AQA GCSE Biology Course Notes¶

This page is the main route into the revision notes. Start with the course overviews, modules, topics and summary pages below.

Overview¶

• GCSE Biology (8461): course scope, paper structure, topic map and source policy.

Modules¶

• 4.1 Cell Biology: cells, microscopy, transport and cell division.
• 4.2 Organisation: tissues, organ systems, digestion, circulation and plant transport.
• 4.3 Infection and Response: communicable disease, defence systems and medicines.
• 4.4 Bioenergetics: photosynthesis, respiration and energy transfer.
• 4.5 Homeostasis and Response: nervous coordination, hormones and regulation.
• 4.6 Inheritance, Variation and Evolution: genetics, reproduction, variation and natural selection.
• 4.7 Ecology: ecosystems, biodiversity and material cycles.

Topics¶

• 4.1.1 Cell Structure: prokaryotes and eukaryotes, sub-cellular structures, specialisation, differentiation, microscopy and aseptic technique.
• 4.1.2 Cell Division: chromosomes, the cell cycle, mitosis and stem-cell uses and limits.
• 4.1.3 Transport in Cells: diffusion, osmosis and active transport across membranes.
• 4.2.1 Principles of Organisation: cells, tissues, organs and organ systems, plus enzymes, digestion and food tests.
• 4.2.2 Animal Tissues, Organs and Organ Systems: the digestive system, circulation, blood, coronary heart disease, lifestyle risks and cancer.
• 4.2.3 Plant Tissues, Organs and Systems: plant tissues, leaf and root adaptations, and transport in xylem and phloem.
• 4.3.1 Communicable Diseases: pathogens, examples of disease, defence systems, vaccination, antibiotics and drug testing.
• 4.3.2 Monoclonal Antibodies: how monoclonal antibodies are produced and how they are used in diagnosis and treatment.
• 4.3.3 Plant Disease: how plant diseases are detected and the ways plants defend themselves.
• 4.4.1 Photosynthesis: the photosynthesis equation, limiting factors and what plants do with the glucose they make.
• 4.4.2 Respiration: aerobic and anaerobic respiration, exercise responses and the wider idea of metabolism.
• 4.5.1 Homeostasis: why the internal environment must stay stable and how control systems achieve that.
• 4.5.2 The Human Nervous System: stimulus-response pathways, reflexes, the brain, the eye and temperature control.
• 4.5.3 Hormonal Coordination in Humans: the endocrine system, blood glucose, water balance, reproductive hormones and negative feedback.
• 4.5.4 Plant Hormones: auxins, tropisms and plant-hormone uses in agriculture and horticulture.
• 4.6.1 Reproduction: sexual and asexual reproduction, meiosis, DNA, inheritance, inherited disorders and sex determination.
• 4.6.2 Variation and Evolution: variation, natural selection, selective breeding, genetic engineering and cloning.
• 4.6.3 The Development of Understanding of Genetics and Evolution: Darwin, Mendel, evidence for evolution, fossils, extinction and resistant bacteria.
• 4.6.4 Classification of Living Organisms: the Linnaean system, binomial naming and how modern evidence changes classification.
• 4.7.1 Adaptations, Interdependence and Competition: communities, abiotic and biotic factors, adaptation and competition in ecosystems.
• 4.7.2 Organisation of an Ecosystem: levels of organisation, decomposition, material cycles and environmental change.
• 4.7.3 Biodiversity and the Effect of Human Interaction on Ecosystems: biodiversity, waste management, land use, deforestation, global warming and conservation.
• 4.7.4 Trophic Levels in an Ecosystem: food chains, biomass pyramids and why energy transfer between trophic levels is inefficient.
• 4.7.5 Food Production: food security, farming methods, sustainable fisheries and biotechnology in food production.

Practicals¶

• Required Practical Reference: the ten required practicals, linked back to the main science topics.

Syntheses¶

• GCSE Biology Key Terms Glossary: central glossary file for terms that recur across the course.