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Year 11 Science — Control and coordination

Follow an impulse along a neuron and round a reflex arc, name what each region of the brain looks after, and tell a plant's tropic growth from an animal's hormone response.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.What happens at the synapse between two neurons?

    • a) Chemicals released by the first cross the gap and start an impulse in the second
    • b) The two cells fuse so the impulse passes through
    • c) The electrical impulse jumps the gap unchanged
    • d) The impulse stops, and the second neuron starts a fresh one on its own

  2. 2.Adrenaline is released when an animal is frightened. Which set of changes follows?

    • a) The heart slows, blood goes to the digestive system, and breathing quietens
    • b) The heart beats faster and blood is diverted to the skin and gut
    • c) Breathing quickens and the skeletal muscles are cut off from blood
    • d) The heart beats faster, blood is diverted to the skeletal muscles, and breathing quickens

  3. 3.Blood sugar rises after a meal, insulin is secreted, the sugar falls, and the secretion drops off again. What is this an example of?

    • a) A tropic response
    • b) A feedback mechanism regulating a hormone
    • c) A reflex arc
    • d) A voluntary action

  4. 4.Put the stages of an impulse travelling along one neuron in order, starting with "The dendritic tip picks the information up".

    • Chemicals released at the end cross the synapse
    • The dendritic tip picks the information up
    • The impulse travels to the cell body
    • A chemical reaction there creates an electrical impulse
    • The impulse runs along the axon to its end

  5. 5.A pea plant's tendril meets a stick and curls round it. What makes it curl?

    • a) The stick releases a hormone that pulls the tendril round
    • b) The side touching the stick grows less rapidly than the side away from it
    • c) The tendril's muscles contract on the side touching the stick
    • d) The tendril loses water on the side away from the stick

  6. 6.Why is iodised salt worth using?

    • a) Iodine replaces the salt lost in sweat
    • b) The thyroid gland needs iodine to make thyroxin
    • c) Iodine is the hormone that regulates blood sugar
    • d) The pituitary needs iodine to make growth hormone

  7. 7.A shoot bends towards a window. Where has the auxin gone, and what has it done?

    • a) To the shady side, where it has made the cells grow longer
    • b) To the lit side, where it has made the cells grow longer
    • c) To the root, where it has made the root bend too
    • d) To the shady side, where it has stopped the cells growing

  8. 8.How does the movement of a touch-me-not leaf differ from a shoot bending towards light?

    • a) The leaf moves by cells gaining or losing water, with no growth involved
    • b) Both are growth movements, but the leaf's is faster
    • c) The leaf moves because it has muscle tissue and the shoot does not
    • d) The leaf moves by growing on one side, and the shoot by losing water

Answer key — Year 11 Science — Control and coordination

  1. 1. a) Chemicals released by the first cross the gap and start an impulse in the second
  2. 2. d) The heart beats faster, blood is diverted to the skeletal muscles, and breathing quickens
  3. 3. b) A feedback mechanism regulating a hormone
  4. 4. 1. The dendritic tip picks the information up 2. A chemical reaction there creates an electrical impulse 3. The impulse travels to the cell body 4. The impulse runs along the axon to its end 5. Chemicals released at the end cross the synapse
  5. 5. b) The side touching the stick grows less rapidly than the side away from it
  6. 6. b) The thyroid gland needs iodine to make thyroxin
  7. 7. a) To the shady side, where it has made the cells grow longer
  8. 8. a) The leaf moves by cells gaining or losing water, with no growth involved