aqa a level biology essay titles

aqa a level biology essay titles

Exploring AQA A Level Biology Essay Titles

1. Introduction to AQA A Level Biology Essays

Assessment Principles You should assess an essay by considering in detail the extent to which the essay addresses the topic it is required to answer. Some questions may require you to discuss the issues with reference to one year. It will be typical in these cases to discuss context, nature, and terms of the three ethical theories with reference to the main proponents of virtue ethics, deontological, and utilitarian ethics. Your answer should always maintain criteria (e) and (f), critically evaluating the subject matter. Well-argued coursework will be expected to cover, critically, philosophical ideas, assumptions, influencing thinkers, and ensuing ethical perspectives or principles. SetProperty marking, you may award a range of marks as shown, but keep well within the boundaries you have outlined.

Overview The questions in this book are structured to cover the breadth of the specifications listed in the AQA A Level Biology (7401/7402) syllabus. These questions are not only useful to teachers who are constructing mock or final examinations in full, but also give practice at preparing essays either to the student or teacher using the text in the self-assessment (‘Class Test’ essay) questions. It is suggested that you first attempt the single essay questions with no help first and then on subsequent attempts, and after discussion and consideration, use the ‘Discussion Essay’ questions for further practice. The next section sets out the assessment criteria you will be asked to use when you have attempted or read and evaluated an answer.

2. Key Concepts and Themes in AQA A Level Biology Essays

An understanding of the key concepts of AQA A Level Biology is invaluable and we hope that the chapters will help you. Each essay title has a keyword term that is included in the key concepts and themes. You should ensure that you can define what is meant by each keyword term, and a certain amount of self-assessed testing of your definitions is invaluable. You will find this interactive approach will greatly enhance your understanding of the key concepts of biology. These key biology concepts are found at higher-tier GCSE and range through Core, Additional and Triple Science GCSE, as well as being at A Level.

1. You and your genes 2. Organic Chemistry in action 3. Homeostasis 4. Energy 5. Responses to the environment 6. The start of life 7. How many species are there? 8. The control of gene expression 9. Glycolysis and the Krebs cycle 10. An odour problem

To help you focus on what AQA A Level Biology education is really about and what the examiners mean by the essay titles, we have split the topic into concept and theme areas. We must stress that a good understanding of conventionally controversial issues in more than one theme and also how biological knowledge can be applied is essential. The themes we have identified are:

3. Structuring and Writing AQA A Level Biology Essays

Ideally, having reached the course material, you will now feel ready to implement your learning in an examination setting. With many years of experience, it is reasonable to expect that you will now be familiar with the type of questions that may be encountered, and that you will be feeling comfortable and secure in the understanding of the subject, its terminology, methods, and principles. Over the years, a common question often posed is: “What is the best way to pass examinations?”. There is no straightforward answer, but some general pointers can be offered. In reality, there is no one-size-fits-all secret formula, although there are strategies which can be followed to maximize one’s potential when taking examinations. Each student has his or her personal method of preparing for an examination, and strategies adopted by one may be very different from another. Some people require frequent revisions and reminders to cover a subject area; others might be able to work through a topic in a very compressed period of time.

Learning and Understanding

The distance learning course is structured to provide easy navigation through the materials, and to break the course down into manageable and convenient sections for working through with a general flow moving from the most basic and fundamental to more advanced concepts and material. Each module covers a particular selected topic, and there is a specific order to the presentations to reflect the way the subject matter builds from the simple to the complex. The sequence follows this logical progression to help build intermediate knowledge. When the slides within a particular module have been worked through, the coursework is backed up with a set of ‘Test Yourself’ questions related to the individual work completed, with the answers to the questions being covered in detail in the next presentation. So there is always an answer and explanation following questions posed.

4. Examples of AQA A Level Biology Essay Titles

Pollution has resulted in an extraordinary diversity of species. Discuss why so many species can come to exist in one community, but why they do not all usually share the same habitat.

Co-ordination between different cells in a multi-cellular organism has led to cells changing through evolution. Discuss and illustrate your answer, as fully as possible, with respect to plant and animal cells.

Give a full account of the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

Some bacteria perform an invaluable function in sewage disposal works, but problem bacteria cause major health problems. In what way do bacteria differ from viruses and discuss the implications of these differences.

Chemical messengers such as hormones are used by both plants and animals. Discuss this statement, illustrating your answer as fully as possible.

Compare Mendelian with non-Mendelian inheritance, giving examples of how this occurs.

Discuss the implications of a problem with cell cycle checkpoints.

Explain the processes of transcription and translation.

Pesticides are invaluable to increase food production, but there are also major environmental costs. These costs are such that the overall classification of a pesticide must relate not only to its direct potency but also to its environmental impact. The severity of this has led to a ban for all rodenticides and several human tranquillisers. Discuss.

Explain why the 1850–1750 cm–1 region of the infrared spectrum is important for the identification of organic compounds.

Examples of AQA A Level Biology Essay Titles