By Revision Genie
Cell biology
Unit 1
Animal and plant cells: key structures and functions
Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells
Using a light microscope safely and correctly
Magnification: calculating and using scale bars
Biological drawings: rules for clear, labelled cell diagrams
Specified practical: Observe plant and animal cells and draw what you see
Cell differentiation and specialised cells
Stem cells: what they are and why they matter (benefits and risks)
Mitosis: growth, repair and cell replacement
Enzymes as biological catalysts
Enzyme action: lock-and-key and active site ideas
Factors affecting enzyme activity (temperature, pH, concentration)
Specified practical: Investigate factors affecting enzyme action
Aerobic respiration: purpose and word equation
Anaerobic respiration in humans vs yeast (products and energy)
Comparing aerobic and anaerobic respiration (efficiency and outcomes)
Digestion as breaking down insoluble food into soluble molecules
Why the body needs glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol
Specified practical: Food tests for starch, glucose and protein
Unit 2
Transport systems
Diffusion: what it is and why it happens
Osmosis: water movement and partially permeable membranes
Active transport: moving substances against a concentration gradient
Surface area to volume ratio: why size matters for exchange
Exchange surfaces: features that speed up diffusion
Osmosis in living tissue: predicting and explaining mass change
Specified practical: Osmosis in potato chips (solute concentration investigation)
Gas exchange in humans: alveoli structure and function
Breathing and ventilation: how air moves in and out
The heart: structure, chambers and blood flow pathway
Blood vessels: arteries, veins and capillaries (structure meets function)
Blood components: plasma, red cells, white cells, platelets
Coronary heart disease: links to lifestyle and risk
Specified practical: Observe artery and vein tissue under a microscope and draw
Xylem: transporting water and minerals (adaptations of vessels)
Phloem and translocation: moving sugars around the plant
Root hair cells: absorption and active transport of mineral ions
Leaf structure: labelling a transverse section (T.S. leaf)
Stomata and guard cells: controlling gas exchange and water loss
Transpiration: what it is and what affects it
Potometers: investigating transpiration rate safely
Unit 3
Health, disease and the development of medicine
Defining health and disease (physical, mental and social factors)
Pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi and protists (how they cause disease)
Transmission routes: direct contact, water, air and vectors
Preventing spread: hygiene, isolation and vaccination
The immune system: barriers and basic defence mechanisms
White blood cells: phagocytosis and antibody production
Vaccination: how it works and herd immunity basics
Evaluating vaccination decisions: evidence, risk and media influence
Antibiotics: what they treat (and what they don’t)
Antibiotic resistance: how it develops and how to reduce it
MRSA: why resistant strains are dangerous and control measures
Aseptic technique: safe culturing, plating and incubating microbes
Specified practical: Investigate the effect of antibiotics on bacterial growth
Developing medicines: preclinical testing and clinical trials
Side effects, placebos and managing risk in drug testing
Non-communicable diseases: what they are and why they’re increasing
Lifestyle factors and disease rates (diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking, UV)
Cardiovascular disease: causes and prevention
Treatments for cardiovascular disease (statins, stents, lifestyle change)
Cancer: risk factors and the role of mutations (core idea)
Unit 4
Coordination and control
The nervous system: CNS, PNS and basic roles
Neurones: sensory, relay and motor (structure and function)
Synapses: how signals pass between neurones (core idea)
Reflexes: reflex arc and why reflexes are fast
Measuring reaction time: accuracy, repeatability and bias
Specified practical: Investigate factors affecting reaction times
The endocrine system: glands and hormones overview
Negative feedback: the key idea behind homeostasis
Blood glucose control: insulin and glucagon
Diabetes: Type 1 vs Type 2 and managing blood sugar
Thermoregulation: keeping core temperature stable
The kidneys: removing urea and balancing water and salts
Filtration and selective reabsorption in the nephron (core pathway)
ADH and osmoregulation: dilute vs concentrated urine
Osmotic challenges: what happens to cells when body fluids change
Specified practical: Dissection of a mammalian kidney
Plant hormones: auxin and tropisms (phototropism and gravitropism)
Gibberellins and ethene: effects on growth and ripening
Using plant hormones in agriculture and horticulture
Unit 5
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis: what happens and why it matters
Chlorophyll and chloroplasts: trapping light energy
Photosynthesis as an endothermic reaction (energy in)
The photosynthesis word equation (and what each substance means)
Limiting factors: light intensity, carbon dioxide and temperature
Interpreting limiting factor graphs (spotting what’s limiting)
Inverse square law (light intensity with distance) in photosynthesis contexts
Using glucose made in photosynthesis (respiration, storage, building biomass)
Specified practical: Investigate factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis
Unit 6
Ecosystems
Levels of organisation: organism to ecosystem
Populations and communities: what the terms mean in exam questions
Abiotic vs biotic factors: examples and impacts
Competition and interdependence in ecosystems
Food chains and food webs: energy transfer pathways
Trophic levels and pyramids (numbers, biomass, energy)
Biomass: what it shows and how it changes through a food chain
Decomposers: the role of microbes and detritivores
Decomposition: factors that affect rate (temperature, oxygen, moisture)
Specified practical: Investigate factors affecting decomposition
Sampling: quadrats, random sampling and avoiding bias
Distribution: transects and identifying change across a habitat
Specified practical: Investigate abundance and distribution of a species
Biodiversity: what it is and why it matters
Measuring biodiversity: species richness and comparing habitats
The carbon cycle: stores, transfers and human impacts
The water cycle: processes and how humans affect it
Pollution, land use and climate effects on biodiversity
Conservation strategies: local and global protection (and data issues)
Biological control and invasive species: benefits, risks and changing practice
Food security: population, changing diets, pests, sustainability and cost
Increasing yields with fewer resources: GM, farming practices and trade-offs
Unit 7
Inheritance, variation and evolution
The genome: what it means and why it matters
DNA basics: genes, alleles and chromosomes (how they link)
Gene expression: genes coding for proteins (core idea)
Mutations: what they are and how they can affect phenotype
Specified practical: Simple DNA extraction from living material
Sexual vs asexual reproduction: similarities and differences
Gametes and fertilisation: forming a zygote
Mitosis vs meiosis: what each is for (core comparison)
Inheritance key terms: genotype, phenotype, dominant, recessive
Monohybrid crosses: using genetic diagrams to predict offspring
Sex determination: XX/XY inheritance (core model)
Variation: genetic, environmental and a mix of both
Continuous vs discontinuous variation (and how to spot each)
Natural selection: variation, competition, survival and reproduction
Evidence for evolution: fossils, antibiotic resistance, selective pressures
Darwin and Wallace: developing the theory of natural selection
Selective breeding: steps, benefits and drawbacks
Genetic engineering: what it is and the basic process steps
GM: benefits, risks and ethical considerations in farming and medicine