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Practise 26 exam-style questions on Cell differentiation for AQA GCSE Biology. Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.
Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.
Many plant cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout life. Name the regions in plants where these unspecialised cells are located.
Meristems (apical and lateral meristems).
Meristematic tissues (e.g. apical meristems in shoots/roots) contain stem cells that can divide and differentiate throughout the plant's life.
Meristems (apical and lateral meristems)
Describe one structural change when an unspecialised plant cell differentiates to form xylem vessels.
Cells become lignified — cell walls strengthened with lignin; cells die to form hollow tubes for water transport.
Xylem cells develop lignified walls to resist collapse and often lose contents to form water-conducting vessels.
Cell walls become lignified / strengthened with lignin
Cells become hollow / die to form continuous tubes
Why are many epithelial cells (covering surfaces) tightly joined together and often have microvilli?
Tight junctions form barriers to protect underlying tissues and prevent leakage; microvilli increase surface area for absorption / secretion.
Epithelial structure suits barrier and exchange functions; microvilli increase surface area for more efficient transfer.
Tight junctions form barrier / protect underlying tissues / prevent leakage
Microvilli increase surface area for absorption / secretion
Explain why a leaf palisade cell has many chloroplasts whereas a root hair cell does not.
Palisade cells perform photosynthesis and so need many chloroplasts to capture light and make sugars; root hair cells are specialised for absorption of water/minerals and therefore invest in structures (large surface area) instead of chloroplasts.
Organelle composition reflects function: chloroplasts for photosynthesis in leaves, root hairs specialise in uptake tasks instead.
Palisade cells carry out photosynthesis
Need many chloroplasts to capture light / make sugars
Root hair cells have different function (water/mineral absorption) so do not require chloroplasts
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