Rating 4.8 out of 5 (13 ratings in Udemy)

• In this course students will learn exactly what they need to know for their biology exams. Students will learn about:
• UNIT 1: ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• Understand the terms population, community, habitat and ecosystem
• Understand the term biodiversity
• Understand how abiotic and biotic factors affect the population size and distribution of organisms
• Understand the names given to different trophic levels, including producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers and decomposers
• Understand the concepts of food chains, food webs, pyramids of number, pyramids of biomass and pyramids of energy transfer
• Understand the transfer of substances and energy along a food chain
• Understand why only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
• Describe the stages in the carbon cycle, including respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition and combustion
• Describe the stages in the nitrogen cycle, including the roles of nitrogen fixing bacteria, decomposers, nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria (specific
• Understand the biological consequences of pollution of air by sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide
• Understand that water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and CFCs are greenhouse gases
• Understand how human activities contribute to greenhouse gases
• Understand how an increase in greenhouse gases results in an enhanced greenhouse effect and that this may lead to global warming and its consequences
• Understand the biological consequences of pollution of water by sewage
• Understand the biological consequences of eutrophication caused by leached minerals from fertiliser
• Understand the effects of deforestation, including leaching, soil erosion, disturbance of evapotranspiration and the carbon cycle, and the balance of atmospheri
• UNIT 2: USE OF BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES
• Describe how glasshouses and polythene tunnels can be used to increase the yield of certain crops
• Understand the effects on crop yield of increased carbon dioxide and increased temperature in glasshouses
• Understand how the use of fertiliser can increase crop yield
• Understand the reasons for pest control and the advantages and disadvantages of using pesticides and biological control with crop plants
• Understand the role of yeast in the production of food including bread
• Understand the role of bacteria (Lactobacillus) in the production of yoghurt
• Understand the use of an industrial fermenter and explain the need to provide suitable conditions in the fermenter, including aseptic precautions, nutrients, op
• Understand the methods used to farm large numbers of fish to provide a source of protein, including maintaining water quality, controlling intraspecific and int
• Understand how selective breeding can develop plants with desired characteristics
• Understand how selective breeding can develop animals with desired characteristics
• Understand how restriction enzymes are used to cut DNA at specific sites and ligase enzymes are used to join pieces of DNA together
• Understand how plasmids and viruses can act as vectors, which take up pieces of DNA, and then insert this recombinant DNA into other cells
• Understand how large amounts of human insulin can be manufactured from genetically modified bacteria that are grown in a fermenter
• Understand how genetically modified plants can be used to improve food production
• Understand that the term transgenic means the transfer of genetic material from one species to a different species
• Describe the process of micropropagation (tissue culture) in which explants are grown in vitro
• Understand how micropropagation can be used to produce commercial quantities of genetically identical plants with desirable characteristics
• Describe the stages in the production of cloned mammals involving the introduction of a diploid nucleus from a mature cell into an enucleated egg cell, illustra
• Understand how cloned transgenic animals can be used to produce human proteins