after taking the drink, the mean volume of blood leaving the he
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q02.1 (2 marks): Describe and explain the effect of increasing carbon dioxide concentration on the dissociation of oxyhaemoglobin. [2 marks]
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q02.2 (2 marks): Use information in Figure 3 to explain how the seal’s myoglobin dissociation curve shows the seal is adapted for diving. [2 marks] [ ]
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q02.3 (2 marks): Scientists measured the oxygen carrying capacity of seal blood. They found the haemoglobin in a 190 kg seal contained 1.07 × 104 cm3 oxygen. When the seal dived
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q05.1 (2 marks): The student measured the time taken for water movement. Give two other measurements he made to calculate the rate of water movement. [2 marks] 1 2
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q05.2 (1 mark): Give the reason for adding a layer of oil to the water in the beaker. [1 mark]
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q05.3 (3 marks): A different student used coloured water to investigate the movement of water in leaf stalks of celery. During the procedure she: • cut equal lengths of stalk fr
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q05.4 (2 marks): The student used a sharp scalpel to cut the celery. Describe how she should ensure she handled the scalpel safely during this procedure. [2 marks]
June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q05.5 (2 marks): The student had to choose whether to summarise her measurements by calculating the mean, the median or the mode. Circle the most appropriate measure for this se
June 2017, Paper 3, Q06.1 (2 marks): In one experiment, the air bubble moved 7.5 mm in 15 minutes. The diameter of the capillary tube was 1.0 mm. Calculate the rate of water uptake by the shoot in
June 2017, Paper 3, Q06.2 (3 marks): The student wanted to determine the rate of water loss per mm2 of surface area of the leaves of the shoot in Figure 5. Outline a method she could have used to f
June 2017, Paper 3, Q06.3 (1 mark): The rate of water movement through a shoot in a potometer may not be the same as the rate of water movement through the shoot of a whole plant. Suggest one reas
June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q04.1 (2 marks): Use information from Figure 3 to complete Table 2. Place the number 1, 2, 3 or 4 in the appropriate box. [2 marks] Table 2 Valve opens Valve closes Semi-lunar v
June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q04.2 (2 marks): Use Figure 3 to calculate the volume of blood pumped per minute by the left ventricle. [2 marks] Answer = cm3 min–1
June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q04.3 (2 marks): Explain the role of the heart in the formation of tissue fluid. [2 marks]
June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q04.4 (1 mark): Lymphoedema is a swelling in the legs which may be caused by a blockage in the lymphatic system. Suggest how a blockage in the lymphatic system could cause lymp
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q02.5 (2 marks): The student then compared the rate of transpiration (evaporation of water) from the two species of plant. She did this by measuring the rate of water uptake by
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q03.3 (2 marks): Most species of tubifex worms live at the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers where the partial pressure of oxygen is low. Pollution of water by sewage can cause
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q09.1: Use Table 1 to calculate the heart rate in beats per minute. Tick () one box next to the correct answer. [1 mar 60 66.7 75 85.7
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q09.2: The stroke volume is the volume of blood pumped out of the left ventricle during one cardiac cycle. Use Table 1 to determine the stroke volume. [1 mar Stroke vo
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q09.3 (2 marks): Some people produce a much higher ventricular blood pressure than normal. This can cause tissue fluid to build up outside the blood capillaries of these people.
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q09.4 (2 marks): Some drugs used to reduce high ventricular blood pressure cause widening of blood vessels. Suggest how widening of blood vessels can reduce ventricular blood pr
June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q10.2 (5 marks): Describe the processes involved in the transport of sugars in plant stems. [5 marks
Specimen, Paper 1, Q09.1 (4 marks): [ ] This source has been removed due to third-party copyright restrictions. 9
Specimen, Paper 1, Q09.3 (2 marks): How long did it take the 14C label to get from the top of the trunk to the bottom of the trunk? Explain how you reached your answer. [2 marks] 0 9 . 3
Specimen, Paper 1, Q09.4 (1 mark): 0

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