Welcome to A level Biology

• Outline of course• Assessment objectives and

weighting• Practical skills overview• Specification overview• Introduction to Biology• FAQ

Outline of the course

• No c/w– No ISA or EMPA

• Mathematics – 10% of final marks

• Practical skills– 12 Core practicals

– Practical skills competencies

– 15% of final marks

• Linear A level

What do the exams consist of?

SOW outline• Biological molecules• Cells• Organisms exchange substances with their

environment• Genetic information, variation and relationships

between organisms• Energy transfers in and between organisms• Organisms respond to changes in their internal

and external environments• Genetics, populations, evolution and ecosystem• The control of gene expression

Practical work

– Apparatus and techniques• These have been agreed by all exam

boards, so all students will have experienced similar practical work after following a science A-level course.

– 12 required practical activities These have been specified by AQA. • They cover the apparatus and

techniques for each subject and are written up in lab books

There are two elements to the practical work that students carry out:

Both are assessed in exam papers

Studying biology at

Contact timeYou will have two teachers in Year 12 and Year 13. Currently there are five classes in Year 12 taught by five experienced A level teachers:

Mrs S Bird – Head of Biology sbird@ndhs.org.uk, ITT Lead Julian TSHDr S Stevenson – Deputy Head Mr Q Harper – Head of Year 12Mrs A Banks – Director of Training and CPDMr G Olley

There are 9 hours a fortnight allocated in the classrooms including double (2 hour) lessons.

Google classrooms are available for both 12 and 13 to consolidate learning.

Your teachers are always ready to answer questions out of teaching hours.

Studying biology at

Cross curricular opportunities

• Succession and conservation study/geography - June• Study of the brain/psychology - October• Biology in Action Lectures in London – December (online 2020)• UEA outreach• Online revision sessions given by examiners

Year 12 Fieldwork Trip – Holkham Nature Reserve

Studying biology at

How am I tested?

• Synoptic 2 hour papers each term

• 2 hour paper at the end of Year 12

• 2 hour paper Year 13 mock

Why synoptic papers rather than end of topic tests?

Students are better prepared for the final exams and use retrieval practice to identify misconceptions

‘I am much less worried about Biology than my other subjects’ –current Year 12 student talking about her Year 12 assessments

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Support materials

www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/as-and-a-level/biology-7401-7402 - specification

Powerpointsuploaded onto

Google classroom

Subscription to biofactsheets

Intervention and support

materials

Worksheets including diagrams to support learning

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Behaviour of Daphnia – online Practical

As part of your practical skills you will observe the orientation behaviour of a variety of organisms, formulate hypotheses based on their observations and use simple equipment to collect data and test their hypotheses.

This online practical tests simple responses that

can maintain a mobile organism in a

favourable environment.

Heartbeat in Daphnia – Practical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g-04Uk0ut0

Heartbeat in Daphnia – Online Practical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g-04Uk0ut0

Use a stopwatch to time 20 seconds, and count the number of heart beats in

several periods of 20 seconds. The heart beat of Daphnia is very rapid, so

count the beats by making dots on a piece of paper in the shape of a letter S.

Count the dots and express heart rate as number of beats per minute.

Task 1: Locate the heartbeat

Task 2: Count the heartbeat.How easy was this? Explain your method in the chat function.In what way could this be improved?

Heartbeat in Daphnia – Online Practical

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g-04Uk0ut0

Task 3: Making a hypothesis.

We have changed the conditions by adding the following to (different) daphnia• 1% ethanol• Caffeine• IceMake a prediction as to what will happen to the heartbeat using the following:There will be no effect/named effect to the daphnia heartbeat when XXX was added.Again write your answers in the chat function.

Heartbeat in Daphnia – Online Practical

POST PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

1. Prior to the investigation into the effect of chemicals, we measured the

heartbeat. Why?

2. Why did we select another daphnia prior to repeating with caffeine?

3. Why does the heart speed up if we are under duress? What physiological reason

would this be?

For more information on the 12 required practicals covered in this

specification, please visit http://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/as-and-a-

level/teach/practicals

The Autonomic Nervous System (Topic 6 Stimuli and Response)

There are several circumstances that can cause an individual’s heart rate to increase, such as during exercise.There is a specific region of the brain that plays a vital role in controlling the heart rate

• This cardioregulatory centre in the brain is called the medullaThe medulla is found at the base of the brain near the top of the spinal cordThe medulla is made up of two distinct parts:

• The acceleratory centre, which causes the heart to speed up• The inhibitory centre, which causes the heart to slow down

Both centres are connected to the sinoatrial node (SAN) in the heart by nerves

The acceleratory centreOnce the acceleratory centre has been activated impulsesare sent along the sympathetic neurones to the SANNoradrenaline is secreted at the synapse with the SANNoradrenaline causes the SAN to increase the frequencyof the electrical waves that it producesThis results in an increased heart rate.

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Summer Task

• www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/as-and-a-level/biology-7401-7402

(download the specification)

• AQA Biology A level Year 1

Second Edition Student book

• ISBN 978-0-19-835176-4 £24.99

FAQs