Heart rate, ventilation and exercise: Edexcel International A Level Biology questions

Every Edexcel International A Level Biology exam question on Heart rate, ventilation and exercise (specification points 7.12–7.15), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

All 66 questions on Heart rate, ventilation and exercise, as a list

June 2025, Unit 5, Q4(c) (6 marks): Ageing affects different organ systems. Three systems affected by ageing are the: • cardiovascular system • breathing and gas exchange system • brain and nervou
June 2025, Unit 5, Q5(a)(i) (3 marks): Describe three conclusions from this investigation. (3)
June 2025, Unit 5, Q5(a)(ii) (4 marks): Describe how the systole and diastole parts of the cardiac cycle are controlled during the exercise. (4)
June 2025, Unit 5, Q5(b) (2 marks): At rest, a heart pumps 5 dm3 minute–1 of blood and has a heart rate of 72 beats minute–1. Calculate the stroke volume. Use the equation: cardiac output = heart
June 2025, Unit 6, Q4(b) (9 marks): Devise a detailed method, including how you would control and monitor important variables to provide quantitative results. (9)
June 2025, Unit 6, Q4(d) (2 marks): Describe two limitations of your proposed method. (2)
January 2025, Unit 5, Q6(b)(ii) (1 mark): Heart muscle cells are myogenic. Which describes the term myogenic? (1) A a hormone that initiates differentiation B cardiac muscle that is able to contract wit
January 2025, Unit 5, Q8(f) (2 marks): Suggest how ‘a high nitrate content’ in beetroot juice can lead to an increased blood flow to muscles (paragraph 29). (2)
January 2025, Unit 5, Q8(g) (3 marks): Describe how energy drinks could be shown to cause irregular heart rhythms. (paragraph 34). (3)
October 2024, Unit 5, Q5(a)(ii) (4 marks): Explain how the heart rate and ventilation rate of a pronghorn are increased to enable it to run long distances at high speeds. (4)
January 2024, Unit 5, Q6(b) (6 marks): Exercise has many benefits for the health and wellbeing of an individual. An investigation was carried out on non‑athletes and athletes. All participants did a
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(a) (2 marks): Describe two conclusions that can be drawn from these data. (2)
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(b)(i) (1 mark): Which is the heart rate shown in trace A? (1) A 6 bpm B 48 bpm C 60 bpm D 75 bpm
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(b)(ii) (2 marks): Describe two differences shown between trace A and trace B. (2)
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(c)(i) (2 marks): Suggest two reasons why humans can have a different lifespan from other mammals. (2)
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(c)(ii) (1 mark): State why cardiac output provides more information than the resting heart rate. (1)
October 2023, Unit 5, Q4(c)(iii) (4 marks): An African giraffe has the longest stride of all land mammals and can run at a speed of up to 60 km hr–1. Describe how the nervous system affects cardiac output
October 2023, Unit 6, Q2(c)(i) (2 marks): State two biotic variables that could affect this investigation. (2) First variable Second variable
October 2023, Unit 6, Q2(c)(ii) (1 mark): Choose one of the variables you have identified in (i). Describe how this variable can be controlled. (1) Variable Method of control
October 2023, Unit 6, Q2(d) (3 marks): Describe how the ventilation centre in the medulla oblongata controls the ventilation rate. (3)
June 2023, Unit 5, Q3(a) (2 marks): State two lung conditions that affect the ventilation rate of a human. (2)
June 2023, Unit 5, Q3(b)(i) (3 marks): Comment on the relationship between the mean resting ventilation rate and the body mass of animals. (3)
June 2023, Unit 5, Q3(b)(ii) (2 marks): The tidal volume for a resting talapoin monkey was found to be 40 cm3. The minute ventilation is the volume of gas inhaled or exhaled from the lungs in one minu
June 2023, Unit 5, Q3(c) (4 marks): An increase in activity level results in a change in the ventilation rate. Describe why this change occurs and how it is controlled. (4)
June 2023, Unit 5, Q8(b) (4 marks): Describe how the vagus nerve is involved in the control of heart rate (paragraph 6). (4)
January 2023, Unit 5, Q5(c)(ii) (4 marks): Cigarette smoking causes inflammation in the lungs. This can result in damage to the walls of the alveoli and lead to COPD. Cigarette smoking also causes the pr
January 2023, Unit 5, Q6(c)(i) (2 marks): A patient had a heart rate of 65 beats min–1 and a stroke volume of 57 cm3 per beat. Calculate the cardiac output for this individual. Use the equation: stroke
January 2023, Unit 5, Q6(c)(ii) (1 mark): The cardiac index for patient A was 2.92 dm3 min–1 m –2 Which is the correct cardiac index for patient B? (1) A 1.24 B 2.48 C 2.92 D 5.21
January 2023, Unit 5, Q6(c)(iii) (1 mark): State the ratio of the body surface area of patient A to patient B. (1) Answer
January 2023, Unit 5, Q6(d)(i) (2 marks): Comment on the effect of running speed on cardiac output. (2)
January 2023, Unit 5, Q6(d)(ii) (3 marks): Exercise increases the rate of respiration in muscles. Explain how an increase in the rate of respiration causes an increase in the heart rate of an athlete. (3
October 2022, Unit 5, Q4(a)(i) (2 marks): Describe the relationships between resting heart rate and the data shown in the table. (2)
October 2022, Unit 5, Q4(b)(i) (4 marks): Explain how the heart rate of a cheetah can be increased during a chase. (4)
June 2022, Unit 5, Q6(b)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the cardiac output for a person who has a heart rate of 77 bpm and a stroke volume of 70 cm3. Give your answer to two significant figures in dm3 hour–
June 2022, Unit 5, Q6(b)(ii) (3 marks): The formula shows how to calculate the cardiac index. This is a method of adjusting cardiac output values for the body surface area of an individual. 3 − 1 card
June 2022, Unit 5, Q6(b)(iii) (6 marks): Ageing is associated with changes in the way the heart responds to adrenaline. In an investigation, the effects of adrenaline on the hearts of young people and
June 2022, Unit 5, Q8(a) (4 marks): The autonomic nervous system regulates aspects of respiration (paragraph 1). Describe how the autonomic nervous system regulates the breathing rate when a perso
June 2022, Unit 5, Q8(d) (2 marks): Explain how an electrocardiogram could be used to show that a person has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) (Box 1). (2)
January 2022, Unit 5, Q2(c) (3 marks): In an investigation, an athlete ran for 10 minutes on a running machine moving at constant speed. The investigation was repeated at seven running speeds. At eac
January 2022, Unit 5, Q3(b)(i) (3 marks): Comment on the changes in heart rate of the whale when diving. (3)
January 2022, Unit 5, Q3(b)(ii) (3 marks): Explain how the changes in heart rate are controlled when the whale returns to the surface immediately after the dive. (3)
January 2022, Unit 5, Q7(a) (3 marks): Investigation of the breathing of a patient with AAT deficiency found that the: resting tidal volume (VT) was 500 cm3 • dead space (DS) was 150 cm3 • • resting
January 2022, Unit 5, Q7(b)(i) (1 mark): Name the stage of the cardiac cycle at T on this ECG. (1)
January 2022, Unit 5, Q7(b)(ii) (1 mark): The ECG of the patient with AAT is shown in the trace. 1 mV 1.0 s Calculate the mean heart rate shown in this ECG trace. (1) Answer
January 2022, Unit 5, Q7(b)(iii) (3 marks): Compare and contrast the ECG trace of this patient with the normal ECG trace. (3)
October 2021, Unit 5, Q7(a) (3 marks): Calculate the percentage difference in the change in heart rate when using drug B between 5 and 12.5 minutes. (3) Answer %
October 2021, Unit 5, Q7(b) (3 marks): Compare and contrast the effects of drug A and drug B on the heart rate during the investigation. (3)
October 2021, Unit 5, Q7(c) (3 marks): Explain the effect of these drugs on the control of the heart rate. (3)
October 2021, Unit 6, Q2(a)(i) (1 mark): Calculate the mean breathing rate for this person. (1) breaths min–1
October 2021, Unit 6, Q2(a)(ii) (2 marks): Estimate the mean respiratory minute ventilation for this person. (2) dm3 min–1
October 2021, Unit 6, Q2(a)(iii) (2 marks): During exercise, respiratory minute ventilation increases. Explain why it is necessary for the respiratory minute ventilation to increase during exercise. (2)
October 2021, Unit 6, Q2(b)(i) (2 marks): State one abiotic and one biotic variable that could affect this investigation. (2) Abiotic variable Biotic variable
October 2021, Unit 6, Q2(b)(ii) (2 marks): Choose one of the variables you have identified in (b)(i). Describe how this variable could be controlled and the effect it could have on the results if it is n
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(a)(i) (1 mark): Which one of the following statements is correct? (1) A Q is the sinoatrial node (SAN) and R is the atrioventricular node (AVN) B Q is the sinoatrial node (SAN)
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(a)(ii) (1 mark): The electrical impulse that initiates the cardiac cycle begins without the need for a nerve impulse. What is the term for this process? (1) A diastole B myogeni
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain why there is a change in the cardiac cycle during this exercise. (3)
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(b)(ii) (1 mark): The table shows the effect of the training programme on the cardiac output and resting heart rate of this football player. When measurements Cardiac output Rest
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(b)(iii) (1 mark): After training, the footballer had an ECG. This ECG trace is shown in the diagram. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Time / s Calculate the heart rate of the footballer using the
June 2021, Unit 5, Q6(b)(iv) (3 marks): Two hours later a second ECG was recorded. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Time / s Comment on the changes that have occurred in the activity of the heart as shown in these two
January 2021, Unit 5, Q6(a) (3 marks): The heart rate of the unfit person decreased by 16%, 120 seconds after exercise. Calculate the difference in percentage decrease in heart rate of these two peop
January 2021, Unit 5, Q6(b) (3 marks): Calculate the heart rate of the unfit person at 5 minutes. The change in heart rate of the unfit person is a linear relationship. Use the equation for a straigh
January 2021, Unit 5, Q6(c) (3 marks): Explain the difference in the time it would take for these two individuals to recover from the exercise. (3)
January 2021, Unit 5, Q6(d) (4 marks): Describe how heart rate is controlled in response to changes in the blood, following exercise. (4)
October 2020, Unit 5, Q4(a) (2 marks): The table gives some information about the effect of the intensity of exercise on heart rate. Intensity of Heart rate exercise / a.u. / bpm 4 118 6 120 8 138 10
October 2020, Unit 5, Q4(b) (3 marks): Regular swimming affects resting heart rate and cardiac output. cardiac output = stroke volume × heart rate The table shows the mean resting cardiac output and
October 2020, Unit 5, Q4(c) (6 marks): Explain the role of the heart in responding to regular exercise. Use the information in both tables and your own knowledge to support your answer. (6)

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