GCSE Physical Education
Questions
& Answers

1. Question 1·Applied anatomy and physiology·2 marks

   Name the type of joint at the shoulder and give one movement it allows that the elbow does not.

   • Weaker0 marks

     It is a hinge joint. It allows you to move your arm.

   • Middling2 marks

     It is a ball and socket joint. It allows rotation.

   • Stronger2 marks

     It is a ball and socket joint, formed where the humerus and scapula meet. It allows rotation, and also abduction and circumduction, none of which the elbow can do because a hinge moves in one plane only.

   What separates them

   Both of the last two answers score full marks, and one of them is worth much more to the student who wrote it. The second gives the two facts the question asks for. The third gives the reason — a hinge is restricted to one plane — which is what the next question on this topic will ask for, and it costs one extra clause.

   The full-mark answer2 marks

   The shoulder is a ball and socket joint, formed where the humerus and scapula meet. It allows rotation, which the elbow cannot perform because a hinge joint moves in one plane only.

2. Question 2·Applied anatomy and physiology·2 marks

   Identify the agonist and the antagonist in the upward phase of a press-up.

   • Weaker0 marks

     The agonist is the biceps and the antagonist is the triceps, because you are bending your arms.

   • Middling2 marks

     The agonist is the triceps brachii and the antagonist is the biceps brachii .

   • Stronger2 marks

     Going up, the elbow extends, so the agonist is the triceps brachii and the antagonist is the biceps brachii. Coming back down the same two muscles swap roles, which is why naming the phase matters.

   What separates them

   The first answer has the pair the right way round for the wrong phase: going down is elbow flexion, and the answer has described that. The question names the upward phase, which is extension. The third answer earns the same two marks as the second and adds the thing that stops the error happening again: work out the movement first, then look up the pair.

   The full-mark answer2 marks

   In the upward phase the elbow extends, so the agonist is the triceps brachii and the antagonist is the biceps brachii .

3. Question 3·Applied anatomy and physiology·3 marks

   Explain the role of the antagonist during the upward phase of a biceps curl.

   • Weaker0 marks

     The antagonist is the muscle that does not do anything while the other one works.

   • Middling2 marks

     The antagonist is the triceps brachii. It relaxes while the biceps brachii contracts, which allows the elbow to bend.

   • Stronger3 marks

     Lifting the weight is elbow flexion, so the biceps brachii is the agonist. The triceps brachii is the antagonist: it relaxes and lengthens as the other shortens, because a joint cannot move if both sides pull at once. On the way down the two exchange roles.

   What separates them

   ‘Does nothing’ is the answer that loses the mark, because it is not doing nothing — it is relaxing and lengthening, which is an action. The second answer is correct and complete for two of the three marks. The third earns the last one by saying why the relaxation is necessary: two muscles pulling in opposite directions across the same joint would hold it still.

   The full-mark answer3 marks

   Lifting the weight is flexion at the elbow, so the biceps brachii is the agonist and shortens. The triceps brachii is the antagonist: it relaxes and lengthens to allow the movement, because if both muscles contracted across the joint at once it would not move at all.

4. Question 4·Applied anatomy and physiology·2 marks

   Name the bones that articulate at the knee joint.

   • Weaker0 marks

     The femur and the fibula .

   • Middling2 marks

     The femur and the tibia.

   • Stronger2 marks

     The femur, tibia and patella. The fibula sits alongside the tibia in the lower leg but does not form part of the joint.

   What separates them

   The second and third answers both score full marks. The difference is that the third knows why the wrong answer is tempting: the fibula is in the lower leg, so it feels as though it should be there, and it is at the ankle. A student who has learned that distinction will not lose the mark under pressure.

   The full-mark answer2 marks

   The femur, tibia and patella. The fibula lies alongside the tibia in the lower leg but does not reach the knee joint; it forms part of the ankle instead.

5. Question 5·Applied anatomy and physiology·4 marks

   Explain why the ankle allows only two movements, and what that means for a sprinter.

   • Weaker1 mark

     The ankle is a hinge joint so it can only go up and down. This means a sprinter can push off the ground.

   • Middling3 marks

     The ankle is a hinge joint, which moves in one plane only, so it allows plantar flexion and dorsiflexion and nothing else. A sprinter uses plantar flexion to drive off the blocks.

   • Stronger4 marks

     The hinge at the ankle allows movement in one plane only, which is why it is limited to plantar flexion and dorsiflexion. For a sprinter that limitation is an advantage: a joint that cannot move sideways cannot be forced sideways, so all the force of the drive goes down the leg and into the track rather than being lost.

   What separates them

   The first answer has the joint type and no consequence. The second is a sound answer and applies the movement correctly. The fourth mark is for treating the restriction as something the sprinter gains from rather than suffers: a hinge is stable in the plane it does not move in, and stability is what lets force pass through a joint instead of being absorbed by it.

   The full-mark answer4 marks

   The ankle is a hinge joint formed by the tibia, fibula and talus, and a hinge moves in one plane, so it is limited to plantar flexion and dorsiflexion. For a sprinter that is an advantage. A joint that cannot travel sideways cannot be pushed sideways, so the force of the drive is transmitted straight down the leg into the track instead of being lost.

6. Question 6·Applied anatomy and physiology·3 marks

   Describe the pathway air takes from the mouth to the alveoli.

   • Weaker0 marks

     Air goes down your throat and into your lungs, where the oxygen goes into the blood.

   • Middling3 marks

     Air passes from the mouth into the trachea, then into the bronchi, then the bronchioles, and finally the alveoli.

   • Stronger3 marks

     Mouth or nose, then trachea, then the two bronchi — one to each lung — then the bronchioles, which divide repeatedly and get narrower, and finally the alveoli, where the airways end in air sacs.

   What separates them

   The first answer names no structure at all: throat and lungs are not on the mark scheme. The second and third both earn full marks, and the third is the one to teach from because it says what each stage is — two bronchi, one per lung; bronchioles that divide and narrow. A student who knows that will not put them in the wrong order.

   The full-mark answer3 marks

   Air enters through the mouth or nose and passes down the trachea. The trachea divides into two bronchi, one entering each lung. Each bronchus divides into progressively narrower bronchioles, and these end in the alveoli, the air sacs where gaseous exchange takes place.

7. Question 7·Applied anatomy and physiology·3 marks

   Explain how gaseous exchange takes place at the alveoli.

   • Weaker1 mark

     Oxygen goes into the blood and carbon dioxide comes out. This happens in the lungs so you can keep exercising.

   • Middling2 marks

     Oxygen diffuses from the alveoli into the blood in the capillaries, and carbon dioxide diffuses the other way. This happens because there is a higher concentration of oxygen in the alveoli than in the blood.

   • Stronger3 marks

     Both gases move by diffusion, from high concentration to low. Blood arriving at the alveoli is low in oxygen and high in carbon dioxide, and the air in the alveoli is the reverse, so each gas moves down its own gradient. The alveoli are one cell thick, moist and surrounded by capillaries, which keeps the distance short and the gradient steep.

   What separates them

   The first answer describes the outcome without the mechanism, which is what most answers do. The second names diffusion and one gradient and earns two. The third mark is for the features that make it fast: one cell thick, moist, and richly supplied with capillaries. Those three are what turn a slow process into one that can keep up with exercise.

   The full-mark answer3 marks

   Both gases move by diffusion, from a high concentration to a low one. Blood arriving at the alveoli is low in oxygen and high in carbon dioxide, while the alveolar air is the reverse, so oxygen moves into the blood and carbon dioxide moves out. The exchange is rapid because the alveolar wall is one cell thick, moist, and surrounded by capillaries, which keeps the diffusion distance short and the gradient steep.

8. Question 20·Applied anatomy and physiology·9 marks

   Evaluate the claim that a larger heart always means a better endurance performance.

   • WeakerLevel 1

     A bigger heart is better for endurance because it can pump more blood, so athletes with bigger hearts will do better in endurance events. Training makes your heart bigger, which is why endurance athletes are good at endurance.

   • MiddlingLevel 2

     A larger heart does help: hypertrophy raises stroke volume, so maximum cardiac output is higher and more oxygen reaches the muscles. However, performance also depends on the muscles using that oxygen, on technique and on nutrition. So it helps but does not guarantee a better performance.

   • StrongerLevel 3

     A larger heart raises the ceiling; it does not decide what happens under it. Hypertrophy raises stroke volume and maximum cardiac output. But oxygen delivered is not oxygen used: capillarisation and technique decide how much becomes work. And always is where the claim fails — a heart enlarged by disease performs worse.

   What separates them

   The first extract agrees with the claim and then argues in a circle. The second is a solid Level 2: it supports, it qualifies, it concludes. What lifts the third is that it attacks the word the question chose. ‘Always’ is a claim about every case, so a single counter-case settles it — and the counter-case here, a heart enlarged by disease, also explains what the real variable is.

   The whole answer, at the top levelLevel 3

   A larger heart raises the ceiling on endurance performance rather than determining it. Cardiac hypertrophy increases stroke volume and therefore maximum cardiac output, so more oxygenated blood reaches the working muscles. But oxygen delivered is not oxygen used: capillarisation, the muscle’s own aerobic capacity, technique and pacing all decide how much of that delivery becomes performance. The claim fails on always: a heart enlarged by disease rather than by training performs worse, which shows that what matters is the adaptation, not the size.

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