O Level Biology 5090 · Topic 14

Coordination and control: past paper questions

216 real questionsasked in 10 of the last 10 exam series2019–2025usually: Explain, Name, Describe, Suggest, Draw

Real questions on coordination and control

The newest 20 of 85 written questions, plus 131 multiple-choice. Open one to see it on the real paper.

5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q1c(i)[1]
In step 1, the patient is injected with a hormone. Name a hormone that could be used.
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q1c(ii)[2]
In step 2, a drug is used to stop the action of luteinising hormone (LH). Explain why it is important to stop the action of LH.
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2a(i)[2]
Identify the letter on Fig. 2.1 that has been used to label the part of the eye that: contains circular and radial muscles
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2a(ii)[2]
On Fig. 2.1, draw and label: • the lens
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2a(iii)[3]
Explain the function of the suspensory ligaments.
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2b(i)[2]
Explain why a person with cornea plana cannot see some objects clearly.
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q8a[6]
Explain how impulses in the sensory neurone can stimulate the relay neurone.
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5090/21 · October/November 2025 · Q8b[4]
Analgesics are drugs that help to stop a person from feeling pain. Fig. 8.2 shows the shape of some analgesic drug molecules. Fig. 8.2 Suggest how this analgesic drug can help to stop a person from feeling pain. Use information from Fig. 8.1 and Fig. 8.2 in your answer.
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5090/22 · October/November 2025 · Q1a[5]
Hormones are produced by glands in the body. They alter the activity of specific target organs. Draw lines to link: each gland to a hormone it produces each hormone to a specific target organ. gland hormone target organ adrenal glucagon ovary ovary progesterone uterus pancreas follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) heart p...
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5090/22 · October/November 2025 · Q1b[1]
Name a chemical that is produced in a plant shoot to coordinate the shoot’s response to gravity.
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5090/22 · October/November 2025 · Q2a(i)[2]
Calculate the percentage of average daily water intake that is lost in sweat from an adult human. Space for working. %
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5090/22 · October/November 2025 · Q2a(ii)[3]
The percentage of water lost in sweat is not always the same. Explain why.
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5090/22 · October/November 2025 · Q7b[6]
Synapses are found in the mammalian nervous system. Explain how the structure of a synapse ensures that electrical impulses travel in one direction only. You may use the outline of a synapse in Fig. 7.1 to illustrate your answer. Fig. 7.1 direction of travel
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5090/22 · May/June 2025 · Q1c(ii)[2]
The seed is germinating in darkness. Explain what causes X and Y to grow in opposite directions.
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5090/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3a[2]
Name the two parts of the central nervous system labelled A and B. A
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5090/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3b(i)[2]
This reflex action involves a receptor and an effector. On Fig. 3.1, draw a label line to the location of: • the receptor and label it R
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5090/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3b(ii)[4]
Describe the roles of two named neurones in this reflex arc.
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5090/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3c(i)[1]
Name gland C.
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5090/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3c(ii)[2]
Explain the role of gland C in triggering an increase in heart rate in response to a sudden shock.
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5090/22 · October/November 2024 · Q3a[5]
Use words from the list to complete the paragraph. platelets glucagon liver pituitary pancreas sucrose plasma endocrine insulin glycogen . If the concentration of glucose in the blood increases above normal, the hormone is released into the blood by an gland called the . This hormone promotes the removal of glucose fro...
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What examiners said

Many candidates received a mark for stating that hormones are made in the body but any references to drugs often focussed on illegal drugs and their addictive effects.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 5090/21 Q2(c)(i) (Cambridge)

Some candidates did not use the link provided between caffeine and adrenaline and so just tried to answer from their own general knowledge. This often limited them to one mark, usually for reference to increased alertness or lack of sleep.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 5090/21 Q2(c)(ii) (Cambridge)

If candidates appreciated that the sneezing response was a reflex, they often gave good descriptions of the reflex arc. Some included vague references to signals or messages rather than nerve impulses. Others tried to describe the sneezing process rather than the closure of the eyelids.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 5090/21 Q4(a)(i) (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 coordination and control

In the syllabus

14.1 Mammalian nervous system

State that the nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) coordinates and regulates body functions
Describe the mammalian nervous system in terms of: (a) the central nervous system (CNS) consisting of the brain and the spinal cord (b) the peripheral nervous system (PNS) consisting of the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
Identify, on diagrams, sensory, relay and motor neurones
State that electrical impulses travel along neurones
Describe simple reflex arcs in terms of receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone, motor neurone and effector (muscles and glands)
Describe a reflex action as a rapid and automatic response to a stimulus
Describe a synapse as a junction between two neurones
Describe the structure of a synapse, including the presence of vesicles containing neurotransmitter molecules, the synaptic gap and receptor proteins
Describe the events at a synapse: (a) an impulse stimulates the release of neurotransmitter molecules from vesicles into the synaptic gap (b) the neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the gap and bind with receptor proteins (c) an impulse is stimulated in the next neurone
State that synapses ensure that impulses travel in one direction only

14.2 Mammalian sense organs

Describe sense organs as groups of receptor cells responding to specific stimuli: light, sound, touch, temperature and chemicals
Identify, on a diagram, the structures of the eye, limited to: cornea, iris, pupil, lens, ciliary muscles, suspensory ligaments, retina, fovea, optic nerve and blind spot
Describe the function of each part of the eye, limited to: (a) cornea – refracts light (b) iris – controls how much light enters the pupil (c) lens – focuses light onto the retina (d) ciliary muscles and suspensory ligaments – control the shape of the lens (e) retina – contains light receptors, some sensitive to light of different colours (f) fovea – contains the greatest density of light receptors (g) optic nerve – carries impulses to the brain
Explain the pupil reflex in terms of light intensity and antagonistic action of circular and radial muscles in the iris
Explain accommodation to view near and distant objects in terms of the contraction and relaxation of the ciliary muscles, tension in the suspensory ligaments, shape of the lens and refraction of light

14.3 Mammalian hormones

Describe a hormone as a chemical substance, produced by a gland and carried by the blood, which alters the activity of one or more specific target organs
Identify, on a diagram, endocrine glands that produce hormones and state the hormones they produce, limited to: (a) the adrenal glands – produce adrenaline (b) the pancreas – produces insulin and glucagon (c) the pituitary gland – produces follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH) (d) the testes – produce testosterone (e) the ovaries – produce oestrogen and progesterone
Understand the role of the hormone adrenaline, produced by the adrenal glands, in increasing the blood glucose concentration and heart rate and give examples of situations in which these may occur
Compare nervous and hormonal control, limited to speed of action and duration of effect

14.4 Homeostasis

Describe homeostasis as the maintenance of a constant internal environment
Explain the concept of control by negative feedback with reference to a set point

14.5 Temperature control

Identify, on a diagram of the skin: hairs, hair erector muscles, sweat glands, receptors, sensory neurones, blood vessels and fatty tissue
Describe the role of insulation in maintaining a constant internal body temperature in mammals
Describe the roles of the hypothalamus and of temperature receptors in the skin in maintaining a constant internal body temperature in mammals
Explain how each of the following processes contributes to the maintenance of constant internal body temperature in mammals: (a) sweating (b) shivering (c) contraction of hair erector muscles (d) vasodilation and vasoconstriction of arterioles supplying skin surface capillaries

14.6 Blood glucose control

Explain the need to control blood glucose concentration
Describe the control of blood glucose concentration by the liver and pancreas and the roles of insulin and glucagon
Describe the signs of Type 1 diabetes (limited to increased blood glucose concentration and glucose in urine) and its treatment (administration of insulin)

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