Biology Notes

B1
Year 10
Shortened forms:
Metabolic rate – MB
Blood cholesterol levels – BCL
Bacteria - B
Virus / Viruses - V
White blood cell - WBC
Antibiotics – AB
Characteristic(s) – CH

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B1 1.1 – Diet and Exercise

Changing lifestyles

- Serious health problems due to poor diet and lack of exercise

- Too much sugar, lack of fruit and vegetable

You are what you eat

- Carbohydrates and fats provide energy (alive/active)

- Proteins, vitamins and minerals – grow and replace damaged cells and tissues
- Varied diet = good
- Malnutrition, wrong amount of nutrient eaten
- Deficiency disease, not enough of a certain vitamin or mineral
- Keep balanced/healthy diet

Metabolism (MR = Metabolic Rate)

- More exercise = more energy needed

- Chemical reactions in body release energy from food
- Metabolic rate = speed at which your body uses that energy
- Energy needed for breathing, digestion, keep heart beating (when resting)
- Resting/Basal Metabolic rate = rate when resting
- Higher MR = more energy you use
- Exercise increases MR
- Exercise increases proportion of muscle to fat in body
- MR also affected by inheritance, lifestyle
- MR decreases with age

Blood cholesterol levels - BCL

- Cholesterol = a fatty substance transported by blood

- Cholesterol = keeps body cells functioning normally
- BCL depends on amount of fat in diet (also inheritance)
- High BCL = increased risk of diseases from heart and blood vessels

2
B1 1.2 – Slimming Plans

Do you believe what you read?

- Fake slimming products to make money off people (not band by government)
- Only way to lose weight – eat healthy foods & keep energy intake below energy use
- Exercise increases amount of energy used

Slimming drugs warning

- ¾ of products tested are false

- False claims:
 Tablets which burn fat before food is digested
 Pills which lose weight without diet or exercise
 Products which burn fat whilst sleeping
- Health experts = if too good to be true then it’s probably not good for body

In exam use the term mass instead of weight

3
B1 1.3 – Pathogens

Transferring infections

- Deadly infectious diseases spread in hospitals because hygiene rules are broken e.g. don’t wash hands
after treating a patient
- Infections are carried by dust mites – improving ward cleanliness reduces spread of infections

Ignaz Semmelweiss

- Microorganisms – tiny living things only seen through a microscope

- Microorganisms are EVERYWHERE (food, inside me)
- One type of pathogen – microorganisms = cause illness / disease
- Women died of ‘childbed fever’ after giving birth
- Doctors working on dead bodies didn’t wash hands when delivering a baby
- Less women died when chlorinated hand soap was used before delivering birth

The discovery of pathogens

- Louis Pasteur – proved germs were in the air and they carried infection and disease
- Joseph Lister – developed carbolic soap (used on medical instruments, dressing, surgeons) – more of his
patients stayed healthy
- Antiseptics – used to clean wounds or get rid of sores (e.g. nappy rash)
- Disinfectants – chemicals to clean work surfaces /other places
- Hygiene – keeping things clean to reduce risk of disease
- Pathogens stick to dirt / grease and multiply

Microorganisms

- Two main types of germs:

 Bacteria– cause cholera, boils, MRSA, typhoid, tuberculosis (TB)
 Virus – cause warts, herpes, polio, flu, mumps, measles, and smallpox

Spreading diseases (B = Bacteria, V=viruses)

- B and V spread from person to person

- Become infected by air you breath, food/drinks consumed, touching people
- Less chance of being infected if environment is clean

4
B1 1.4 – Defence against diseases

Immunity

- Bubble boy
- B and V release toxins (poisonous chemicals) and they make you ill
- B and V prevent cells from working properly
- Headache, fever, feeling sick (symptoms)
- B inside you multiply every 20 min
- Viruses multiply inside cells by entering them, using the chemicals inside there to multiply. New V bursts
out of cell to invade another – damages / destroys cell

Cells to fight pathogens (white blood cell-WBC)

- White blood cells – specialised cells that defend your body against pathogens
- Some WBC ingest = take into the cell any pathogen, once inside the WBC releases enzymes to digest and
destroy pathogen
- Other WBC release antibodies (chemicals)
- Certain type of antibody = can only destroy certain type of pathogen
- Step 1 – V gets inside body
- Step 2 –WBC make antibodies and memory cells
- Step 3 – antibodies attack V and kill it
- Step 4 – if V enters body again then memory cells know what kind of antibody to make
- Step 5 – IM IMMUNE #yaaassss
- WBC produce antitoxins = chemicals which prevent toxins made by pathogens poisoning your body

Life-long protection

- Unlikely to develop disease again once WBC destroyed pathogen

- Why = next time pathogen comes, WBC release the antibody and destroy the pathogen before you can get
affected

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B1 1.5 – Treating and preventing disease

Feeling ill

- Medicines help to relieve symptoms (e.g. lozenges for sore throat) but don’t not kill the pathogen

Killing Bacteria (AB = Antibiotics)

- Antibiotics = medicines that help cure diseases caused by B

- AB kill B inside body
- Penicillin was first AB discovered
- AB can’t kill viruses
- V’s live and reproduce inside cells = hard to develop a medicine which kills the V but doesn’t damage body
cells or tissues
- Effect of a AB measured in a lab
- Done by placing small discs of paper containing antibiotics on a dish containing B growing on gel
- Clear zone is where AB has been killed
- Results in body may be different to results on gel (body is more complicated)

A quick jab

- Immunity can be gained w/o ever having the disease

- When baby – immunised against whooping cough, measles and polio
- Immunisation (vaccination) = injecting or swallowing a vaccine.
- Dead or inactive form of the pathogen.
- Vaccine doesn’t make you ill but WBC still produce Antibodies and destroy the pathogen.
- Step 1 – Weak or dead microbes are injected into body
- Step 2 – Antibodies produced which destroy microbes and their toxins
- Step 3 – You’re immunised, next time REAL disease comes, antibodies are released before you become ill.

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B1 1.6 – Controlling infection

Antibiotic resistance

- Exactly every new bacterium is the same as the last one (it reproduces from)
- Sometimes B mutate and are produced differently from the others
- Mutation may result in B being resistant to the AB
- When AB is used, non-resistant B are killed, but some resistant B remain
- Resistant B survive and reproduce
- Continued use of AB increases number of resistant bacteria
- Should always complete a course of AB, even if you start to feel better
- Otherwise there is more chance of resistant bacteria developing

Superbugs

- MRSA is resistant to most AB which treat infections

- Patients with MRSA have existing illness

Preventing more superbugs

- Important to not overuse AB

- AB not to treat non-serious infections e.g. sore throat
- AB prescribed only for serious disease
- Increased use of AB may result in them not working when you need them too

Changing Virus

- Flu/influenza lasts normally between 1-2 weeks

- Flu virus = produces new strands and people can’t be immune to it
- Flu epidemic = outbreak of flu affecting thousands in a country
- Pandemic Flu = flu spreading rapidly around many countries e.g. swine flu
- Antiviral drug

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B1 1.7 – Vaccination Programmes

Immunisation Programs

- Protect against diseases common in children

- E.g. MMR (combination of Measles, Mumps and Rubella), gain immunity to this
- Have saved millions of children’s lives
- Enough people immunised =more difficult for virus to pass onto those who aren’t, carrier mostly comes
into contact with immunised people
- 90% of population immunised = prevent epidemic

Concern about vaccines

- Unvaccinated children = likely to develop serious disease

- Whooping cough = long bouts of coughing/choking – hard to breath #
- Whooping cough can kill babies under 1
- Major outbreak = parents concerned on side effects

The MMR controversy

- MMR might trigger autism - Study based on 12 children

- In UK children receiving MMR dropped by 60% (2005), MMR jabs received raised to 98% (2010)
- No more studies have linked MMR and autism after that
- Parents think of children, government think of society as a whole

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B1 1.8 – Keeping things sterile

Growing Bacteria

- Nutrients needs to grow and reproduce B and Fungi

- Nutrients often supplied to the microorganisms in a gel called agar (agal bati lol)
- Agar = growth/culture medium
- Agar melts at 98°C and can be poured into a Petri dish. Solidifies at 44°C
- Agar cannot be digested by microbes, so the agar is not used up
- Microbes need nutrients, temperature between 25 and 45 °C
- Pathogens grow less at low temperatures (school lab – 25°C, set in incubator)

Why do we need to keep things sterile?

- Sterile = free from bacteria or living microorganisms

- Large no. of bacterial cells grown when culturing microorganisms in a lab
- Safety procedures need to be followed so that harmful microbes don’t enter the strain you are growing
and reproduce. (greater health risk if a single cell)
- Uncontaminated cultures are prepared by using sterile or aseptic equipment
- Pressurised steam used to serialise glassware and culture media in an auto clave – 121°C for 15min
- Petri dishes sterilised – ultraviolet, ionising radiation
- Until lid is opened, Petri dishes remain sterilised

Safety first

- Follow safety procedures (e.g. avoid hand to face contact while culturing)
- Risk of airborne microbes fallen into culture plates is minimised by upward movement of air around the
Bunsen burner

Inoculation

- The process of transferring microbes to the culture medium

- Inoculation loop used for solid agar
- Step 1 – Pour the plate
- Step 2 – Sterilise inoculation loop in flame
- Step 3 – Collect microbes from pure culture
- Step 4 – Inoculate Petri dish by sweeping loop back and forth across agar surface
- Step 5 – Seal Petri Dish and write details
- Before incubation, Petri dishes sealed with adhesive tape

B1 2.1 – The Nervous System

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The nervous system

- Reaction time = Time between hearing the gun and reacting to it

- Nervous system = brain, spinal cord and neurons (or nerve cells)
- Receptors = cells that detect stimuli or change in environment
- Receptors in the:
 Eyes – sensitive to light
 Ears – sensitive to sound + change in position (help keep out balance)
 Tongue – sensitive to chemicals (enables us to taste)
 Nose – sensitive to chemicals (enables us to smell)
 Skin – sensitive to touch, pressure, pain and temperature change
- Each receptor cell = nucleus + cytoplasm surrounded by cell membrane (animals and humans)
- Three types of neurons:
 Sensory neurons = carry impulses from receptor to spinal cord
 Relay neurons = carry impulses through spinal cord, up to the brain and from the brain back
down the spinal cord
 Motor neurons = take impulses from spinal cord to an effector
- Effector:
 Muscle = made to contract
 Gland = secretes a chemical (e.g. hormone)
- Step 1 – Receptors cells detect stimuli or change in environment
- Step 2 – Information from receptor (e.g. something burning – nose) passes info along neurons to brain
- Step 4 – Information passes along the neurons as signals called impulses
- Step 5 – Brain coordinates a response – sends information to appropriate organ

Sensory Relay neuron Motor

Stimulous Receptor neuron (CNS) Effector
neuron

- Neurons not joined together – small gap between them = synapse

- When impulse reaches end of neuron – chemical released
- Chemical travels across gap and starts an impulse in next neuron
- Message can only travel in one direction (1D lol)

Reflex actions

- Automatic + very quick response

- Needed to protect us from being hurt or damage a
tissue
- Step 1 – Pain detected by receptor
- Step 2 – Sends impulse along sensory neurone to relay
in spinal cord
- Step 3 – Relay neuron sends impulse via an arc to motor
- Step 4 – Motor neuron sends impulse to effector
- Step 5 – Muscle contracts or gland secrets
- Other types: e.g. coughing or blinking

B1 2.2 – Controlling out internal environment

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When we exercise

- Heat production and body temperature increase when in a race compared to when resting

Why is our body kept at 37°C?

- Body = internal temperature of 37°C

- Temperature at which enzymes work best
- Enzymes = speed up chemical reactions in the body
- Slow chemical reactions if body under 37°C, even slower if above
- Enzymes change structure and stop working if temperature above 45°C
- Homeostasis = process of keeping things constant & balanced in body
- Salts (sodium chloride) needed to help body work properly
- Na and Cl levels in blood controlled by kidneys (lost when sweating)
- Need balance of ion and water levels (sports drinks help replace these)
- Glucose (supplied by blood) in sports drinks – helps top up blood sugar levels

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke

- Both heat related conditions

- Heat exhaustion – core temperature at 40°C (water and salt levels drop) symptoms = nausea, heavy sweat.
When untreated = heatstroke
- Taken to cool place + drink lots of water
- Heatstroke – core temperature above 40°C. Cells break down & important parts of body stop working.
Symptoms = confusion, unconsciousness. When untreated = multiple organ failure, brain damage, death
- Cool core temp – ice packs / cold shower

Balancing the water budget

- Loose water = urinate, pass faeces, sweat and air we breathe out (misty mirror when breathe on it)
- Kidneys control balance of water + ions in body.
- Do it by passing urine = contains excess salts + water + other waste materials (body doesn’t need these)

B1 2.3 – Controlling pregnancy

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Hormones

- Body processes controlled by chemicals (hormones)

- Produced by organs called glands
- Pass from glands into bloodstream, transports them around the body
- Target organ – the organ the hormone affects

The menstrual cycle

- Day 5
 Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) starts to be released by pituitary gland in brain
 Hormone travels in blood o ovaries
 Egg begins to develop
- Day 7
 Egg signals to ovaries as it develops
 Ovaries start to produce oestrogen
 Lining of the womb builds up
- Day 15
 Ovaries produce a lot of oestrogen – brain
detects this
 Brain stops producing FSH and produces
luteinising hormone (LH)
 LH triggers release of egg (ovulation)
- Day 28
 If egg not fertilised = lining of uterus is shed
 Causes menstruation bleeding (period) lasts a few days
 Cycle starts again
- FSH stimulates egg to mature, Oestrogen doesn’t cause egg to release, LH stimulates egg release
- If pregnant then progesterone is made by ovaries.
- Oestrogen and progesterone continue being produced
- Progesterone helps maintain womb lining

The contraceptive pill

- Pill to stop women from becoming pregnant

- Hormones in pill have same effect on pituitary gland as oestrogen
- Hormones stop pituitary gland making FSH = no egg will mature in ovaries

Benefits and problems

- Large amounts of oestrogen = blood clots (block arteries)

- Two types of pill available – combined and mini pill
- Combined – low doses of oestrogen and progesterone – increased risk of women developing blood clots
- Mini pill – progesterone only – causes fewer side effects, must be taken punctually, less reliable than
combined

Fertility drugs

- FSH levels too low = ovaries don’t release eggs – women can’t become pregnant
- Treated by injecting FSH into blood
- FSH – fertility drug as it stimulates ovaries to produce mature eggs
- Treatment doesn’t always work, more than one egg can be released (twins, triplets, quadruplets)

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B1 2.4 – Evaluating the benefits of fertility treatment

Interfering with nature

- 66yr old women became pregnant using donated sperm and eggs

In vitro fertilisation

- Women are infertile = blocked oviducts or fallopian tubes.

- Eggs can’t travel from ovaries to womb, sperm can’t travel upwards to meat egg
- IVF is fertilisation in a test tube (test-tube baby)
- Step 1 – Women given injections of FSH – stimulates maturation of several eggs
- Step 2 – Eggs collected before release from ovary (ultrasound finds eggs, needle used
to remove them)
- Step 3 – Eggs fertilised with sperm outside body
- Step 4 – Fertilised egg divide to form embryos
- Step 5 – Embryos (balls of cells) inserted into women’s womb

Em bryo
Embryo
Rem oval of egg
Removal Insem ination
Insemination Incubation transfer into
(aspiration)
wom
wombb

What are the statistics?

- Typical cost = £5000-£8000 + costs of consultation, drugs and tests

- Risk – Multiple births (especially triplets). Abort one triplet, health risks for mother and unborn child

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B1 2.5 – Plant responses

Plant responses

- Plants need light for photosynthesis, can’t move to obtain the most light
- Light coming in all directions = normally grown (A)
- No light = stems much longer, stems grown straight up (B)
- Light coming from direction = stems grown towards the light –
unidirectional light (phototropism) (C)
- Plant stems – positively phototropic (grow towards the light stimulus)

Which part of the stem detects the stimulus?

- Tip of stem is the receptor for the light stimulus

What is the effector in phototropism?

- Unidirectional light = unequal growth

- Cells on shaded side grow longer than side nearest to light (stem bends)
- Growth of cells = hormones called auxins
- Auxins = produced at tip of stem and are transported downwards
- Unidirectional light = light in one direction only
- More auxin transported down shaded side = faster cell growth = stem bends
towards light

Gravitropism

- Plant stems – negatively gravitropic = grow away from the direction of the
force of gravity
- Plant roots – positively gravitropic = grow in the direction of the
force of gravity
- Stem beneath soil will eventually find light
- Roots = help keep plant anchored in soil
- Causes unequal distribution of auxin (like phototropism)
- Auxin accumulates on underside of horizontal stem
- Cells on underside grow faster than on upper side, stem grows
upwards
- If root in horizontal position – grow downwards
- Cells on upper side grow faster than on underside but auxin accumulates on underside as well
- Roots grow down because the concentration of auxin that stimulates stem
growth, inhibits root growth

Using agar and mica

- Agar is permeable to auxins

- Mica is impermeable to auxins

Hydrotropism

- Root is stimulated by force of gravity AND directional water stimulus

- Root is positively hydrotropic - grows towards water.

- Stems
 Positively phototropic
 Negatively gravitropic
- Roots
 Positively gravitropic
 Positively hydrotropic

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B1 2.6 – Using plant hormones

Selective weed killers

- Two ways to kills weeds

 Pull out each weed by hand
 Spray lawn with selective weed killers
- Most common weed killer – 2,4-D
- 2,4-D = similar structure to auxins, has greater effect
- Absorbed by broad-leaved plants – accumulates in stem + root tips = causes uncontrolled growth
- Plant dies, 2,4-D not absorbed by narrow-leaved plants e.g. grass

Agent Orange

- Caused leaves to fall off in jungle

- Significant increase of children born with birth defects
- Also causes diseases

Rooting powders

- Cutting used to produce large numbers of identical plants

- Part of plant is cut off and stem is dipped in rooting powder
- End of stem then placed in compost
- Roots develop from cut stem
- Rooting powders contain auxins = stimulate the stem cells to develop into roots

Ripening fruit

- Gas ethane (ethylene) = plant hormone

- Produced by fruits as they ripen
- Stimulate reactions = convert starch into sugar

15
B1 3.1 – Developing new drugs

Developing new drugs

- Disease treating drugs = safe, effective, chemically stable, successfully taken in and removed from body
- All clinical trials are double-blind trials
- Some patients give placebo (dummy medicine), some given actual drug
- Not doctor or patients know what they have received until trail complete
- Drug put through tests before use – trails are:
- Laboratory – Animals or tissues used in lab. Find out level of toxicity + if drug works
- Phase 1 clinical – Low doses tested on small group (health people) to evaluate safety + identify side effects
- Phase 2 clinical – Larger group of people tested to see if effective + further evaluate safety + determine
optimum dose
- Phase 3 clinical – Large groups of people tested to confirm effectiveness + monitor side effects
- T – tissues for toxicity
- H – healthy people for side effects
- P – Patient for effectiveness
- D – patients for dose

When drug tests fail

- 1957 – thalidomide given to women to help them sleep + overcome effects of morning sickness
- Women gave birth to babies whose limbs weren’t properly formed
- Testing of thalidomide was incomplete – not tested on pregnant animals
- Thalidomide effectively treats leprosy

Testing satins

- To lower blood cholesterol levels, drugs called statins have been developed

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B1 3.2 – Recreational drugs

What is a drug?

- Extracted from natural substance

- Alcohol = fermented from fruit + grain
- Drug = any chemical that alters how our body works
- Affect the CNS + control movement of chemicals across synapses
- Natural chemicals (in body) that fit the shape of the receptors in our body
- Drugs have similar shapes shape to these chemicals – mimic or copy what they do
- Drug abuse – take too much of a drug/use for wrong reasons
- Chew on coca plant – stay way = now used to make cocaine
- Some drugs mimic chemicals released across synapses
- If drug used allot – build up tolerance = use more for same effect = body becomes
dependant on it (difficult to manage without drug) = leads to addiction (can’t
manage without taking drug)
- If try to stop – suffer withdrawal symptoms = feel sick, headaches, flu-like symptoms – more serious
symptoms = tremors and fits

Why do people take drugs?

- Recreational drugs – taken for pleasure

- Legal – caffeine and nicotine (tobacco)
- Illegal – cannabis, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy - have negative effects on heart + circulatory system
- Some evidence – cannabis causes psychological problems (not sure though)
- NHS spend more money treating legal drugs than illegal (more people use them)
- Can cut down crime + stop criminal gangs if drugs were legal

17
B1 3.3 – Establishing links

A harmless joint?

- Evidence of a link between smoking cannabis and mental illness

- Cannabis – leads to harder drugs = gateway drugs

Is there evidence for a link between cannabis smoking and mental illness?

- New Zealand study results:

 Mental illness more common in cannabis users
 People with mental illness = no greater wish to smoke cannabis
 Cannabis probably increased chance of mental illness = cause chemical changes in the brain
 Increase of mental illness symptoms after regular use of cannabis
 Men who smoked cannabis = develop schizophrenia

However some studies do show that there is little correlation in cannabis being a gateway drug and cannabis
causing mental illness

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B1 3.4 – Steroids and athletes

Using steroids to cheat in athletics

- Performance in athletics enhanced by steroids

- Steroids – wrong choice + bad decision = disastrous

What are steroids?

- Testes required = development of male sexual CH

- Berthold removed testes from cockerels = lost sexual function
- Testes transplanted into cockerel abdomen = sexual function unaffected
- Male hormones are passed from the Testes and into the blood
- Male hormone = testosterone
- Steroids (hormones) = synthesised testosterone and other hormones, act in the same way.
- 1970 = athletic authorities banned use of steroids
- Fat-free body mass = total body mass – estimated mass of fat in body
- 1996 investigation on the effect of high doses of testosterone on weightlifters
- Placebo effect took place (strength increased in placebo group but were told their receiving steroids

Matched: diet, Testosterone Testosterone without Placebo with Placebo without

training, weightlifting with Exercise Exercise exercise
experience Exercise
Body mass increase
Fat-free body mass
increase
Greatest change in fat-
free mass
Percentage body fat Didn't change Didn't change Didn't change Didn't change
Muscle size increase
Strength
increased
Greatest strength
increase

Is it harmful to take steroids?

- Side effects of steroids:

Problems in men and women Problems in men Problems in women

Severe acne on face and back Development of breasts Reduced breast size
Liver damage Enlarged prostate Enlarged clitoris
Urinary and bowel problems Shrinkage of the testicles Increase in facial and body hair
Mood swings Reduced sperm count Deepened voice
Strokes and blood clots Impotence Menstrual problems
High blood pressure and disease Reduced sperm count
Nausea Impotence
Bloating Baldness
Aching joints Headaches
Aggressive behaviour

19
 Increased risk of tendon injuries
B1 4.1 – Plant adaptations

Adapting to the environment

- Organisms = food + water + nutrients to grow

- Different environment = Different physical conditions (temperature, amount
of light, water, nutrients)
- To grow well + produce offspring – need particular features, get from the
environment = adaptations

Growing in the cold

- Few plants can grow (ice forms inside cells = damaging)

- Have a rounded shape to insulate inner parts + keep warm
- Leaves + branches of carnivorous trees allow snow to slide of quickly

Growing in rainforests

- Temperature good but rainfall can be damaging

- Leaves have shiny surface + pointed tips so water can run off quickly or
divided into sections
- Top of trees = enough light for photosynthesis
- Dense forest ground = get little light

Growing in the dry

- Cacti – wide root systems (collect as much water as possible or tap into water underground)
- Thick leaves or body (thick tissue) plant uses when drought
- Stomata – tiny holes on surface of leaf (let in CO 2)
- May have no leaves at all – stomata loses water
- Some stomata – protected by hairs, placed in deep ridges – reduces speed of air + evaporation

The effect of soil

- Many kinds of plants grow = lots of nutrients in soil

- Some plants grow well on poor acid soil

Easy book Q1

Cacti are plants that live in the desert. They have two main adaptations to help them survive. Their leaves have
become spines and they store water in their stems.

20
B1 4.2 – Animal adaptations

Staying warm

- To survive and grow need to adapt to environment (temp/water)

- COLD = animals need to reduce head loss. Thick fur insulates from cold air
- Extra fat gives increase insulation and gives animal energy when food is scarce
- Summer = animals moult/shed fur – easier to lose heat
- Seals – thick layer of fat – heat loss in water

Keeping cool and avoiding thirst

- Little water + hot at day, cold at night

- Small animals – live in burrows (temperature more constant) don’t need to drink water (get from food)
- Kidneys excrete urine – very little water
- Large animals e.g. camels tolerate high levels of dehydration

Body size and shape rules

- Birds + mammals of similar species = larger + heavier in colder

climates
- There’s a correlation between body mass and average annual
temperature
- Temperature of larger animal will drop less rapidly
- Limbs, tails and ears are longer in warmer climates – act as heat-
radiating organs

Large animal = large surface area BUT small surface area to volume ratio

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B1 4.3 – Surviving the presence of others

Keeping others away

- For organism to grow, mature, produce offspring = avoid being eaten by other microorganisms
- Special adaptations – avoid being eaten
 Physical deterrents e.g. cacti = thick spines
 Chemical deterrents e.g. ragwort (plant) = poisons (taste bad or kill)
 Advertise poisons with bright colours
 Camouflage – hide from predators (colours + patterns on body = difficult to see)

Competing for resources

- Enough resources for all organisms = rare

- Limited resources = organisms compete – most successful = grow better + more offspring produced
- Plants compete for = water, light, nutrients (if grown close together)
- Bluebells = grow, flower + seed before tree fully grown (no sun blocked)
- Animals – compete for food
- Leopards – takes kill to trees (keeps other animals away from stealing their food)
- Animals – compete for mates
- Male peacocks display feathers when females around – best display = mate with the most females
- Birds = territories when breeding
- Robins = large territory to feed young
- Birds away from nest site e.g. penguins / gannets = small nesting territory (out of pecking distance of other
adults)

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B1 4.4 – Extreme microorganisms

Extreme temperatures

- Extremophile – an organism that is adapted to an extreme condition of the environment

- Few organisms to compete with
- Adaptations needed to survive = extreme
- Some animals e.g. Pompeii worm = Extremophile
- Extreme high temperatures = few places on earth e.g. hot spring or around hydrothermal vents
- Hydrothermal vents – a crack in the ocean floor where heat and chemicals escape from the rocks below
into the water
- Most organisms die at 40°C – proteins in their cells break down
- Bacteria that survive high temperatures have proteins that don’t break down easily

No light

- Deep in ocean = great water pressure + no light

- Many organisms live around hydrothermal vents on ocean floor – depend on bacteria that use
chemosynthesis = combine chemicals from the water using heat to make sugars for food
- The bacteria are producers – organisms that make their own food

Too many nutrients

- Organisms need nutrients to make chemicals inside their cells

- Concentration of nutrients outside cell too high = water drawn out of cell = fatal for organisms
- Some microorganisms = high levels of chemicals e.g. amino acids, sugars – stops water move out

Too little oxygen

- Large organisms depend on oxygen for aerobic respiration

- Few places have no or little oxygen e.g. deep below ground
- Microorganisms get energy using chemicals e.g. sulphur to release energy in aerobic respiration
- E.g. of aerobic respiration = fermentation of glucose by yeast

Easy book Q1

To survive and reproduce, organisms need a supply of materials from their surroundings and the living
organisms in their habitat. They have adaptations that enable them to survive in their particular habitat, even
when the conditions are very extreme.

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B1 4.5 – The effect of changing environments

Changing environments

- Difficult for organisms to live in a place where the conditions have changed
- May be easy for other organisms to move in and compete
- May cause a change in the distribution of species
- Distribution – the area of the environment in which a specie lives
- UK – changing weather each season or direction of wind
- Organisms in UK cope with this change
- Short term changes e.g. freak storms (flooding) or extreme temperature = kills organisms
- Long term conditions in climate change

The effect on birds

- Some birds expand their breeding range and to other continents

- Some birds instead of migrating each winter stay year round as there is more insect food available
- Some species suffer from lack of food
- Average sea temperature raised by 1°C – scientists link to loss of sand eels (birds eat)

The effect on bees

- Rapid decrease of bees – wild + kept by beekeepers

- Can be due to climate change and loos of wildflowers – increased building + farming
- Hard for bees to get food if there’s a cold, wet spring
- Warm winters mite parasite survive – destroyed bees in hives
- Loss of range of plants – due to farmers

24
B1 4.6 – Pollution Indicators

Pollution changes the environment

- Pollution – damage to the environment or to living things caused by the careless release of waste
- Pollution from humans = damage to environment + organisms living there
- Burn fossil fuels – for energy / create other chemicals
- Many waste gasses = poisonous or acidic – dissolve in water droplets in clouds = forms acid rain
- Acid rain damaging to animals + plants
- Pollute water by pouring chemicals into it
- Difficult to monitor + enforce air and water pollution (illegal)
- High level of pollution = kills organisms + change in distribution of species
- Pollution indicators – organisms whose presence or absence indicates the existence of pollution in a given
area

Lichens and air pollution

- Lichen – an organisms formed from a fungus and lichen that can live in extreme conditions; used as an
indicator of air pollution
 Found on trees / walls
 Some grow in no pollution, some grow in different kinds of pollution
 Sulphur dioxide pollution decreased due to lichens

Aquatic invertebrates as pollution indictors

- Most aquatic organisms get oxygen from water (for respiration) – not from air
- Fertilisers + sewage contain nitrogen + phosphate – if drained in water then plants, algae, bacteria grow
rapidly + use up oxygen in respiration
- Organisms die because oxygen concentration drops – can’t get oxygen they need
- Some survive in water with little oxygen – special adaptation
- Bloodworm = red – contains haemoglobin – combines with oxygen (like in red blood cells)
- Can use the presence or absence of species to indicate how polluted water is

Easy book Q1

- Changes in the environment affect the distribution of living organisms. This means living organisms can be
used as indicators of pollution.

25
 B1 5.1 – Energy in biomass

About biomass and energy

- Biomass – biological material; in particular, the total mass of living material at a specified level in a food
chain or in a specified area
- Biomass increases when food eaten used to make cells + tissues
- Mass of food = biomass in body
- Energy in biomass = chemical energy
- Chemical energy – energy stored in the chemical bonds of compounds, such as those in the cells of living
organisms

Making plant biomass

- Energy for making new plant biomass comes from sun

During photosynthesis =

Carbon dioxide + water = light energy -> glucose + oxygen

6CO2 + 6H2O = light energy -> C6H12O6 + 6O2

- Leaves adapted to capture as much light as possible

- Only little light energy is transferred into chemical energy in the biomass of the plant
- Some carbohydrates made during photosynthesis converted into other chemicals e.g. proteins + fats
- Carbohydrates broken down during respiration – releases energy
 Some energy escapes – heats surroundings

From plant biomass to animal biomass

- Animals eat – some chemicals in food absorbed by body, some egested as faeces
- Absorbed food chemicals – built up into fats, carbohydrates, proteins + other chemicals = make cells
- Energy = breaking down carbohydras during respiration
- Respiration – supplies all living processes + movement
- Plants respiration – some energy escapes = heats surroundings
- Animal waste products contain chemical excretes into environment (urine)

Biomass in food chains

- Less biomass at each level of food chain (energy lost to environment – see above)
- Pyramid of biomass – a diagram that shows the mass of living organisms at each stage in a food chain

Biomass
turned into
new horse
biomass
Energy from
cellular Biomass
respiration is
transferred by lost in
heating the faeces
surroundings
Biomass
digested
(Horse)
Biomas Biomass
in as lost in
food urine
Biomass lost -
used to 26
provide
energy for
movement,
growth etc
B1 5.2 –Natural recycling

27
A matter of life and death

- Tissues in body made up of elements

- Elements called nutrients – needed for growth = lack would affect health + growth

Nutrients Percentage of body weight Role in body

Nitrogen 3.2% Forms part of proteins, DNA in all cells
Calcium 1.8% Strengthens bones and teeth, needed for nerve and muscle activity
Phosphorus 1.0% Part of DNA, also strengthens bones and teeth
Sodium 0.2% Needed for nerve and muscle activity
Iron 0.007% Haemoglobin in red blood cells carries oxygen
- Photosynthesis – plants make carbohydrates = contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
- Plant to grow well = nutrients e.g. nitrogen (for proteins + DNA), magnesium (makes chlorophyll) calcium
(strong cell walls) – absorb nutrients when taking water from ground – removes nutrients from
environment + animals get food – nutrients not available for plants until there returned to soil = plants /
animals die / animal produces waste material
- Decay of dead + waste material releases nutrients back to environment

What is decay?

- Decay – the breakdown of dead plants and animal material by fungi, bacteria and other organisms
- Decay = rotting / digestion of complex organic substances to simpler one e.g. bacteria
- Digestion happens outside cell of microorganism – simpler nutrients absorbed = gives microorganism
nutrients needed for growth
- Simpler nutrients left in soil – plants absorbed using roots
- Enzymes secreted by fungus digest complex chemicals
- Some products of digestion left to environment
- Some products from digestion absorbed by fungus

The best conditions for decay

- Decay microorganism = dry out (don’t have thick protective coating)

- Grow below surface of material their decaying
- Microorganisms more active when more oxygen to respire = cannot
live far beneath surface
- Rate of reactions in cells of microorganism affected by temperature
- Colder = cannot grow quickly – decay warmer + faster in warm /
moist conditions

From book + other stuff – from bitesize

- The key factors involved in decay are: Temperature, Amount of

oxygen, Amount of water, The presence of microorganisms
- Microorganisms are important in decay - used to break down human waste (sewage) and plant waste
(compost). Decay recycles important nutrients for plant growth

- Best conditions for most microorganisms (and therefore decay) are:

 Warm – speeds up chemical reactions
 Moist – easier to dissolve food; prevents microbes from dying out
 Oxygen – many need it to respire

Essential recycling

- No decay = no recycling of nutrients in environment = no life

- Balance between nutrients removed + absorbed in a stable natural community = little change to plants +
animals over time

B1 5.3 – Recycling issues

28
A load of rubbish

- In UK – over 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted

The problem with organic waste

- Food + drink wastes = organic – originally come from plants / animals

- Waste decay as bacteria, fungi grow on them
- Most UK waste disposed in landfill sites – once organic waste buried, decay organisms can’t grow – not
enough oxygen for aerobic respiration
- Decay method – methanogens can grow anaerobically – release methane (flammable + global warming)
- Meat waste attractive to pests e.g. rats, councils ask to separate waste e.g. cans, glass, food etc.
- Landfill tips vented in a controlled way for many years after tipping has ended, otherwise methane that
forms as the refuse decays might explode or create fires that burn below the surface for weeks.

A selection of choices

- Manage garden + vegetable kitchen waste = compost heap – waste piled up and microbial decay breaks it
down into compost
- Councils collect this as green waste – make compost in large scale, process called windrow composting –
needs space + compost material turned regularly (keep oxygen level hug) no special equipment needed
- Windrow composting - outdoor composting on a large scale
- Other councils collect garden + kitchen waste together – composting in large containers until meat waste
is broken down, process called In-vessel composting
- In-vessel composting – forming compost from waste plant material within a large vessel in which
conditions of temperature and moisture can be controlled
- Composting complete by using windrow process
- Advantage – conditions monitored inside containers + correct moisture + temperature maintained
- The high temperatures kill pathogens + seeds of weed plants
- Other process = anaerobic digestion = the breakdown of dead plant and animal material without oxygen
- Food waste put into large digesters + air is excluded
- Methanogens break down material + release methane – methane collected, used to produce heat –
process can’t use wood waste because microorganisms can’t break it down
- In all processes, the solid end materials can be used for soil conditioning (gardens, parks etc.)

B1 5.4
–

The carbon cycle

Capturing carbon dioxide

29
- Fixing – Absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and converting it into complex carbon compounds. Plants
fix carbon dioxide during photosynthesis
- CO2 molecule taken into leaf – during photosynthesis changed into organic carbon compound = glucose
(carbohydrate) = fixing
- Removes carbon from physical environment
- Glucose used for respiration = converted to CO2 + released back into air
- Glucose may be changed into complex carbon compounds e.g. carbs, proteins & fats in plant tissue

Carbon compounds in animals

- If plant eaten by animal – plant tissue broken down during digestion

- Some carbon compounds
 absorbed through animals gut + made into carbs, proteins, fats etc. rest = faeces
 converted to glucose for respiration then transformed to CO 2 – released into atmosphere
 become part of animals body tissues or excreted in urine – animal eaten = same processes
happen in that animal n
- Plant or animal not eaten = die and detritus feeders will feed on dead body
- Detritus feeder = an organism that feeds on detritus (decomposing organic waste)
 Break down complex carbon compounds + use them to make more carbon compounds in their
bodies – release carbon as CO2 to air from respiration
- Decomposer organism e.g. fungi + B continue process of decay – do the same as arrow above

The full cycle

- Heat + pressure turns large quantities if organisms e.g. trees into fossil fuels
- Combustion of fossil releases CO2 into air
- When carbon returned, leaf captures it and fixes it in photosynthesis – cycle starts again
- Constant cycling of carbon through carbon compounds in living organisms + CO 2 in air = carbon cycle
- Carbon cycle = the way in which carbon atoms circulate between living organisms and the physical
environment
- Only nutrients and CO2 continuously cycled – energy is captured by plants then transferred as heat to
environment – energy can't be used by living organisms = no energy cycle
- Plants photosynthesise during day, take CO2 from atmosphere. Plants respire all the time releasing CO 2
back into atmosphere

30
31
B1 6.1 – Gene Basics

Basic Characteristics (Characteristics) = CH

- Characteristic = a feature of an organism, sun as its size, colour or behaviour; many CH are coded for by
genes
- Some CH look like those of one parent and some of the other

Genes control Characteristics

- Inherit CH from parents

 Formed when a sex cell (gamete called egg) from mother fused with sex cell (gamete called
sperm) from father
- Nucleus of each gamete has chromosomes – made up of genes
- We receive genes from each parent
- Chromosomes carry thousands of genes = height, hair colour, blood type, length + shape of bones etc.
- Genes affect the way you grow
- All have different combination of genes except twins (all look different)

The cause of variation

- CH are controlled by genes

- Gene OCA2 found on chromosome 15 – carries instructions for making the substance which gives eyes,
hair, and skin colour
- Some differences not from genes e.g. muscle strength
- Variation controlled by environment e.g. height = continuous variation
- Variation caused by single gene = categoric
- CH affected by environment and genes e.g. 2 tall parents = genes for tallness – if not grown well as a child
then not grown as tall as genes allow

32
B1 6.2 – Different types of reproduction

Sexual reproduction

- Variation = result of sexual reproduction

- When gametes formed – receive half of
chromosomes in body cell = half from mum + dad
- Producing gametes = unlikely 2 gametes contain
same variation in genes
- Unlikely 2 offspring from parents are alike –
unless twins (because of variation in genes in
each gamete and mixing of genes from mum and
dad)

Asexual reproduction

- Offspring produced by asexual reproduction

- Produced from division of cells in one parent with no need of fertilisation by sperm cell
- Offspring are clones (genetically identical) + contain same chromosomes as parent
- Happens more quickly than sexual reproduction
- Some plants produce underground stems (runners) – spread quickly to outcompete others in area
- Runner – horizontal stems that some plants produce in order to create new plants by asexual
reproduction
- Too hot or too cold areas - form underground storage organs, form a new plant next season
- Storage organs – a special underground organ, such as a potato, in which plants store food over winter

Applications of
asexual reproduction

- Artificial clones of plant made copying asexual processes

- Cuttings can be taken – parts of plant cut off (stem or leaf), cuttings grow roots + develop into new plant
- More quicker than sexual reproduction
- More cheaper because quicker

33
B1 6.3 – Cloning plants and animals

Tissue culture

- Plants grown using cells form parent plant

- Tissue culture = growth of cells and/or tissues outside the
animal or plant. Whole plants can be grown from the plant
cells using tissue cultures
- Cells from tip of shoot taken – placed on jelly (has
nutrients + chemicals to help cell divide)
- Small ball of cells made – callus
- Callus – a cluster of cells grown by tissue culture
- Callus split into calluses
- Each callus put into petroleum jelly – chemicals encourage
roots + shoots to form
- Plant is planted into compost when large enough
- Easy to grow thousands of plants from one

Embryo transplants

- Cells in embryo specialise before animal born

- Specialised animal cells e.g. muscle cells can't change into other kinds of
cells = cloning difficult than plants
- Embryo transplant one way of cloning animals
- Egg fertilised with sperm in lab
- Cells separated – make new embryos before the specialise (4 or 8 cells
already)
Cells transported into host mother = female organism that has had an
embryo from another female implanted in her womb

Animal cell cloning

- Another animal cell cloning technique

- Nucleus of unfertilised egg cell removed + replaced with nucleus of body
cell e.g. skin cell from adult animal
- Egg cell given electric shock = cell divides like a normal embryo
- Embryo has genetic information of adult body cell
- First done on sheep – people concerned about it being done on humans

34
B1 6.4 – Modifying the genetic code

Genetic engineering

- Genetic information in all organisms work the same way – plant, animal
or bacterium
- Take gene from chromosome of one species and put it in other species =
produce same CH
- Genetic engineering = the process of taking genes from one organism and
putting them into the cells of another so that the cells include CH of the
new gene
- Genetically modified (GM) = an organism that has been genetically
engineered
- Transgenic organism = an organism that contains genes from another
organism
- Transfer insulin (hormone) from human into bacterium – insulin needed
for diabetic people
- Bacteria fermenters grow genetically modified bacteria on large scale =
human insulin cheaper + safer
- Insulin extracted from dead animals before GM human insulin = less insulin available + not identical o
human insulin = health problems
- Insert gene into body cell of early embryo – body cells make what
gene codes for = genes not passed to offspring

Transferring genes at an early stage

- Genes transferred into plan or animal embryo at early stage

- Organism grows = all cells in body have copy of inserted gene – all
develop CH
- Used for GM food plants + research in causes + treatment of disease
- Mice GM to study human cancers + see effect of changes to genes
causing disease

35
36
B1 6.5 – Making choices about GM crops

Making GM crops

- Bacterium called agrobacterium used – gets gene inside

nucleus of cells, then joins with cell’s DNA

Different modifications

- Herbicide – a chemical that kills plants, used to treat

weeds in crops
- Some GM crops have gene for herbicide resistance
- Plants compete for water + nutrients
- Weed plants reduce amount of food harvested
- Herbicides damage weed plant
- Crops resistant to herbicide = crops sprayed by
herbicide = kills weeds + crop not damaged
- Crops modified with poison which kills insects that
eat plants – reduces damage to crops in yield

The pros and cons of GM crops

- GM crop seeds cost more

- Companies producing seed for herbicide resistant crops also produce the herbicide the crop is
resistant to – good for company, not for farmer
- Concern – gene transfer through pollination – happens occasionally between close related
plants, the gene for herbicide resistance could be transferred to the weed crops
- People concerned about safety of food produced from GM crops (tested on animals)

37
B1 7.1 – Evolution of life

Life on earth

- Fossil – the remains of an organism that lived in the past found preserved in rock, or evidence of
organisms having been there (such as footprints)
- Estimate of 30 million species on earth today

Relationships between living organisms

- Microorganism – single-celled organisms, such as bacteria

- Plants – organisms that photosynthesise, mostly multi-celled
- Animals – mostly multi-celled organisms that get their energy from eating other organisms
- Classification = a system for grouping organisms according to their CH
- Ecological relationship = the relationship of an organism with other organisms and their physical
environment in an ecosystem

Mammal Fish
- Eggs fertilised inside the body - Eggs usually fertilised outside the body
- Usually giving birth to live young - Get oxygen from water using gills
- Mothers make milk fir young - Body covered in scales
- Usually have hair or fur
- Get oxygen from air using lungs
- Evolutionary relationship = the existence of similar CH in different organisms because they evolved from a
common ancestor
- Common ancestor = an organism or species that is a shared ancestor (in evolutionary terms) of two or
more later organisms or species

Fossil evidence

- Fossils evidence of organism lived in past

- New fossil discovered = scientists use CH to group fossil with organisms today
- Fossils grouped in age = see change over time
- Change in species over time = evolution
- Evolution = change in CH of species over time
- All species living now evolved from very simple cells = scientists

38
B1 7.2 – Evolution by natural selection

Life on

- CH selected from breeding species e.g. dogs, change over time

- Theory of evolution = the theory that explains how all living things today have been
produced by the accumulation of inherited changes in the CH of populations through
successive generations.

Natural selection

- Darwin observed from organisms

 Organisms produce many more offspring than survive to adulthood
 There is variation between the individuals of a species and in the offspring they
produce
 CH are passed from one generation to the next
 The individuals that are best adapted to the environment are the ones that
survive and produce offspring in the next generation
- CH best adapted = increase in population in next generation = natural selection
- Natural selection = a natural process whereby the organisms with genetic CH best suited
to their environment survive to reproduce and pass on their genes to the next
generation

How evolution occurs

- Evolution because of environment change

- Different CH best suited to new conditions
- Best suited = survive + breed
- CH changed so much, organisms become new species

Genes and mutation in evolution

- Variation in inherited CH between individuals caused by having different forms of genes

- Different forms caused by mutations
- Mutation = a change in a gene that may result in different CH
- Mutations no effect on survival – some = fatal/disadvantageous e.g. miscarriage but
some = advantageous
- Africans = dark skin, protects from sunlight (homo sapiens evolved from Africa)
- Northern areas = pale skin (genetic mutation) – improves health in people in that area
- Rate of change in species = not constant – depends on how quick environment changes
+ difficulty rate to survive in new conditions
- If conditions changed so much then no variation will survive and species become extinct

39
B1 7.3 – The development of a theory

Other theories of evolution

- Richard Owen explain similarities between species – suggests god created

basic plans that developed in different wa1ys
- Lamarck suggested species could change – most scientists believe they remain
the same
- Lamarck idea – environment caused changes in species and changes were
passed on to offspring

The problem with Darwin’s theory

- Theory rejected – didn’t consider god as creator

- Little evidence for natural selection causing change + creating new species
- Darwin can't explain how CH pass from parent to offspring

The acceptance of Darwin’s theory

- Theory used to make predictions tested scientifically

- Beak size of finches in Galapagos Islands when a drought broke out and
harder seeds were produced. Birds who ate the most food and had larger,
stronger beaks survived. In years beak size should increase.

40
 Biology Notes
B1
Year 10

Finished

41