The essays have been updated with new and relevant content for the new specification giving those seeking to write Biology A-level synoptic essays an easy time finding valuable and updated information. Remember that an essay is worth 25 marks out of maybe Reviews: 65 Oct 22, · Paper Type: Essay. Pages: 3 ( words) Download Paper: Views: The synoptic Essay The essay titles will be very general and students are expected to draw on relevant information from the complete specification to illustrate their understanding of general principles. They may wish to include detailed knowledge of topics from any of the AS and AH units Jul 31, · Synoptic Essays – A Level Biology – Bringing Biology Back July 31, What is the importance of movement in organisms? There are many different types of movements within and between organisms, these include things such as the exchange of substances across membranes and
Synoptic Essays – A Level Biology – Bringing Biology Back
There are many different types of movements within and between organisms, these include things such as the exchange of substances across membranes and even migration. In this essay, however, I will be focusing on what happens inside of organisms; exchange, mass flow and transport. In many organisms, there is a complex exchange system that involves lungs, alveoli and the capillaries of the body. These all work together to ensure that biology synoptic essay cells in our bodies get enough oxygen so that they can respire and function properly.
This is all enabled by a process called Diffusion, where molecules move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration, down a concentration gradient. Diffusion starts when we breathe air in, this is when our lungs fill up with air and the oxygen enters the alveoli sacs in our lungs.
The sacs are very thin the diffusion pathway is one cell thick and they are extremely abundant in the lungs. This enables lots of oxygen to diffuse into the blood and carbon dioxide to leave the blood. The reverse process is equally as important though as we cannot let carbon dioxide build up in our blood otherwise it will acidify our blood causing many health problems. To stop this from happening, biology synoptic essay, we breathe the carbon dioxide out, this occurs when the oxygen in the alveoli decreases the concentration of the carbon dioxide in the alveoli, therefore, the carbon dioxide in the blood diffuses into the alveoli down a concentration gradient and is expelled when we exhale, biology synoptic essay.
This process is continuous and without the movement of the oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules, our cells would not be able to respire and we would not be able to live. An example of this would be when a person has Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that causes many people to live much shorter than expected lives.
This disease occurs due to a faulty gene passed on by parents, which affects the movement of salt and water in and out of cells, biology synoptic essay, consequently, a build-up of mucus biology synoptic essay the lungs happens very often so the lungs must be drained repeatedly by the process of Autogenic Drainage, biology synoptic essay. This affects everyday life and there are treatments available but no cure. Another important example of movement in organisms would be Facilitated Diffusion, in the small intestine, biology synoptic essay.
The small intestine is where our body absorbs all the nutrients from our food that are needed for our body to function, the rest is excreted as faeces. This is not very efficient at all as glucose is needed for respiration to biology synoptic essay, so to counteract this problem, biology synoptic essay, our bodies use the method of Facilitated Diffusion; this is where ATP Adenosine Triphosphate is used to open and close the carrier protein that is associated with the Glucose molecule.
This intrinsic protein has a small cavity that biology synoptic essay Glucose to attach to the protein whilst the ATP molecules provide it with the energy to move. Once the protein has changed its position, it releases the Glucose molecule on the other side of the phospholipid bilayer. This is how our cells get Glucose for respiration.
Possibly the most important system in our entire body, the Circulatory system, biology synoptic essay, relies heavily on mass transport of substances movement. The central organ within this organ system, the Heart, moves large volumes of blood from one place to another to keep cells oxygenated.
The Circulatory system consists of two types biology synoptic essay blood, deoxygenated blood and oxygenated blood. We need to give our cells oxygen via oxygenated blood, but once they have absorbed all the oxygen by diffusion, the blood becomes deoxygenated and therefore, useless. To stop our cells from only being exposed to deoxygenated blood, biology synoptic essay Heart creates a cycle, ensuring that there is always a fresh supply of oxygenated blood.
Firstly, the Heart pumps oxygenated blood out of the Aorta and into the arteries in the body, biology synoptic essay, this blood then reaches the cells and becomes deoxygenated, biology synoptic essay. Once deoxygenated, biology synoptic essay, the blood moves up through the Vena Cava and into the heart once more, this is then sent through the Pulmonary Artery into the lungs where the blood become oxygenated by processes described in the first paragraph.
Once oxygenated, the blood is pumped back into the Heart via the Pulmonary Vein. The Heart beating is what causes this entire process to be continuous and without it, our cells would not get enough oxygen and would not be able to respire effectively.
My last example of the importance of movement in organisms would biology synoptic essay the process of mass transport in a plant. The Xylem and the Phloem are very important when it comes to transporting substances around plants. The Xylem transports water and mineral ions in solution from the roots to the leaves, this helps the plant perform photosynthesis which is essential for it to be able to live.
The Phloem moves organic solutes such as sugars, up and down the plant, this is called Translocation. The movement of these substances via both the Xylem and the Phloem, enable plants to photosynthesise, grow and reproduce.
An example of movement in a plant would be, again, the movement of water, in a process called Transpiration; this is where water moves up through the roots, up the stem and out through the leaves.
This is important because too much water can saturate the plant and drown it by reducing the number of nutrients being able to absorb etc. In cold places, water needs to be able to leave the surface of the plant to keep the plant from becoming overhydrated, this happens when water evaporates off of the surface of the leaf. The body is full of many different types of cells and enzymes which rely on shapes fitting together to function effectively. These different sets of shapes are complementary to one another and do not function if associated with anything other than the complementary molecule.
If these pairs of shapes were not able to fit together, certain reactions would be inhibited and eventually would lead to the death of the species that the molecules not biology synoptic essay together are in. Enzymes have a specific tertiary structure which acts as a fingerprint when it comes to structure.
Each type of enzyme will have a different tertiary structure or quaternary structure that determines its function. One part of an enzyme is the active site, this is where a complementary substrate will bind to form enzyme-substrate complexes. The substrate and biology synoptic essay active site are of a similar shape, biology synoptic essay, not an identical shape, however, they fit together due to the active site changing shape to fit around the substrate, this is called the Induced Fit Model.
Once the two have bonded, the enzyme can now function as the enzyme breaks down the substrate into its products. Enzymes are vital catalysts in many metabolic reactions, the synthesis of important molecules such as DNA and RNA, therefore if the shapes of the active site and substrate were not complementary, our bodies would not be able to function properly. It is also important that shapes fit together when molecules are attempting to travel across membranes, biology synoptic essay.
For example, intrinsic proteins in the phospholipid bilayer of a cell enable larger molecules diffuse through the cell membrane if they are too large to diffuse on their own, by a process called facilitated diffusion. This is where proteins in the phospholipid bilayer open and close to let larger molecules through. Though, if these proteins enabled any molecule to pass through, there would be no purpose of the membrane as things would be able to enter and leave the cell as they pleased. To stop this, intrinsic proteins have cavities in the sides of the channel that are specific to the shape of certain molecules.
This means that the molecules move into the cavities and when all cavities are full, the biology synoptic essay will close the entrance and open the exit for the molecule to move across the membrane easily, biology synoptic essay. This is aided by a phosphate molecule that was taken from an ATP molecule Adenosine Triphosphate, biology synoptic essay. This process is important as it enables larger molecules like Glucose to be transported across membranes as they cannot simply diffuse through the bilayer.
It is essential that we can transport Glucose across membranes otherwise we would not have enough energy to survive, biology synoptic essay. Glucose is transported through the membrane of the intestinal epithelium and absorbed to be broken down into energy when needed, for example during respiration. For our species to survive and thrive, we must reproduce, which we cannot do asexually, biology synoptic essay.
To do this the organs are of complementary shapes so that conception can happen with ease. This is common amongst many species of animals and sexually reproducing organisms. The fact that these shapes fit together ensures that the chances of conception are high amongst all sexually reproducing species to enable them to thrive and keep the food chain hierarchy consistent. My final example of the importance of shapes fitting together would be on more of a cellular level; the immune system.
When our immune system responds to foreign antigens, biology synoptic essay, we often avoid horrible symptoms of infections and diseases so it is very important that antigens are complementary to their receptors.
These then activate T-cells which will differentiate into cells that destroy the pathogen, remember the pathogen etc. The T-cells are activated when the antigens presented on the surface of the phagocytes attach to the complementary receptors on the T-cell. The two molecules have specific shapes that fit biology synoptic essay to enable this to happen.
As you can see, there are many reasons as to why shapes fitting together is important in biology. Overall, we know that most reactions that occur in the biological systems happen due to shapes fitting together and without these, we would be dead.
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Jul 31, · Synoptic Essays – A Level Biology – Bringing Biology Back July 31, What is the importance of movement in organisms? There are many different types of movements within and between organisms, these include things such as the exchange of substances across membranes and Apr 21, · Biology synoptic. A2 BIOLOGY ESSAYS – The Synoptic Essay. The essay titles will be very general and students are expected to draw on relevant information from the complete specification to illustrate their understanding of general principles. They may wish to include detailed knowledge of topics from any of the AS and A2 units 2 AQA A2 Biology: Writing the synoptic essay ESSAY THE DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH ORGANISMS USE INORGANIC IONS Inorganic ions are charged particles that do not contain carbon atoms bonded together. While organisms are mainly built File Size: KB
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