Foundation scheme of work
Biology – Ecology
This resource provides guidance for teaching the Ecology topic from our new GCSE in Biology. It is based on the draft GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy
specification (8464), and is likely to be revised on accreditation of the final specification. These revisions will be published on the website after accreditation.
The scheme of work is designed to be a flexible term plan for teaching content and development of the skills that will be assessed.
It is provided in Word format to help you create your own teaching plan – you can edit and customise it according to your needs. This scheme of work is not
exhaustive, it only suggests activities and resources you could find useful in your teaching.
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4.7 Ecology
4.7.1 Adaptations, interdependence and competition
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Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
4.7.2.1
Levels of
organisation
A range of experimental
methods using transects and
quadrats are used by
ecologists to determine the
distribution and abundance of
species in an ecosystem.
2
Describe how a transect can be
used to find the distribution of a
population across an area.
Describe how to set up a random
sample.
Describe how to use random
sampling to calculate the relative
number of organisms in an area.
Record first-hand observations of
organisms in tables and graphs.
Survey distribution of
dandelions and grass in
relation to trampling from
well-trodden pathways using
a transect.
Survey the distribution of
chewing gum in areas and
calculate how much chewing
gum there is in a given area
using a quadrat.
Required practical 5:
investigate the population
size of a common species in
a habitat.
Survey the distribution of
daisies on the school playing
field and calculate how many
daisies there are using a
quadrat and random
sampling.
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4.7.1.1
Summary of the
specification
content
Communities
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
An ecosystem is the
interaction of a community of
living organisms with the nonliving (abiotic) parts of their
environment.
To survive and reproduce,
organisms require a supply of
materials from their
surroundings and from the
other living organisms there.
Suggested
timing
(hours)
1
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Define ecosystem, community
and habitat.
Examine the range of biodiversity
in a tropical rainforest and
woodland and how organisms are
interdependent within each
ecosystem.
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Investigate the different
communities within the
school boundaries.
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
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GCSE Biology
Q14S.2F.02
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Q12S2F08
QCJ94.P1.10B
Plants in a community or
habitat often compete with
each other for light and
space, and for water and
mineral ions from the soil.
Animals often compete with
each other for food, mates
and territory.
Within a community each
species depends on other
species for food, shelter,
pollination, seed dispersal
etc. If one species is removed
it can affect the whole
community. This is called
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Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
interdependence.
A stable community is one
where all the species and
environmental factors are in
balance so that population
sizes remain fairly constant.
4.7.1.2
Abiotic factors
Tropical rainforests and
ancient oak woodlands are
stable communities.
Students should be able to
explain how a change in an
abiotic factor would affect a
given community given
appropriate data or context.
Abiotic (non-living) factors
which can affect a community
are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
light intensity
temperature
moisture levels
soil pH and mineral content
wind intensity and direction
carbon dioxide levels for
plants
1
Students research the range of
temperatures and altitudes where
life is commonly found.
Give students the list of abiotic
factors in the learning outcomes
and ask them to sort out whether
these factors are
relevant/important/critical to
different organisms eg: deer,
grasses, dandelions, spiders,
seals, fish, seaweed, pigeons etc.
Investigate the effect of
abiotic factors on the
behaviour of woodlice using
light/dark and dry/damp
choice chambers.
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Investigate how the size of
nettle or similar leaves is
affected by the amount of
light falling on the leaves
using a transect.
Relate the abiotic factors with the
biodiversity of the area.
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Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
• oxygen levels for aquatic
animals.
4.7.1.3
Biotic factors
Students should be able to
explain how a change in a
biotic factor might affect a
given community given
appropriate data or context.
Biotic (living) factors which
can affect a community are:
• availability of food
• new predators arriving
• new pathogens
 one species outcompeting
another so the numbers are
no longer sufficient to breed,
such as the introduction of
grey squirrels into southern
Britain outcompeted the
native red squirrels.
1
Define the characteristics that all
living things have in common
(MRSGREN).
Define biotic factors and describe
how changes in the biotic factors
can keep a balance in an
ecosystem.
Describe an example of a new
species outcompeting others: the
red/grey squirrel problem and how
a new strain of squirrels (the black
squirrel) might alter populations of
greys.
Students can investigate an
area of the school grounds
within a quadrat and list the
biotic and abiotic factors.
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Give students
pictures of
different
ecosystems and
ask them to
describe the biotic
and abiotic factors
within them.
There are also similar examples
of the American Bullfrog and the
common frog, as well as Chinese
knotweed.
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4.7.1.4
Summary of the
specification
content
Adaptations
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Students should be able to
explain how organisms are
adapted to live in their natural
environment, given
appropriate information.
Organisms have features
(adaptations) that enable
them to survive in the
conditions in which they
normally live. These
adaptations may be
structural, behavioural or
functional.
Suggested
timing
(hours)
1
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Label the adaptions for an animal
and plant adapted for desert
conditions.
Label the adaptions for an animal
and plant adapted for arctic
conditions.
Describe a range of different
extremophiles and the
environments in which they live.
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Examine the adaptations of a
range of animals and plants
for different environments
using secondary sources.
IF camel/polar bear done at
KS3, students should choose
different organism ie
kangaroo rat, thorny devil,
Mojave yucca in the desert;
elephant seal, killer whale,
Dry as flowers in low
temperatures.
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
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Q07S.1H.03
Some organisms live in
environments that are very
extreme, such as at high
temperature, pressure, or salt
concentration. These
organisms are called
extremophiles. Bacteria living
in deep sea vents are
extremophiles.
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4.7.2 Organisation of an ecosystem
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4.7.2.1
Summary of the
specification
content
Levels of
organisation
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Students should understand
that photosynthetic organisms
are the producers of biomass
for life on Earth.
Feeding relationships within a
community can be
represented by food chains.
All food chains begin with a
producer which synthesises
molecules. This is usually a
green plant which makes
glucose by photosynthesis.
Suggested
timing
(hours)
1
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Recall and define predators and
prey, herbivore, carnivore,
omnivore from KS3.
Recall food webs and how energy
is transferred around an
ecosystem.
Students should record how the
numbers of prey and predators
develop and plot population
graphs of these.
Create a graph that illustrates the
changes in a predator prey
relationship.
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Students can simulate the
changing numbers of
predators and prey using
print outs of foxes and
rabbits, or similar
predator/prey duos.
Distribute three pictures of
prey across a table.
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
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With closed eyes, a pupil
throws a picture of a predator
into the prey on a table. If the
predator touches a prey, it
eats to survive another throw.
Producers are eaten by
primary consumers, which in
turn may be eaten by
secondary consumers and
then tertiary consumers.
Provide a range of population
graphs and ask pupils to
describe/explain /predict what has
happened or will happen to
populations as predators or prey
change.
If it doesn’t, it starves and the
preys reproduce (double the
number of prey). Repeat with
new predator (into six preys
this time). The predator can
only reproduce if it catches
three preys.
Consumers that eat other
animals are predators, and
GCSE Bitesize – Predator and
Repeat this simulation for
AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in
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Self/peer
assessment
7 of 15
Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
those eaten are prey. In a
stable community the
numbers of predators and
prey rise and fall in cycles.
Prey Populations
Wolves versus Moose graph
Prey to Predator Cycle graph
4.7.2.2
How materials are
cycled
All materials in the living world
are recycled to provide the
building blocks for future
organisms.
The carbon cycle returns
carbon from organisms to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide
to be used by plants in
photosynthesis.
2
Recall the water cycle from KS2.
Label a diagram to show the
stages, highlighting the changes
from gas to liquid.
Draw and label the carbon cycle,
including the processes.
Draw and label a diagram of the
decay cycle.
around ten generations (if the
deer are wiped out, then
reintroduce three new deer).
Students should record how
the numbers of prey and
predators develop and plot
population graphs of these.
Students can draw an outline
of the water cycle on clear
ziplock bags, add a small
quantity of water and then
stick to sunny windows.
The water should evaporate
within the bag and then
condense to run back down
into the bag (precipitation).
The water cycle provides
fresh water for plants and
animals on land before
draining into the seas. Water
is continuously evaporated
and precipitated.
Ask students to discuss what
is good and not so good
about the model and how
they would improve it.
Students are not expected to
study the nitrogen cycle.
Students model the
movement of carbon around
the cycle by using balloons to
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England and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.
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QSA98F3.D4
QCJ99F1.06
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Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be
able to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
Students should be able to
explain the role of
microorganisms in cycling
materials through an
ecosystem.
Decay of dead plants and
animals by microorganisms
returns carbon to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide
and mineral ions to the soil.
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England and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.
simulate the carbon.
Give students different roles,
such as rabbits, foxes, trees,
algae (in the sea), microbes.
The processes such as
respiration combustion and
photosynthesis will be the
students who walk different
numbers of balloon around
the cycle.
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4.7.3 Biodiversity and the effect of human interaction on ecosystems
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4.7.2.4
Summary of the
specification
content
Impact of
environmental
change
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Students should be able to
evaluate the impact of
environmental changes on the
distribution of species in a n
ecosystem given appropriate
information.
Suggested
timing
(hours)
1
Plot a graph to show how the
human population has risen
over the last 1000 years. ie
World population data table
Describe how the amount of
resources (land for farming and
homes, water for drinking) has
changed over the last 1,000
years.
Environmental changes such as
availability of water,
temperature and atmospheric
gases affect the distribution of
species in an ecosystem.
These changes may be
seasonal, geographic or caused
by human interaction.
4.7.3.2
Waste
management
Rapid growth in the human
population and an increase in
the standard of living mean that
increasingly more resources are
used and more waste is
produced. Unless waste and
chemical materials are properly
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
1
Describe different forms of
resources and where we get
them from (ie oil, coal, land for
quarrying and farming) and
where our waste goes (sewage,
rubbish).
Colour in a local map where the
land is being used by humans
(ie it is no longer ‘wild’).
Students should examine the
range of organisms living in peat
bog areas, including the
carnivorous plants such as
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England and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Examine the human
population numbers. Ask
students to estimate which
countries’ populations
(LEDC/LIC) are increasing/
decreasing the fastest
slowest and ask them to
suggest why
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
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World population meter and
other data
Students should list the
resources (ie food and water)
they have used and the
things they have thrown away
over the last 24 hours.
Include how many times they
have flushed a toilet.
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Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
handled, more pollution will be
caused.
Pollution can occur:
• in water, from sewage,
fertiliser or toxic chemicals
• in air, from smoke and gases
such as sulphur dioxide, which
contributes to acid rain
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
sundews.
Describe how peat is formed in
waterlogged soil and how it
locks away carbon dioxide.
Students should plot a graph to
show how peat bog wetlands
have disappeared or been
damaged.
Students can find out how
long different materials in a
bin take to decay and plot a
bar graph to show different
times.
Students should give
advantages and disadvantages
to chopping down the trees in
the Lorax.
Use a map to identify local
quarries, towns, farming land
and waste dumps.
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
QA04DF2.03
• on land, from landfill and from
toxic chemicals such as
pesticides and herbicides,
which may be washed from land
into water.
Pollution kills plants and
animals which can reduce
biodiversity.
4.7.3.3
Land use
Humans reduce the amount of
land available for other animals
and plants by building,
quarrying, farming and dumping
waste.
The destruction of peat bogs,
1
Compare the advantages and
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Demonstrate burning peat
into limewater to highlight
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Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
and other areas of peat to
produce garden compost,
reduces the area of this habitat
and thus the variety of different
plant, animal and
microorganism species that live
there (biodiversity).The decay
or burning of the peat releases
carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
disadvantages of deforestation
WWF – Deforestation
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
how much carbon dioxide is
produced.
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
QA05DF2.02
Create a line graph to show the
amount of deforestation in the
Amazon over in the last 30
years.
Data from :
National Geographic – Amazon
deforestation slows as Brazil
tightens prevention
Mongabay.com – Calculating
Deforestation figures for the
Amazon
4.7.3.4
Deforestation
Large-scale deforestation in
tropical areas has occurred to:
•
•
provide land for cattle and
rice fields to provide more
food
grow crops from which
biofuels, based on ethanol,
1
Describe the outcomes of large
scale deforestation.
Ask students to describe the
causes and consequences of
global warming.
Create a poster describing the
greenhouse effect and how it
contributes to global warming.
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Use excerpts from Dr Seuss
book ‘The Lorax’.
Students should examine
how areas of the Amazon
rainforest have changed due
to deforestation.
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Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
can be produced.
Students can examine the data
for the increased levels of
carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere and describe the
consequences of it, including
low of habitat, migration pattern
changes and changes in
species.
This destruction of large areas
of trees has:
•
4.7.3.5
Global warming
increased the release of
carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere (because of
burning and the activities of
microorganisms)
• reduced the rate at which
carbon dioxide is removed
from the atmosphere by
photosynthesis and ‘locked
up’ in wood for hundreds of
years
• led to reduction in
biodiversity of both plant
species and the animals that
live there.
Levels of carbon dioxide and
methane in the atmosphere are
increasing, and contribute to
‘global warming’.
Biological consequences of
global warming include:
•
loss of habitat when low-
Examine data for polar bear
populations, distribution of
mosquitos across Europe and
tufted duck migratory patterns.
1
Define biodiversity.
Explain how waste,
deforestation and global
warming have an impact on
biodiversity.
In groups of four, students can
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Students can role play the
effect of greenhouse effect.
Students can be the Earth
and Sun, some heat and
some greenhouse gases. In
the first instance, have only
one greenhouse gas. Heat
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Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
•
•
4.7.3.1
Biodiversity
lying areas are flooded by
rising sea levels
changes in the distribution of
species in areas where
temperature or rainfall has
changed
changes to the migration
patterns of animals
Biodiversity is the variety of all
the different species of
organisms on earth, or within an
ecosystem.
A great biodiversity ensures the
stability of ecosystems due to
the interdependencies of one
species on another for food,
shelter and the maintenance of
the physical environment.
The future of the human
species on Earth relies on us
maintaining a good level of
biodiversity.
Many human activities are
reducing biodiversity
2
research and summarise
biodiversity in different
ecosystems, highlighting:
• the need for biodiversity
• the threats to biodiversity
• the evidence for biodiversity
reduction
• the steps being taken to
preserve biodiversity.
Describe the different
programmes put in place to
reduce the human impact on the
environment.
Examine pictures of artificial
reefs that have been designed
to encourage biodiversity and
compare the range of organisms
before and after.
students walk to the Earth,
most escape back into space,
but the greenhouse gas pupil
traps one heat.
Repeat this with many
greenhouse gas students,
this time many more will be
trapped.
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Examine pictures of hedgerows
compared to wire fences and
describe what organism might
be supported in hedgerows.
Write a job description for
someone with the responsibility
for protecting biodiversity.
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Spec ref.
Summary of the
specification
content
Learning outcomes
What most students should be able
to do
Suggested
timing
(hours)
Opportunities to develop scientific
communication skills
Opportunities to develop and
apply practical and enquiry
skills
Self/peer
assessment
Opportunities and
resources
Reference to past
questions that
indicate success
and only recently have
measures been taken to
try to stop this reduction.
4.7.3.6
Maintaining
biodiversity
Scientists and concerned
citizens have put in place
programmes to reduce these
negative effects on ecosystems
and biodiversity.
Discuss what pressures there
may be on maintaining
biodiversity in certain areas.
1
These include:
• breeding programmes for
endangered species
• protection and regeneration of
rare habitats such as coral
reefs, mangroves, and
heathland
• reintroduction of field margins
and hedgerows in agricultural
areas where farmers grow
only one type of crop
• reduction of deforestation and
carbon dioxide emissions by
some governments
• recycling resources rather
than dumping waste in landfill.
AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in
England and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.
Students can collect different
waste materials and make a
3D collage to highlight the
impact of human waste.
ExamPro
GCSE Biology
QSP.3F.03
Q14S.3F.06
Find out the range of different
careers that exist to protect
biodiversity.
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