Edexcel A2 Biology Unit 5 (6BIO5) - 22/06/2011- OFFICIAL THREAD !

The article is likely to have many synoptic questions but they wont ask a core practical as synoptic don't worry

okay thanks, so i havent done many past papers but are all the synoptic questions do with the article only?

no no , there can be synoptic in the paper just not core practicals

definitely having a nervous breakdown over this exam after the monstrosity they gave us for unit 4 last week!

Me too, I will actually cry in the exam if its anything like unit 4! And only starting revision today as I had an exam yesterday :/ stress!!


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Hey, these questions are great! Did you make them all up? I've started working through them- do you have any sort of answer scheme or anything I can compare my points with?

Here were my ideas for the first 7. Paragraphs in the article where I have pulled data from are given by eg: 3)

1. Using specific examples; discuss whether there is a correlation between the media and amount of body dissatisfaction.
Examples For:
• 5) University of Central Florida study; approx. half of 3 – 6 year old girls in the study said they were concerned with being fat. (No direct link- but media images could be influencing) Idea of diet pill usage increase (100% increase) in 15-17 year olds being an indicator of increased body dissatisfaction.
• 6) 80% increase in young girls admitted to hospital with anorexia.
• 7) Meta-analysis of 25 studies (likely to be reliable) concluded ‘body image was significantly more negative after view thin media images’.
• 10) Hiroshima University study on healthy women: all subjects showed mPFC activation (associated with self-reflection/sub conscious thoughts) when presented with overweight images.
• 12) Hiroshima study showed healthy women have PFC and amygdala (emotional reaction processing) ‘signicantly activated’ when presented with a self ‘fat image’.
• 15/16) Harvard Medical School study evaluating the impact of television (main visual media source) on body satisfaction and disordered eating in adolescent girls.
o Idea of traditional preference for full figure; low 12.7% with pathological scores for eating disorders, low/no dieting in adolescent females (implied; 15) ‘rare’), no self-induced vomiting
o --- Increase in all above measures in 3 years since introduction of television suggests strong correlation. Eg; 16.5% increase in pathological eating disorders, 66% of subjects concerned with body image (not just limited to females), girls openly citing thin media figures as desirable / eqv, increase in self-induced vomiting to 11.3%.
• 17) British study found ¼ UK adults is trying to lose weight either due to body dissatisfaction obesity.
Against:
• 11) Men showed no significant mPFC activation when [resented with overweight/ thin male images.
• 13) Men have activated mPFC (amygdala deactivation also implied) when presented with unpleasant word stimuli concerning ‘heavy’ body image.

2. Analyse and interpret the possible link between obesity and health issues, such as diabetes, CVD and cancer.
• 3) ‘Obesity defined as a surplus of body fat which is detrimental to health’ around the waist/abdomen
o Idea that if energy intake from food is greater than energy expenditure person will gain weight. (normally, fat –stored in the form of triglycerides)
 Reference to BMR (Basal Metabolic rate)
 Reference to PAL (physical activity level) needing to be taken into account
• Idea that type 2 diabetes is caused long term high blood glucose levels
o Relation to higher energy input than expenditure; leading to increased blood glucose levels.
o Idea that insulin controls blood gluclose levels
o Idea body cells do not produce enough insulin/ cells do not respond to insulin /eqv
• Idea that CVD is a multifactorial condition.
o So obesity is only one factor.
o Triglycerides can form fatty acid plaques in the arteries
 Possibly leading to CVD / blood clots /death
 Or raising blood pressure and leading to atherosclerosis
o Obese people unlikely to have appropriate diet; may have high blood cholesterol levels due to a diet high in saturated fats. Unlikely to be exercising an appropriate amount.
o Idea that LDLDL ratio is a good indicator of CVD risk
• Idea that body weight shouldn’t have a causal relationship with cancer
o As cancer is caused by DNA mutation, caused by factors such as UV light/ Asbestos / X Rays / Carcinogens (eg in tobacco) (Environmental factors)
• Idea that obesity is likely to be correlated with an unhealthy life style, people may also smoke/drink alcohol heavily.
o These are factors that influence CVD and also cancer

3. Lipids are biological molecules that are insoluble in water, but soluble in organic solvents, like ethanol. Triglycerides are lipids made out of three fatty acids and one molecule of glycerol joined via an ester bond. The glycerol molecules are all the same. Recall the variation between the fatty acids.
• Fatty acids may be saturated/ unsaturated (presence of double bonds in the long carbon chain)
• Lipids can be mono, di or tri-glycerides.
4. When a triglyceride is broken apart by hydrolysis, how many components are found as products? Name them.
• 3 fatty acids and 1 glycerol molecule

5. Suggest reasons why it is likely that gender plays a role in susceptibility to eating disorders.
• 23) Women may have evolutionary adaptations to try to acquire figures which seem to be attractive to males (subcutaneous fat /fat deposits around buttocks/hips – ideal for sexual selection). Hence, they could be more likely to look at the figures of other seemingly successful females, (eg media figures) as ideal for attracting a mate and improving chances of reproducing and passing genes on.
• However, women may have different preferences in men (eg ability to provide for offspring) and hence, maintaining an ideal waist to hip ratio may not be as important for sexual selection in men. (This idea is backed up by lack of mPFC activation in men (11))
o So women are more likely to take steps to change their figure and so would be more susceptible to developing an eating disorder.
6. List key features of a good study used to determine health risk factors. Refer to examples in the text.
• Use of a control group/individuals: 10) Study shows women images of both overweight and thin models; to see mPFC activation. This means mPFC activation when looking at overweight models can be attributed to the models being overweight and not another factor (eg knowledge that they are models) as otherwise looking at the thin models would also cause mPFC activation.
• Epidemiological studies
o Large sample size. eg 15) Harvard Group use the Fijian population (– no exact figure given) This gives more meaningful results.
o Longitudinal studies: Harvard group only considers the changes in a 3 year period.
• Methodology must be repeatable. Eg 7) multiple studies on the effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction
7. Analyse and interpret data about the threats of eating disorders.
• Occurrence of eating disorders on the rise (in England): 6) 80% rise in the last decade in number of girls admitted to hospital with anorexia.
o Mortality rate of 10-20%. Anorexia causes death due to heart complications. Eg. Bradycardia, where the heart beats abnormally slowly (<60Bpm). This is because the heart muscles are starved of certain electrolytes due to a reduction in fluid and mineral levels. A precise electrolyte balance is needed to maintain correct electrical currents for heartbeat.
• Eating disorders that restrict calories to under 1200kcal/day (18)) increase total cortisol output in females. This leads to a number of threats including; higher blood pressure, suppressed thyroid function, impaired immunity, increased abdominal fat which further lead to conditions such as cancer, CVD and diabetes.
• 52) Anorexia prevalent in the UK, 1.4M females with eating disorder 10% anorexia.
o Any logical argument about how this is a significant proportion of the total UK population (Approx 62M)
• Logical argument about how perceived risk and actual risk are different. Eg. People may not understand the biological effects of severe dietary restriction.


Would anyone find it useful if I posted the rest as I do them? Any suggestions for other points would be appreciated

Me too, I will actually cry in the exam if its anything like unit 4! And only starting revision today as I had an exam yesterday :/ stress!!


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Me tooo. I did the June one and it was horrible. It was a resit for me.
Also Im not doing well in the past-papers; the questions are lengthy and there's soo much information in Unit 5. I can't seem to remember everything :/

Me tooo. I did the June one and it was horrible. It was a resit for me.
Also Im not doing well in the past-papers; the questions are lengthy and there's soo much information in Unit 5. I can't seem to remember everything :/

im actually crying from NOW!!!!!!!!!! : ((
can u imagine that i just figured out that i had incomplete notes and there are new important notes im must learn NW plus i have to solve the pastpapers and practice on the article and read the examiner reports
i totally dnt know when to do all that ????????????!!!!!!!!!!

oh btw h was ur exam yesterday?

I havent started on the article either! And still learning new points at the moment haha, dont know what to do.. I really need an A/B in this!
It was good thanks a lot better than i hoped lol, is this your only exam left?


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The unit 4 paper last week was horrible!! There were so many questions asking to describe and explain graphs/tables that took forever to read and understand everyone i know didnt get to finish it and those who did had to rush. Plus like three quarters of what i revised didnt even come up, you made the right decision to not resit lol!


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Hi...how's everybody's revision going???