Biology What is a carbohydrate?

What are monosaccharides and

What are the tests for glucose and
disaccharides? Give examples of
starch?
each.

What is a polysaccharide? And

What is a protein?
what are the 3 main types?

What are the two types of protein? What is a lipid?

 A substance made up of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen. It is used as
an energy source by the body.
When you add iodine to a starch, it
goes from red to blue/black. Benedict’s
reagent, when added to glucose, goes
from blue to orange.
A protein is made up of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and
sulphur. It is composed of 20 different
amino acids made, 12 from liver, 8
(essential) amino acids are obtained
from food. Each gene is a genetic code
for the cells to make a protein, and the
number and order of amino acids make
the protein.
A lipid is made up of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. They are made up of 3 fatty acids
which are different chain lengths attached to
glycerol.
• Monosaccharide: One ring
sugars, e.g. glucose & fructose.
• Disaccharide: Two ring sugars,
e.g. maltose (glucose x2), lactose
(glucose & galactose) & sucrose
(glucose & fructose).
• Polysaccharide: Many ring sugars.
• Starch: Plants convert excess glucose
to starch. Found in rice, cereals,
potatoes.
• Cellulose: Makes up the cell wall of
plants. We can’t digest it, due to no
cellulose enzyme.
• Glycogen: Excess glucose is
converted to glycogen as a reserve.
Stored in liver and muscle.
• Structured protein: Used for growth and
repair. E.g. Keratin (hair and nails), actin
and myosin (muscle), collagen (tendon,
bones). All insoluble.
• Globular proteins: Soluble proteins
which serve different functions.
Enzymes, hormones, antibodies,
haemoglobin.
 What are the two types of fats and
What are all the uses of lipids?
their properties?

What are vitamins A, C and D, and What happens if you don’t have
what do they do? enough of vitamins A, B and C.

What is the formula used for What are Iron, Calcium, Fibre and
calculating the energy released water made of, what do they do
when food is burnt? and how you get them?

Describe the, “burning the wotsit”

Define Digestion
experiment.

• Saturated fats: Of animal origin (e.g.
butter & lard). They are solid at room
temperature and have the maximum
amount of hydrogen.
• Unsaturated fats: E.g. olive oil, rapeseed
oil, sunflower oil. They are oils at room
temperature because they have double
bonds.
Vitamin A: Lack of causes nights blindness,
found in fish liver oils and carotene (carrots).
Vitamin C: Lack of causes scurvy. Cells peel
apart and wounds don’t heal. Found in
oranges, blackcurrants, other fruits.
Vitamin D: Lack of causes rickets where
bones are weak. Found in fish liver oils, but
also milk and dairy food. Also produced in
the skin via UV.
Iron: Needed to make haemoglobin which carries
oxygen in red blood cells. Lack of causes anaemia
(causes extreme llethargy). From red meat and
vegetables.
Calcium: Needed for healthy bones. Found in dairy
products.
Fibre: Roughage, undigested plant material. Adds
bulk to faeces, increases peristalsis, prevents
constipation and bowel cancer.
Water: Coolant in the eye, detoxifier, lubrication,
hydration, etc. 3 days without you die.
Making large insoluble food molecules
soluble so they can be absorbed into blood.
• Used for energy.
• Storage (can store twice as much energy gram
for gram than carbs).
• Insulation.
• Protecting vital organs.
• Used in cell membranes (phospholipids and
cholesterol).
• Used to make steroid hormones (e.g.
testosterone & oestrogen).
• Fat is stored in adipose tissue, made up of
glycerol and fatty acids, called triglyceride.
• Vitamin A: Retinol – Makes Rhodopsin,
which is used by rods in your eyes to see
in dim light.
• Vitamin C: Ascorbic acid – Is needed to
make connective tissue binding cells
together.
• Vitamin D: Calciferol – Needed to
absorb calcium of the gut.
Energy released in Joules = mass of water (g) x
temperature of water (ºC) x4.2J (heat capacity of
water, no. of joules in a calorie, and joules
needed to raise 1g of water by 1ºC)
Fill a boiling tube with 10cm cubed of water.
Support in it a clamp, then measure the
temperature of the water. Weigh a wotsit and
position it on a needle on a cork under the
water. Burn the wotsit, stir water and take
final temperature. The rise in temperature,
when plugged into the formula gives you the
heat. It is best in a closed system with
 What does the mouth do? What does the stomach do?

What are the final products of

What does the small intestine do?
digestion which occur where?

What are villi? How are villi adapted to digestion?

What does the large intestine do? What do the pancreas and liver do?

• Muscular bag which churns food.
• The glandular lining secretes HCl to kill
bacteria.
• Pepsin enzyme speeds up protein
breakdown and mucus protects lining.
In the small intestine:
Protease: Proteins to amino acids.
Lipase: Fats to glycerol + fatty acids.
Maltase: Maltose to 2x glucose.
Sucrase: Sucrose to glucose + fructose.
Lactase: Lactose to glucose + galactose.
• They have a large surface area.
• They have columnar epithelial cells with
microvilli for further surface area.
• Capillary network inside absorbs food molecules.
• Lacteal inside takes up fatty acids + glycerol.
• There are lots of them, tightly packed.
Liver:
• Makes and secretes bile into gut via bile duct.
The bile is stored in the gallbladder, and is
alkaline to neutralise stomach acid. It contains
bile salts, which emulsify fats too. Breaks them
down to increase surface area.
• Pancreas: Produces pancreatic juice which is
alkaline and neutralises stomach acid in small
intestine. Also secretes amylase, lipase and
protease.
• Food ingested to be chewed to create a larger
surface area (mechanical digestion).
• Saliva lubricates food with mucus, and amylase
breaks down starch to maltose.
• Food is swallowed, forced down oesophagus by
peristalsis. It becomes a bolus and moves into
stomach.
•
7m long, made up of duodenum,
jejunum and ileum.
• Chemical digestion takes place here and
the absorption of food molecules.
• Various enzymes secreted from gland
wall.
Villi are finger-like projections in the wall of
the small intestines, aimed at increasing
surface area.
• 1.5m long, made of colon, rectum and
anus.
• Faeces stored in rectum, ingested from
the anus.
• Faeces is composed of fibre, bacteria,
dead gut cells, bile salt and pigments and
water.
 What is the effect of temperature
What are enzymes?
on enzymes?

What is the effect of PH on

What is respiration?
enzymes?

What is the formula of aerobic Describe a test to show organisms

respiration? produce CO2.

What is anaerobic respiration and What is the formula for

the formula? fermentation?
 As temperature increases, the molecules
move around faster and there are more
collisions, which causes the enzyme to react
quickly, but past the optimum temperature,
the structure denatures.
Enzymes are biological catalysts made up of protein
that speeds up a reaction and remain unchanged.
Each enzyme has a substrate, which binds (via the
lock-and-key method) to the active site of an
enzyme, then catalyses.

Respiration is when glucose is oxidised in Enzymes work within an optimum PH. Too
cells very gradually by a series of reactions low, it doesn’t work. Too high, and it
controlled by enzymes, to produce energy. denatures.

Have two test tubes with water.

Have an insect placed on a gauze
in one of them. As the insect C6H1206+6O2→6CO2+H2O+Energy
respires, the water should become
carbonic acid, and you can use an
indicator to test for it.

Anaerobic respiration is when

respiration occurs without oxygen, so
less energy released. It occurs during This is fermentation, used in
server physical exertion is undertaken,
it causes an oxygen debt, only be used
baking and brewing.
for a short time and releases lactic acid. C6H1206→Ethanol+CO2+Energy
The formula is C6H1206→Lactic
Acid+Energy
 What happens when you inhale? What happens when you exhale?

What is the route taken for How are your lungs adapted for
breathing? gaseous exchange?

What are the effects of smoking on

What are pleural membranes?.
respiration?

What is the effect of exercise on How does gaseous exchange occur

breathing? in your lung?
 • The diaphragm relaxes, and raises.
• Intercostal muscles relaxes, moving the
ribs inwards and downwards. The elastic
recoil of the lungs moves it back to its
original position.
• The above decreases pressure, so air
rushes outwards.
• Millions of alveoli give a large surface
area.
• Alveoli and capillary wall are each only
one cell thick, so there is a high diffusion
gradient.
• The steep gradient is maintained by
rapid blood flow in capillaries and
ventilation.
Pleural membranes surround each lung, and pleural
fluid lies in the cavity outside the lung, which
lubricates the lung and stop it rubbing on the ribs.
Gaseous exchange occurs between the alveolus and
red blood cells, in the capillaries which contain
haemoglobin. Oxygen diffuses from alveoli into
haemoglobin to become oxyhaemoglobin, while
carbon dioxide is diffused from capillaries into the
alveoli.
• The diaphragm contracts and lowers.
• Intercostal muscles contract and raise the ribs
upwards and outwards.
• The above increases the volume of the lungs,
which decreases the pressure, so air rushes in.
Nose→trachea→bronchi →bronchioles
→alveoli →blood
• The tar can paralyse the cilia in the lining of your
trachea, so when goblet cells secrete mucus to trap
dirt, rather than be pushed up by cilia, bacteria and
particles are trapped and swallowed, sometimes into
the lung to give you bronchitis and the smoker’s
cough.
• Alveoli walls break down, so there is less surface
area for gaseous exchange. Lungs lose their elastic
recoil, so you breathe less and have to make
yourself breathe out. Patients require pure oxygen.
• The carcinogens in tobacco can also cause cancer,
and there are many.
When you exercise very quickly, i.e. sprinting, your
body builds up an oxygen debt due to anaerobic
respiration, so afterwards, you breathe deeply and
heavily, so your heart pumps quickly, and your
breathing rate goes up. With other exercise, your
breathing rate goes up as your body requires more
and more oxygen so it can pump red blood cells
around your body, as there is increased demand.
 What are the properties of plasma,
Explain what blood made from.
and what does it contain?

What are the properties of

erythrocytes and what do they What do platelets do?
contain?

What do white blood cells, and What are the functions of T-

what are the three types? Lymphocytes

Describe the vaccination process

What are the functions of B-
and what happens when you are
Lymphocytes?
infected.
 Plasma: Fluid part of the blood, makes up
55% of blood. Contains:
• Lipids, fatty acids, cholesterol
• Antibodies, enzymes
• Urea
• Mineral ions, electrolytes
• Gases (e.g. carbon dioxide)
• Platelets are involved in the clotting
process. When a wound opens, they bind
together to fill the wound, to stop foreign
objects coming in and prevents blood
loss.
• Killer T lymphoctyes destroys
infected cells.
• Helper T-cells co-ordinate the
immune response.
When an infection takes place, macrophages
go forward and attack, and natural T killer
cells and neutrophils do the same. As well as
killer T-cells. Dendritic cells create a marker
by taking samples, which Helper T-cells
take, and travel to find the B-cell, which
contains the correct antibody fort he
pathogen. All together, they kill the
pathogen.
• Plasma
• Red blood cells (erythrocytes)
• White blood cells
• Platelets
Red blood cells:
• Biconcave discs for high surface area-to-
volume ratio.
• 1/3 haemoglobin/oxyhaemoglobin
• Made in bone marrow, broken down in
spleen and liver after 120 days.
• Able to squeeze through capillaries, 1
cell thick
White blood cells are cells which defend the
body against pathogens, and are used. The
three types are:
• Phagocytes: Cells which engulf and
digests pathogens.
• Lymphocytes: T and B types which play
key roles in immune system.
• Granulocytes (neutrophils): Types of
phagocytes with granules.
• They produce proteins called antibodies
which destroy pathogens. Each
lymphocyte produces 1 type of antibody
for its pathogen, on its antigen, the
specific molecule on the surface of its
pathogen
• Memory B cells are created afterwards
which stay for years and help prevent
future invasions.
 What is the route the heart takes to
Describe the heart
pump blood?

What are the differences in

What are the three valves, where
purpose between arteries, veins
are they and what do they do?
and capillaries?

What are the differences in

What is the effect of smoking on
structure between arteries, veins
the circulatory system?
and capillaries?

What is the effect of exercise on What is the general plan of the

heart rate and why? circulation system?
Blood from body/head via vena cava→right
atrium → tricuspid valve → semilunar valves
→pulmonary artery → lungs →blood from
lungs from pulmonary veins →left atrium
→mitral/bicuspid valve →left ventricle
→semilunar valves →aorta →to body and
head →vena cava
• Arteries: Carries blood from heart to
organs.
• Veins: Carries blood from body towards
the heart.
• Capillaries: Carries blood through
organs, bringing blood to every cell.
• Nicotine makes red blood cells and platelets
sticky, which increases blood pressure, which
damages blood vessels.
• Atherosclerosis: Build up of cholesterol in the
wall of the endothelium (cell lining). Increases
pressure which when burst, results in the clotting
(thrombosis) of a blood vessel, which leads to a
heart attack.
• The pulmonary circuit carries blood to the lungs
to be oxygenated and then back to the heart. In the
lungs, carbon dioxide is removed from the blood,
and oxygen taken up by the haemoglobin in the
red blood cells.
• The systemic circuit carries blood around the
body to deliver the oxygen and returns de-
oxygenated blood to the heart. Blood also carries
nutrients and waste.
Made of cardiac muscle (myogenic muscle), it is 2
pumps that beat at once. The right side receives
deoxygenated blood and pumps it to the lungs, and
the left side pumps oxygenated blood to the body.
The two sides are separated by the septum. It has 4
chambers, two atria and two ventricles.
• Bicuspid/Mitral valve: Prevents
backflow into the left atria when left
ventricle closes.
• Tricuspid valve: Prevents backflow into
the right atria when right ventricle
closes.
• Semilunar valves: Prevents backflow
into ventricles, located in aorta and
pulmonary artery.
• Arteries: Thick wall of muscle and
elastic tissue, small lumen (cavity). Very,
very high pressure.
• Veins: Thin wall of muscle and elastic
tissue, large lumen. Much less pressure.
• Capillaries: One cell thick for diffusion
of gases, cells near capillary and
contains various gases.
Exercise causes muscles to increase the rate of
respiration to provide energy. This means it requires
more oxygen and glucose, and therefore produces
more carbon dioxide. The brain sends a message to
the natural pacemaker (SA node) of the heart to
increase the heart rate. Adrenaline is released from
the adrenal gland and does the same thing to the
heart.

What are the levels of organisation
from organelles to systems?
What are: Diffusion, osmosis and
active transport? Give 3 examples
of each.
Describe an experiment to show
the effect of osmosis on potato
chips.
Name 4 factors which affect the
rate of movement of substances.
What are the: Cell membrane,
cytoplasm, nucleus, cell wall,
chloroplast and vacuole and their
functions? Which ones are used in
plant cells and which in animal
cells?
What happens to a plant cell in a
solution which has a lower water
potential and a higher water
potential? And what happens to red
blood cells in low water potential?
Describe an experiment to show
osmosis in action in a u-tube.
Why can a unicellular organism
rely on diffusion for movement,
but not a multicellular organism?
Cell Membrane: Surrounds and protects cell.
Cytoplasm: Where chemical reactions occur.
Nucleus: Contains DNA
Cell wall: Permeable but rigid and made of
cellulose.
Chloroplast: Contains chlorophyll which
photosynthesises.
Vacuole: Contains water and minerals, and
it keeps the cell turgid.
*Plant Only In Bold
• In a solution with higher water potential,
water enters the plant via osmosis and it enters
the vacuole, filling it and making the plant cell
turgid as the cytoplasm pushes against the
wall.
• Placed in a solution with a lower water
potential, the water leaves the vacuole as the
cell shrinks and becomes flaccid.
• A red blood cell when it loses water loses its
shape and becomes crenated.
• Have a u-tube with a semi-permeable
membrane in the middle, and one
side a solution with higher water
potential, and one of the sides should
have more water put in. Osmosis will
level it out.
A unicellular organism, being so small has a very
high surface area-to-volume ratio and therefore is
optimal for diffusion, whereas a multi-cellular
organism having such a low surface area and being
so inefficient at diffusion would benefit from
carrying around molecules differently.
Organelles (Microscopic structures in cells having a
particular function, e.g. nucleus, mitochondria) →
Cells → Tissues → Organs → Systems
• Diffusion: The movement of molecules of an area of a
high concentration to a low concentration. E.g. Tea,
perfume, alveoli.
• Osmosis: The movement of liquids with a high water
potential to a low water potential through a semi-
permeable membrane. E.g. plant roots, kidney,
capillaries.
• Active transport: The movement of molecules from an
area of low concentration to a high concentration
which requires energy. E.g. root cells absorbing
minerals from soil, glucose and amino acids by
epithelial cells in gut and glucose from glomerular
filtrate by tubules in your kidney.
Set up various beakers with various dilutions
of water and sucrose. Cut equal sized
amounts of potato chips and place them in
each one. Take the mass beforehand, and the
mass afterward, and depending on the
dilution of water, it will change depending
on the mass. Where there is the least mass
change, is where the water potential of the
solution is similar to that of the potato.
• Temperature.
• Concentration.
• Surface area.
• Difference in concentrations
 What is the path fro the kidney to
What is urea and urine? And what
urethra, and what are each of the
are three of your excretory organs?
parts, and what do they do?

Describe the structure of a nephron Explain how glucagon and insulin

and the function of the parts. regulate blood glucose levels.

How does ADH regulate the water

content in blood? Mention the Define homeostasis.
negative feedback.

Explain what in your skin happens

How do hormones vary from
when the temperature is too hot or
receptors?
too cold?

Kidney (Filters blood and absorbs
nutrients and water. while expelling
waste)→Ureter →Bladder →Urethra
• If you have hyperglycaemia (blood glucose too
high), your pancreas detects it, secretes insulin
which enables glucose to be used up in
respiration and convert excess glucose to
glycogen.
• If too low, your pancreas detects and releases
glucagon which causes glycogen to be broken
down into glucose. Both are negative feedbacks.
• This is necessary, because too high or too low
blood sugar results in an inadvertent osmotic
effect.
Homeostasis is the maintenance of a
constant internal environment which
is stable and lets an organism be
independent of its external
environment.
Hormonal communication takes longer,
with receptors it is much quicker more
responsive and instantaneous.
• Urea: Formed in the liver from the breakdown of
excess amino acids .
• Urine: Urea + Water + Salts.
• Excretory organs:
• Lungs: Excrete carbon dioxide from respiration
• Kidney: Urea in urine storied in bladder excreted
through urethra. Made up of 1 million nephrons.
• Skin: Urea excreted during sweating.
The renal artery connects to an arteriole which brings blood to
the glomerulus. The glomerulus/glomerular capillaries lie
inside the bowman’s capsule, and because pressure is so high,
there is ultrafiltration of the blood, which forms glomerular
filtrate as it is formed of water, glucose salts, amino acids and
urea. Proteins and larger molecules do not fit. The glucose and
amino acids are reabsorbed back into the blood in the proximal
convoluting tubule via active transport and a lot of water is too.
More water is reabsorbed in the Loop of Henle, and the distal
convoluting tubule and collecting duct reabsorb water back into
the blood, the permeability of which is affected by ADH. Any
waste (urine) goes through the duct into the ureters to be
excreted.
• If the concentration of blood in the body is too
high, the hypothalamus in the brain detects it.
The pituitary gland secretes ADH (anti-diuretic
hormone) which binds to receptors in the distal
convoluted tubule and the collecting duct to
make it more permeable so more water can be
reabsorbed which is detected by the
hypothalamus, and is an example of a negative
feedback.
• Too low, and less ADH is secreted.
• If you get too hot, your thermoregulatory system
deals with it. Sweat is secreted onto the skin from
sweat glands, and as it evaporates you are cooled,
Your blood vessels vasodilate. This means shunt
vessels shut and vessels dilate to allow blood to
the surface capillaries so more heat is lost.
• When it is too cold, your shunt vessels open
vessels vasoconstrict so blood doesn’t flow to
surface and heat is not lost.
 What two parts do the nervous
What are receptors.
system contain?

Describe the path from receptors to Describe what happens when you
performing an reflex activity touch a hot object.

Describe a synapse and how it

What are effectors?
works.

Describe a sensory nerve, relay

Give examples of reflex actions
nerve and a motor neurone.
 • Receptors detect a change in the
environment (stimulus) and produce
electrical impulses in response.
They respond to a type of stimuli.
E.g. touch, chemicals, taste, light or
sound.
When you touch a hot object, touch
receptors register it and send a signal via
nerve impulses to sensory nerves. These
send signals about the change in stimuli to
the relay nerve in the spinal cord and that
sends a signal to the motor neurone to
perform a reflex action which jerks your
hand away.
• Effectors are parts of the body -
such as muscles and glands.
Such as a gland releasing a
hormone, or a muscles moving
an arm.
• A motor neurone has a nucleus surround by a cell
body with dendrites on the end. The body is
connected to an axon surrounded by a fatty
myelin sheath which is connected to an effector.
• A sensory neurone looks the same, but the nucleus
is surrounded by just a cell body in the middle,
with receptor endings on one end and dendrites on
the other.
• A relay nerve is just a cell body with a nucleus
and dendrites.
• Central Nervous System – Brain and
spinal cord.
• Peripheral nervous system – Nerve
cells from CNS/to CNS around the
body.
Receptors (receive a stimulus) → Nerve
Impulse (what detects the stimulus)→
Sensory Nerve (sends signals to the relay
nerve toward CNS) → Relay Nerve (in the
spinal cord, it sends a signal to the motor
neurone) → Motor neurone (sends signal
from the CNS to the effector) → Effector
(produces a response)
A synapse is the gap between nerve cells.
Neurotransmitters cross these by diffusing
across the synapse and transmitting the
signal. It is secreted from vesicles which
bind to receptors on the other nerve, which
generates the signal.
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Vomiting
• Blinking
• Withdrawal reflex
 What are: Rods, cones, the iris,
pupil, conjunctiva, lens, optic What happens to your eyes during
nerve, retina, suspensory dim light and during bright light?
ligament, cilia and fovea?

What happens to your eyes when What are tropisms and how are
looking at a distant object and a plants positively phototropic and
near object? positively geotropic?

What is the chemical that causes

plants to grow? And where is it Describe experiments to show that
produced and how does light affect auxin is needed for growth.
it?

Describe experiments to show that Describe an experiment to show

auxin can work in part of a leaf. that plants are also geotropic.

Bright light: Radial iris muscles relax,
circular ciliary muscles contract, pupil
appears smaller.
Dim light: Radial iris muscles contract,
circular ciliary muscles relax, pupil appears
larger.
A tropism is a movement in a plant towards
or away stimulus. Plants move towards light
and are therefore positively phototropic, and
move away from gravity so are negatively
geotropic.
Have a control stem. Have another stem, but cut off
the tip and put it on a mica sheet on top of the stem.
There will be no growth. However place a third tip
on agar jelly and it will grow, as auxin diffuses
through it.
Place a plant on its side on a clinostat, but with the
drum stopped. It will grow upwards. Do the same
with another plant on a clinostat, but have the drum
rotating. As the plant becomes confused and is
constantly trying to go upwards, it will spiral.
Rods: Sensitive to dim light giving black and white vision.
Cones: Sensitive to colour and there are red, green and blue
cones.
Iris: Circular, radial muscles which regulates light by
contracting as ciliary muscles relax.
Optic nerve: Sends impulses to visual cortex.
Retina: Light receptors at back of eye.
Suspensory ligament:
Ciliary muscles: Circular muscles around the eye which relax
as iris contracts.
Fovea: Centre of retina, where light is focused.
Lens: Focuses light onto retina.
Suspensory ligaments: Holds pupil in place.
Conjunctiva: Protects pupil.
Cornea: Refracts light.
Distant object: Rays don’t need to refract
that much so: Ciliary muscles relax which
stretches suspensory ligaments, which makes
the lens flat and thin. Muscle tension is high.
Near an object: Because near an object there
needs to be more refraction: The ciliary
muscles contract, which relaxes the
suspensory ligament and makes the lens
fatter and rounder.
Auxin is the chemical which causes plant to
grow. It is only found in the tips of stems
and shoots. Light destroys Auxin, which
means that the shaded part grows and forces
a plant to grow towards the sun.
Cut of the tip of a stem, and place the
tip on only half of the stem. The auxin
will only work on that side, and it will
bend to the side.