BIOLOGY REVISION GUIDE ANSWERED 

The organism in the environment 

Population: number of organisms within a given area  
Community: two or more species living within a given area 
Habitat: the place where an organism lives 
Ecosystem: all the living organisms in a place and the interactions between them and their physical
environment. 
QUADRANT EXPERIMENT 
 Place quadrat randomly within sampling area 
 Count the number of members of the same species within the quadrat 
 Repeat this numerous times within sampling area using the same size
quadrat 
 Repeat the process in another area to compare results 
 
Understand how abiotic and biotic factors affect the population size and distribution of organisms 
There is a carrying capacity that depends on these factors. If these factors improve, so will the carrying
capacity. If resources are being used faster than they are being replenished, then the species has
exceeded its carrying capacity, which means that the population will decrease. 
FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS 
Trophic levels: producer, primary, secondary, and tertiary and decomposers. 
A food chain shows what eats what in a particular habitat. It also shows the flow of energy and materials
from one organism to the next. 
Energy is passed between organisms through the food chain. Plants harvest their energy through
photosynthesis, this energy is then passed on from one to organism to another in the food chain.  
Approximately only 10% of energy is passed on to the next trophic level. Most of the other energy is lost as
heat energy or because the animal isn’t eaten entirely. 
CYCLES WITHIN ECOSYSTEMS 
Plants use CO2 from the atmosphere to do photosynthesis, the carbon is then passed down to the earth as
organic carbon either when the plant or an animal dies. This carbon is then converted into fossil fuels after
millions of years. Factories use this fossil fuels for energy, but in the process release immense amounts of
carbon into the atmosphere. Animal respiration also add CO 2 to the process. The plants then use the CO2 for
photosynthesis and the process repeats. 
HUMAN INFLUENCES ON THE ENVIRONMENT 
SULFUR DIOXIDE: 
Sulfur Dioxide can cause acid rain in the environment, which can cause: 
 Deforestation 
 Acidify waterways to the detriment of aquatic life 
 Corrode building materials and paints 
 Ruin crops 
The health effects of Sulfur Dioxide are the following: 
 Affects the respiratory system 
 Lung infection 
 Irritate eyes 
Carbon Monoxide is linked to climate change and global warming due to it being a greenhouse gas. It is also
an odorless and colorless gas, which when inhaled by animals it can be bind instead of oxygen, which means
that anaerobic respiration occurs and causes lactic acidosis, which eventually leads to death. 
The greenhouses gases are the following: water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and CFCs. 
Human actions, especially burning fossil fuels, are the main reasons of the high amounts of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. 
The greenhouse effect causes the kinetic energy that comes from the sun to get trapped in the Earth, not
allowing it to bounce back into space. This increases the Earth’s temperature, leading to Global Warming
which will lead to natural disasters such as the ocean levels rising over the next years.  
Eutrophication is the domino effect caused by fertilizers that are leached from the soil by lakes. When these
fertilizers get leached, the nutrients in them such as Nitrates produce an algal bloom in the water which
stays in the surface of it. This algal bloom prevents sunlight from trespassing the water’s surface and this
causes the death of aquatic plants as they cannot photosynthesize. Following the death of the aquatic
plants, bacteria is produced as they start to feed on the dead plants, and this uses up the oxygen in the
water. Because the oxygen is used up, aquatic life cannot absorb any more oxygen and are suffocated,
meaning that the bacteria population increase due to the dead aquatic life. At some point the bacteria will
have consumed all the oxygen in the lake due to aerobic respiration and the lake becomes anoxic. 
FOOD PRODUCTION 
Glasshouses and Polythene tunnels increase the yield of certain crops because they can be used to control
the temperature inside the glasshouse so that the enzymes are closer to their optimum temperature.
Furthermore, they amplify the light they receive from the sun so that they can photosynthesize
more and protect the crops.  
Due to photosynthesis and enzymes’ optimum temperature, glasshouses can be used to increase the carbon
dioxide inside by burning gas which means that the crops have more carbon dioxide to take in, therefore
increasing the rate of photosynthesis and crop yield. The increase in temperature also helps the enzymes to
be nearer their optimum temperature, increasing the crop yield. 
Fertilizers increase the crop yield because they contain nitrate and phosphate ions that are essentials for the
plants’ growth. Nitrates are necessary for producing protein and Phosphates for DNA. 
Advantages of Chemical Pesticides: 
 Kills pests which reduce crop yield 
 Efficient  as it is quick 
 Targets and kills the entire population 
Disadvantages of Chemical Pesticides: 
 Is non-specific, may kill other organisms 
 Pests can develop resistance 
 Toxic to food chain – bioaccumulation 
Micro-organisms 
 
Yeast is used in bread making so that the bread leavens. This means that yeast is added when the dough is
small with sugar and water, and it convert it by aerobic respiration into a bigger, spongier  dough which has
risen because of the carbon dioxide byproduct from aerobic respiration. 

TEST ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION PRACTICAL 

Mix boiling tube of sugar solution with yest, cover with

vegetable oil so anaerobic respiration occurs. Connect to a
test tube full of lime water via downward delivery. The yeast
tube is placed in a water bath of set temperature. Rate of
CO2 is measured by number of bubblies in a fixed time in
limewater. Compare results at different temperatures. 
RESULT: As temperature increases to optimum, rate of CO2
increases, this is due to enzyme’s optimum temperature.
Temperature above optimum causes enzymes to denature.