Year 13 A2 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. Unit 4 is taken in January and Unit 5 is taken in June. In addition there is a practical coursework assessment; ‘Investigative and practical skills'. More information can be found at the AQA website.

General Link: BiologyMad.com

The Field Course

The Field course is for A2 students in September. It lasts 3 days and is at the Field Studies Centre at Malham Tarn, Yorkshire Dales. This Centre, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, occupies a large Georgian country house, leased from the National Trust. It is the focus of an internationally important National Nature Reserve and the Tarn itself is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe.

Within walking distance of the Centre are famous limestone features including Malham Cove, Gordale Scar and spectacular karst landscapes. Habitats include limestone pavement, grazed and ungrazed grassland, woodland and species-rich fen, acid peat pools and stony hill streams.

Unit 4 Populations and the environment
Investigating populations

• Variations in population size
• Human populations
• ATP
• Photosynthesis
• Respiration
• Energy transfer
• Food production
• Nutrient cycles - carbon and nitrogen
• Succession
• Inheritance
• Selection
• Speciation

Unit 5 Control in cells and organisms

• Survival and response
• Control of heart rate
• Receptors
• Nerve impulses
• Synaptic transmission
• Muscles
• Thermoregulation
• Control of blood glucose levels
• Feedback mechanisms
• Control of mammalian oestrus
• Protein synthesis
• Gene mutation
• Gene expression
• Transcription
• Translation
• Gene cloning
• Gene therapy
• Medical diagnosis
• Genetic fingerprinting

Unit 6 Investigative and practical skills in A2 Biology