Year 12 AS Biology Curriculum Plan

Overview

We follow the AQA 'A' Biology specification. Students are provided with a textbook and revision guides. Tests are carried out every half term and enable students to evaluate their progress and set targets for their progress.

This specification is designed to encourage candidates to develop:

• an enthusiasm for Biology
• practical skills alongside understanding of core concepts and key principles
• an appropriate and relevant foundation of knowledge and skills for the study of Biology in Higher Education.

AS Outline

At AS, this specification stimulates the interest of students from the start. Unit 1 emphasises the way in which Biologists work and the contributions of Biology to society, particularly in the understanding of physiology, risk factors and disease. Unit 2 develops skills that have been established in Unit 1 and furthers study and understanding of genetic and environmental influences on organisms. Residential fieldwork is carried out in the Yorkshire Dales for students wishing to continue Biology at A2.

General Link:
BiologyMad.com

Unit 1 Biology and Disease

• Pathogens
• Lifestyle and health
• The digestive system
• Proteins
• Enzymes
• Carbohydrate digestion
• Cells
• Movement of molecules into and out of cells
• Cholera
• Lungs and lung disease
• Heart structure and function
• Biological basis of heart disease

Principles of immunology

Unit 2: The Variety of Living Organisms

• Variation
• Structure of DNA
• Genes and polypeptides
• DNA and chromosomes
• Meiosis
• Genetic diversity
• Haemoglobin
• Carbohydrates
• Cells
• Replication of DNA
• Mitosis
• Cell cycle
• Cell differentiation
• Gas exchange
• The blood system
• Passage of water through a plant
• Taxonomy
• Relationships between organisms
• Antibiotics and genetic variation in bacteria
• Species diversity

Unit 3: Practical and Investigative Skills.

This unit will address the following aspects of the AS subject criteria. The ability to:

• demonstrate and describe ethical, safe and skilful practical techniques, selecting appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods

• make, record and communicate reliable and valid observations and measurements with appropriate precision and accuracy

• analyse, interpret, explain and evaluate the methodology, results and impact of their own and others' experimental and investigatory activities in a variety of ways.

Candidates will be assessed on their understanding of investigative and practical skills in this unit and in Units 1 and 2.