On the Wild Side | Edexcel A-Level Biology A (Salters-Nuffield) (9BN0)

On the Wild Side

319 questions
21 subtopics
Topics 5 and 6, examined on Paper 1 and Paper 3
Paper 1 and Paper 3

Covers ecology and the climate: how ecosystems are sampled and how they change through succession, photosynthesis and productivity, the evidence for climate change and the models built from it, evolution and speciation, and the carbon cycle..

It covers photosynthesis: the light-dependent reactions, photosynthesis: the Calvin cycle, chloroplast structure and the products of photosynthesis, productivity: GPP, NPP and energy transfer, core practicals on temperature and growth, temperature, enzymes and Q10, sampling: quadrats and transects, succession, biotic and abiotic factors, niches and competition, ecosystems, populations and communities, evidence for climate change, climate models and their limitations, correlation, causation and scientific objectivity, the effects of climate change on organisms, human activities that raise greenhouse gas levels, the greenhouse effect, evolution and natural selection, speciation, how new scientific evidence is validated, the carbon cycle and reforestation, biofuels and sustainability.

Sample questions from On the Wild Side

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Photosynthesis: the light-dependent reactions

What would happen to GP levels in a chloroplast if light were suddenly removed?

Show the answer
GP levels would increase because GP would continue to be formed by carbon fixation but could not be reduced to GALP without ATP and reduced NADP from the light-dependent reactions.
Chloroplast structure and the products of photosynthesis

What type of molecule essential for storing genetic information can be synthesised using products of photosynthesis?

Show the answer
Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).
Temperature, enzymes and Q10

How does temperature affect plants?

Show the answer
Temperature influences the rate of photosynthesis and respiration, germination, flowering time, and growth rate through its effects on enzyme activity.
Succession

What is a plagioclimax?

Show the answer
A stable community prevented from reaching the climatic climax by human activity, such as grazing, mowing or burning.
Evidence for climate change

How can dendrochronology records be extended beyond the age of a single tree?

Show the answer
Ring patterns can be matched across different samples to extend records further back in time.
Correlation, causation and scientific objectivity

What is required to establish a causal relationship between two variables?

Show the answer
Controlled experiments or strong mechanistic evidence showing that a change in one variable directly causes a change in another.
The greenhouse effect

Why has the greenhouse effect been enhanced?

Show the answer
Atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased due to human activities.
Speciation

Name three mechanisms by which sympatric speciation can occur.

Show the answer
Polyploidy, ecological specialisation, and temporal isolation.

The 21 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Photosynthesis: the light-dependent reactions	Recall questions on the excitation of chlorophyll, photophosphorylation, reduced NADP and photolysis, how their products drive the light-independent reactions, and isolating chloroplasts and measuring the Hill reaction with DCPIP.	22
Photosynthesis: the Calvin cycle	Recall questions on carbon fixation by RuBisCO, RuBP, GP and GALP, and how RuBP is regenerated.	9
Chloroplast structure and the products of photosynthesis	Recall questions on how light energy splits water and how its hydrogen ends up in glucose, ATP formation and hydrolysis, the respiration substrates, polysaccharides, amino acids, lipids and nucleic acids built from sugars, and the envelope, thylakoid membranes, DNA, ribosomes and lamellae of the chloroplast.	15
Productivity: GPP, NPP and energy transfer	Recall questions on gross and net primary productivity, and on calculating the efficiency of transfer between trophic levels.	10
Core practicals on temperature and growth	Recall questions on the method and controls for the temperature and enzyme practical, the growth practical, and calculating rate from a graph.	23
Temperature, enzymes and Q10	Recall questions on why enzyme activity rises then falls with temperature, calculating Q10, and the effect of temperature on organisms.	19
Sampling: quadrats and transects	Recall questions on random sampling with quadrats, systematic sampling along a transect, and measuring abiotic factors.	18
Succession	Recall questions on pioneer species, seral stages, how soil and biodiversity change, and what determines the climax community.	21
Biotic and abiotic factors, niches and competition	Recall questions on the factors that shape where organisms live, the ecological niche, and the competitive exclusion principle.	15
Ecosystems, populations and communities	Recall questions on communities, habitats, ecosystems and populations, evolution as a change in allele frequency, mutation, fitness and natural selection, polyploidy and sympatric speciation, and how journals, peer review and conferences validate new evidence.	19
Evidence for climate change	Recall questions on ice cores, peat bog pollen, dendrochronology and direct temperature records.	19
Climate models and their limitations	Recall questions on how climate models work, and on feedback mechanisms, computing power and uncertain human behaviour as limits.	15
Correlation, causation and scientific objectivity	Recall questions on what is needed to establish causation, extrapolation, and how funding and interest can shape conclusions.	16
The effects of climate change on organisms	Recall questions on changes to distribution, life cycles and the timing of seasonal events, and on phenological mismatch.	9
Human activities that raise greenhouse gas levels	Recall questions on fossil fuels, deforestation, cement, rice paddies, cattle and landfill as sources of carbon dioxide and methane.	17
The greenhouse effect	Recall questions on what happens to solar and infrared radiation, why the effect has been enhanced, and which gases are involved.	12
Evolution and natural selection	Recall questions on why some variants reproduce more, mutation as the source of new alleles, how natural selection changes allele frequencies, the conditions it requires, and the evidence for evolution from proteomics and genomics.	11
Speciation	Recall questions on gene flow and isolation, and on what separates allopatric from sympatric speciation.	14
How new scientific evidence is validated	Recall questions on what proteomics and genomics are, peer review and why reviewers are anonymous, the roles of scientific journals and conferences, and why methods are published in full.	11
The carbon cycle	Recall questions on what the carbon cycle is, the roles of photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition, where carbon is stored as trees and biofuel crops grow, using the cycle to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, and carbon capture and storage.	9
Reforestation, biofuels and sustainability	Recall questions on carbon sinks, why biofuels are treated as closer to carbon neutral, and on balancing human need against conservation.	15

On the Wild Side is 319 of the 1,892 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.