GCSE Biology - B1 Summary (OCR 21st century)

The 

Things that cause variation:

Genes - Inherited from the parents, controls how an organism develops and functions.
Environment - Things that an organism comes into contact with. 

Some feautures are a resullt of either genes (e.g. blood group) or environment (e.g. scars) 
Most features are a result of both genes and the environment (e.g. weight and height) 


Where are they found?


Nucleus' control a cell because it contains the instructions for making every protein in an organism.


Within the nucleus' are the genetic material


This includes the chromosones


Genes are in bands around the chromosones


Chromosones are long threads of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

DNA within a chromosone within a nucleus
within a cell

Proteins

They have many functions: 

• Building cells 
• Moving muscles 
• Fighting bacteria and viruses 
• Carrying oxygen in the blood 
• Sending chemical messages round the body
• Enzymes are made of proteins and are used to speed up chemical reactions in teh body.

These functions can be divided into two categories

Structural: They 'build' the body. e.g. Callagen which is a protein found in tendons

Functional: Take part in chemical reactions oft he body. e.g. Enzymes

GCSE Geography Keywords

Unit 1 - Dynamic planet 

Abrasion - The scratiching and scraping of a river bed and bank by stones and sand in the river.


Arch - A coastal land form composed of rock that resembles an arch. These land forms are created when waves erode a thin headland from both sides.


Athenosphere - Zone in the Earth's mantle that exhibits plastic properties. Located below the lithosphere at between 100 and 200 kilometers. 


Attrition - The wearing away of particles of debris by the action of other particles such as river or beach pebbles.


Beach replenishment - Replacement of beach sand and removed by ocean waters. Sediment from other areas is supplied by mechanical means to supplement sand on an existing beach or to build up an eroded beach.


Biodiversity - The varied range of flora and fauna found in an area.


Biome - A very large eco-system e.g. rainforests, deserts


Constructive plate margin - Where 2 plates are moving apart and a new crust is being formed.


Continental crust - The 25km - 100km thick crust that makes up the continents.


Convection currents - The movement of a gas or a fluid in chaotic vertical mass motions because of heating. 


Coastal management - Monitoring and proper management a policy making with regards to the beach and beach front.


Cost benefit analysis - A process by which you weigh expected costs against expected benefits to determine the best (or most profitable) course of action


Diguette - Line of stones laid along contours of gently sloping farmland to catch water and reduce soil erosion.


Earthquake - A sudden motion or trembling in the Earth. The motion is caused by the quick release of slowly accumulated energy in the form of seismic waves. Most earthquakes are produced along tectonic plate boundaries. 


Ecotourism - Tourism in exotic, often threatened natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.


Epicentre - Surface location of an earthquake's focus. 


Evapo-transpiration - Combined loss of water to the atmosphere via the processes of evaporation and transpiration. 


Glacial - A period during an ice age when glaciers advance because of colder temperatures.


Global warming - Warming of the Earth's average global temperature because of an increase in teh concentration of greenhouse gases. 


Greenhouse gases - Gases responsible for the greenhouse effect. These gases include: water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFxClx)


Groyne - A protective structure of stone concrete extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away.


Inter-glacial - Period of time in an ice age when glaciers retreat because of milder temperatures. 

Magnitude - The quantitative measure of the size of an earthquake using the Richter scale.

Milankovitch cycles - Changes in the Earth's climate caused by variations in solar radiation received on the surface. These variations are due to cyclical changes in geometric changes in the Earth and the Sun.


Plate margin/ boundary - The border between tectonic plates, sections of the lithosphere where earthquakes and volcanoes are prevalent.


Precipitation - Any aqueous deposit, in liquid or solid form, that develops in a saturated atmosphere (relative humidity equals 100%) and falls to the ground generally from clouds. 


Spit - A long and narrow accumulation of sand and/ or gravel that projects into a body of ocean water. These features form as the result of the deposition of sediments by long shore drift.


Subduction zone - Linear area where tectonic subduction takes place.


Surface run off - The water flow that occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water from rain.


Tombolo - A coastal feature that forms when a belt of sand and/ or gravel is deposited between an island and the mainland. This feature is above sea-level for most of the time.


Water management - The activity of planning, developing, distributing, managing and optimum use of water resources.

Water stress - This occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use. 

Unit 2 - People and the Planet

Biofuel - Fuel derived from renewable biological sources, as plants or animal waste; especially a liquid fuel for automative engines made from corn or soyabean oil.