Human interactions with environmentsIB MYP Biology: Topic test

20 questions, 54 marks

IB MYP Biology

Human interactions with environments topic test

Total 54 marks

Name

Class

Date

1
Between 1960 and 2020 the population of Bangladesh rose from about 50 million to about 165 million. Over the same period, child vaccination programmes spread, more people gained access to clean water and rice yields rose sharply.
(a)
Which is a likely effect of this population growth on land use?
[1 mark]
ALess land is needed for housing
BMore land is used for housing, roads and farming
CLess land is needed because less waste is produced
DLess land is needed for growing food
(b)
Which situation would make a population grow fastest?
[1 mark]
ALow birth rate and high death rate
BBirth rate equal to death rate
CBirth rate and death rate both very low and equal
DHigh birth rate and low death rate
(c)
Explain how better medicine and a larger food supply have led to the growth of the population.
[2 marks]
Total for question 1: 4 marks
2
Beaches in the Philippines are often covered in plastic bottles and bags that have washed in from rivers and the sea. Marine biologists examined sea turtles that had died and found pieces of plastic bag blocking the gut of many of them.
(a)
Which statement about plastic waste is correct?
[1 mark]
AMost plastics are not broken down by decomposers, so they stay in the environment for a very long time
BMost plastics are broken down by bacteria in sea water within a few days
CPlastics only pollute the land and never reach water
DPlastics cause eutrophication by adding nitrates to the water
(b)
Why can swallowing plastic bags kill sea turtles?
[1 mark]
AThe plastic releases sulfur dioxide into the turtle's blood
BThe plastic makes the sea water acidic
CThe plastic blocks the gut, so the turtle cannot digest food and starves
DThe plastic is digested into poisonous nitrates
(c)
Explain why a plastic bag in the sea remains a problem for decades but a dead fish does not.
[2 marks]
Total for question 2: 4 marks
3
Students at a school in Seoul want to find out whether traffic pollution affects the dust on leaves. A row of ginkgo trees grows beside a busy road next to the school. Another row of ginkgo trees of the same age grows in a park 500 m from the road. The students notice that the leaves beside the road look greyer than the leaves in the park.
(a)
State a testable hypothesis about the amount of dust on the leaves beside the road and in the park, with a scientific reason, and identify the independent variable.
[3 marks]
(b)
Outline how the students could collect reliable data safely. Identify the dependent variable, one control variable, one safety precaution and one way of making the results reliable.
[4 marks]
Total for question 3: 7 marks
4
Madagascar has lost much of its original forest, cleared for farming and timber, and most of its electricity comes from diesel generators. The government can afford only one of two plans to cut the country's contribution to climate change. Plan 1 pays farmers to stop clearing forest and to replant trees. Plan 2 builds solar farms to replace diesel generators.
(a)
Explain how burning diesel and clearing forest each increase the greenhouse effect.
[6 marks]
(b)
Evaluate which of the two plans the government should choose.
[6 marks]
Total for question 4: 12 marks
5
Black rhinos in Africa were hunted for their horns, and their numbers fell by more than 90% between 1970 and 1995. Today some black rhinos live in a fenced national park in Namibia that is patrolled by rangers, and zoos in several countries breed black rhinos in captivity.
(a)
What is the main purpose of the fenced and patrolled national park?
[1 mark]
ATo allow farmers to graze cattle among the rhinos
BTo reduce the genetic variation of the rhinos
CTo protect the rhinos and their habitat from hunting and human disturbance
DTo keep the rhinos' numbers low so that they do not eat all the plants
(b)
What is captive breeding?
[1 mark]
ABreeding endangered animals in zoos or reserves so that young can be released into the wild
BCollecting and storing the seeds of rare plants at low temperature
CLimiting the number of animals that may be caught each year
DPlanting new trees to replace those that were cut down
(c)
Explain how both the national park and the captive breeding programmes help to increase the number of black rhinos.
[2 marks]
Total for question 5: 4 marks
6
A farmer in Almería, Spain grows tomatoes in large plastic greenhouses. Aphids damage the plants. Instead of spraying a pesticide, the farmer releases predatory insects that eat the aphids. The greenhouse is kept warm and the tomato plants are given water and fertiliser.
(a)
What is biological control?
[1 mark]
ASpraying crops with chemicals that kill all insects
BGrowing only one crop in a field year after year
CAdding extra nitrogen to the soil
DUsing a living organism, such as a predator, to reduce the number of a pest
(b)
Which is the main reason why a warm greenhouse can increase the yield of tomatoes?
[1 mark]
AIt removes the need for plants to carry out photosynthesis
BIt gives warm, controlled conditions, so the plants can grow faster and for more of the year
CIt removes the need for plants to take in water
DIt raises the carbon dioxide concentration of the whole atmosphere
(c)
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using predatory insects instead of a pesticide.
[2 marks]
Total for question 6: 4 marks
7
A wheat farmer in Argentina tested nitrogen fertiliser on four identical plots of 1 hectare each. The plots received 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg of fertiliser. The wheat yields were 3.1, 4.6, 5.8 and 5.9 tonnes per hectare. The nitrate concentration in the water draining from each plot was 2, 5, 12 and 25 mg per dm³.
(a)
Describe the trend in yield as more fertiliser is added, and calculate the percentage increase in yield between 0 kg and 100 kg of fertiliser.
[3 marks]
(b)
The farmer hypothesised that the more fertiliser she adds, the better. Evaluate this hypothesis using the data and recommend an amount of fertiliser.
[4 marks]
Total for question 7: 7 marks
8
Fishing is the main source of food and income for many families in a coastal region of Senegal. The population has doubled in 30 years, so many more boats now fish there, and large industrial trawlers also fish offshore. The catch per boat has halved over the same period. The government is considering a quota that limits the total catch and a marine protected area where fishing would be banned for five years.
(a)
Explain why the catch per boat has fallen and how a quota would help the fish populations to recover.
[6 marks]
(b)
Discuss whether the government should ban fishing in the marine protected area for five years.
[6 marks]
Total for question 8: 12 marks

End of questions

Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).