Organisation – GCSE AQA Higher Biology revision notes

What this topic covers

Organisation has 3 subtopics:

• Principles of organisation
• Animal tissues, organs and organ systems
• Plant tissues, organs and systems

Organisation lessons by subtopic

14 lessons, grouped by subtopic.

Principles of organisation

• From Cells to Organisms: Understand how cells form the building blocks of life and how they are organised into tissues, organs, organ systems and complete organisms. Explore the hierarchy of biological organisation from the smallest units to complex multicellular organisms.

Animal tissues, organs and organ systems

• Components of Blood: Learn about blood as a tissue and identify the main components - plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Understand what each component does in the body.
• Blood Cell Structure and Function: Examine the structure of different blood cells and explain how each type is perfectly adapted to carry out its specific function in the body.
• Understanding Cancer and Tumour Types: Learn what cancer is and explore the differences between benign and malignant tumours, including how they behave and spread in the body.
• Cancer Risk Factors: Investigate the lifestyle and genetic factors that can increase the risk of developing different types of cancer.
• Understanding Coronary Heart Disease and Its Treatments: Learn how fatty material builds up in coronary arteries causing heart disease, and explore how stents and statins are used as treatments.
• Heart Valve Problems and Heart Failure Solutions: Discover the consequences of faulty heart valves and how they can be replaced, plus understand heart transplants and artificial hearts for heart failure.
• Evaluating Cardiovascular Disease Treatments: Compare and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of drugs, mechanical devices and transplants for treating cardiovascular diseases.
• Understanding Health and Disease Interactions: Explore what health means and how different types of diseases can interact with each other, including the effects of immune system defects, viral triggers for cancer, and the relationship between physical and mental health.

Plant tissues, organs and systems

• Plant Tissues and Their Functions: Explore the five main types of plant tissue: epidermal tissue, palisade mesophyll, spongy mesophyll, xylem and phloem, and meristem tissue. Learn how each tissue's structure is perfectly adapted to its function.
• The Leaf as a Plant Organ: Discover how the leaf functions as a plant organ containing multiple tissues working together. Focus on the structure and arrangement of epidermis, palisade and spongy mesophyll, xylem and phloem, and guard cells surrounding stomata.
• Plant Transport System Structure: Learn about the structure and adaptations of plant transport tissues including root hair cells, xylem and phloem, and how they form an organ system for substance transport.
• Transpiration and Water Movement: Understand the process of transpiration, the role of stomata and guard cells, and how environmental factors affect transpiration rate.
• Analysing Plant Transport Data: Develop skills in translating, plotting and interpreting data from graphs, charts and tables related to plant transport processes.

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