AS-Level Biology
The Crypt School Biology Handbook
2011-12
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Contents
1. Aims of AS-level biology specification and summary of specification
2. Expectations of AS-level students
3. Teaching schedule for the year 2011-12
4. Key dates for 2011-2012
 Exam dates for each unit
 Practical Task weeks
5. Practical Skills Assessments
 Outline of Practical Assessments - what they involve
 Outline of how they’re marked
 What you need to be able to do for them
6. Additional materials available
 Biological Review
 Useful website addresses
 Useful revision and text books
 Past papers
7. Sheets and materials to be completed by students and/or teachers
 File Checks
 Tracking Sheets
 Target Sheets
 Additional work completed by student
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Aims of AS-Level biology specification
The aims of this specification is to encourage candidates to:

develop their interest in and enthusiasm for biology, including developing an interest in further study and
careers in biology;

appreciate how society makes decisions about scientific issues and how the sciences contribute to the
success of the economy and society;

develop and demonstrate a deeper appreciation of the skills, knowledge and understanding of How
Science Works;

develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of biology and how they relate to each
other.
Summary of Specification
Unit F211: Cells, Exchange and Transport
Module 1: Cells
1.1.1 Cell Structure
1.1.2 Cell Membranes
1.1.3 Cell Division, Cell Diversity and Cellular Organisation
Module 2: Exchange and Transport
1.2.1 Exchange Surfaces and Breathing
1.2.2 Transport in Animals
1.2.3 Transport in Plants
This unit is 30% of the total AS-Level marks. It is a 1 hour paper worth 60 marks.
Unit F212: Molecules, Biodiversity, Food and Health
Module 1: Biological Molecules
2.1.1 Biological Molecules
2.1.2 Nucleic Acids
2.1.3 Enzymes
Module 2: Food and Health
2.2.1 Diet and Food Production
2.2.2 Health and Disease
Module 3: Biodiversity and Evolution
2.3.1 Biodiversity
2.3.2 Classification
2.3.3 Evolution
2.3.4 Maintaining Biodiversity
This unit is 50% of the total AS-Level marks. It is a 1 ½ hour paper worth 100 marks.
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Unit F213: Practical Skills in Biology 1
This unit is 20% of the total AS-Level marks and is completed as coursework over the period of the year. It is
worth 40 marks and involves the completion of 3 different tasks (further information is provided later in this
handbook).
On return from your AS-level exams in the summer you will begin the A2 specification:
Unit F215: Ecosystems and sustainability
Module 3: Ecosystems and Sustainability
5.3.1 Ecosystems
5.3.2 Populations and Sustainability
Expectations
What students can expect from the Biology Department
You will receive 10 1-hour lessons each fortnight giving a total of 10 hours taught time. The syllabus will be
split between two teachers. Each teacher will cover different aspects of the course and will give you
homework to increase your understanding of Biology. You can expect to receive homework from both your
teachers at least once per week. It is expected that you will complete around 5 hours of work outside the
classroom for biology each week. All students are advised to use their time in school effectively to ensure
they keep up to date with homework. In accordance with the school homework policy if you do not submit
homework on time and to an acceptable standard you will be required to attend a homework detention to
complete the work. Teachers will aim to mark homework promptly.
What the Biology Department expect from you
You will always complete work to the best of your ability and submit any work on time to your teacher for
marking. If at any point you feel you do not understand a topic it is essential you make your teacher aware
of this. Ideally this should be in class whilst the topic is being covered, however you could also approach the
teacher outside the classroom if you feel more comfortable doing this. You are expected to work
independently at home checking through notes and carrying out additional research and reading to
supplement class work as part of your homework.
You are also expected to attend open evenings to support the department.
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Teaching schedule for the year 2011-2012
The information below provides an outline of the teaching schedule for the year. It should be emphasized
that these are not exact timings, but should give you an overview of what will be taught at which point in the
year. You will be completing Unit 2 (F212: Molecules, biodiversity, food and health) in time to take the exam
and January. Unit 1 will be completed in time for exam in the summer term.
Week
commencing
Teachers 1&2
Specification
reference
F212, Module 3,
2.3.3
F212, Module 2,
2.3.4
F212, Module 2,
2.2.2
Topic and text book
chapter
Evolution
Chapters 10-14
Maintaining
biodiversity
Chapters 15-19
Disease and its
transmission
Chapter 5 - 12
HALF TERM
F212, Module 2,
Disease and its
2.2.2
transmission
Chapter 5 - 12
F212, Module 1,
Enzymes
2.1.3
Chapters 19-29
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
Revision
F211, Module 2,
Exchange surfaces and
1.2.1
breathing
Chapters 1-4
HALF TERM
F211, Module 2,
Transport in Animals
1.2.2
Chapters 5-12
F211, Module 2,
Transport in plants
1.2.3
Chapters 13-19
Teachers 1&2
Specification
reference
F212, Module 3,
2.3.1
Topic and text book
chapter
Biodiversity
Chapters 1-4
F212, Module 3,
2.3.1
Classification
Chapters 5-9
F212, Module 2,
2.2.1
Diet and food
production,
Chapters 1- 4
HALF TERM
F212, Module 2,
Health & disease
2.2.2
Chapters 13-17
F212, Module 1,
2.1.1.
Water, fats,
carbohydrates and
proteins
Chapters 1-14
F212, Module 1,
Nucleic Acids
2.1.2
Chapters 15-17
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
Revision
F211, Module 1,
Cell Structure
1.1.1
Chapters 1-6
HALF TERM
Cell membranes
Chapters 7-12
Cell division, cell
diversity and cellular
organisation
Chapters 13-17
EASTER HOLIDAYS
F211, Module 1,
1.1.2
F211, Module 1,
1.1.3
EASTER HOLIDAYS
Revision
Revision
HALF TERM
F215, Module 3,
Ecosystems
5.3.1
Chapters 6-11
F215, Module 3,
5.3.2
5
HALF TERM
Ecosystems and
sustainability
Chapters 1-5
Key dates for 2011-2012
Exam dates for each unit
Unit 2 (F212 Molecules, biodiversity, food and health) – provisional date January 18th 2012
Retake date for unit F212- 21st May.
Unit 1 (F211, Cells, exchange and transport) – Monday 14th May 2012
Mock exams will be held at the beginning of December 2011.
Practical task weeks
Throughout the year we have allocated specific weeks in which practical exams will take place. The type of
task will vary. The actual lesson that the practical exam is carried out in will be decided nearer the time.
Practical week 1: 4th October 2011
Practical week 2: 15th November 2011
Practical week 3: 7th February 2012
Practical week 4: 28th February 2012
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Practical Skills Assessments
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Outline of Practical Assessments - what they involve
Outline of how they’re marked
What you need to be able to do for them
The practical assessment involves 3 examinable tasks:
1) Qualitative Task (10 marks)
2) Quantitative Task (10 marks)
3) Evaluation Task (20 marks)
You are allowed to complete up to 3 of each task and the best mark from each task is taken forward as part
of your final grade.
The learning outcomes that are assessed by the exam board are outlined below (as provided by the exam
board).:
1. Qualitative Task
• Candidates carry out a practical task using instructions supplied by OCR.
Candidates should be able to:(a) demonstrate skilful and safe practical techniques using suitable qualitative
methods; (b) make and record valid observations.
2. Quantitative Task
• Candidates carry out a practical task using instructions supplied by OCR.
• The data collected in one of the tasks may form the basis of the assessment in the Evaluative task.
Candidates should be able to:
(a) demonstrate skilful and safe practical techniques using suitable quantitative methods;
(b) make and record accurate measurements to an appropriate degree of precision;
(c) analyse, interpret and evaluate experimentally derived results quantitatively to reach valid conclusions.
3. Evaluative Task
• This task may extend the quantitative task.
• Candidates will analyse and evaluate the quality of the data.
• Candidates will evaluate procedures.
• Evaluative tasks will not require additional data collection.
Candidates should be able to:
(a) process results quantitatively;
(b) analyse and interpret data, identify anomalies and reach valid conclusions;
(c) assess the reliability and accuracy of an experimental task;
(d) identify and explain the main limitations of the data collection strategy and identify weaknesses in
experimental procedures and measurements;
(e) understand and propose simple improvements to experimental procedures and measurements.
You have been issued a practical skills booklet to help you perform your best in these tasks. You are
expected to read this through and ask for any help if required.
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Additional resources available
Biological Review
The Biological Review is a flagship magazine for A-level Biology. It includes subject experts writing
exclusively for A-level students with advice from leading examiners. It gives insight into how to gain A*
grades. There are free online resources to support and develop understanding.
If you wish to subscribe log on to:
http://www.philipallan.co.uk/biologicalreview/index.htm
The magazine currently costs £29.95 for 1 year and it is issued four times each year. The magazine will also
be available in the library if you do not wish to subscribe but want to read it.
Useful websites
The Internet is an excellent resource, but be careful you don’t waste time searching for information. There
are a few websites that have good revision tools available..
S-Cool website: http://www.s-cool.co.uk/alevel/biology.html. There are revision exercises and notes you
can download.
Biology Net: http://www.biologyguide.net/. It provides notes on line that you can read on the screen. There
are also a few quizzes you can download to test your knowledge.
http://www.mrothery.co.uk/. This is a website set up by an A-level biology teacher who is now an examiner.
The site is mainly for AQA specification (you are completing the OCR specification), however a lot of the
information is found in both specifications.
http://www.biologymad.com/. This website is designed for pupils studying AQA specification, however a lot
of the notes are relevant for OCR specification too. If you go to the ‘additional resources’ section there are a
lot of pdf files you can download with revision notes on.
http://www.spolem.co.uk/alevel_home.htm. This website has a variety of resources on. It’s not quite so
‘usable’ as some of the other websites, but it includes some animations which might help you visualise a
topic you are struggling with.
http://www.biology-innovation.co.uk/ is a website which contains a lot of on screen notes. It also makes
suggestions for resources you might want to buy (mainly books). They say they have links to You Tube for
videos, but these are not easy to find.
http://www.revisionworld.co.uk/alevel. You have to log on to use this website. It appears to have a number
of revision notes and tests you can do online.
http://www.youtube.com. This can be good for animations, however you can get lost in the videos! Use
this website carefully or you will waste essential revision time and only use it if you know exactly what
you’re looking for.
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http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk. This website is a general site for students and works like a chat room.
You can download various revision notes as well as chat to other A-level biology students about topics. Like
you tube – be careful you don’t waste valuable revision time on here chatting!
http://www.examstutor.com. This is a site you have to pay to use. It costs £20 per year to subscribe and
includes revision notes, test papers, mp3 downloads.
Useful books
The text book you have covers the OCR AS-level course. This should be adequate for your needs, however
some students like to read more broadly which is to be encouraged. The prices quoted are from
www.Amazon.co.uk so they may vary depending on when you’re buying and where you look to purchase a
book. Biology teachers may already have these books so you may be able to look at a copy before you buy.
The biology department also has a number of text books available in the department for your use.
Revision books:
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AS Level Biology OCR Revision Guide by Richard Parsons. £7.99
AS/A2 Level Biology OCR Revision Guide by Richard Parsons. £15.78 (This contains by AS and A2 courses,
so might be worth considering if you are definitely planning to continue to A2).
OCR Revise AS Biology - New Edition by Mr Richard Fosbery, Ianto Stevens, Ms Jennifer Gregory, and Ms
Sue Hocking (Paperback - 23 Apr 2008). £5.98. This is the revision book for your current text book.
Other text books:
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OCR AS/A--level Biology Student Unit Guide: Unit F213 & F216: Practical Skills in Biology by Richard
Fosbery (Paperback - 24 Sep 2010). £7.99. This book is part of a series and you can buy one for each
section of the course. They contain a lot of exam-type questions with example answers.
OCR Biology AS: 2009 Student Workbook by Richard Allan and Tracey Greenwood (Paperback - 1 Aug
2008). £12.99. This is good for practice questions. If you buy this you’ll also need to buy the model
answers (details given below).
Model Answers OCR Biology AS: 2009 Student Workbook by Richard Allan and Tracey Greenwood
(Paperback - 1 Aug 2008). £3.25
Collins Advanced Science - Biology by Mike Boyle and Kathryn Senior (Paperback - 20 May 2008).
£33.53. This is a general A-Level text book so could be good at extending knowledge.
Advanced Biology (Advanced Science) - Paperback (6 July 2000) by Michael Kent. £33.91. This is a general
A-Level text book so could be good at extending knowledge.
Biological Science 1 and 2: v. 1&2 by D. J. Taylor, N. P. O. Green, G. W. Stout, and R. Soper (Hardcover 30 Oct 1997). This is a very large detailed book which is very good even though it’s quite old. However,
new it costs around £75 so if interested you may be better looking in second hand book shops or
websites.
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Past papers
You can download past papers from www.ocr.org.uk. The new specification only started in 2009 so there
are not many past papers from your specification. There have been changes from the old specification,
however you could download specific questions from the old specification and some potentially useful
questions are suggested below. Some of these will be given to you in class to complete by your teacher.
Questions on Chemical Tests, biological molecules


Foundation Biology, June 2007, Q2
Foundation biology, June 2008, Q5
Questions on Plant Structure & function

Foundation biology, June 2007, q1
Questions on cells

Foundation biology, June 2007, Q4
Questions on DNA, RNA, Cell division, protein synthesis etc
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Foundation biology, June 2007 Q5
Foundation biology, June 2008, Q3
Foundation biology, June 2008, Q4
Questions on Biodiversity
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Environmental biology, Jan 2007, Q2, A4
Environmental biology, June 2007, Q2
Environmental biology, June 2008, Q5
Environmental biology, Jan 2009, Q3, Q5
Environmental biology, June 2009, Q6
Central concepts, Jan 2006, Q2
Central concepts, Jan2006, Q2
Central concepts, Jan 2007, Q2
Central concepts, June 2006, Q6
Central concepts, June 2009, Q2
Central concepts, Jan 2009, Q6 (sampling)
Central concepts, June 2008, Q5 (selection pressure), Q6 (inbreeding)
Central concepts, June 2009, Q5 (natural selection)
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Sheets and materials to be completed by students and/or teachers
File Checks
It is expected that AS-Level students will keep their class notes, homework and any additional work
completed in files that are easy for the student to utilise. For example, class notes should be placed in unit
order with additional sheets included in the file. At time to time teachers will check files to ensure they are
maintained in a suitable condition and will sign off the check below. Students with inadequately filed notes
will have more than one file check.
FILE CHECK 1
Date:
Comments by Teacher:
Organisation
Evidence of H/W
Specification printed out
Evidence of independent study
File acceptable
File unacceptable
Targets for improvement:
FILE CHECK 2
Date:
Comments by Teacher:
Organisation
Evidence of H/W
Specification printed out
Evidence of independent study
File acceptable
File unacceptable
Targets for improvement:
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FILE CHECK 3
Date:
Comments by Teacher:
Organisation
Evidence of H/W
Specification printed out
Evidence of independent study
File acceptable
File unacceptable
Targets for improvement:
FILE CHECK 4
Date:
Comments by Teacher:
Organisation
Evidence of H/W
Specification printed out
Evidence of independent study
File acceptable
File unacceptable
Targets for improvement:
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Tracking Sheets
This sheet is to provide you with the opportunity to monitor your own work and assess how well you are
achieving in Biology. All topic test results are to be recorded in the form below. If you wish to add any
results from homework then you are welcome to do so.
Date
Topic
Mark
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Grade
On Target?
Target Setting
As a result of tests and other work it is likely that you will identify areas you can improve on. This would be a
good time to set yourself a target. It is always advisable that targets are SMART (which means they are
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). Do NOT set yourself too many targets or you will not
manage to achieve them.
Your teacher may highlight a specific target for you to focus on and will check your progress against the
target set.
Some ideas for targets can include:
a) Spend 1-2 hours per week away from lessons rewriting and organising notes. Record the additional
work on the sheet at the back of this handbook.
b) Discuss your marked work with a peer who has achieved a higher mark than you or a teacher and
identify a specific piece of follow up work.
c) Spend 1 hour per week conducting additional reading from a different text book.
d) Complete 2 substantial exam questions each week (worth 10 marks or more each) on topics
highlighted for improvement.
e) Spend 1 hour per week focusing on mathematical calculations, such as magnification calculations.
Find relevant past paper questions to complete on this area.
f)
Spend 1 hour a week interpreting graphs.
g) Spend 2 hours researching into your preferred learning style and revision methods that might be
good for that learning style(www.mindtools.com may help). In subsequent weeks spend 1 hour
using those techniques to learn class work ready for exams.
h) Subscribe to Biological Review magazine. This is particularly good for more gifted students who
would like to stretch their knowledge of biology.
i)
Attend a biology study session in Lab 7 on Tuesdays after school. A2 students will be in attendance
so you can share knowledge and study skills.
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Personal Targets set by student (independently):
Date
Target set
Target completed by
Targets set by student in discussion with teacher:
Date
Target set
Evidence to be checked
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Review date
Reviewed
Evidence of additional work completed by student
Record any additional work outside homework and class work that you complete in the table below. This
will help you realise how much work you are actually doing and help you assess whether this needs to
increase or not.
Date
Topic
Brief outline of work completed
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Date
Topic
Brief outline of work completed
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