ICSE 2020 Biology Question Paper for Class 10

About this paper

This is the ICSE Class 10 Biology paper, Science Paper 3, from the 2020 examination, code T20 523. It carries 80 marks, with two hours for writing after 15 minutes of reading. Section I is compulsory and is one question in eight five-mark parts: naming, terms, analogies, sequences, multiple choice, the odd term, matching and a plant-movement diagram. Section II is worth 40 marks and asks for any four questions. The pages here reach Question 5 and include a photosynthesis experiment with potassium hydroxide, a blood-circulation diagram, a corrected eye defect, a nephron and a mercury transpiration experiment. Answers are to be written on a separate sheet. This copy has the questions only, and the later Section II questions are not on the scan.

Exam

ICSE Class 10

Subject

Biology

Year

2020

Paper code

T20 523

Maximum marks

80

Time allowed

2 hours + 15 min reading

Pages

11

Answers included

No, questions only

Paper pattern

• Section I

  40 marks

  Question 1, eight compulsory parts of five marks: naming, terms, analogies, sequences, multiple choice, odd term, matching and a diagram

• Section II

  40 marks

  Any four questions; each question shown is split into two five-mark parts

Topics covered

• Photosynthesis
• Plant movements and tropism
• Transpiration
• Circulatory system
• Excretory system and the nephron
• The eye and the neuron
• Endocrine system
• Genetics and the cell cycle
• Human evolution
• Reproduction and population
• Pollution and waste

Questions from this paper

1. Name the process by which several glucose molecules are transformed into one molecule of starch.
2. Name the duct which transports urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder, and the part of the brain concerned with memory.
3. Explain the terms allele, diffusion, photolysis, phenotype and population density.
4. Which factor is being studied in the photosynthesis experiment that keeps potassium hydroxide in the flask, and what is the purpose of the potassium hydroxide?
5. Give a biological reason why it is advisable to keep green plants in an aquarium, and why we cannot distinguish colours in dim light.
6. Give the biological term for a sudden inheritable change in one or more genes, and for a surgical method of fertility control in human males.