Assessment of the Courses

There are two tiers of assessment for each course:

Foundation Grades (C-G) and Higher Grades (A*-D)

The Centre Assessed Unit consists of an ‘Investigative Skills Assignment’ (ISA) (externally set, internally assessed test) and a Practical Skills Assessment (PSA).

Biology 1a – Human Biology
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Biology 1a. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Co-ordination and Control
1.1 Responding to Change
1.2 Reflex Actions
1.3 The Menstrual Cycle
1.4 The Artificial Control of Fertility
1.5 Controlling Conditions
1.6 Controlling Fertility

Section 2 – Healthy Eating
2.1 Diet and Exercise
2.2 Weight Problems
2.3 Fast Food
2.4 Health Issues

Section 3 – Drug Abuse
3.1 Drugs
3.2 Legal and Illegal Drugs
3.3 Alcohol
3.4 Smoking and Health
3.5 Lung Cancer and Smoking
3.6 Does cannabis lead to hard drugs?

Section 4 – Controlling Infectious Disease
4.1 Pathogens
4.2 Defence Mechanisms
4.3 Using Drugs to Treat Disease
4.4 Changing Pathogens
4.5 Developing New Medicines
4.6 Immunity
4.7 How should we deal with disease?

Key Information - Section 1 Co-ordination and Control

Reflex Action

Key Information - Section 2 Healthy Eating

A Healthy Diets needs
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
Fibre
Water

Between 60-75% of your daily energy needs are used up in the basic reactions needed to keep you alive. 10% is needed to digest your food and on the final 15-39% is affected by your physical activity.

Food labels – don’t be fooled

5 points to look out for:

1. E-numbers - these are used to help enhance or preserve food, and are called E numbers because they are listed by their codes. Sometimes these are listed in their full names to try and trick consumers. Be wary of long, chemical sounding names.
   If you are an asthma sufferer stay clear of E212 (potassium benzoate) and E213 (calcium benzoate).
   To learn more about E numbers go to www.goodtoknow.co.uk

2. Nutritious sounding names - Wholegrain bread is the healthiest bread to have, brown and white bread are about the same.
   Brown sugar is not necessarily better for you as it can be white sugar with molasses added to colour it, look for the word ‘unrefined’ when choosing sugar.
   Fruit juice drink may not contain any fruit, stick to pure fruit juice.
   Flavour and flavoured mean different things in the food world. If something is ‘flavoured’ (yoghurt) it will be flavoured by real fruit if it is just ‘flavour’ it does not contain any fruit as it is a chemical flavouring.

3. Unrealistic serving sizes - Always take notice of the label at the back of the product as some products may say they are low in salt on the front but when you look at the back it is only low in salt if a small amount of the product is eaten. Look at how much sodium per 100g there is, 0.5g is classes as a lot where as 0.1g is classed as little.

4. Healthy claims - Just because a product says it is ‘low-fat’, ‘high-fibre’ or ‘reduced fat’ it may not be the case. This is because there is no legal definition of these words. It just means it has more/less than the normal product. Also it may be low in one unhealthy thing but high in another. E.g. marshmallows are virtually fat free but are made with lots and lots of sugar so are high in calories.

5. Hidden sugar - Again manufactures try to tick its consumers but using many different names for sugar. Look for words ending in ‘ose’ or words containing ‘syrup’. This is because of the new law where all ingredients have to be listed on the products and by splitting the sugar up into its many other names it does not appear top of the list. (The list is in size from highest to lowest)

Remember:

1. Always check the label on the back of the product which lists the full ingredients.
2. Don’t be fooled by meaningless words e.g. ‘light’, ‘country-style’
3. If you can’t pronounce a word in the ingredients list don’t eat it. Go for products with a small list of ingredients.
4. Just because a products says it contains superfoods doesn’t mean there is lots of the superfood present.
5. Organic isn’t always healthier, some contain more salt, sugar and fat than non-organic food. Always check first.

In other words always read the labels on food products, this is the only way to know what you are eating.

Tips for a healthy diet

1. Don’t eat too much salt – this can cause your body to retain water giving you a bloated feeling, it can cause false hunger pangs cause by dehydration.
2. Don’t skip meals – this can slow your metabolism down, cause low blood sugar and reduce your energy levels. You also tend to eat more snack and in the end eat more during the day.
3. Drink more water  drink between 8-10 pints of water – not drinking enough can cause your body to retain excess fat and fluids, you can end up with poor muscle tone and even cellulite.
4. Try not to eat large meals close to bed time – eating large meals close to bed time reduce the amount of time your body has to burn calories.
5. Takeways are a treat – many fast foods contain more fat and salt than your RDA.
6. Think about the snacks you eat – crisps, cakes and chocolate contain refined sugars which cause a sudden energy boost, when this boost wears off you are often left more tired and hungry than before and want to eat more. Try fruit or sugar free jelly
7. Try to reduce the amount of BAD carbohydrates you eat – these consist of white bread, normal pasta and white rice, these lack important nutrients needed by your body and can cause bloating and weight gain. Try the wholegrain products.
8. Caffeine – too much can cause the body to dehydrate, slow your metabolism, stimulate your appetite and disrupt your sleep.

BMI - Body Mass Index. The calculation is below

Most people have a BMI in the range of 20-30. Below 18.5 or over 35 you may suffer from some real health problems.

Obesity

FACTS

1. 39% of Britons are overweight
2. 19% of Britons are obsess
3. Obesity rate have tripled over the last 20 years
4. Obesity is linked to arthritis, heart disease and diabetes
5. Obesity can reduce life expectancy of diabetics by 8 years.

This has become an important health topic recently – the number of dangerously overweight people in the UK has trebled in the last 20 years.  It is thought that over a third of people in the UK are overweight and nearly a quarter clinically obsess.

The first thing to understand is the difference between overweight and being obese and the health risks associated with each definition.

You can be overweight in terms of excess muscle, bone or water but not susceptible to developing serious health problems.  People like athletes who have a lot of muscles can be overweight but healthy.  Obesity specifically refers to an excess amount of body fat – this can lead to the development of serious health issues.

Women tend to have more body fat than men.  Most health care providers agree that men with a body fat grater than 25% and women with more than 30% body fat are obese.  Having a higher percentage of body fat than these averages induce many health problems including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and arthritis.

Starvation
In the developing world obesity is rare this is because the biggest problem is the lack of food. This could be due to the wars, droughts or even pests which damage crops. Symptoms include:

• Becoming very thin and muscles waste away
• Immune system can’t work properly so infections are caught easily
• If female periods can become irregular or stop altogether.

These symptoms can often be seen in the developed world in people suffering from the mental disorder called anorexia (loss of appetite).

Key Words
Balanced Diet – combination of food that gives the body all the nutrients needed for good health
Blood Pressure – this is the pressure in your arteries cause by the pumping of the heart
Complex Carbohydrates – carbohydrates that contain big molecules that release energy from food slowly
Deficiency – lacking something e.g. vitamin
Diabetes – a disease caused by the lack of insulin. The body has no control on the uptake of Glucose in the body’s calls. Glucose levels rise and appears in the urine
Dietician – someone who is trained to advice people on diets and food
E.coli – a bacterium that causes food poisoning
E-numbers – food additives that are permitted in the EU. The E stands for explanation
Essential Fatty Acid – this is something the body needs for it to work. The body cannot make this so you have to eat it, it can be found in oily fish
Food Chain – diagram showing the feeding relationships of organisms in an ecosystem
Glucose – a simple sugar solution and a form of carbohydrate used during aerobic respiration
Glycaemic Index – the ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood sugar
HDLs – High-Density Lipoproteins – known as ‘good’ cholesterol, they reduce the risk of heart dieases
Insulin – a hormone that converts excess glucose into glycogen
LDLs – Low-Density Lipoproteins – known as ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Malnourished – if you don’t eat enough of a balanced diet
Metabolic Rate – is the rate at which the chemical reactions in the body are carried out
Nutrient – something the body needs for energy, growth and protection against disease
Polyunsaturated Fat – this is a type of unsaturated fat that also helps to lower blood cholesterol
Preservatives – chemicals that are added to food to stop it spoiling
RDA – this stands for Recommended Daily Allowance and is the minimum daily amount of a specific nutrient necessary for health
Respiration – this is the process that releases the energy in food
Salmonella – a rod-shaped bacteria responsible for some food poisoning
Saturated Fat – this can raise blood cholesterol
Unsaturated Fat – this does the opposite to Saturated Fat, it lowers the blood cholesterol

Key Information - Section 3 Drug Abuse

Click Here for a Powerpoint about drug names
Click Here for a Powerpoint about Alcohol

Useful Websites
www.codurham.org.uk
www.addaction.org.uk
www.adaat.org

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Biology 1b – Evolution and Environment
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Biology 1b. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Adaptation for Survival
1.1 Adaptation in Animals
1.2 Adaptation in Plants
1.3 Competition in Animals
1.4 Competition in Plants
1.5 How do you survive?

Section 2 – Variation
2.1 Inheritance
2.2 Types of Reproduction
2.3 Cloning
2.4 New Ways of Cloning Animals
2.5 Genetic Engineering
2.6 Making Choices about Technology

Section 3 – Evolution
3.1 The Origins of Life on Earth
3.2 Theories of Evolution
3.3 Natural Selection
3.4 Extinction
3.5 Evolution

Section 4 – How People Affect the Planet
4.1 The Effects of the Population Explosion
4.2 Acid Rain
4.3 Global Warming
4.4 Sustainable Development
4.5 Planning for the Future
4.6 Environmental Issues

Useful Websites for this topic

www.rsatesco.rev.atticmedia.com/carbonator/default.aspa - Calculating your carbon footprint

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Chemistry 1a – Products from Rocks
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Chemistry 1a. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Rocks and Buildings
1.1 Atoms, Elements and Compounds
1.2 Limestone and its Uses
1.3 Decomposing Carbonates
1.4 Quicklime and Slaked Lime
1.5 Cement, Concrete and Glass
1.6 Building Materials – from old to new

Section 2 – Rocks and Metals
2.1 Extracting Metals
2.2 Extracting Iron
2.3 Properties of Iron and Steels
2.4 Alloys in Everyday Use
2.5 Transition Metals
2.6 Aluminium and Titanium
2.7 Using Metals

Section 3 – Crude Oil
3.1 Fuels from Crude Oil
3.2 Fractional Distillation
3.3 Burning Fuels
3.4 Cleaner Fuels
3.5 Alternative Fuels

Useful Information for Chemistry 1a

Properties of elements

Reactivity series of metals

Fractions from crude oil and their uses

Alloys

Common ores of metals

Useful Websites for this topic

www.ecoschools.org.uk
www.recycle-more.co.uk
www.wastewatch.org.uk
www.webelements.com
www.schoolscience.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk

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Chemistry 1b – Oils, Earth and Atmosphere
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Chemistry 1b. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Products from Oil
1.1 Cracking Hydrocarbons
1.2 Making Polymers from Alkenes
1.3 The Properties of Plastics
1.4 New and Useful Polymers
1.5 Plastics, Polymers and Packaging Food

Section 2 – Plant Oils
2.1 Extracting Vegetable Oils
2.2 Cooking with Vegetable Oils
2.3 Everyday Emulsions
2.4 What is added to our food?
2.5 Vegetable Oils as Fuels
2.6 Vegetable Oils

Section 3 – The Changing World
3.1 Structure of the Earth
3.2 The Restless Earth
3.3 The Earth’s Atmosphere in the Past
3.4 Gases in the Atmosphere
3.5 The Carbon Cycle
3.6 Earth Issues

Useful Information for Chemistry 1b

Composition of some cooking oils and margarines (per 100g of material)

Useful Websites for this topic

www.rsatesco.rev.atticmedia.com/carbonator/default.aspa - Calculating your carbon footprint

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Physics 1a – Energy and Energy Resources
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Physics 1a. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Heat Transfer
1.1 Thermal Radiation
1.2 Surfaces and Radiation
1.3 Conduction
1.4 Convection
1.5 Heat Transfer by Design
1.6 Hot Issues

Section 2 – Using Energy
2.1 Forms of Energy
2.2 Conservation of Energy
2.3 Useful Energy
2.4 Energy and Efficiency
2.5 Energy and Efficiency Issues

Section 3 – Electrical Energy
3.1 Electrical Devices
3.2 Electrical Power
3.3 Using Electrical Energy
3.4 The National Grid
3.5 Essential Electricity Issues

Section 4 – Generating Electricity
4.1 Fuel for Electricity
4.2 Energy from Wind and Water
4.3 Power from the Sun and the Earth
4.4 Energy and the Environment
4.5 Big Energy Issues

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Physics 1b – Radiation and the Universe
Here is the course content of what you will learn throughout this section of Physics 1b. At the end of the topic you will be sitting an examination on everything you have learned on this topic.

Section 1 – Electromagnetic Waves
1.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
1.2 Gamma Rays and X-rays
1.3 Light and Ultraviolet Radiation
1.4 Infra-red, Microwaves and Radio Waves
1.5 Communications
1.6Analogue and Digital Signals
1.7 Microwave Issues

Section 2 – Radioactivity
2.1 Observing Nuclear Radiation
2.2 Alpha, Beta and Gamma Radiation
2.3 Half-life
2.4 Radioactivity at Work
2.5 Radioactivity Issues

Section 3 – The Origins of the Universe
3.1 The Expanding Universe
3.2 The Big Bang
3.3 Looking into Space
3.4 Looking into the Unknown

Useful Information for Physics 1b

Properties of some radioisotopes (radionuclides)

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