Year 10 IGCSE Biology 2016-2018

Coordination and response

[part 1]
Syllabus Statements Checklist

Core
Nervous control in humans

• Describe a nerve impulse as an electrical signal that passes along nerve cells called
neurones

• Describe the human nervous system in terms of:

– the central nervous system consisting of brain and spinal cord
– the peripheral nervous system
– coordination and regulation of body functions
• Identify motor (effector), relay (connector) and sensory neurones from diagrams
• Describe a simple reflex arc in terms of receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone, motor
neurones and effector
• Describe a reflex action as a means of automatically and rapidly integrating and
coordinating stimuli with the responses of effectors (muscles and glands)
• Define a synapse as a junction between two neurones

Sense organs

• Define sense organs as groups of receptor cells responding to specific stimuli: light,
sound, touch, temperature and chemicals
• Identify the structures of the eye, limited to cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, optic nerve and
blind spot
• Describe the function of each part of the eye, limited to:
– cornea – refracts light
– iris – controls how much light enters pupil
– lens – focuses light onto retina
– retina – contains light receptors, some sensitive to light of different colours
– optic nerve – carries impulses to the brain
• Explain the pupil reflex in terms of light intensity and pupil diameter only

Hodder education. IGCSE biology workbook. 2014

Oxford Revision Guide IGCSE biology 2015.
Letts Cambridge Biology Learning Guide. 2016
Biology at Glance ,Judy Dodds. 2015.CRC press
P.1 Adopted from Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610. Syllabus for examination in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Syllabus Statements Checklist
Supplement

Nervous control in humans

• Distinguish between voluntary and involuntary actions

• Describe the structure of a synapse, including the presence of neurotransmitter
containing vesicles, the synaptic cleft and neurotransmitter receptor molecules
• Describe how an impulse triggers the release of a neurotransmitter from vesicles into the
synaptic gap and how the neurotransmitter diffuses across to bind with receptor
molecules, in the membrane of the neurone after the synaptic gap, causing the impulse
to continue.
• State that in a reflex arc the synapses ensure that impulses travel in one direction only
• State that many drugs, e.g. heroin act upon synapses

Sense organs

• Explain the pupil reflex in terms of light intensity and antagonistic action of circular and
radial muscles in the iris
• Explain accommodation to view near and distant objects in terms of the contraction and
relaxation of the ciliary muscles, tension in the suspensory ligaments, shape of the lens
and refraction of light
• State the distribution of rods and cones in the retina of a human
• Outline the function of rods and cones, limited to greater sensitivity of rods for night vision
and three different kinds of cones absorbing light of different colours for colour vision
• Identify the position of the fovea

Hodder education. IGCSE biology workbook. 2014

Oxford Revision Guide IGCSE biology 2015.
Letts Cambridge Biology Learning Guide. 2016
Biology at Glance ,Judy Dodds. 2015.CRC press

Adopted from Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610. Syllabus for examination in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Describe a nerve impulse as an electrical signal that passes along nerve cells called neurones
Describe the human nervous system

Define Neurone

Neurones are nerve cells that are found in nervous Components of Nervous system in Humans
system. Nervous system is divided into two parts.
Name them and their components while specifying the
function of each nervous system.

Identify motor (effector), relay (connector) and sensory neurones from diagrams
Both nervous system contains neurones that transfer information rapidly between receptors and effectors. Complete
the table below specifying the details of different types of nerve cells we have in our nervous system

Type of neurone Function Drawing (one is done for you)

Sensory They transmit an impulse from a

Receptor to the CNS. Receptors are
mostly sense organs

Motor

Relay

Define the terms “Receptor” and “effector”

P.2
Structure of neurone

Label the following diagram of neurone and annotate the diagram stating the function of each structure
Word bank : cell body, terminal ends, nerve fibre, myelin sheath, dendrites, axon, indicate the
Direction of the impulse

Describe a simple reflex arc in terms of receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone, motor neurones and
effector

P.3
Describe a simple reflex arc in terms of receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone, motor neurones and
effector
Describe a reflex action as a means of automatically and rapidly integrating and coordinating stimuli with the
responses of effectors (muscles and glands)

The diagram shows how the information can be transferred very rapidly between receptor and effector.

the synapses ensure that

impulses travel in one direction only

What is the name of the pathway shown in the diagram? _________________________

What is a reflex action?

What is the difference between reflex arc and reflex action?

Distinguish between voluntary and involuntary actions

Most of our actions are not reflex action. Normally we take decisions about the actions that we take. These are
voluntary action. Reflex actions are involuntary. Compare and contrast these two actions in term of speed, control
and function

Voluntary Involuntary

P.4
Describe the structure of a synapse, including the presence of neurotransmitter containing vesicles, the
synaptic cleft and neurotransmitter receptor molecules
Describe how an impulse triggers the release of a neurotransmitter from vesicles into the synaptic gap and
how the neurotransmitter diffuses across to bind with receptor molecules, in the membrane of the neurone
after the synaptic gap, causing the impulse to continue.

Define synapse

Describe what happens when a nerve impulse arrives at the end of the sensory neurone.

Nerve impulse in reflex arc can only travel in one direction. Why?

Drugs influence the activities at synapse. Describe the effects of heroin on the synapse.

P.5
 Quick Test

1 Distinguish between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system [4]

2 State three differences between a sensory and motor neurone. [3]

1.

2.

3.

3 State the function for each of the following parts of a neurone.

i. Myelin sheath

ii. Dendrite

ii. Axon

iv. Cell body

P.6
Sense organs
Define sense organs as groups of receptor cells responding to specific stimuli

What is s sense organ?

Complete the table below with the details of sense organs humans have and the response they create/respond to
Organ Respond to Sense

Eye
Ear
Nose/tongue
Skin
Skin/ part of brain

Sense organs
Identify and describe the function of eye structure, limited to cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, optic nerve and
blind spot
Structure of the eye

Structure Function
Pupil
Iris
Cornea
Lens
Ciliary muscle
Optic nerve
Fovea
Retina
Blind Spot
Suspensory
ligament
P.7
Sense organs
Explain the pupil reflex in terms of light intensity and antagonistic action of circular and radial muscles in the
iris
How does eye function to produce focused image? (hint: what layers does it pass through?)

If the light is very bright, it might damage the retina. Muscles in the iris will contract or relax depending on the light
intensity. Complete the sequence listed below outlining the pupil reflex

In the Dark

In the light

Sense organs
State the distribution & function of rods and cones in the retina of a human

Refer to the graph, Where are most cones located?

Which spot doesn't’t have any photoreceptors?

Outline the function of rods and cones in retina.

Distribution of photoreceptors in human eye

P.8
Sense organs
Explain accommodation to view near and distant objects in terms of the contraction and relaxation of the
ciliary muscles, tension in the suspensory ligaments, shape of the lens and refraction of light
Define the term “ accommodation”

Front view of the lens, suspensory ligaments and ciliary muscles

Complete the table below outlining the accommodation in the eye to focus the object on the fovea for clear image.

Distant Object Near Object

Diagram

Incoming light

Shape of
Lens

Ciliary
muscles

Tension in
Suspensory
ligaments

Refraction of
light

Effect

P.9
 Quick Test

P.10
 Exam Questions

P.11
cell

P.12
2 the

P.13
b

correct

P.14
3

P.15