Friday, November 14, 2008

Mr. Zac's SPM Bio Tips

To all my beloved students, I am sorry that I can't be having extra classes with you in school although I would love to as many of you would be busy preparing for the SPM exam. However, I will be posting some tips as to which topics to focus on based on the analysis that I did months ago. Make sure that you know the following topics. If you do, then I can guarantee you a 1A!

Form 4

Osmosis - pickling of fruits, plasmolysis/deplasmolysis, crenation/haemolysis, hopotonic/hypertonic/isotonic solution

Active transport - ATP, against conc. gradient, fertilisers/ions uptake

Plasma membrane - Fluid Mosaic Model, phospholipid bilayer, permeability

Enzymes - Key-And-Lock Model, active site, temperature & pH effects, examples of enzymes with their applications

Mitosis/Cell Cycle - G1 and S phases, prophase to telophase, cloning of sheep, plant tissue culture (explant-sterilise-nutrient media-callus-subculture-roots/shoots-clone)

Meiosis - prophase I (synapsis, cross over, chiasmata, homologous chromosomes), variation

...to be continued

I am sorry guys for the very late update as I have been going to school to try to go online but the 'dut' network 'dut dut'. Now I am at Mentor using my TESCO computer and internet (see, Wei Ken, Tesco stuff is good leh...)

Balanced diet - daily energy requirement, malnutrition, digestion of fats and carbohydrates, absorption in ileum, assimilation of absorbed nutrients (glucose and amino acids), cow (4 chambers) vs rabbit (caecum)

Selective breeding - Pisifera/Dura/Tenera, genetic engineering (insulin/oil spill)

Respiration - aerobic vs anaerobic, muscles/yeast, grasshopper/fish, gas exchange in alveolus

Ecology - food chain/web, trophic level (energy flow), abiotic factor, interactions (symbiosis, etc)

Colonisation - swamp profile, species names, adaptations of mangrove trees

Pollution - air & water, global warming (CO2, heat), acid rain (SO2, NO2), ozone depletion (CFC), causes/effects/solutions


FORM 5

Human heart - pulmonary vs systemic, pacemaker, SA & AV nodes, valves, baroreceptors (blood pressure control), fish/frog hearts

Blood clotting

Lymphatic system - body defence, antibodies (3rd line), artificial acquired active immunity (vaccination), graph

Plant transport - xylem, support, transpiration, sclerenchyma/collenchyma/parenchyma/aerenchyma

Movement - limb, muscles, joints, antagonistic muscles, worm/grasshopper, good posture

Nervous system - medulla oblongata, spinal cord, reflex action/arc, neurotransmitter, synapse, involuntary action/autonomic nervous system

Endocrine system - vs Nervous, role of hypothalamus, pituitary gland (GH, TSH, ADH)

Kidney - glomerulus (ultrafiltration), absorption of glucose and a.a. in PCT, absorption of water throughout the tubules, absorption and secretion of ions by active transport, formation of urine (cold vs hot weather or water intake), ADH (water reabsorption), aldosterone (salt reabsorption), insulun (regulation of blood glucose level, diabetes mellitus)

Skin - regulation of sweat formation, arterioles, sweat gland, erector muscles, shivering, adrenal & thyroid gland

Flight & fight situation - adrenaline

Sexual reproduction - spermatogenesis, meiosis, fertilisation, implantation, placenta, ABO group, twin

Menstrual cycle - FSH vs LH, growing follicle, ovulation, eostrogen vs progesterone, corpus luteum

Plant reproduction - formation of embryo sac in ovule, double fertilisation, egg + male gamete = zygote (2n), endosperm (3n)

Plant growth - zone of division/elongation/differentiation, primary vs secondary growth, apical vs lateral meristem, secondary xylem

Mendel's First Law - monohybrid cross, diagram (label all levels), genotypic ratio (1:2:1), phenotypic ratio (3:1), alleles

Sex-linked diseases - colour blindness/haemophilia, Mendel's first law

Gene - DNA-RNA-Polypeptides (transcription/translation), DNA double helix, nucleotides, A-T-G-C, codons, gene mutation, DNA fingerprinting

Variation - continuous vs discontinuous (graph, examples), gene/chromosomal mutation, independent assortment/cross over/random fertilisation, environmental factors (light, temp, pH, nutrients) mutagens (radiation, chemicals)

Well, I know it looks like you have to read the entire syllabus, that's for sure! I am just trying to tell you to focus more on these, and I assume that you have already studied all these before Trial 2. Well, if you haven't, then that's too bad. You can go and watch 'Star-lite Big Road' now!
The ones that I highlighted in RED are the ones that I targeted la. 5 stars!! Good Luck!

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