BIOLOGY (OCR)

It is difficult to avoid Biology today. Any newspaper or television programme may well contain references to GM foods, the latest hopes in medicine for cancer, AIDS or asthma sufferers, organ transplantation, cloning, vaccines, the human genome project, the search for life on Mars, why the dinosaurs disappeared, saving a rare species, bringing a mammoth back to life, diet, rain forests, food scares, holes in the ozone layer, feeding the world.

The AS and A level Biology course cannot supply answers to all the questions raised. It does, however, provide a background from which to study them, understand present ideas and hopefully reach an informed viewpoint.

The course involves a study of the main chemicals in the cell, providing an introduction to biochemistry and emphasising how all life on earth follows a similar pattern. The cell itself is studied in detail and then how cells are specialised to form the different organs in animals and plants. Genetics considers the laws governing inheritance and what we know about the structure of the gene, whilst evolution involves some of the great ideas in biology and provides a unifying principle for the subject. There is slightly more emphasis on animals and human health and disease than on the plant kingdom and this seems to reflect the bias shown by many biology students.

The subject is a technical one and draws on parts of chemistry, geography and mathematics. It is also a practical subject and involves microscope work and experiments in the laboratory as well as a field trip to study organisms in their natural environment. Dissection is no longer compulsory. We are fortunate to be in Oxford, where visits to University lectures, botanical gardens and museums can all help to keep us up-to-date.

The course at AS level is divided in to three compulsory units, two of which are assessed externally by written papers and one that is based on practical skills and is internally assessed. For Advanced level biology there are 4 compulsory, externally assessed units and two practical ones assessed internally.

To gain an a full Advanced level the course is structured as follows:

AS
Unit 1 Cells, Exchange and Transport 15%

Unit 2 Molecules, Biodiversity, Food and Health 25%

Unit 3 Practical skills in Biology 1 10%

A2
Unit 4 Communication, Homeostasis and Energy 15%

Unit 5 Control, Genomes and Environment 25%

Unit 6 Practical skills in Biology 2 10%

For further syllabus information Click here

Biology can be studied with almost any other A level subject and may lead on to many different careers in science, business and the arts, since it always serves as a valuable A level. It is hoped that this course will give girls an interest for life, as well as an important qualification to prepare them for a rewarding career in the 21st century.

Mrs L Doughton, BSc (Hons), MA