Resources we use at GCSE

✓ BBC Bitesize ✓ Kerboodle

– Biology Single Science
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/
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– Chemistry Single Science
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/
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– Physics Single Science
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/
zsc9rdm ✓ Mygcsescience
✓ Focuselearning
– https://www.focuselearning.co.uk/
– Username:
student@thorndenschool4194
– Password: phio7bcwa
– https://www.focuselearning.co.uk/u/4194/otgtnFog
sztAwEfhnCogdcjBsgbmsFgas
– No login required
✓ Cognito
Cognito - Learn GCSE Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry -
Completely Free (cognitoedu.org)
– https://www.kerboodle.com/users/login
• Student login
– Username: Same as school
username: eg. 17johsmi – all
lowercase
– Password: same as username then
re-set your own
– Institution code: ky7
– https://www.my-gcsescience.com/
• Student login
– Username: school system username,
case sensitive eg: 17JohSmi
– Password: TS then re-set their own
✓ Senecalearning
– https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/
– Username: make your own account
– Password: set your own
✓ Twig Science
– https://www.twig-world.com/
• Student login
– Username: thorndenstudent
– Password: twigscience
Page 1 - Biodiversity
Read pages 286-287 in the Biology textbook and
watch the videos to help fill in page 1
✓ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bk2nn
DI68g
✓ Twig - What is Biodiversity? : Twig (twig-
world.com)
• Username: thorndenstudent
• Password: twigscience
Page 2 - Waste management
(water)
Complete page 2 on waste management.
Use page 288-289 in the textbook and the
following links to help you:
• Human population increase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RC3Hsk90t8

• AQA GCSE Biology Student Book (kerboodle.com) pages 288-289

• Eutrophication - Ecosystems – pollution and nutrient cycles – WJEC - GCSE Biology (Single
Science) Revision - WJEC - BBC Bitesize
• Toxic chemicals: Biomagnification and the Trouble with Toxins – YouTube
• (964) GCSE Biology - How Human Waste Reduces Biodiversity - Explained #89 – YouTube
 Eutrophication
Yet another example of pollution, eutrophication is when lakes become stagnant due
to careless use of fertiliser. There are six steps:

1) Inorganic fertilisers 3) This growth causes overcrowding

used on fields are washed and many plants at the bottom die due
into the lake to lack of enough light or food

2) The fertiliser causes increased growth in water plants especially

algae called an algal bloom
 Eutrophication
4) Microorganisms such as bacteria 6) The lack of oxygen causes
increase in number due to the extra the death of fish and other
dead material aquatic animals

5) These microorganisms use

up the oxygen in the lake
during respiration
 Toxic chemicals - DDT in otters
A pesticide called DDT was used in the
1960s. It killed insects that were damaging
crops, but it ran off into the rivers and
contaminated plants.

The small animals and fish further up the

food chain collected more and more of the
toxin because it stayed in their bodies.

Otters that ate the fish were killed and

almost became extinct in the south of
England.
 Toxic chemicals - DDT in birds of
prey
DDT is an insecticide that can pass up the
food chain from insects to small birds, and
then from the small birds to birds of prey,
like hawks.

It can accumulate in the birds of prey,

giving them a large amount of DDT.

High concentrations of DDT in birds cause

weakness in the shells of their eggs, which
leads to a reduction in their population.

DDT is now banned because of this.

Page 3 – Waste management (air)
Complete page 3 on waste management.
Use page 290-291 in the textbook and the
following links to help you:
✓ AQA GCSE Biology Student Book (kerboodle.com) pages 286-289
✓ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zt8f4qt/revision/3
 Indicator species
Pollution levels can be measured directly by chemical analysis.
The presence or absence of certain living organisms can also act as an
indicator of the amount of pollution. Look at the lichen on the next
slide and fill in the table below.

Winchester Southampton

Number of species
of lichens in picture
A
Number of species
of lichens in picture
B

 Lichens grow on places like rocks, trees and the roofs of buildings.
 They are sensitive to sulphur dioxide levels in the air.
 The cleaner the air, the greater the number of species of lichens that will grow.
 The more polluted the air, the fewer lichen species that will grow.

Explain which city you think has the highest levels of sulfur dioxide and how can you
tell?
 A- Southampton

A- Winchester

B- Winchester
B- Southampton
 Page 4 – Land use
Complete page 4 on land use.
Use page 293 in the textbook, the following links and slides on peat to help
you:

✓ AQA GCSE Biology Student Book (kerboodle.com) page 293

✓ Peat bogs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogOhGlcJSuQ
✓ Peat bogs https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zt8f4qt/revision/3
 Why are peatlands important?

Peatlands act as long-term sinks for atmospheric

carbon dioxide.
Peatlands are the most important long-term carbon
store in the terrestrial biosphere sequestering
atmospheric carbon for thousands of years.

Peat bogs cover nearly 2-3% of the Earth’s surface and

are an important carbon sink, containing more
‘locked-away’ carbon than the Earth’s forests.
Peatlands in the northern hemisphere store
approximately 450 billion tonnes of carbon.
 Uses - Burning peat

• The amount of biomass peat contains means it

can be dried and burnt as a fuel, which makes it
an important energy source in some countries.
• The peat is cut from the ground, laid out in
blocks to dry, then burnt.
 Uses - Peat based compost

• Peat also has valuable

properties when mixed in with
soil:
– improved soil structure
– mineral retention
– water retention
– acidity
• This makes it valuable in
agriculture and gardening.
England’s gardeners
to be banned from
using peat-based
compost |
Environment | The
Guardian
Page 5 - Deforestation
Complete page 5 on deforestation. Use page 292
of the textbook, the following links and the next
slide to help you:
• AQA GCSE Biology Student Book (kerboodle.com) page 292
• Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects - Bing video
• BBC iPlayer - Seven Worlds, One Planet - Series 1: 2. Asia (watch from 48mins to
the end about Oragutans)
• Deforestation - Biodiversity and the effect of human interaction on ecosystems -
AQA - GCSE Biology (Single Science) Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize
 Reasons
✓ to farm the land
✓ to build roads
✓ to build other infrastructure
✓ for logging purposes – the
wood may be sold for
furniture, etc.
✓ to use the wood as a fuel
source
✓ to clear areas to grow crops
like palm oil for fuel (biodiesel)
and other products
✓ clearing the land for mining
✓ clearing for dam construction
✓ to build new housing
Effects (-/+)
 reduction in biodiversity
 extinction of animal and
plant species
 increase in the volume of CO2
in the atmosphere as less
trees – contributing to global
warming and climate change
 erosion of the soil
 disruption of the water cycle
 flooding and drought
 possibility of economic
prosperity
 better transport systems
 more space available for
people to live
 space to grow crops to feed
growing populations
 production of fuels like
biodiesel which is renewable
Page 6 – Global warming
Complete page 6 on global warming. Use page
294-5 of the textbook and the following links to
help you:
• AQA GCSE Biology Student Book (kerboodle.com)
page 294-5
• Greenhouse effect and evidence of enhanced
greenhouse effect - How is biodiversity threatened
and how can we protect it? - OCR 21C - GCSE
Biology (Single Science) Revision - OCR 21st Century
- BBC Bitesize
Greenhouse effect - How does it
work?
1.Electromagnetic radiation at most
wavelengths from the Sun passes
through the Earth’s atmosphere.

2.The Earth absorbs electromagnetic

radiation with short wavelengths and
so warms up. Heat is radiated from
the Earth as longer wavelength
infrared radiation.

3.Some of this longer wavelength

infrared radiation is absorbed by
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

4.The atmosphere and the earth warm

up like a greenhouse. We need this
effect to keep us warm but too many
greenhouse gases is increasing this
effect which leads to global warming.
Maintaining Biodiversity
AQA GCSE Biology Student Book
(kerboodle.com) page 298-9

Use these pages and the following slides/links

to explain the different ways that we are now
trying to maintain biodiversity.
There are 5 sections to fill in at the end of your
booklet on some of the different ways we are
trying to do this.
#1. Watch the video and evaluate the impact of
zoos in terms of maintaining biodiversity
• Why do we need zoos? – YouTube
#2. Protecting rare habitats – which
habitats are we protecting? Why? How?
✓ Rising Ocean Temperatures are "Cooking" Coral Reefs | National
Geographic - YouTube
#3. Reintroducing hedgerows – why were they
removed and why are we replanting them?
• Hedgerows: Lifelines on Farmland – YouTube
• Land use - Monitoring and maintaining the environment -
OCR Gateway - GCSE Biology (Single Science) Revision - OCR
Gateway - BBC Bitesize
• Hedgerow wildlife - People's Trust for Endangered Species
(ptes.org)
# 4 and 5 - Summary videos
(964) GCSE Biology - Land Use - Deforestation &
Peat Bogs #92 - YouTube
(964) GCSE Biology - Global Warming & Climate
Change #91 – YouTube
(964) GCSE Biology - Maintaining Biodiversity
#90 – YouTube
 Summary
For an overview of this topic watch:
Human impact on the environment | Biology |
AQA | My GCSE Science (my-gcsescience.com)