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
Homeostasis and Response
- 8 subtopics
- 24 things to know
- Biology Paper 2
What Homeostasis and Response covers
Homeostasis and Response is examined in Biology Paper 2. It covers homeostasis and control systems; the nervous system and the reflex arc; the endocrine system; insulin, glucagon and diabetes; hormones in reproduction, contraception and the treatment of infertility; and adrenaline, thyroxine and negative feedback.
Where it is assessed
Biology Paper 2
Combined Science: Trilogy, Biology Paper 2: 1 hour 15 minutes, 70 marks, 16.7% of the qualification.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 8 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- HomeostasisWhat homeostasis is and why cells and enzymes need stable conditions, the control of blood glucose, body temperature and water level, nervous and hormonal responses, and the receptors, coordination centres and effectors of every control system.Open →
- The nervous system and the reflex arcHow the nervous system carries electrical impulses, the central nervous system and effectors, the stimulus to response pathway, sensory, relay and motor neurones and synapses in a reflex arc, why reflexes are rapid and automatic, and measuring reaction times, with anomalous results, reproducibility, range, uncertainty in a mean and significant figures.Open →
- Human endocrine systemWhat a hormone is and how it travels in the blood, hormonal against nervous effects, the pituitary as master gland, and the thyroid, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries and testes.Open →
- Insulin, glucagon and diabetesHow the pancreas releases insulin to move glucose into cells and store it as glycogen, why high blood glucose harms cells, the causes and treatments of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, glucagon raising blood glucose, and negative feedback between the two hormones.Open →
- Hormones in human reproductionPuberty and secondary sex characteristics, oestrogen, testosterone and ovulation, the roles of FSH, LH, oestrogen and progesterone in the menstrual cycle and how they interact, menstruation, and reading hormone graphs for ovulation and pregnancy.Open →
- ContraceptionHormonal and non-hormonal contraception, including oral contraceptives, slow release progesterone by injection, implant or patch, barrier methods, intrauterine devices, spermicides, avoiding intercourse at fertile times and sterilisation, and the advantages and drawbacks of each.Open →
- The use of hormones to treat infertilityFSH and LH in fertility drugs, why blocked oviducts defeat them, the stages of IVF from egg collection to embryo transfer, and its stresses, risks and objections.Open →
- Negative feedbackAdrenaline from the adrenal glands and the fight or flight response, thyroxine from the thyroid gland and basal metabolic rate, how negative feedback through the pituitary gland controls thyroxine levels, and how the two hormones compare.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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Explain how insulin and glucagon work together to keep blood glucose steady.
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What is meant by homeostasis?
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How is the structure of the nervous system suited to carrying information quickly?
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What do reproductive hormones cause to develop during puberty?
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What is contraception?
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Which two hormones are given in a fertility drug?
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Which glands produce adrenaline, and when do they produce it?
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Changes that homeostasis responds to come from two sources. What are they?
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What two things does the nervous system allow humans to do?
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What is a hormone?
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Describe what happens in the body between a sugary meal and blood glucose returning to normal.
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Give two secondary sex characteristics that develop during puberty.
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Into which two groups are methods of contraception divided?
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How does a fertility drug help a woman to become pregnant?
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How does a faster heart rate help the body deal with danger?
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Why does a stable internal environment matter to enzymes?
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In what form does information travel along a neurone?
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What is the endocrine system made up of?
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What is the characteristic sign of untreated Type 1 diabetes?
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What is the main female reproductive hormone, and where is it produced?
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How does avoiding intercourse at certain times of the cycle reduce the chance of pregnancy?
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Why would a fertility drug not help a woman whose oviducts are blocked?
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What is meant by the fight or flight response?
Take Homeostasis and Response further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Insulin vs Glucagon
Insulin: the pancreatic hormone that lowers blood glucose by making cells take it up. Glucagon: the pancreatic hormone that raises blood glucose by converting glycogen back to glucose.
Sensory neurone vs Motor neurone
Sensory neurone: the nerve cell carrying impulses from a receptor to the central nervous system. Motor neurone: the nerve cell carrying impulses from the central nervous system to an effector.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is meant by homeostasis?
Model answer
The regulation of the internal conditions of a cell or organism so that they stay at the optimum for its functions.
- 2
Changes that homeostasis responds to come from two sources. What are they?
Model answer
Changes inside the body itself and changes in the external environment.
- 3
Why must an organism hold its internal conditions within narrow limits?
Model answer
Its cells only work properly over a narrow range of conditions, so conditions have to be kept close to the optimum.
- 4
Why does a stable internal environment matter to enzymes?
Model answer
Enzymes only work at their fastest within a narrow range of temperature and pH, and homeostasis keeps conditions there.
- 5
Apart from enzyme action, what else does homeostasis keep at its optimum?
Model answer
All the other functions carried out by the cells of the body.
- 6
Name the three internal conditions controlled in the human body.
Model answer
Blood glucose concentration, body temperature and the water level of the body.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Homeostasis and Response revision questions
- What does Homeostasis and Response cover in AQA GCSE Combined Science Biology?
- 8 subtopics: homeostasis, the nervous system and the reflex arc, human endocrine system, insulin, glucagon and diabetes, hormones in human reproduction, contraception, the use of hormones to treat infertility and negative feedback. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Homeostasis and Response organised?
- By the AQA 8464 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Homeostasis and Response, 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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