553 - Biology

Diversity of Living Things
1.1 - Classification Distinction between living and non-living things; classification of plants and animals into groups; use of simple identification keys; quantitative sampling and methods of collection. 1.2 - External Features and Internal Structures of the Flowering Plant Roots and root modifications; stems and stem modification, leaves and leaf modification; flowers, fruits and seeds. 1.3 - External Features, Life Cycles and Economic Importance of Insects Housefly, cockroach, mosquitoes, bees, butterflies. 1.4 Hand Lens and Microscopes Parts of a microscope; functions of hand lenses and microscopes; magnification; examination of pond water, plant and animal cells, e.g. leaf epidermal cells, check cells, spirogyra filaments, etc.; structure and functions of plants and animal cells.

Soil
2.1 - Soil Formation, Composition and Soil Profile 2.2 - Physical and Chemical Properties of Soils Importance of air and water; capillarity, porosity and drainage; water-retaining properties of clay and humus, flocculation of clay and soil pH; inorganic plant nutrients and water culture experiments. 2.3 - Soil Erosion and its Causes, Effects and Prevention Farming practices: shifting cultivation, mixed farming, crop rotation and mulching; fertilizers. 2.4 - Soil Micro-Organisms The role of bacteria in soil fertility; nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle

Nutrition in Plants and Animals
3.1 - Nutrition Compounds Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals; importance of water; tests for reducing and non-reducing sugars, starch, fats and proteins; deficiency diseases of proteins, vitamins and minerals in man; digestive and other enzymes and their properties as organic catalysts; e.g. their specificity, sensitivity to temperature and pH 3.2 - Nutrition in Animals Feeding methods in Amoeba, insects, toad or frog, birds and mammalian herbivores, carnivores and omnivores; structure and shape of mammalian teeth related to feeding; dental formulae of man, dog and cow or sheep; care of teeth in man, the alimentary tract in a mammal, including man; the function of a caecum and rumen in herbivores; ingestion, digestion, absorption and assimilation; egestion. 3.3 - Structure and Nutrition of a Common Mould (Mucor or Rhizopus)

3.4 - Nutrition in Green Plants: The Process and Rate of Photosynthesis the form and internal structure of leaves in relation to photosynthesis; mineral nutrition.

Transport of Materials in Plants and Animals
4.1 - Transport of Materials in Animals The necessity of a transport system in multi-cellular animals; the circulatory system of a mammal; the structure and function of the mammalian heart, arteries, veins and capillaries including diffusion through capillary walls;; composition and functions of blood; structure and function of blood cells; phagocytosis, antibodies and clotting of blood; immunization; lymphatic drainage and elephantiasis 4.2 - Transport of Materials in Higher Plants Diffusion, osmosis and selective permeability; uptake of water and mineral salts; water loss, transpiration stream, turgor and rigidity in plants; environmental conditions and rate of transpiration; transport of products of photosynthesis. 4.3 - Food Storage The liver; food storage organs in plants including vegetative structures and seeds.

Respiration in Plants and Animals
5.1 - Gaseous Exchange breathing mechanisms in insects, bony fish, amphibians, and mammals, including artificial respiration in man; gaseous exchange in the lungs of a mammal and gas analysis experiments; gaseous exchange in plants; diurnal variation of carbon dioxide in the plant environment, including effect of light and darkness on this variation: gaseous relationship between aquatic plants and animals. 5.2 - Tissue Respiration Chemical oxidation of food and the resulting release of energy in cells; anaerobic respiration in muscles; yeast fermentation.

Co-ordination
7.1 - Tropisms in Plants Experiments on phototropism and geotropism in shoots, and geotropism in roots, should be performed. 7.2 - Control of Response in Plants The hormone (auxin) explanation; the effects of decapitating the coleoptiles of germinating cereals and applying indole-acetic acid (IAA) should be demonstrated. 7.3 - Tactic Responses to Light, Water, and Contact Exhibited by Invertebrates Simple experiments on responses should be performed, e.g. with earthworms, woodlice, blowfly larvae, ants and termites.

7.4 - The Control of Response in Animals Endocrine organs and hormones; location of the organs in the human body and the function of their secretions; reference should be made to insulin, adrenaline, thyroxin, sex hormones and pituitrine. 7.5 - The Nervous System The mammalian nervous system; structure of a nerve cell (neurone); synapses; reflex arcs; simple and conditioned reflexes; gross structure of the brain and spinal cord of a mammal related simply to function. 7.6 - Receptor Organs In the skin; the eye; structure and function, accommodation, correction of long sight and short sight; the ear: structure and function, hearing and balance.

Growth and Development in Plants and Animals
8.1 - Increase in Size Apical regions of growth in stems and roots; cell division (mitosis). 8.2 - Change of Form Structure and germination of a named cereal grain and at least one other named type of seed; metamorphosis in insects.

Locomotion in Animals
9.1 - Locomotion in an Insect Action of muscles on the exoskeleton. 9.2 - Locomotion in a Bony Fish Action of muscle blocks on either side of the body. 9.3 - Flight in Birds adaptations to flight; structure and functions of feathers. 9.4 - Locomotion in a Mammal The axial and appendicular skeleton; the way muscles act on bones to cause movement.

Reproduction in Plants and Animals
10.1 - Asexual Reproduction In Amoeba, in Mucor or Rhizopus; in spirogyra; vegetative reproduction in flowering plants. 10.2 - Sexual Reproduction in Plants Spirogyra, Mucor or Rhizopus, structure and function of flowers; pollination; fertilization; ovarian development of fruit and seeds; dispersal of fruits and seed. 10.3 - Sexual Reproduction in Animals An insect e.g. locusts or grasshopper, an oviparous bony fish; an amphibian, e.g. toad or grog; a bird; a mammal, including man.

Genetics and Evolution
11.1 - Variation Within Plant and Animal Species 11.2 - Monohybrid Inheritance Monohybrid crosses to illustrate complete and incomplete dominance should be studied.

11.3 - Chromosomes and Genes

Interrelationships
12.1 - Food Chains Food chains and webs; producers consumers and decomposers; biomass and pyramid of numbers. 12.2 - Changes in Population Factors affecting population size; control of microbial growth, e.g. temperature, sterilization, anti-septics; oral hygiene and food spoilage; predator-prey relationships, competition, adaptation and survival; colonization of habitats and succession by plants and animals; carrying capacity in a habitat; human population growth; birth rate, death rate and projections for future growth and change. 12.3 - Parasitism and Symbiosis Feeding habits and host-parasite balance in stomach worms; control of parasite life cycle in relation to tapeworm, ticks, tomato blight fungus, malarial parasite and Trypanosoma. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules and cellulose-digesting bacteria in the gut of ruminants. 12.4 - Man and Natural Environment Man's interference with the environment; the importance and conservation of water, air, land, forests and wildlife; pollution of the environment and control of atmospheric pollutants.