IGCSE Biology (9–1) 0970 · Topic 19

Organisms and their environment: past paper questions

202 real questionsasked in 10 of the last 10 exam series2019–2026usually: State, Describe, Complete, Explain, Calculate

Real questions on organisms and their environment

The newest 20 of 108 written questions, plus 94 multiple-choice. Open one to see it on the real paper.

0970/31 · May/June 2026 · Q7c(i)[3]
State three conditions that affect the steepness of the slope in phase B in Figure 7.1.
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0970/31 · May/June 2026 · Q7c(ii)[2]
State the names of phases A and C in Figure 7.1.
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0970/31 · May/June 2026 · Q8b(ii)[2]
Calculate the percentage increase in the population size of Arabian oryx between 1980 and 2000 in Table 8.1.
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0970/31 · May/June 2026 · Q8d[2]
Inthe wild, Arabian oryx all live in similar ecosystems. Describe what is meant by an ecosystem.
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0970/32 · May/June 2026 · Q6a[2]
6 (a) Describe what is meant by the term biodiversity. Son PE PET ETESEESEESESEESECEESEESESENSESEESECEESECEESENSESEOTESOTESSETECSESEESECSESEETESEETESEESEOSESSTSESEETENSESEOTENESTOTETENSLOSITENN [2]
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0970/32 · May/June 2026 · Q6c(i)[2]
Some humans also eat herring. Suggest two effects on the food chain shown in Figure 6.2 if humans harvest too many herring. 1.
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0970/32 · May/June 2026 · Q6c(ii)[1]
State the name of a producer in the food chain shown in Figure 6.2.
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0970/32 · May/June 2026 · Q6c(iii)[1]
State the name of a secondary consumer in the food chain shown in Figure 6.2.
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0970/42 · October/November 2025 · Q4a(i)[1]
State the name of one primary consumer from Fig. 4.1.
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0970/42 · October/November 2025 · Q4a(ii)[1]
Use the information in Fig. 4.1 to construct one food chain with four trophic levels that includes the steppe eagle.
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0970/42 · October/November 2025 · Q4a(iii)[2]
There are fewer grey wolves than marmots in this ecosystem. Explain why the population size of organisms decreases from one trophic level to the next trophic level in this ecosystem.
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0970/62 · October/November 2025 · Q3b(i)[2]
State two ways that the method used by the scientists ensured that the numbers of seven‑armed starfish counted at different depths could be compared. The results of the investigation are shown in Table 3.1. number of seven‑armed starfish counted 0.0–9.9 337 10.0–19.9 1486 20.0–29.9 1243 30.0–39.9 241 40.0–49.9 121 dept...
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0970/62 · October/November 2025 · Q3b(ii)[4]
Plot a histogram on the grid of the data in Table 3.1. (ii)
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0970/62 · October/November 2025 · Q3b(iii)[1]
State the depth range in Table 3.1 at which most seven‑armed starfish were found. m
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0970/62 · October/November 2025 · Q3b(iv)[3]
Using the information in Table 3.1, calculate the total number of seven‑armed starfish that were photographed at all depths, and use this value to calculate the percentage of starfish that were photographed in the 0.0–9.9 m range. Express the percentage as a whole number. Space for working. total number of seven‑armed...
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0970/32 · May/June 2025 · Q7b(ii)[1]
State the name of a tertiary consumer shown in Fig. 7.2.
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0970/32 · May/June 2025 · Q7b(iii)[1]
State the name of a producer shown in Fig. 7.2.
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0970/32 · May/June 2025 · Q7b(v)[1]
Using Fig. 7.2, complete a food chain that contains the orangutan and two other species.
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0970/32 · May/June 2025 · Q7b(vi)[2]
The species shown in Fig. 7.2 are found in a rainforest ecosystem. Describe what is meant by the term ecosystem.
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0970/32 · May/June 2025 · Q7c[2]
Fig. 7.3 shows how the population of Asian elephants changed from 2010 to 2016 in one country. 2000 1900 1800 number of Asian elephants 1700 1600 1500 1400 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 year Fig. 7.3 Describe the change in the population of Asian elephants shown in Fig. 7.3.
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What examiners said

Most candidates were able to construct a food chain using organisms from the food web. Very few gave a chain using other animals.
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0970/32 Q7(b)(v) (Cambridge)

Most answers were descriptions of a food web rather than an ecosystem.
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0970/32 Q7(b)(vi) (Cambridge)

Most candidates were able give a number of correct answers by selecting data from the graph.
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0970/32 Q7(c) (Cambridge)

Practise this topic

Answer these questions online and get each one marked against the official mark scheme, with what you missed and how to fix it.

Practise these questions

In the syllabus

19.1 Energy flow

State that the Sun is the principal source of energy input to biological systems
Describe the flow of energy through living organisms, including light energy from the Sun and chemical energy in organisms, and its eventual transfer to the environment

19.2 Food chains and food webs

Describe a food chain as showing the transfer of energy from one organism to the next, beginning with a producer
Construct and interpret simple food chains
Describe a food web as a network of interconnected food chains and interpret food webs
Describe a producer as an organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis
Describe a consumer as an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms
State that consumers may be classed as primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary according to their position in a food chain
Describe a herbivore as an animal that gets its energy by eating plants
Describe a carnivore as an animal that gets its energy by eating other animals
Describe a decomposer as an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic material
Use food chains and food webs to describe the impact humans have through overharvesting of food species and through introducing foreign species to a habitat
Draw, describe and interpret pyramids of numbers and pyramids of biomass
Discuss the advantages of using a pyramid of biomass rather than a pyramid of numbers to represent a food chain

19.3 Nutrient cycles

Describe the carbon cycle, limited to: photosynthesis, respiration, feeding, decomposition, formation of fossil fuels and combustion
Describe the nitrogen cycle with reference to: • decomposition of plant and animal protein to ammonium ions • nitrification • nitrogen fixation by lightning and bacteria • absorption of nitrate ions by plants • production of amino acids and proteins • feeding and digestion of proteins • deamination • denitrification
State the roles of microorganisms in the nitrogen cycle, limited to: decomposition, nitrification, nitrogen fixation and denitrification (generic names of individual bacteria, e.g. Rhizobium, are not required)

19.4 Populations

Describe a population as a group of organisms of one species, living in the same area, at the same time
Describe a community as all of the populations of different species in an ecosystem
Describe an ecosystem as a unit containing the community of organisms and their environment, interacting together
Identify and state the factors affecting the rate of population growth for a population of an organism, limited to food supply, competition, predation and disease
Identify the lag, exponential (log), stationary and death phases in the sigmoid curve of population growth for a population growing in an environment with limited resources
Interpret graphs and diagrams of population growth
Explain the factors that lead to each phase in the sigmoid curve of population growth, making reference, where appropriate, to the role of limiting factors

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