AQA AS Biology Student Unit Guide: Unit 2 The Variety of Living Organisms

Summary:
Student Unit Guides are perfect for revision. Each guide is written by an examiner and explains the unit requirements, summarises the relevant unit content and includes a series of specimen questions and answers.

There are three sections to each guide:

Introduction - includes advice on how to use the guide, an explanation of the skills being tested by the assessment objectives, an outline of the unit or module and, depending on the unit, suggestions for how to revise effectively and prepare for the examination questions.

Content Guidance - provides an examiner's overview of the module's key terms and concepts and identifies opportunities to exhibit the skills required by the unit. It is designed to help students to structure their revision and make them aware of the concepts they need to understand the exam and how they might analyse and evaluate topics.

Question and Answers - sample questions and with graded answers which have been carefully written to reflect the style of the unit. All responses are accompanied by commentaries which highlight their respective strengths and weaknesses, giving students an insight into the mind of the examiner.

• A revision guide specifically written to meet the requirements of the unit
  

• Written by an examiner with commentary on key points and concepts 
  

• Features specimen questions and answers, together with examiner's comments
  

Table of Contents:
Introduction
About this guide
Preparing for the Unit 2 examination
Approaching the end-of-unit examination
Content Guidance
About this section
The nature of variation
DNA — its structure and how it works
Passing on the genetic material
The genetic diversity of populations
Selection in a population
Different sized organisms
Different cells in different organisms
Different molecules in different organisms
Classifying organisms
Biodiversity
Questions and Answers
About this section
Q1 The structure and function of DNA
Q2 Biodiversity
Q3 Mitosis and meiosis
Q4 Haemoglobin
Q5 Variation
Q6 Classification
Q7 Genetic bottlenecks
Q8 Passing on the genetic material
Q9 Selection in bacteria
Q10 HSW — Mitosis and tumour formation

About the Author(s):
Steve Potter has been a chief/principal examiner for a number of awarding bodies and is the author of numerous A-level biology books.