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Science Quiz - Biology - Microorganisms and Disease (AQA) (Questions)

One of the topics covered in GCSE Science is the requirements for keeping healthy. This is the third of six quizzes looking at this subject and it concentrates in particular on microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi, which cause disease.

It's hard to believe but there was a time when doctors who performed operations, examinations and post mortems did not wash their hands at all. The reason was that there was no 'germ theory'. They had no idea of the existence of microorganisms and no idea that some of these were pathogenic (create infectious diseases). Microorganisms are microscopic, living, single-celled organisms such as bacteria. Sometimes people refer to viruses as microorganisms, which they are not. Viruses are not alive, they are simply a strand of DNA in a protein coating.

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The first steps towards the levels of hygiene that we know and use today came in the middle of the 19th Century when a Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, realised that disease was transferred from one patient to another on the hands of doctors. So he instructed his team to wash their hands in between working on different patients. The result was spectacular and immediate - patient deaths dropped dramatically.

There was no understanding of how this worked as the bacteria which cause infections had not been discovered. Because of this his idea was not accepted by other doctors at the time, even though the results were obvious. About 20 years after Semmelweis's discovery, French scientist Louis Pasteur came up with the 'germ theory'. He showed that food went off because of contamination by microorganisms from the air and argued that these could cause disease. His theory backed up what Semmelwies had said many years before and led to the development of antiseptics.

Careful studies of pathogenic microorganisms can be carried out in a laboratory to find the most effective ways of defending against them. This is done using petri dishes partially filled with a nutrient gel. All of the equipment used has to be extremely well sterilised beforehand in order that the results are accurate. Growing microorganisms in a school laboratory could be dangerous so to keep the risks low, the cultures (sealed petri dish plus contents) are kept at temperatures of no higher than 25oC.

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1. How do bacteria and viruses make you feel ill?
[ ] They both damage the cells in your body
[ ] Bacteria irritate the cells of your body and viruses produce toxins
[ ] They take over the cells in your body
[ ] The waste materials from bacteria are toxic to the body and viruses damage your cells
2. Which of the following can be used to help protect your body from microorganisms?
[ ] Vaccination and antibiotics
[ ] Antibiotics only
[ ] Vaccination only
[ ] Nothing
3. In many hospital wards it is necessary for you to wash your hands with a special gel before going in or out. Before the middle of the 19th Century, not even doctors washed their hands. Why not?
[ ] They didn't know about microorganisms and how they can cause disease
[ ] They were too lazy
[ ] Hand cleaning gels for hospitals had not been invented
[ ] Hospitals could not afford to buy soap for them to use
4. Which of the following is an example of passive immunity?
[ ] Mucus and cilia in the respiratory system
[ ] Hydrochloric acid in the stomach
[ ] Lysozyme (an enzyme) in tears
[ ] All three of the above
5. Robert Koch discovered how to grow bacteria in a laboratory. How did this help medical science?
[ ] It prevented laboratory technicians from catching infectious diseases
[ ] It enabled him to identify some pathogenic microorganisms and linked them to specific diseases
[ ] It allowed doctors to make their own vaccines for their patients
[ ] It meant that hospitals could now save money on drugs
6. A group of Y11 students carried out an investigation into antibiotics which required them to grow some bacteria cultures. Which one of the following is not something they would have done whilst setting up the cultures?
[ ] Sterilise the Petri dishes and use sterilised agar gel
[ ] Sterilise the wire loops used for sampling in a flame
[ ] Seal the Petri dishes with sellotape
[ ] Pick up the antibiotic discs using their hands
7. Why are bacteria cultures in a school or college laboratory grown at much lower temperatures (25oC compared to 37oC) than in a professional microbiology lab?
[ ] It is less dangerous as the bacteria grow more slowly
[ ] It is cheaper
[ ] School agar gel melts at temperatures above 25oC
[ ] Schools and colleges can't leave the heaters on all day and all night
8. Vaccination is used to immunise people against diseases. Pick the false statement:
[ ] When a vaccine is injected into the body, it stimulates the white blood cells to produce antibodies against the pathogen
[ ] There are no possible side-effects from any vaccination
[ ] Vaccines can contain the live pathogen that has been specially treated to make it harmless
[ ] Harmless fragments of the pathogen and toxins produced by pathogens can both be used as vaccines
9. Why are antibiotics no good for treating colds and 'flu?
[ ] Colds and 'flu are viruses
[ ] Colds and 'flu are not viruses
[ ] Colds and 'flu are caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics
[ ] Antibiotics work too slowly
10. Which of the following statements is not true?
[ ] Unless it is controlled, HIV attacks the body's immune cells
[ ] HIV can be spread through sexual contact and by drug users who share needles
[ ] HIV develops from AIDS
[ ] The initial effect of HIV is usually a flu-like illness

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Lifestyle and health

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Science Quiz - Biology - Microorganisms and Disease (AQA) (Answers)
1. How do bacteria and viruses make you feel ill?
[ ] They both damage the cells in your body
[ ] Bacteria irritate the cells of your body and viruses produce toxins
[ ] They take over the cells in your body
[x] The waste materials from bacteria are toxic to the body and viruses damage your cells
Bacteria and viruses work in different ways
2. Which of the following can be used to help protect your body from microorganisms?
[x] Vaccination and antibiotics
[ ] Antibiotics only
[ ] Vaccination only
[ ] Nothing
Vaccination prevents infection but antibiotics treat bacterial infections. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses
3. In many hospital wards it is necessary for you to wash your hands with a special gel before going in or out. Before the middle of the 19th Century, not even doctors washed their hands. Why not?
[x] They didn't know about microorganisms and how they can cause disease
[ ] They were too lazy
[ ] Hand cleaning gels for hospitals had not been invented
[ ] Hospitals could not afford to buy soap for them to use
In the Crimean War (1853-56) 16,000 British soldiers died of illness caught in hospitals and fewer than 3,000 were killed in battle
4. Which of the following is an example of passive immunity?
[ ] Mucus and cilia in the respiratory system
[ ] Hydrochloric acid in the stomach
[ ] Lysozyme (an enzyme) in tears
[x] All three of the above
As well as these examples, there is also the skin which acts a physical barrier
5. Robert Koch discovered how to grow bacteria in a laboratory. How did this help medical science?
[ ] It prevented laboratory technicians from catching infectious diseases
[x] It enabled him to identify some pathogenic microorganisms and linked them to specific diseases
[ ] It allowed doctors to make their own vaccines for their patients
[ ] It meant that hospitals could now save money on drugs
He discovered the cause of tuberculosis and cholera. Although he didn't have a cure, he developed methods of containing outbreaks of these two diseases. Modern methods for controlling the spread of infectious diseases are still based on his ideas from the end of the Nineteenth Century
6. A group of Y11 students carried out an investigation into antibiotics which required them to grow some bacteria cultures. Which one of the following is not something they would have done whilst setting up the cultures?
[ ] Sterilise the Petri dishes and use sterilised agar gel
[ ] Sterilise the wire loops used for sampling in a flame
[ ] Seal the Petri dishes with sellotape
[x] Pick up the antibiotic discs using their hands
The best way to handle antibiotic (and disinfectant) discs is using sterilised forceps
7. Why are bacteria cultures in a school or college laboratory grown at much lower temperatures (25oC compared to 37oC) than in a professional microbiology lab?
[x] It is less dangerous as the bacteria grow more slowly
[ ] It is cheaper
[ ] School agar gel melts at temperatures above 25oC
[ ] Schools and colleges can't leave the heaters on all day and all night
Pathogenic bacteria grow very efficiently at 37oC (body temperature). It would be dangerous to incubate (keep and grow) cultures at temperatures close to body temperature (37°C) in schools and colleges because doing so might allow the growth of large colonies of harmful pathogens
8. Vaccination is used to immunise people against diseases. Pick the false statement:
[ ] When a vaccine is injected into the body, it stimulates the white blood cells to produce antibodies against the pathogen
[x] There are no possible side-effects from any vaccination
[ ] Vaccines can contain the live pathogen that has been specially treated to make it harmless
[ ] Harmless fragments of the pathogen and toxins produced by pathogens can both be used as vaccines
There has been a lot of debate about the vaccine MMR which is used against measles, mumps and rubella as some people say it has harmful side effects
9. Why are antibiotics no good for treating colds and 'flu?
[x] Colds and 'flu are viruses
[ ] Colds and 'flu are not viruses
[ ] Colds and 'flu are caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics
[ ] Antibiotics work too slowly
Viruses work by damaging cells from the inside so destroying them would probably do as much damage to the cell as the virus itself. However, doctors do in fact sometimes prescribe antibiotics when people have colds or flu in order to cure secondary infections. Whilst your body's defences are weakened by the virus, it is more likely that bacteria can get past them, making you doubly ill
10. Which of the following statements is not true?
[ ] Unless it is controlled, HIV attacks the body's immune cells
[ ] HIV can be spread through sexual contact and by drug users who share needles
[x] HIV develops from AIDS
[ ] The initial effect of HIV is usually a flu-like illness
AIDS is the late stage of the HIV infection. The body's immune system is so badly damaged that it can no longer deal with other infections