What’s changing? What’s changing in the specifications? New grades 9–1 l New <strong>GCSE</strong>s will be graded 1–9, with 9 being the top grade, to allow greater differentiation between students More demanding content l New topics include human genome in biology, nanoparticles in chemistry and energy and space in physics Increased maths requirement l The new <strong>GCSE</strong>s have more maths content, at a more challenging level than before l The maths required will be up to the level required for <strong>GCSE</strong> Maths in the corresponding tier Practicals How discontinuous does AQA and continuous <strong>GCSE</strong> variation. Sciences deliver? 3 Student Books and Kerboodle based on the new assessment model 3 Follows on from the widely-adopted assessment model used in Activate for KS3 3 Differentiated content throughout (ISS) by conducting investigations with 3 Lots of new these content identical written twin astronauts. specifically One twin for the new topic will requirements spend a year on and the submitted ISS, the other to will the AQA approval remain process on Earth. 3 Full support for teacher and technicians on Kerboodle and in the easy-to-use Teacher Handbooks 3 Maths links and worked examples throughout 3 Maths skills interactives and support sheets on Kerboodle Figure 3 This person has chosen to dye and 3 Kerboodle style is the their only hair digital this way. resource It is an example for AQA of environmental variation. <strong>GCSE</strong> Science with direct links to 150 Learning outcomes After studying this topic you should be able to: ●● ●● ●● state what is meant by variation describe and explain the differences between genetic and environmental variation describe the differences between Specification reference: B5.1, B5.1b, B5.1c Figure 1 Identical twins are genetically identical. They occur as a result of a fertilised egg splitting at a very early stage of development. NASA is studying the effects of living in the International Space Station 835981_OCR_<strong>GCSE</strong>_Biology SB_T5_1.indd 150-151 Can you tell the difference between identical twins? Small differences in their appearance may occur over time due to their environment. What is variation? ●● Reliable assessment across group can be either five A, B, AB, or years O. It is easy to tell the difference between a rabbit and a fish. This is because they have very different characteristics. However, it is hard to tell the difference between two rabbits, as many characteristics are shared within a species. The appearance of an organism is known as its phenotype. AQA <strong>GCSE</strong> Sciences Third Edition provides a five-year progress tracking and assessment solution Table 1 Variation of characteristics within a population. developed by Dr Andrew Chandler-Grevatt, building on the assessment principles behind Oxford’s Key Continuous variation Stage 3 course, Activate. However, the five-year assessment framework is based on the Programme of Study and the new 9–1 grades for Key Stage 4, so it can also be used to dovetail any Key Stage 3 course you’re currently using. It will also build on the assessment framework used in the new AQA Activate for KS3 resources (available late 2016), tailored examples for the AQA leaf KS3 surface syllabus. area AQA Activate for KS3 length of fur has been selected for the approval rides a bikeprocess for KS3 science. skin colour Differences within a species are called variation. For example, people vary in height, build, and hair colour. There are two causes of variation: the genetic material you inherit from your parents – genetic variation the environment in which you live – environmental variation. ●● ●● average height blood Five-year assessment model group AB Key stage 3 Band Developing Secure Extending Level speaks 3 4 5 50 6 7 8 Band Aiming for 4 Aiming for 6 height (cm) (independent variable) Aiming for 8 The two children in Figure <strong>GCSE</strong> 2 vary in a number Grade of ways. Some of 1this 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 variation is due to characteristics that they have inherited. However, most C State what type of variation human body mass will display. is due to environmental factors. These include Demand where they live and what Low Standard High they learn from their parents, teachers, and friends. A speaks english good swimmer very intelligent Figure 2 There are large variations in human characteristics. State one characteristic that is influenced by environmental variation and one that is a result of genetic variation. Outcomes inform all learning activities Many characteristics are affected by both environmental and genetic variation. For example, your height is mostly determined by your genes. If your parents are tall, you are also likely to be tall. However, if your diet is very poor you may not grow to your full potential height. In humans only a few characteristics are caused by genetic variation alone. These include eye colour, blood group and the presence of a genetic disorder. Some characteristics, such as the presence of a genetic disorder, are controlled by one gene, but most features are causes by multiple genes. This creates variation. tall spanish The variation of a characteristic displayed within a species can be divided into two further groups: ●● Those which show discontinuous variation. Individuals display a characteristic that falls into distinct groups. For example, your blood Those which show continuous variation. A characteristic can be any value between a minimum and a maximum. For example, your adult height is likely to be between 140 cm and 200 cm. 1 Sort the following characteristics into those affected by genetic variation, environmental variation or both: (3 marks) stem mass number of fruit produced blood group skin colour eye colour leaf size presence of a scar 2 Explain the advantage of using identical twins for the NASA study into the effects of living in space. (2 marks) 3 Using named examples, state and explain the difference between continuous and discontinuous variation. (6 marks) Figure 4 The ab not is caused by Discontinuous definition can take any value within a range can only result in specific ( cause of variation genetic and environmental genetic genetic control multiple genes one (or few genes) type of graph used to display data histogram (often the bars are removed and just the line showing the trend drawn) 140 144 148 152 156 160 164 168 172 176 180 184 188 192 All learning outcomes are differentiated and linked to lesson activities and questions to help track progress throughout the course. frequency (dependent variable) 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 gender eye colour wrinkled or non-wrinkled bar chart % of UK population 100 50 A B blood gr Investiga variation Plan how to i characteristic how they var List the chara investigate, a variation is th factors, gene combination Write a table column head necessary). Sketch and la you could use B5 Genes, inh l Practical skills will now be assessed by exam only. The exams will contain questions to draw on students’ understanding and experience of practical experiments l Each separate science <strong>GCSE</strong> requires a minimum of eight practical activities. Combined Science requires a minimum of sixteen. l At least 15% of the total marks available for each <strong>GCSE</strong> will be dedicated to scientific experimentation questions Exam-only assessment l The new <strong>GCSE</strong>s will be assessed by exam only, with no controlled assessment components 3 Full support for teachers and technicians for all core required practicals 3 Practical skills developed throughout the Student Books 3 Bank of practicals on Kerboodle to support the specification and link theory and practice 3 Plenty of practice questions and auto-marked quizzes to monitor progress 3 Checkpoint assessment system to help monitor progress and provide specially-targeted follow-up by ability 3 Revision guides, quizzes and podcasts Assessment for Learning with our Checkpoint system The Checkpoint assessment system assesses students at the end of every chapter, helping to ensure that all students achieve their full potential. Follow-up lessons are provided, with support and extension tasks designed to allow everyone to perform at their best. Use the Checkpoint system for <strong>GCSE</strong> or right through from Year 7 to Year 11 to ensure all your students make progress and are ready for the challenges of <strong>GCSE</strong> assessment. Assess At the end of each chapter Intervention and Extension Progress Activity Aiming for 8 Progress Activity Aiming for 6 Progress Activity Aiming for 4 4 5