The Immune System and Infectious Disease — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 10 the human body worksheet.
The Immune System and Infectious Disease — Answers
Part A: Pathogens
An infectious disease is caused by a pathogen, a microorganism that can be passed from one host to another. The main types of pathogen are bacteria (single cells), viruses (tiny particles that reproduce only inside host cells), fungi and protists.
Pathogens spread through the air in droplets, by direct contact, through contaminated food and water, and by vectors such as mosquitoes.
- Influenza (flu)
- Tuberculosis
- Athlete's foot (tinea)
- Malaria
- Fungus
- Protist
- Virus
- Bacterium
Answer: Influenza (flu) → Virus; Tuberculosis → Bacterium; Athlete's foot (tinea) → Fungus; Malaria → Protist
- AThey are the largest type of pathogen
- BThey can only reproduce inside the cells of another organism
- CThey are killed by antibiotics
- DThey are made of many cells
Answer: They can only reproduce inside the cells of another organism
Viruses are not cells. They take over a host cell and use it to make copies of themselves.
Answer: Any two, for example: droplets in the air from coughs and sneezes (cover coughs, wear masks, stay home when sick); direct contact or touching contaminated surfaces (wash hands); contaminated food or water (cook food properly, treat drinking water); animal vectors such as mosquitoes (use insect repellent and nets).
Answer: 64
- 2 hours = 120 minutes
- 120 ÷ 20 = 6 doublings
- 1 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 2⁶ = 64
Answer: 6400
- 3 hours = 180 minutes; 180 ÷ 30 = 6 doublings
- 100 × 2⁶ = 100 × 64 = 6400
Part B: Three lines of defence
First line: barriers that keep pathogens out, such as skin, mucus and cilia in the airways, tears and stomach acid.
Second line: if pathogens get in, phagocytes (a type of white blood cell) engulf them, and the area becomes inflamed: red, warm and swollen. A fever may develop.
Third line: lymphocytes recognise the antigens (marker molecules) on a particular pathogen and make antibodies that fit those antigens and help destroy the pathogen. Some become memory cells, which respond much faster next time.
- AAntibodies
- BPhagocytes engulfing bacteria
- CAcid in the stomach
- DMemory cells
Answer: Acid in the stomach
The first line stops pathogens from getting in: skin, mucus, tiny hairs (cilia), tears and stomach acid.
Answer: They are white blood cells that engulf (surround and take in) pathogens and digest them.
Answer: A higher body temperature slows the growth and reproduction of many pathogens and can speed up the action of the immune system.
Answer: False
Antibodies are specific: each type fits only one antigen, like a lock and key, so a different antibody is needed for each pathogen.
Answer: After the first infection, memory cells remain in the blood. If the same virus enters again, they recognise it and make the right antibodies very quickly, destroying the virus before you become ill. You are immune.
Part C: Vaccination and medicines
Vaccination gives the body a safe version of a pathogen's antigens so that it makes antibodies and memory cells without having the disease. If enough people in a community are immune, the pathogen cannot spread easily: this is herd immunity.
Antibiotics are medicines that kill bacteria or stop them growing. They do not work against viruses.
Answer: It contains dead or weakened pathogens, or harmless parts of them (such as their antigens), or instructions for making those antigens. These cannot cause the disease, but they still trigger the immune system to make antibodies and memory cells.
Answer: 90%
- 450 ÷ 500 × 100 = 90%
Answer: When most people are immune, a pathogen cannot easily find new hosts to infect, so it cannot spread through the community. This means unvaccinated people are much less likely to come into contact with it.
- AAntibiotics only work on fungi
- BAntibiotics kill bacteria but have no effect on viruses
- CColds are not caused by pathogens
- DAntibiotics make viruses grow faster
Answer: Antibiotics kill bacteria but have no effect on viruses
Antibiotics act on structures and processes in bacterial cells. Using them when they are not needed also helps antibiotic-resistant bacteria to develop.
Part D: Explain
Model answer: On first exposure, the lymphocytes that make the right antibody must first recognise the new antigen and multiply, which takes several days, so antibody levels rise slowly and the person may become ill. During this response, memory cells are produced, which stay in the body for a long time. On a second exposure to the same pathogen, the memory cells recognise its antigens straight away and quickly make large amounts of antibody, destroying the pathogen before it can cause illness. Vaccination uses this by giving the first exposure safely: the vaccine's antigens cause memory cells to form without disease, so when the real pathogen arrives, the fast secondary response protects the person.
Success criteria:
- Explains the slow first response (recognition and multiplication of lymphocytes)
- Identifies memory cells as formed in the first response
- Explains the fast, large second response
- Links vaccination to producing memory cells without causing disease
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.
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