BIOLOGY GCSE

Edexcel’s GCSE Science 2006 has been designed to encourage more students to experience the world of science by being relevant, interesting and context led.

The Ashbourne programme consists of an examination of the relevant areas of the specification for each of the three sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics), a summary of the key facts and principles relevant to the area under study, past paper questions and reference, where instructive, to the Chief Examiner’s Reports. Students will receive tuition in all types of examination question, whether short answer questions, source based stimulus response questions or essays and techniques in preparing for and answering compulsory questions. Students can expect each week a minimum of 6 hours of classroom tuition plus one or two substantial pieces of homework based on previous past papers.

Aims of the Course
The specification aims to:
 1) stimulate and sustain students’ interest in and enjoyment of Biology.
 2) enable students to gain a knowledge and understanding of Biology appropriate to these levels and to appreciate the interlinking patterns that are a distinguishing feature of the subject.
 3) show the interrelationship between the development of the subject and its application and recognise the value of Biology to society and how it may be used responsibly.
 4) develop skills in laboratory procedures and techniques and carry these out with due regard for safety, and assess the uses and limitations of the procedures.
 5) foster imaginative and critical thinking as well as the acquisition of knowledge, together with an appreciation of the intellectual discipline that the subject provides.
 6) develop students’ ability to understand the link between theory and experiment.
 7) provide opportunities for students to bring together knowledge of how different areas of science relate to each other.
 8) aid awareness of how advances in information technology and instrumentation are used in Biology.
 9) provide an appropriate course for:
 · those who will end their study of the subject at this stage.
 · laying a secure foundation for those who will continue their studies in this or related subjects.

Summary of the specification content
The content is presented in three parts: Life Processes and Living Things (Biology), Materials and their Properties (Chemistry), and Physical Processes (Physics). The three parts reflect the content of the National Curriculum Key Stage 4 Science programme of study.  See Science (Single subjects/Dual Award) for a full listing of specifications.

Double Award
Sc2: Life Processes and Living Things
B1: Humans as organisms

• Cell activity
• Nutrition
• Circulation
• Breathing and respiration
• Nervous coordination
• Hormonal coordination
• Maintaining the internal environment

B2: Green plants as organisms

• Cell activity
• Nutrition
• Water relations and transport
• Control of growth

B3: Variation, inheritance and evolution

• Variation
• Inheritance
• Evolution

B4: Living organisms in their environment

• Humans and the environment
• Ecosystems

Single Award
Sc2: Life Processes and Living Things
B1: Humans as organisms
B3: Variation, inheritance and evolution
B4: Living organisms in their environment