Biology 9700 · AS & A Level · Natural and artificial selection

Natural and artificial selection — practice question

Wheat and other food crops can be improved through selective breeding and genetic modification.
(a)[4]

Outline how selective breeding has been used to improve wheat crops.

(b)[3]

The heights of a strain of wheat plants in a field show a continuous pattern of variation. Explain what continuous variation means and explain why this kind of variation happens in a population.

(c)[4]

Wheat and other crops have been genetically modified to resist the herbicide glyphosate since 1996. Fig. 4.1 shows the area of glyphosate-resistant crops grown as a percentage of the total planted hectares (plotted points) and the number of weed species resistant to glyphosate (bars). Describe and explain the relationship between the area of glyphosate-resistant crops grown and the number of resistant weed species.

(d)[2]

Suggest one social advantage and one environmental advantage of cultivating glyphosate-resistant wheat.

Worked solution & mark scheme

This 13-mark question has a full step-by-step worked solution and mark scheme. One marking point: selective breeding done by humans

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