DP Biology (last assessment 2024)

Test builder »

Question 20N.3.HL.TZ0.22a

Select a Test
Date November 2020 Marks available [Maximum mark: 2] Reference code 20N.3.HL.TZ0.22a
Level HL Paper 3 Time zone TZ0
Command term Evaluate Question number a Adapted from N/A
a.
[Maximum mark: 2]
20N.3.HL.TZ0.22a

Blood pressure changes in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) fed a salt-supplemented diet during a two-and-a-half-year treatment period were compared to the blood pressure of those fed a normal diet. The graph shows the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (± standard deviation) before, during and after the treatment period.

[Source: Republished with permission of American Society for Clinical
Investigation, from The Journal of Clinical Investigation, O’Shaughnessy, K.M. and Karet, F.E., 113, 8, 2004;
permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.]

(a)

Evaluate the effect of salt on blood pressure using the data in the graph.

[2]

Markscheme

a. systolic pressure increases with salt in diet during treatment;

b. diastolic pressure is slightly higher/no change with salt during treatment
OR
diastolic pressure only changes towards the end of the period;

c. (blood) pressure goes back to normal after treatment
OR
salt causes increased (blood) pressure;

d. standard deviation values overlap therefore not statistically significant;

Examiners report

The majority could evaluate that salt increased blood pressure, most comparing the effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure.