Pearson Edexcel IGCSE · Biology

Characteristics of living organisms: Practice Questions

5 multiple-choice questions marked as you go, and 5 written questions with worked solutions. All on Characteristics of living organisms.

10 questions25 marksFree, no account

Question 1

1 mark

Maintaining the water content of the body at a relatively constant level is an example of which characteristic?

Question 2

1 mark

Why is excretion essential for the survival of all living organisms?

Question 3

1 mark

Which statement best describes the relationship between nutrition and respiration in a living organism?

Question 4

1 mark

When a plant shoot grows towards a light source, which characteristic of living organisms is it primarily demonstrating?

Question 5

1 mark

Which of these is a metabolic waste product that is removed from the body during the process of excretion?

Question 6

3 marks

List any three of the eight characteristics that are shared by all living organisms.

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Question 7

3 marks

Explain how a plant demonstrates the characteristic of responding to its surroundings when placed in a room with a single light source.

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Question 8

6 marks

A bean seed germinates, the shoot grows towards the light, and its total dry mass eventually increases. Identify three characteristics of living organisms described in this sequence.

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Question 9

4 marks

Living organisms perform various life processes to maintain their survival and produce future generations.
(a) State the biological term for the process by which metabolic waste products are removed from the body. (1)
(b) Distinguish between excretion and egestion, explaining why only one is considered a characteristic of all living organisms. (2)
(c) Identify the specific life process that involves the fusion of gametes to produce a zygote. (1)

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Question 10

4 marks

All living organisms require nutrition to survive, though the methods of obtaining it vary between species.

(a) Distinguish between the nutritional methods used by a flowering plant and a mammal. (2)
(b) Describe how the process of nutrition is linked to the characteristic of respiration. (2)

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