IAL Biology Edexcel – Epigenetics Exam Practice

Edexcel IAL Biology exam practice on epigenetics and specialisation (spec 3.20), with a real six-mark WBI12 question and its levels. Ready to teach.

Lesson 29 of 32 · Topic 3 · Unit 2 (WBI12) · Spec 3.20 · 61 minutes
The question this lesson answers: how are epigenetic marks passed on, and what do they do in specialised cells?

By the end, students can

• Explain how epigenetic marks are copied at cell division, and how they can switch tumour suppressor genes off.
• Explain how epigenetics contributes to specialisation, and how the environment can change the marks.
• Answer epigenetics exam questions and avoid the wording that loses marks.

How the 23-slide lesson runs
A retrieval starter, then passing on epigenetic marks at cell division, “when it goes wrong: tumour suppressor genes”, epigenetics and specialisation, and “the environment can change the marks”. “Words that lose marks”, a “what 3.20 questions ask” slide and a quick check lead into three real WBI12 questions with official mark schemes and model answers: October 2019 Q8, part c(i); June 2023 Q4, part c; and the six-mark October 2019 Q8, part d, with indicative content and levels. An exit ticket closes the lesson.

Marks students usually lose here

• Saying epigenetic marks “are inherited like genes”, rather than copied when the DNA is replicated at cell division.
• Writing that methylation of a tumour suppressor gene “causes a mutation” when the sequence is unchanged and the gene is silenced.
• A six-mark answer that defines methylation and acetylation but never links them to gene expression and the phenotype.

In the folder (13 files)

• PowerPoint, 3-page lesson plan and 10-page student notes with a one-page knowledge organiser
• 8 practice questions (33 marks) and mark scheme, each question on its own page
• 18-mark homework (ticking which epigenetic change each statement describes, a drug that adds acetyl groups, a silenced gene in a cell line, plus spaced retrieval on splicing and mitosis) with mark scheme
• 5-question misconception check with teacher key
• 3 pages of active-learning printables: Copy the marks
• 6 pages of teacher notes (starter and exit mark points, a step-by-step run sheet for the active-learning activity, answer keys), plus catch-up and extension bank decks

Follows Lesson 28 (genotype, environment and epigenetics); Lesson 30 starts multiple alleles and polygenic inheritance. The full 32-lesson Topic 3 bundle is in my shop.

An independent resource by bio_boffin_resources, written by a Biology teacher with 10 years’ experience in a leading international school. Not endorsed by Pearson.