A Level Biology A
(Salters-Nu
eld)
Complete Revision Notes
Pearson Edexcel Papers 1, 2 & 3 Code 9BN0
· ·
, How to Use These Notes
These notes cover the complete Pearson Edexcel A Level Biology A (Salters-Nu
eld) speci
cation
(9BN0, Issue 4), all 8 topics and all 18 core practicals.
Colour Code Key
■ Blue Key concepts and biological explanations
■ Green De
nitions (learn these precisely)
■ Orange Exam technique and evaluation points
■ Purple Formulae and calculations
■ Red Core practical summaries [CPN]
Assessment (9BN0):
Paper 1 (33.3%): Topics 16 2 hours, 100 marks
Paper 2 (33.3%): Topics 14 and 78 2 hours, 100 marks
Paper 3 (33.3%): All topics synoptic + pre-released article 2 hours, 100 marks
Practical Endorsement: 18 core practicals; pass/fail; reported separately
Assessment Objectives: AO1 Knowledge (3133%) · AO2 Application (4143%) · AO3 Analy-
sis/Evaluation (2527%)
, Contents
1 Topic 1: Lifestyle, Health and Risk 3
1.1 The Circulatory System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The Cardiac Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Carbohydrates and Lipids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Topic 2: Genes and Health 5
2.1 Gas Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Cell Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 DNA and Protein Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Proteins and Enzymes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 DNA Replication and Mutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6 Genetics and Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Topic 3: Voice of the Genome 8
3.1 Cell Ultrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Cell Division and Reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Stem Cells and Dierentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Topic 4: Biodiversity and Natural Resources 10
4.1 Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2 Adaptation, Natural Selection and Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3 Classi
cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.4 Plant Cells, Fibres and Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 Topic 5: On the Wild Side 12
5.1 Ecosystems and Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2 Photosynthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.3 Energy Flow and Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.4 Climate Change and Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Topic 6: Immunity, Infection and Forensics 14
6.1 Forensic Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.2 DNA Pro
ling and PCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.3 Pathogens and Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.4 The Immune Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7 Topic 7: Run for your Life 16
7.1 Muscles and Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.2 Respiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.3 The Heart and Cardiac Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.4 Homeostasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8 Topic 8: Grey Matter 18
8.1 Neurones and Nerve Impulses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.2 Synapses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.3 The Retina and Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.4 The Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.5 Development, Learning and Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2
(Salters-Nu
eld)
Complete Revision Notes
Pearson Edexcel Papers 1, 2 & 3 Code 9BN0
· ·
, How to Use These Notes
These notes cover the complete Pearson Edexcel A Level Biology A (Salters-Nu
eld) speci
cation
(9BN0, Issue 4), all 8 topics and all 18 core practicals.
Colour Code Key
■ Blue Key concepts and biological explanations
■ Green De
nitions (learn these precisely)
■ Orange Exam technique and evaluation points
■ Purple Formulae and calculations
■ Red Core practical summaries [CPN]
Assessment (9BN0):
Paper 1 (33.3%): Topics 16 2 hours, 100 marks
Paper 2 (33.3%): Topics 14 and 78 2 hours, 100 marks
Paper 3 (33.3%): All topics synoptic + pre-released article 2 hours, 100 marks
Practical Endorsement: 18 core practicals; pass/fail; reported separately
Assessment Objectives: AO1 Knowledge (3133%) · AO2 Application (4143%) · AO3 Analy-
sis/Evaluation (2527%)
, Contents
1 Topic 1: Lifestyle, Health and Risk 3
1.1 The Circulatory System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The Cardiac Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Carbohydrates and Lipids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Topic 2: Genes and Health 5
2.1 Gas Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Cell Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 DNA and Protein Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Proteins and Enzymes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 DNA Replication and Mutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6 Genetics and Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Topic 3: Voice of the Genome 8
3.1 Cell Ultrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Cell Division and Reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Stem Cells and Dierentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Topic 4: Biodiversity and Natural Resources 10
4.1 Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2 Adaptation, Natural Selection and Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3 Classi
cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.4 Plant Cells, Fibres and Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 Topic 5: On the Wild Side 12
5.1 Ecosystems and Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2 Photosynthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.3 Energy Flow and Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.4 Climate Change and Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Topic 6: Immunity, Infection and Forensics 14
6.1 Forensic Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.2 DNA Pro
ling and PCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.3 Pathogens and Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.4 The Immune Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7 Topic 7: Run for your Life 16
7.1 Muscles and Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.2 Respiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.3 The Heart and Cardiac Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7.4 Homeostasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8 Topic 8: Grey Matter 18
8.1 Neurones and Nerve Impulses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.2 Synapses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.3 The Retina and Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.4 The Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
8.5 Development, Learning and Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2
