Key term
AQA GCSE Combined Science Biology 8464
Bioenergetics
Cell Biology
Topic overviewEukaryotes and prokaryotesAnimal and plant cellsCell specialisation and differentiationMicroscopyChromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycleStem cells in embryos, adults and meristemsTherapeutic cloning, its risks, and cloning plantsDiffusion and the factors affecting its rateSurface area to volume ratio and exchange surfacesOsmosisActive transport
Ecology
Topic overviewLevels of organisation in an ecosystem, and what organisms needCompetition, interdependence and stable communitiesAbiotic factorsBiotic factorsAdaptationsProducers, food chains and sampling with quadrats and transectsPredators, prey and measuring population sizeHow materials are cycledWaste management and biodiversityLand use, deforestation and global warmingMaintaining biodiversity
Homeostasis and Response
Infection and Response
Inheritance, Variation and Evolution
Topic overviewSexual and asexual reproductionMeiosisDNA and the genomeGenetic terms, dominant and recessive allelesPunnett squares, probability and genetic crossesInherited disorders and sex determinationVariationEvolutionSelective breedingWhat genetic engineering is, and what it is used forGM crops, their risks, and the steps of the processEvidence for evolution, and extinctionFossilsResistant bacteriaClassification of living organisms
Organisation
Topic overviewLevels of organisation, and how enzymes workAmylase, proteases and lipasesBile, food tests and the effect of pH on amylaseThe heart, the lungs and double circulationThe pacemaker, the blood vessels and the bloodCoronary heart disease: a non-communicable diseaseHealth issuesRisk factors and causal mechanisms in diseaseSampling, correlation and interpreting risk dataCancerPlant tissues, and transpiration and its rateRoot hair cells, xylem, phloem and stomata
Cell Biology
- 11 subtopics
- 33 things to know
- Biology Paper 1
What Cell Biology covers
Cell Biology is examined in Biology Paper 1. It covers eukaryotes and prokaryotes, animal and plant cells, cell specialisation and differentiation, and microscopy; chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycle; stem cells, therapeutic cloning and cloning plants; and diffusion, surface area to volume ratio, exchange surfaces, osmosis and active transport.
Where it is assessed
Biology Paper 1
Combined Science: Trilogy, Biology Paper 1: 1 hour 15 minutes, 70 marks, 16.7% of the qualification.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 11 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Eukaryotes and prokaryotesThe features shared by plant and animal cells, what makes a cell eukaryotic or prokaryotic, how bacterial DNA, plasmids and the cell wall are arranged, and sizes in standard form.Open →
- Animal and plant cellsThe functions of the nucleus, cell membrane, mitochondria, chloroplasts, plasmids and ribosomes, the permanent vacuole and cellulose cell wall of plant cells, estimating sizes, preparing, staining, focusing and drawing a slide under a light microscope, total magnification, and reducing the risks from glass and stains.Open →
- Cell specialisation and differentiationHow ciliated, sperm, nerve, muscle, root hair, xylem and phloem cells suit their jobs, why differentiation matters, and when animal and plant cells differentiate.Open →
- MicroscopyMagnification and resolution, how electron microscopes compare with light microscopes and what they revealed about sub-cellular structures, and calculating magnification, image size and real size, including conversion to micrometres and standard form.Open →
- Chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycleChromosomes, genes and why body cells hold them in pairs, the stages of the cell cycle from growth and DNA replication through mitosis to division of the cytoplasm, and why mitosis produces identical cells for growth, development and repair.Open →
- Stem cells in embryos, adults and meristemsWhat a stem cell is and what undifferentiated means, the roles of stem cells in embryos, adults and bone marrow, and what meristem tissue can become.Open →
- Therapeutic cloning, its risks, and cloning plantsUsing stem cells to treat conditions such as diabetes and paralysis, therapeutic cloning and why its cells are not rejected, the risk of viral infection, ethical and religious objections, and cloning plants from meristem tissue to save rare species and grow identical crops.Open →
- Diffusion and the factors affecting its rateThe definition of diffusion and net movement, substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and urea that diffuse into and out of cells, and how concentration gradient, temperature and membrane surface area affect the rate.Open →
- Surface area to volume ratio and exchange surfacesWhy single-celled organisms rely on their outer surface, surface area to volume ratios of cubes, why large organisms need exchange surfaces and transport systems, adaptations of the small intestine, lungs, gills, roots and leaves, and the features that make exchange effective.Open →
- OsmosisOsmosis and partially permeable membranes, plant tissue in pure water and sugar solution, percentage change in mass and water uptake, the potato cylinder method and its variables, accuracy, precision, repeatability and reproducibility, systematic, zero and random errors, gradients and y = mx + c, and a hypothesis.Open →
- Active transportThe definition of active transport and its energy supply from respiration, uptake of mineral ions by root hair cells and of sugar from the gut, and how active transport compares with diffusion and osmosis.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
Outline how stem cells treat a patient, what therapeutic cloning is, the advantage of an embryo with the patient's genes, and one risk.
Key term
What three features are found in both plant and animal cells?
Process
Which process takes place in mitochondria, and why does the cell need it?
Key term
A cell lining the airways is covered in tiny hair-like projections. Explain how this suits its function.
Key term
What is meant by the magnification of a microscope?
Key term
What structures in the nucleus carry the genetic information of a cell?
Key term
State two things a stem cell can do that a specialised cell cannot.
Key term
What is meant by a net movement of particles?
Key term
Define osmosis.
Key term
Define active transport.
Key term
Name two groups of organisms whose bodies are built from eukaryotic cells.
Key term
List the five parts found in most animal cells.
Key term
Explain why a cell that must move itself long distances contains many mitochondria.
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What is meant by the resolution of a microscope?
Key term
What is carried along the length of each chromosome?
Key term
Compare the range of cells that embryonic and adult stem cells can produce.
Key term
In outline, what does treating a patient with stem cells involve?
Key term
Name two gases moved in and out of cells by diffusion during gas exchange.
Key term
What happens to the surface area to volume ratio of an organism as it gets larger?
Key term
What is a partially permeable membrane?
Key term
Explain why active transport needs a supply of energy.
Key term
Where in a plant or animal cell is the genetic material kept?
Key term
Name two structures often found in a plant cell that an animal cell does not have inside it.
Key term
How does the ability of plant cells to differentiate differ from that of animal cells?
Key term
Which property limits how much detail can be seen, magnification or resolution?
Process
What is the name of the series of stages in which a cell divides?
Key term
Which types of cell can stem cells from adult bone marrow form?
Key term
Name two conditions that treatment with stem cells may be able to help.
Key term
In which direction does oxygen diffuse at a respiring cell, and why?
Key term
A cube has sides of 1 cm. What is its surface area to volume ratio?
Key term
Describe what happens to a piece of plant tissue placed in pure water.
Key term
Explain why mineral ions cannot be absorbed into root hair cells by diffusion.
Take Cell Biology further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Eukaryote vs Prokaryote
Eukaryote: an organism whose genetic material is enclosed inside a nucleus. Prokaryote: a much smaller organism, such as a bacterium, with DNA lying free in the cytoplasm.
Magnification vs Resolution
Magnification: how many times larger the image is than the real object. Resolution: the smallest distance between two points that can still be seen as separate.
Embryonic stem cell vs Adult stem cell
Embryonic stem cell: an undifferentiated unit from the earliest stage of development, able to form most human tissues. Adult stem cell: an undifferentiated unit from bone marrow, forming only a limited range of tissues.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What three features are found in both plant and animal cells?
Model answer
A cell membrane, cytoplasm, and genetic material held inside a nucleus.
- 2
What name is given to cells whose genetic material is enclosed in a nucleus?
Model answer
Eukaryotic cells.
- 3
Name two groups of organisms whose bodies are built from eukaryotic cells.
Model answer
Plants and animals.
- 4
Where in a plant or animal cell is the genetic material kept?
Model answer
Inside the nucleus, which encloses it.
- 5
What type of cell is a bacterial cell?
Model answer
A prokaryotic cell.
- 6
How does the size of a bacterial cell compare with the size of a plant or animal cell?
Model answer
A bacterial cell is much smaller.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Cell Biology revision questions
- What does Cell Biology cover in AQA GCSE Combined Science Biology?
- 11 subtopics: eukaryotes and prokaryotes, animal and plant cells, cell specialisation and differentiation, microscopy, chromosomes, mitosis and the cell cycle, stem cells in embryos, adults and meristems, therapeutic cloning, its risks, and cloning plants, diffusion and the factors affecting its rate, surface area to volume ratio and exchange surfaces, osmosis and active transport. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Cell Biology organised?
- By the AQA 8464 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Cell Biology, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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