Biology

Living things and their habitats

  • to make and use keys

  • that the variety of plants and animals makes it important to identify them and assign them to groups

  • to classify living things into the major taxonomic groups

Humans and other animals

  • that the heart acts as a pump to circulate the blood through vessels round the body, including through the lungs

  • that nutrients, water and other substances are transported by the blood

  • the role of lung structure in gas exchange, including the effect of smoking

  • about the effect of exercise and rest on pulse rate

  • how the abuse of alcohol, solvents and other drugs affects health

  • how the growth and reproduction of bacteria and the replication of viruses can affect health; how the body’s natural defences may be enhanced by medicines

  • that micro-organisms are living organisms which are often too small to be seen, and that they may be beneficial (e.g. in the breakdown of waste, in making bread) or harmful (e.g. in causing disease, in causing food to go mouldy)

  • that food is used as a fuel during respiration to maintain the body’s activity and as a raw material for growth and repair

  • the role of the skeleton and joints and the principle of antagonistic muscle pairs (e.g. biceps and triceps) in movement

Evolution and inheritance

  • that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide evidence about living things which inhabited the Earth millions of years ago

  • that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but that offspring vary and are not identical to their parents

  • how adaptation can lead to evolution