Feeding relationships: Edexcel International GCSE Biology questions

Every Edexcel International GCSE Biology exam question on Feeding relationships (specification points 4.6–4.9), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

All 77 questions on Feeding relationships, as a list

June 2025, Paper 1, Q8(b) (8 marks): Complete the passage about feeding relationships by writing a suitable word or words in each blank space. (8) Food chains show the flow of energy through an eco
June 2025 (R), Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which are the trophic levels of the starfish in this food web? (1) A primary consumer and secondary consumer B primary consumer and tertiary consumer C secondar
June 2025 (R), Paper 1, Q7(a)(iii) (3 marks): Explain why only 1% of the energy in the algae is transferred to the starfish. (3)
November 2024, Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Name the trophic level of the algae in this food chain. (1)
November 2024, Paper 1, Q7(a)(ii) (1 mark): Name the trophic level of the pike in this food chain. (1)
June 2024, Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): Which is the producer in this food web? (1) A beetle B deer C oak tree D tick
June 2024, Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (2 marks): Draw a food chain, from this web, that includes the mouse and contains four trophic levels. (2)
June 2024, Paper 1, Q1(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which one of these organisms is in two different trophic levels in this food web? (1) A ant B blue jay C caterpillar D mouse
June 2024 (R), Paper 1, Q5(a)(ii) (1 mark): Name two organisms in this food web that can feed as tertiary consumers. (1) 1 2
June 2024 (R), Paper 1, Q5(a)(iii) (2 marks): Draw the food chain with the most trophic levels in this food web. (2)
June 2024 (R), Paper 1, Q5(b)(i) (2 marks): During a month in spring, the scientists found that the biomass of phytoplankton in the water increased from 1.2 mg per dm3 to 12.6 mg per dm3. Calculate the pe
November 2023, Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): Which organism is the producer? (1) A caterpillar B earthworm C oak tree D stoat
November 2023, Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which organism is a secondary consumer? (1) A caterpillar B earthworm C fox D ladybird
November 2023, Paper 1, Q1(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which organism is both a secondary and a tertiary consumer? (1) A blackbird B earthworm C fox D stoat
November 2023, Paper 1, Q1(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain what effect this may have on the blackbirds in the woodland. (3)
June 2023, Paper 1, Q2(a)(i) (2 marks): Using the information in the food web, draw a food chain that contains five trophic levels and includes the birds. (2)
June 2023, Paper 1, Q2(a)(ii) (3 marks): Describe how the bacteria and fungi obtain energy from the organic matter. (3)
June 2023, Paper 1, Q2(b) (3 marks): A pesticide gets into this ecosystem. The pesticide kills small and large arthropods. Explain how this affects the population of birds and the population of wor
June 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(a)(i) (1 mark): How many secondary consumers are there in this food web? (1) A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4
June 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(a)(iii) (3 marks): The fox receives 1% of the energy present in the oak tree. The fox receives 0.04% of the energy present in the grass. Explain why a higher proportion of the ene
January 2023, Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which organism is a primary consumer? (1) A acacia B lion C star grass D zebra
January 2023, Paper 1, Q7(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which of these has the least efficient energy transfer? (1) A giraffe to cheetah B star grass to baboon C wildebeest to wild dog D zebra to lion
January 2023, Paper 1, Q7(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which organism will be least affected by a reduction in the population of star grass? (1) A baboon B gazelle C wildebeest D zebra
January 2023, Paper 1, Q7(b)(i) (4 marks): Explain why only a small proportion of the energy contained within one trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level. (4)
January 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(a)(i) (1 mark): Which organism is a primary consumer in this food web? (1) A aphid B blackbird C fox D oak tree
January 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(b)(i) (3 marks): A student counted 20 mice living around 4 oak trees. There were also 2 foxes in the area. Draw a labelled pyramid of numbers for this food chain on the grid. Yo
January 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(b)(ii) (2 marks): Photosynthesis results in 25 000 kJ of energy being transferred to the biomass of the oak trees each year. Only 8% of this energy is transferred to the biomass
January 2023 (R), Paper 1, Q3(b)(iii) (3 marks): Explain why only 8% of the energy stored in the biomass of the oak trees is used by the mice for growth. (3)
June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(a)(i) (2 marks): Draw a labelled pyramid of numbers for this data. (2)
June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(b)(i) (1 mark): Calculate the percentage of biomass in the secondary consumers that is transferred to the tertiary consumers. (1) percentage = %
June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(b)(ii) (4 marks): Comment on the energy transfers in this ecosystem. In your answer, refer to data from the table and the percentages of biomass transferred. (4)
June 2022 (R), Paper 1, Q3(a)(i) (1 mark): Which of these organisms in the food web is a primary consumer? (1) A beaver B coyote C grass D wolf
January 2022, Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which organism in the food web is the producer? (1) A blackbird B centipede C earthworm D oak tree
January 2022, Paper 1, Q7(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which organism acts as both a secondary consumer and a tertiary consumer in the food web? (1) A blackbird B earthworm C ground beetle D sparrowhawk
January 2022, Paper 1, Q7(b)(i) (2 marks): The light energy reaching the producers is 7.1 × 106 kJ per m2 per year. Explain why the plants cannot absorb all of this energy. (2)
January 2022, Paper 1, Q7(b)(ii) (2 marks): The table shows that energy is transferred between producer and primary consumer and between primary consumer and secondary consumer. A student states that the
January 2022 (R), Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): How many organisms in this food web are secondary consumers? (1) A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5
January 2022 (R), Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (1 mark): Draw the longest food chain in this food web. (1)
January 2022 (R), Paper 1, Q1(a)(iii) (3 marks): Explain why most of the energy in the producers is not transferred to the hawk. (3)
November 2021, Paper 1, Q9(a)(i) (2 marks): Name the producers in this food web. (2)
November 2021, Paper 1, Q9(a)(ii) (2 marks): Name two secondary consumers in this food web. (2)
November 2021, Paper 1, Q9(a)(iii) (2 marks): Draw a food chain from this food web that contains four organisms and includes the herring gull. (2)
November 2021, Paper 1, Q9(b)(i) (2 marks): This food chain is found in the food web. microscopic algae → limpet → lobster → common seal Sketch and label the pyramid of energy for this food chain. (2)
November 2021, Paper 1, Q9(b)(ii) (3 marks): Explain why the amount of energy available to the organisms changes along this food chain. (3)
June 2021, Paper 1, Q6(b)(i) (3 marks): Calculate the mean mass in g of a single primary consumer. Give your answer in standard form. (3) mean mass = g
June 2021, Paper 1, Q6(b)(ii) (2 marks): Use the grid to draw a pyramid of biomass for the pond community. (2)
June 2021, Paper 1, Q6(c)(i) (2 marks): Explain why egestion is one reason why energy transfer is not 100% efficient. (2)
June 2021, Paper 1, Q6(c)(ii) (2 marks): Give two other reasons why energy transfer is not 100% efficient. (2) 1 2
January 2021, Paper 1, Q2(a) (1 mark): Name the primary consumer in this food chain. (1)
January 2021, Paper 1, Q2(b)(ii) (2 marks): Give two reasons why some of the energy in the microscopic plants is not transferred to the small fish. (2) 1 2
January 2021 (R), Paper 1, Q7(b)(i) (2 marks): A snail eats 1.2 g of food and produces 0.30 g of faeces. Calculate the assimilation efficiency of this snail. (2) assimilation efficiency = %
January 2021 (R), Paper 1, Q7(b)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why the assimilation efficiency of a primary consumer is less than the assimilation efficiency of a secondary consumer. (2)
January 2021 (R), Paper 1, Q7(c) (2 marks): The production efficiency of an animal is the percentage of assimilated food that is made into new biomass. The table shows the production efficiency of a mamma
January 2021 (R), Paper 2, Q6(a)(i) (1 mark): Use data from Diagram 1 to calculate the efficiency of the transfer of biomass from producers (P) to primary consumers (C1) in the coral reef. (1) producer to p
January 2021 (R), Paper 2, Q6(a)(ii) (1 mark): The efficiency of the transfer of biomass from primary consumers (C1) to secondary consumers (C2) in the crop field is 1%. Calculate the biomass of the secondar
January 2021 (R), Paper 2, Q6(a)(iii) (1 mark): Suggest why the biomass transfer is different in the coral reef compared to the crop field. (1)
January 2021 (R), Paper 2, Q6(b) (2 marks): Diagram 2 shows pyramids of biomass for an ocean and a lake. C2=4 C1=11 C1=21 Biomass in g per m2 P=96 P=4 ocean lake Diagram 2 Explain the shape of the pyramid
January 2021 (R), Paper 2, Q6(c) (2 marks): Suggest how scientists could estimate the energy of the producers in 1 m2 of the crop field. (2)
November 2020, Paper 1, Q4(a)(i) (1 mark): Which term describes the trophic level of the krill? (1) A predator B prey C primary consumer D secondary consumer
November 2020, Paper 1, Q4(a)(ii) (2 marks): Draw a labelled pyramid of biomass to represent this food chain. (2)
November 2020, Paper 1, Q4(b) (2 marks): The microscopic plants float in seawater, but also grow on the lower surface of ice. The krill feed on the microscopic plants. They remove microscopic plants fr
November 2020, Paper 1, Q4(c) (4 marks): A student investigates the rate that krill feeding removes microscopic plants floating in seawater. Suggest how the student could do this investigation in a lab
November 2020 (R), Paper 1, Q4(a) (2 marks): Draw a food web showing these feeding relationships. (2)
November 2020 (R), Paper 1, Q4(b) (1 mark): Give the term that describes the trophic level of a caterpillar. (1)
January 2020, Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): How many producers are shown in this food web? (1) A one B three C four D nine
January 2020, Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (1 mark): How many secondary consumers are shown in this food web? (1) A one B three C four D seven
January 2020, Paper 1, Q1(b)(ii) (2 marks): A coyote runs 530 metres in 30.0 seconds trying to catch a deer. Calculate the speed of this coyote in metres per second. (2) speed = m/s
January 2020 (R), Paper 1, Q6(a) (1 mark): Give the name of process X. (1)
January 2020 (R), Paper 1, Q6(b) (1 mark): Determine the energy transferred from the primary consumers to the secondary consumers. (1) energy transferred = kJ per m2 per year
January 2020 (R), Paper 1, Q6(c)(ii) (3 marks): Forty per cent of the energy in the producers transfers to decomposers. Only twenty per cent of the energy in the primary consumers transfers to decomposers. Ex
June 2019, Paper 1, Q3(a) (3 marks): Use information from the food web to complete the table. The first one has been done for you. (3) number of organisms 8 number of producers number of primary co
June 2019, Paper 1, Q3(b) (4 marks): Explain why the energy in the mud worms is not all transferred to the organisms that eat them. (4)
June 2019, Paper 2, Q1(c)(ii) (2 marks): Read the passage below. Use the information in the passage and your own knowledge to answer the questions that follow. Global warming and the Great Barrier Reef
June 2019 (R), Paper 1, Q1(a) (1 mark): Which of these organisms is a secondary consumer in this food web? (1) A corn B grasshopper C mouse D owl
June 2019 (R), Paper 1, Q1(b) (2 marks): Explain why the grass in this food web contains energy. (2)
June 2019 (R), Paper 1, Q1(c) (3 marks): Explain why a large percentage of the energy in rabbits is not available for growth in owls. (3)
June 2019 (R), Paper 1, Q1(d)(ii) (1 mark): Which of these organisms will be hunted more often by predators when the corn is infected by a fungus? (1) A grass B owl C rabbit D snake

Questions, mark schemes and examiner’s reports are © Pearson Edexcel, from their published past papers. Plumi isn’t affiliated with any exam board. Want whole papers? Every Edexcel International GCSE Biology paper.

Rather write your answers by hand on iPad? Plumi marks them against the same mark schemes.

1,862 questions