WJEC Biology for A2: Student Bk

Marginal features The margins of each page hold a variety of features to support your learning: These are terms that you need know how to define. They are highlighted in blue in the body of the text and appear in the Glossary at the back of this book. You will also find other terms in the text in bold type, which are explained in the text, but have not been defined in the margin. The use of key terms is an important feature since examination papers may contain a number of terms that need to be defined. These are short questions to check your understanding of the subject, allowing you to apply the knowledge that you have acquired. These questions are of two types: filling in blanks in a passage and matching terms with phrases specific to the topic under study. Answers are given at the back of the book. As you progress through your studies, advice is provided to help you understand and use the knowledge content. In this feature, factual information may be emphasised, or restated to enhance your understanding. This may provide extra information not in the main text, but relevant to it. It may to provide more examples but does not contain information that will be tested in an examination. This feature provides general or specific advice to help you prepare you for the examination. Read these very carefully. Links to other sections of the course are highlighted in the margin, near the relevant text. They are accompanied by a reference to areas where sections relate to one another. It may be useful for you use these Links to recap a topic before beginning to study the current topic. What this book contains The contents of this book match the specifications for WJEC A2 Biology. It provides you with information and practice examination questions that will help you to prepare for the examinations at the end of the year. This book addresses: ▪ The three Assessment Objectives required for the WJEC Biology course. They are described further below. ▪ The mathematics of biology, which will represent a minimum of 10% of your assessment, and gives you explanations and worked examples. ▪ Practical work: the assessment of your practical skills and understanding of experimental biology represents a minimum of 15% of your qualification, and will be developed by your use of this book. Some practical tasks are integrated into the text and major experiments are discussed in detail at the end of the relevant chapter. The content of this book is clearly divided into the units of the course that are tested in the A2 examination, i.e. Unit 3 – Energy, Homeostasis and the Environment and Unit 4 – Variation, Inheritance and Options. The practical work that comprises Unit 5 is described on p9 and throughout the text, where relevant. The specification map on pp10–13 allows you to identify, for each topic, the relevant statements in the specification. Each chapter covers one topic, divided into a number of sub- topics. These are given at the start of each chapter, as a list of learning objectives. At the end of each unit are questions designed to help you to reinforce what you have learned and to practise for the examinations. Answers to these questions are given at the end of the book. The questions presented here have not been written by the teams who prepare examination papers, nor been subject to the review that examination papers undergo, but they will, none-the-less, contribute usefully to your examination preparation. Key Terms Knowledge check 1 Going further Examtip Link Study point WJEC A2 Biology 4