Cell biology quiz — 20 questions with answers.

Who it's for: Secondary biology classes, ages 14–16, as revision of cells, genetics and disease.

Use them as revision before a biology test, a starter, or a check after a microscopy practical. Every question has one correct answer except question 2, which has two. All twenty fit in one Quizoma quiz.

The 20 cell biology questions with answers

Correct answers are marked with a tick. The same questions, with the same answers, are in the CSV file, in the same order.

Cells

1. What is the basic unit of life?
   A. The tissue · B. The cell ✓ · C. The organ · D. The atom
2. Which of these do plant cells have that animal cells do not? (more than one answer)
   A. A cell wall ✓ · B. Chloroplasts ✓ · C. A cell membrane · D. A nucleus
3. What is a group of similar cells working together called?
   A. A tissue ✓ · B. A system · C. An organ · D. An organism
4. Which instrument is used to see cells?
   A. A periscope · B. A stethoscope · C. A microscope ✓ · D. A telescope
5. What do bacterial cells not have?
   A. Ribosomes · B. A nucleus ✓ · C. A cell membrane · D. Cytoplasm

Organelles

6. Where is the genetic material kept in an animal cell?
   A. The vacuole · B. The cell wall · C. The ribosome · D. The nucleus ✓
7. Where does aerobic respiration take place?
   A. Chloroplasts · B. Ribosomes · C. Mitochondria ✓ · D. The vacuole
8. Where are proteins made in a cell?
   A. The vacuole · B. The cell wall · C. Ribosomes ✓ · D. Chloroplasts
9. Which part controls what enters and leaves the cell?
   A. The nucleus · B. The cytoplasm · C. The cell membrane ✓ · D. The cell wall
10. Where do most of the cell's chemical reactions take place?
    A. The cell membrane · B. The vacuole · C. The cytoplasm ✓ · D. The cell wall

DNA & genes

11. What shape is a DNA molecule?
    A. A single straight strand · B. A flat sheet · C. A double helix ✓ · D. A triangle
12. What is a section of DNA that codes for a protein called?
    A. A cell · B. A chromosome · C. A gene ✓ · D. A nucleus
13. How many chromosomes are there in a normal human body cell?
    A. 46 ✓ · B. 48 · C. 44 · D. 23
14. Which type of cell division makes sex cells (gametes)?
    A. Osmosis · B. Mitosis · C. Meiosis ✓ · D. Diffusion
15. How many different bases are there in DNA?
    A. 20 · B. 6 · C. 4 ✓ · D. 2

Microbes & disease

16. Antibiotics are used to treat infections caused by what?
    A. Viruses · B. Bacteria ✓ · C. Allergies · D. All microbes
17. Which microbe is used to make bread rise?
    A. A protozoan · B. A virus · C. Yeast ✓ · D. Algae
18. Which of these diseases is caused by a virus?
    A. Cholera · B. Malaria · C. Tuberculosis · D. Measles ✓
19. How is malaria spread?
    A. By mosquitoes ✓ · B. By touching · C. Through the air · D. By rats
20. How do vaccines protect the body?
    A. They replace damaged blood cells · B. They kill every bacterium in the body · C. They work as antibiotics · D. They train the immune system to recognise a pathogen ✓

Some wrong options are common mix-ups. 23 in question 13 is the number of pairs, not of chromosomes; Viruses in question 16 is the classic error — antibiotics do not work on viruses; and Tuberculosis in question 18 is caused by bacteria. Quizoma's results show the accuracy of every question, so you will see straight away which idea the class has mixed up.

Students can use the same set to revise on their own: import it, switch on Show Score and Retake, and it becomes a practice test they can take until every answer sticks.

How to use this template

1. Download the file: quizoma-template-cell-biology-quiz.csv.
2. Open Quizoma Studio in your browser (or the Android app) and choose Import from file.
3. Pick the .csv. Quizoma shows every question for review before anything is saved, so you can fix a wording, drop a question or add your own.
4. Save, then share the 6-character quiz code or QR with your class. Participants answer at quizoma.com/take in any browser.

Timing and points are set on the quiz when you import, not in the file. If you would rather not import at all, you can type the questions into the online quiz maker directly.

What is in the file

One row per question: the question, then the options, then a final correct column holding the number of the right option. Where more than one option is right, the numbers are joined with a |. The first lines look like this:

question,option1,option2,option3,option4,correct
What is the basic unit of life?,The tissue,The cell,The organ,The atom,2
Where is the genetic material kept in an animal cell?,The vacuole,The cell wall,The ribosome,The nucleus,4

Open it in any spreadsheet to edit, and save it as CSV again before importing — an .xlsx file is not read. The same format is described on the templates page.