Topic 1: Biological molecules (AQA A-level Biology)

The biological molecules topic is incredibly important, not just because it is found at the start of the course, but also because of its detailed content which must be well understood to promote success with the other 7 AQA A-level Biology topics. Many hours of intricate planning has gone into the design of all of the 20 lessons that are included in this bundle to ensure that the content is covered in detail, understanding is constantly checked and misconceptions addressed and that engagement is high. This is achieved through the wide variety of tasks in the PowerPoints and accompanying worksheets which include exam-style questions with clear answers, discussion points, differentiated tasks and quick quiz competitions.

The following specification points are covered by the lessons within this bundle:

• Monomers and polymers
• Condensation and hydrolysis reactions
• Common monosaccharides
• Maltose, sucrose and lactose
• The structure and functions of glycogen, starch and cellulose
• Biochemical tests using Benedict’s solution for reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars and iodine/potassium iodide for starch
• The structure and properties of triglycerides and phospholipids
• The emulsion test for lipids
• The structure of amino acids
• The formation of dipeptides and polypeptides
• The levels of protein structure
• The biuret test for proteins
• Enzymes act as biological catalysts
• The induced-fit model of enzyme action
• The properties of an enzyme
• The effect of temperature on the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction
• The effect of enzyme and substrate concentration on the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction
• The effect of competitive and non-competitive inhibitors on the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction
• The structure of DNA and RNA
• The semi-conservative replication of DNA
• ATP as the universal energy currency
• The properties of water and its importance in Biology
• Inorganic ions

Due to the detail of each of these lessons, it is estimated that it will take in excess of 2 months of allocated teaching time to cover the content.

If you would like to see the quality of the lessons, download the monomers and polymers, polysaccharides, triglycerides, dipeptides and polypeptides and inorganic ions lessons as these have been shared for free