Form Four Biology terminal papers
The 2026 paper is free to try here
Terminal exams are set after the first half of the academic year and test the topics taught so far. Use them to find weak areas, then revise before the second half of the year.
2026 Form Four Biology terminal exam (033/1 Biology 1)
Time: 3 hours · Section A: 16 marks · Section B: 54 marks · Section C: 30 marks
Instructions from the paper:
• This paper has sections A, B and C, with eleven (11) questions in total.
• Answer all questions in Sections A and B, and two (2) questions from Section C.
• Section A carries 16 marks, Section B 54 marks and Section C 30 marks.
How to use this page: choose an option for each multiple-choice question and click “Check Answer”. A correct answer plays a short sound and shows an explanation; a wrong answer shows the right option and why. For the matching item and written questions, answer on paper first, then click “View Answer”.
SECTION A (16 marks): Question 1, Multiple Choice (10 marks)
(i) The growth of a human being, before and after birth, follows a systematic growth pattern which is:
(ii) As a first aider, which of the following would you NOT advise when giving first aid to a victim of snake bite?
(iii) All substances carried by the blood to the kidney are filtered during urine formation, but one of the following is NOT part of the glomerular filtrate:
(iv) Veins carry blood in the circulation. As a biologist, which feature can you use to identify veins?
(v) If an albino man marries a heterozygous normal-skinned woman, the chance of getting an albino child is:
(vi) Farmers in several villages in the Coast region visited the regional referral hospital with the same complaint of vomiting, diarrhoea with rice-like water and wrinkled skin. Which disease is likely affecting them?
(vii) Which types of protein filaments make up muscles?
(viii) Chickens and dogs can maintain a constant body temperature. They are therefore described as:
(ix) Which of the following theories suggests that life arose from non-living matter?
(x) What is the correct neural pathway when a person touches a hot object?
SECTION A: Question 2, Matching Item (6 marks)
2. Match the items in List A with the responses in List B by writing the letter of the correct response beside the item number.
| # | List A | Your answer |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | It relays information between the forebrain and the eyes. | |
| (ii) | Controls body balance and posture. | |
| (iii) | Controls breathing, digestion, and the widening and narrowing of blood vessels. | |
| (iv) | Responsible for speech, memory, intelligence and imagination. | |
| (v) | Coordinates and controls the autonomic nervous system. | |
| (vi) | Keeps memory. |
List B
- A. Nerve fibre
- B. Cerebellum
- C. Olfactory lobe
- D. Hypothalamus
- E. Mid brain
- F. Medulla oblongata
- G. Cerebrum
- H. Hippocampus
Correct matches
- (i) E: Mid brain
- (ii) B: Cerebellum
- (iii) F: Medulla oblongata
- (iv) G: Cerebrum
- (v) D: Hypothalamus
- (vi) H: Hippocampus
SECTION B (54 marks): Questions 3 to 8
3. Two equal strips, P and S, were cut from a raw potato whose cell sap was 28.5% sugar. The strips were placed in sugar solutions of different concentrations: P in 10% and S in 35%.
(a) What changes would you expect in strips P and S?
(b) Name and define the scientific process which took place in strips P and S.
(c) Account for the changes in 3(a).
(d) Give any two ways in which the process named in 3(b) occurs in our daily life.
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a) Changes
- Strip P becomes harder (firm), because the 10% solution is weaker than the cell sap
- Strip S becomes softer (limp), because the 35% solution is stronger than the cell sap
(b) Process
- Osmosis: the movement of water molecules from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration through a semi-permeable membrane
(c) Reasons
- Strip P gained water by osmosis, so its cells became firm
- Strip S lost water by osmosis, so its cells became soft
(d) Daily life, any two
- Absorption of water from the soil by plant roots
- Reabsorption of water in the kidney
4. (a) Give four reasons why a plant leaf is suitable for photosynthesis.
(b) How is photosynthesis important in our daily life? (Give three points.)
(c) Write a balanced equation for photosynthesis, including the conditions necessary.
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a) Four adaptations of a leaf
- Many chloroplasts trap the maximum amount of light
- Many stomata, mostly on the underside, let in carbon dioxide
- It is thin, giving a large surface area and a short diffusion path for gases
- It has plenty of vascular tissue to transport raw materials and products
(b) Importance, any three
- Releases oxygen as a by-product for other organisms
- Reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- Produces chemical energy that passes to other organisms in the ecosystem
- Makes food for the plants themselves
(c) Equation
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
Conditions: light energy and chlorophyll (with carbon dioxide and water).
5. (a) Growth is a characteristic of living things. For an organism to grow well, a particular kind of cell division must take place.
(i) Identify and give the meaning of the kind of cell division responsible for growth.
(ii) What would be the effects on living organisms if this process did not occur? (Four points.)
(b) State three roles of water during seed germination.
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a)(i) Mitosis
Cell division in which a diploid parent cell divides into two diploid daughter cells, each with the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
(a)(ii) Effects if mitosis did not occur
- No growth or increase in body size
- No regeneration of tissues
- No replacement of old or dead cells
- No asexual reproduction in organisms that reproduce by mitosis
(b) Roles of water, any three
- Hydrolyses stored starch into maltose
- Activates the enzymes that hydrolyse starch
- Softens and breaks the testa
6. (a) Earthworms are said to be the farmer's friend. Justify this statement with three reasons.
(b) Why are earthworms said to be hermaphrodite?
(c) What features make arthropods the most successful organisms on the earth's surface? (Give four points.)
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a) Three reasons
- They increase the porosity of the soil
- They increase soil aeration
- Their casts add humus, making the soil more fertile
(b) Hermaphrodite
Each earthworm has both male and female reproductive organs.
(c) Any four features
- A cuticle that prevents water loss and resists desiccation
- An efficient respiratory system that reaches the cells
- Flexible jointed appendages for rapid movement
- Sense organs such as antennae, compound eyes and cerci that detect movement, sound or chemicals
- Small, flattened bodies that fit into cracks and crevices
- Wings that help dispersal and colonisation of new habitats
7. (a) If the pancreas, as an endocrine gland, were removed by mistake during surgery, describe three problems the patient would get.
(b) Give biological reasons for the following:
(i) Plants do not have an excretory system as elaborate as that of animals.
(ii) The wall of the left ventricle of the mammalian heart is thicker than the wall of the right ventricle.
(iii) The rate of breathing increases quickly during physical exercise.
(iv) Camels can survive in the desert for a long time without drinking water.
(v) A person produces concentrated urine in hot conditions.
(vi) Humans are the most intelligent animals.
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a) Three problems
- Blood sugar would rise too high, because no insulin would be secreted
- Lack of energy, because stored glycogen would not be used without glucagon
- Poor digestion of carbohydrates and lipids in the small intestine, because there would be no pancreatic juice
(b) Reasons
- (i) The waste of one process is used as a raw material of another, for example oxygen from photosynthesis is used in respiration
- (ii) The left ventricle pumps blood to the whole body, so it needs a thicker wall to produce high pressure
- (iii) Breathing speeds up to bring in more oxygen for aerobic respiration in the muscles, so more energy is released
- (iv) Camels have a long loop of Henle, which reabsorbs a lot of water and conserves it in the body
- (v) In hot conditions much water is lost as sweat, so the kidneys reabsorb more water and produce less, concentrated urine
- (vi) Humans have a well-developed cerebrum compared with other animals
8. (a) Pacome visited a club in town and noticed that a drunk person urinated frequently. As a biologist:
(i) Explain why a drunk person urinates frequently.
(ii) Which hormone is affected by alcoholic drinks?
(b) The human body has more than 639 muscles. Outline three adaptations of muscles to their functions.
(c) State three types of movable joints and identify where each is located.
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a)(i)
Alcohol reduces the secretion of antidiuretic hormone (ADH). Without enough ADH the kidney tubules become less permeable to water, so less water is reabsorbed and a large volume of dilute urine is passed.
(a)(ii)
Antidiuretic hormone (ADH, also called vasopressin).
(b) Adaptations of muscles, any three
- Made of contractile muscle fibres that contract and relax
- Muscle fibres have many nuclei
- Many mitochondria release the energy needed for contraction
- Respond quickly to nerve impulses
(c) Movable joints
- Ball and socket joint: shoulder, hip
- Pivot joint: neck
- Hinge joint: elbow, knee
SECTION C (30 marks): Answer any two questions
9. Mzee Bwenga, a famous farmer in Mafizi village, has a problem: he lacks skills on balanced diet, and his family is suffering. As a biologist, help him understand that his family's suffering will end if he allows knowledge of a balanced diet into his family. Explain to him the meaning of a balanced diet, four components of a balanced diet and their sources, three importance of a balanced diet, and three factors that may lead someone not to have a balanced diet.
Suggested answer and marking guide
Meaning
A balanced diet is a diet that contains all the food nutrients in the right amounts and proportions to meet the body's needs.
Four components and their sources, any four
- Carbohydrates: maize, rice, cassava, bananas
- Proteins: meat, fish, eggs, beans, milk
- Fats and oils: cooking oil, groundnuts, butter
- Vitamins: fruits and vegetables
- Mineral salts: milk, green vegetables, fish
- Water: drinking water, fruits
Importance, any three
- Reduces the risk of heart attack
- Improves body immunity
- Ensures proper growth and development of the body
Factors that may prevent a balanced diet, any three
- Poverty
- Ignorance or lack of knowledge
- Unavailability of food in an area
Finish with a short conclusion that urges the family to use a balanced diet.
10. A pure line pea plant that produces axial flowers was crossed with a pure line plant that produces terminal flowers. All the F1 plants had axial flowers. When the axial-flowered F1 plants were self-crossed, they gave 312 plants with axial flowers and 104 plants with terminal flowers.
(a) Which character was dominant? Give a reason.
(b) Show how the axial flowers were obtained in the first cross.
(c) Show how the two phenotypes of plants were obtained in the second cross.
(d) In F2, how many were homozygous axial-flowered?
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a)
Axial was dominant, because all the F1 offspring had axial flowers.
(b) First cross (key: A = axial, a = terminal)
- Parental phenotype: axial × terminal
- Parental genotype (2n): AA × aa
- Meiosis
- Gametes (n): A, A and a, a
- Random fertilisation
- F1 genotype: Aa, all axial
(c) Second cross
- Parental phenotype: axial × axial
- Parental genotype (2n): Aa × Aa
- Meiosis
- Gametes (n): A, a and A, a
- Random fertilisation
- F2 genotypes: AA, Aa, Aa, aa; phenotypes: 3 axial : 1 terminal
(d)
One third of the axial plants are homozygous: 1/3 × 312 = 104.
11. Between June and October most plants wilt because of the intensity of the sun, which makes them lose water to the atmosphere.
(a) Name the process by which plant leaves lose water to the atmosphere during the day.
(b) Outline and explain three environmental factors that affect the rate of the process named in (a).
(c) Explain three advantages and two disadvantages of the process named in (a).
Suggested answer and marking guide
(a)
Transpiration.
(b) Environmental factors, any three
- Wind: blows away humid air around the leaf, so the rate increases
- Relative humidity: low humidity steepens the water-vapour gradient, so the rate increases
- Light intensity: bright light opens the stomata, so the rate increases
(c) Advantages, any three
- Cools the plant
- Helps absorb water from the soil by pulling water up the plant
- Removes excess water from the plant
Disadvantages, any two
- Wilting and dropping of leaves
- Loss of water
- Reduces the rate of photosynthesis when stomata close
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What do Form Four terminal exams cover?
The terminal exam covers the work taught in the first half of the academic year, so it is a good check of progress before the second half begins.
How do I use the interactive paper?
Choose an option for each multiple-choice question and click Check Answer to see whether you are right and why. For the matching item and written questions, answer on paper first, then click View Answer to see the suggested answer and marking guide.
How many questions must I answer?
Answer all questions in Sections A and B, and any two of the three questions in Section C.