Here is a summary of the units studied in Year 11.

Examining how various organisms are adapted to survive in their normal environment and the factors which govern the population of a species in a particular location.

Investigating the transfer along food chains and webs of energy, nutrients and biomass.

Exploring the role of microbes in the decomposition of waste organic material and hence recycling it. This includes a detailed study of the carbon cycle and, for the higher tier only, of the nitrogen cycle.

Considering the ways in which human activities can disrupt ecosystems which would otherwise be sustained in a relatively stable condition by the biological and geochemical cycling of materials. - Top

Investigating the variation between individuals of the same species and interpreting this in terms of both heredity and environmental factors.

Explaining inheritance in terms of information carried on chromosomes and, at the higher tier only, developing this explanation further in terms of cell division by mitosis and meiosis.

Exploring the use of selective breeding, cloning and genetic engineering, to produce plants and animals with preferred characteristics.

Considering how natural selection has resulted in the evolution of some species and the extinction of others, and examining the role of mutation in this process.

Studying a selection of simple patterns of inheritance in humans:

• The determination of sex
• The inheritance both of diseases caused by dominant alleles and diseases caused by recessive alleles.

Exploring the various factors affecting the rates of chemical reactions and.explaining these in terms of collisions between particles.

Investigating the activities of biological catalysts i.e. enzymes.

Examining the energy changes which occur in chemical reactions and the idea of reversible reactions.

Extending basic particle theory to include atomic structure and using this to explain:

• What happens when elements react
• The properties of different types of substance.

Exploring the similarities between elements in the same group of the periodic table and the trends in those properties within groups.

Explaining in terms of atomic structure:

• The similarities between elements in the same group
• The differences between elements in different groups

and, for the higher tier only

• The trends within groups.

Interpreting graphical representations of speed and acceleration.

Examining the effects of forces on motion i.e.

• Unbalanced forces which produce accelerations as expressed in their relationship F=ma
• Frictional forces which oppose motion and which are not only important for slowing down and stopping vehicles but are also responsible for steady driving forces eventually resulting in steady speeds.

Calculating:

• The work done by forces which act on bodies to affect their movement
• The kinetic energy of a moving body.

Exploring the role of gravitational forces:

• In keeping satellites in orbit
• In maintaining the stability of the solar system
• In the life histories of stars.

Comparing the behaviour of waves we can actually see (e.g. water waves) with the behaviour of light and sound. This leads to the suggestion that light and sound might also travel as waves with the same relationship between wave-speed, frequency and wavelength.

Investigating the different types of waves in the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of their wavelengths/frequencies, properties and uses.

Examining the properties, uses and dangers of the radiation emitted by radioactive substances.

Explaining radioactive decay (and, for the higher tier only, nuclear fission) in terms of atomic structure.

Extending the study of sound waves to include:

• Ultrasound and its uses
• What seismic waves reveal about the internal structure of the Earth.