Peak Performance
A. Movement and exercise
1. Describe the structure of a joint in the body and explain the function of
each component part.
Keywords ligament, tendon, muscle, bone, synovial fluid, cartilage
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Elastic ligaments hold bones together and stabilises the joint
Muscle attached to bones with tendons and allow movement
Tendons transmit force between muscles and bones
Synovial fluid lubricates joint, reduces friction
Cartilage at the ends of bones stops bones rubbing together
2. Explain what information should be disclosed by someone starting a
fitness programme and explain how their fitness should be monitored.
Refer to accuracy and repeatability of the monitoring.
Information to disclose- current medication, lifestyle, level of exercise, alcohol,
smoking, family medical history
Monitoring & fitness
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Baseline data -Blood pressure, recovery period, BMI (body mass index), body
fat
Accuracy and repeatability of measurements
Accurate measuring instruments – calibrated, close to “true value”
Repeatable- increases confidence
Measurements taken often, regular intervals
Can calculate averages
B. Heart and Circulation
3. Describe the structure and function of the heart and explain the role of
the valves in controlling blood flow.
Keywords- ventricles, atria, aorta, vena cava, valves, pulmonary artey, pulmonary
vein, coronary arteries
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4 chambers- lower ventricles, upper atria
Left ventricle wall – thicker, pumps blood to body
Right ventricle wall- thinner, pumps blood to lungs
Valves- stop blood flowing back into atria
Aorta- biggest artery, blood away from heart
Vena cava- biggest vein, blood towards the heart
Pulmonary artery & vein- blood to and from the lungs
Coronary arteries- supply heart with glucose and oxygen for respiration
Describe the components of the blood and explain the role of each
component part.
4. Describe the components of the blood and explain the role of each
component part.
Keywords- red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, plasma, biconcave
RBC’s- carry oxygen
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Biconcave shape, can squeeze through gaps
No nucleus, can carry more oxygen
WBC’s- involved in fighting infection- engulfing microbes, producing antibodies
Plasma- liquid carrying dissolved substances such as glucose, CO2, salts, urea
Platelets- involved in clotting blood at site of injury
5. Explain how tissue fluid is formed in capillary beds and how it assists
the exchange of chemicals by diffusion between capillaries and tissues.
Keywords- tissue fluid, capillary, high pressure, low pressure,
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Blood enters capillary at high pressure from artery
Plasma squeezed out and forms tissue fluid
Tissue fluid contains glucose and O2- diffuse from tissue fluid into cells
Waste from cells, urea & CO2, diffuse into tissue fluid
Blood leaves capillary under lower pressure (plasma not squeezed & so
fluid moves back into capillaries.
C. Energy Balance
6. Explain how the body is able to maintain a constant temperature and
what happens when it goes wrong, specifically during heatstroke.
Keywords- antagonistic effectors, shivering, sweating, contracting, evaporating,
vasoconstriction, vasodilation, heat stroke, dehydration
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Antagonistic effectors produce opposite effects, in this case cooling down or
warming up
Warming up- shivering, muscles contract and produce energy (from
respiration)
- No sweating
- Capillaries in skin narrow, vasoconstriction, reduced blood flow, less
radiation
- Hairs on skin lie flat
Cooling down- no shivering
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Increased sweating, water evaporates & cools surface of skin
Hairs stand on end to trap air (insulating)
Capillaries in skin widen, vasodilation, increased blood flow at surface,
more heat radiated
Heat stroke- too much water lost by sweating- leads to dehydration
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Body can’t cool down by sweating/ less cooling by sweating and so core
body temperature rises
7. Explain the role of insulin in controlling blood sugar and what happens
in patients suffering with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Keywords- hormone, pancreas, genetic factors, lifestyle factors
High blood sugar- insulin produced by pancreas and lowers level of blood sugar
Type 1 diabetes- pancreas stops producing insulin
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Possible genetic cause
Early onset
Not linked to lifestyle
Treated with insulin injections, monitoring blood sugar and diet
Type 2 diabetes- body resistant to insulin (still produced, possible less produced)
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Late onset/ middle age
Linked to lifestyle- high sugar diet/ low exercise
Treatment- lifestyle changes, diet and exercise, monitoring blood sugar
Ecosystems
1. Human systems are not closed loop systems. Explain why with
reference to waste from households, agriculture, industry and emission
from fossil fuels.
Keywords- waste, open loop, linear, take-make-dump, recycling, agriculture, industry
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Closed loop system- no waste, output from one part becomes input for
another
Human systems are open loop/linear systems- take-make-dump, resources
lost from the system
Households- not all waste recycled, some goes to landfill, non-biodegradable
Agriculture- harvesting crops/ meat removes resources from the system
Industry- waste not always recycled
- Emission of waste gases to atmosphere
- Products made remove resources from system
2. Explain what is meant by bioaccumulation in reference to food chains.
Explain why animals at the top of the food chain are most at risk.
Keywords- pesticides, concentration, primary consumer, secondary consumers
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Chemicals that build up to toxic concentrations as you go up food chains
Chemicals that are not broken down by living things
E.g. pesticides used on plants, consumed by primary consumers and then
secondary consumers.
E.g. heavy metals and other chemicals are by-products of unsustainable
human systems producing waste.
Increased concentration in top carnivores
Accumulated pesticide can kill or affect reproduction e.g. weak/brittle eggs in
birds, become infertile
3. Use of fertilisers in agriculture can lead to eutrophication of surrounding
waterways. Describe and explain how the process of eutrophication
happens.
Keywords- fertilisers, algae, bloom, death, decay, bacteria, dissolved oxygen
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Fertilisers used on fields by farmers
Washed into waterways by rainwater
Causes big increase in growth of algae- an algal bloom
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Algae soon die and decay in water
Bacteria use up dissolved oxygen for respiration in process of decay
Low oxygen in water – fish dies and other aquatic animals
Also kills aquatic plants that would add oxygen in photosynthesis
4. Explain the difference between an open loop and closed loop system
with reference to ecosystems and explain why human activities tend to
be open loop systems.
Keywords- take-make-dump, reduce, reuse, recycle
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Open loop also called linear system- take (resources)-make (products)-dump
(waste)
Not sustainable
Resources will run out e.g. timber, clean air, fresh water, fertile soil, fish
stocks.
Closed loop system- no waste
Waste used as an input for another part of the system (recycled)
Ecosystems are natural closed loop systems, resources above always
available
Reuse and recycle, minimise waste
Humans- take-make-dump approach
Resources removed from ecosystems for human needs, e.g. fossil fuels,
water, minerals, timber, fish stocks
Use of energy always open loop, can’t recycle energy
Closed loop systems usually have a constant supply of sustainable energy
(usually the sun).
5. Describe the environmental impact of removing biomass from natural
closed loop systems for human use, to include unsustainable timber
harvesting and fishing. Explain how sustainable harvesting of these
natural resources can happen.
Keywords- soil erosion, silting, flooding, nutrients, drought, fish stocks, fish farming
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Removes resources and inputs for other parts of the system.
Timber- soil erosion, silting of rivers, flooding (tree roots hold soil
together)
Nutrients removed from system.
Reduces biodiversity
Loss of cloud cover
Drought
Unsustainable as forests won’t be able to regenerate
Harvesting a crop requires inputs of fertiliser to replace nutrients
removed.
Fishing- over fishing leads to low fish stocks
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Not enough left to breed and replace these caught
Fish of breeding ages caught
Affects food webs
Fish farming- food must be added and dirty water taken away so not
sustainable
6. Explain what a closed loop system is and explain why the use of crude
oil does not fulfil the requirements of a closed loop system.
Keywords-inputs, outputs, sustainable energy, fossil fuel
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Output from one part of the system an input for another part.
No waste.
Reusing and recycling.
Sustainable source of energy
Crude oil- fossil fuel, non-replaceable, millions of years to form
Supplies running out
Increasing CO2 in atmosphere from burning and affecting climate.
Take crude oil- refine for fuel/plastics/other products- dump CO2/plastics etc.
7. Explain why some ecosystems are described as stable and use the
example of vegetation in rainforest to help you (e.g effect on soil,
climate).
Keywords- inputs, outputs, tree roots, soil erosion, rainwater, forest canopy
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Stable ecosystems are closed loop systems
output from one part of the system becomes the input for another part
e.g. X’s waste becomes Y’s food
soils rich in dead organic matter (DOM) from rotting leaves and hold water like
a sponge.
Tree roots reduce soil erosion by holding the soil together
Branches prevent rain falling directly onto soil
Rainwater falls slowly off trees and absorbed rather than running off surface.
Soil not washed away
Water evaporation from canopy generates clouds and rain and cools the air.
New Technologies
1. Give examples of how bacteria and fungi are used to produce useful
products and explain why bacteria are ideal for use in industrial and
genetic processes.
Keywords- antibiotics, single cell protein, enzymes, plasmids, biochemistry
Uses
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antibiotics and other medicines, e.g. penicillin
single-cell protein. E.g. Quorn
enzymes for food processing, e.g. chymosin as a vegetarian substitute for
rennet in cheese making
enzymes for commercial products, e.g. washing powders, to make biofuels
Reasons for using bacteria
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rapid reproduction, large quantities of products make quickly
presence of plasmids, allows genetic transfer
simple biochemistry, we understand optimum conditions for growth
ability to make complex molecules, can’t be synthesised in the lab
lack of ethical concerns in their culture, no animal welfare issues
2. Give the main steps in genetic modification of microorganisms and give
2 examples of how this technology can be used.
Keywords- isolate, replicate, vector, plasmid, selection
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isolating and replicating (copying) the required gene
putting the gene into a suitable vector (virus or plasmid)
using the vector to insert the gene into a new cell
selecting the modified individuals, e.g. by antibiotic resistance having
introduced an antibiotic resistance gene, or by fluorescence having introduced
fluorescent protein gene.
Examples- bacterial synthesis of medicines (e.g. insulin), herbicide
resistance in crop plants
3. Explain how genes probes are used in genetic testing.
Keywords- isolate, fluorescent chemical, UV detection, marker, allele
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isolation of a DNA sample from white blood cells
production of a gene probe labelled with a fluorescent chemical
gene probes are short single stranded DNA segments with a sequence of
bases (ATCG etc.) that match the gene being tested for
addition of the labelled gene probe (marker) to the DNA sample
the probe binds to the DNA in the sample if the gene is present
use of UV to detect the marker and therefore indicate the position of the gene
or the presence of a specific allele/gene in the DNA sample
4. Describe and explain how the new technologies of nanotechnology,
stem cell technology and biomedical engineering are being used.
Keywords- nanosilver ,food packaging, leukaemia, bone marrow, spinal cord injuries
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nanotechnology involves structures that are about the same size as some
molecules
e.g. nanosilver in food packaging to increase shelf-life
e.g. packaging that changes colour when it reacts with contaminants
stem cell technology involves producing non-specialised cells in the lab and
treating them to become particular specialised cells.
has applications in tissue and organ culture.
E.g. the treatment of leukaemia with bone marrow transplants. Bone marrow
contains blood stem cells and is used to replace the patient’s own.
E.g. the potential to treat spinal cord injuries where people are paralysed
Whole organs are complex structures and will need much more research to
grow using stem cells.
biomedical engineering-e.g. artificial pacemakers where a person’s natural
heart pacemaker has gone wrong and there is an irregular heartbeat.
E.g. the replacement of faulty heart valves with artificial valves engineered to
do the job
Materials have to be chosen that are resistant to wear and tear, non-corrosive
and won’t be rejected by body.