Biology Waec Revision: The 10 Key Topics in Biology That WAEC Set Every Year

14TH OCTOBER,2021
MONDAY
BIOLOGY
WAEC REVISION
The 10 key Topics in biology that WAEC

set every year.
1 Organization of life
We know it all starts with the cell. And for
somespecies it ends with the cell. But for
others, the cells come together to form
tissues, tissues form organs, organs form
organ systems, and organ systems combine to
form an organism. Levels of Organization
The living world can be organized into
different levels. For example, many individual
organisms can be organized into the following
levels:
Cell : Basic unit of structure and function of all
living things.
Tissue : Group of cells of the same kind.
Organ : Structure composed of one or more
types of tissues. The tissues of an organ work
together to perfume a specific function.
Human organs include the brain, stomach,
kidney, and liver.
Plant organs include roots, stems, and leaves.
Organ system: Group of organs that work
together to perform a certain function.
Examples of organ systems in a human
include the skeletal, nervous, and
reproductive systems.Organism : Individual
living thing that may be made up of one or
more organ systems.
2 Ecosystem
An ecosystem consists of all the living things
(biotic factors ) in a given area, together with
the nonliving environment (abiotic factors ).
The nonliving environment includes water,
sunlight, soil, and other physical factors.
A group of similar ecosystems with the same
general type of physical environment is called
a biome .
The biosphere is the part of Earth where all
life exists, including all the land, water , and
air where living things can be found. The
biosphere consists of many different biomes .
3 Diversity of Life
Life on Earth is very diverse. The diversity of
living things is called biodiversity . A measure
of Earth’s biodiversity is the number of
different species of organisms that live on
Earth. At least 10 million different species live
on Earth today. They are commonly grouped
into six different kingdoms.
Examples of organisms within each kingdom
4 Cell theory
The cell theory developed in 1839 by
microbiologists Schleiden and Schwann
describes the properties of cells. It is an
explanation of the relationship between cells
and living things. The theory states that: all
living things are made of cells and their
products. new cells are created by old cells
dividing intobtwo.
cells are the basic building blocks of life. The
cell theory applies to all living things, however
big or small. The modern understanding of
cell theory extends the concepts of the
original cell theory to include the following:
The activity of an organism depends on the
total activity of independent cells.
Energy flow occurs in cells through the
breakdown of carbohydrates by respiration.
Cells contain the information necessary for
the creation of new cells. This information is
known as 'hereditary information' and is
contained within DNA.
The contents of cells from similar species are
basically the same.
Cells are the smallest form of life; the
functional and structural units of all living
things. Your body contains several billion
cells, organised into over 200 major types,
with hundreds of cell-specific functions. Some
functions performed by cells are so vital to
the existence of life that all cells perform
them (e.g. cellular respiration). Others are
highly specialised (e.g. photosynthesis).
5 cell membranes
The cell membrane, also called the plasma
membrane, physically separates the
intracellular space (inside the cell) from the
extracellular environment (outside the cell).
All plant and animal cells have cell
membranes. The cell membrane surrounds
and protects the cytoplasm . Cytoplasm is
part of the protoplasm and is the living
component of the cell.
The cell membrane is composed of a double
layer (bilayer) of special lipids (fats) called
phospholipids . Phospholipids consist of a
hydrophilic (water-loving) head and a
hydrophobic (water-fearing) tail. The
hydrophobic head of the phospholipid is polar
(charged) and can therefore dissolve in water.
The hydrophobic tail is non-polar
(uncharged), and cannot dissolve in water.
The lipid bilayer forms spontaneously due to
the properties of the phospholipid molecules.
In an aqueous environment, the polar heads
try to form hydrogen bonds with the water,
while the non-polar tails try to escape from
the water. The problem is solved by the
formation of a bilayer because the hydrophilic
heads can point outwards and from hydrogen
bonds with water, and the hydrophobic tails
point towards one another and are
'protected' from the water molecules.
6 Cell Division
Cell division is the process cells go through to
divide. There are several types of cell division,
depending upon what type of organism is
dividing. Organisms have evolved over time to
have different and more complex forms of
cell division. Most prokaryotes, or bacteria ,
use binary fission to divide the cell.
Eukaryotes of all sizes use mitosis to divide.
Sexually-reproducing eukaryotes use a special
form of cell division called meiosis to reduce
the genetic content in the cell.
7 Supporting Tissues
Supporting Tissues
The development of stable supporting
elements has been an important prerequisite
for the evolution of large terrestrial
organisms. Animals have endo- or
exoskeletons that correspond in function to
the woody stems or trunks of plants.
The architectural design of the plant's body of
vegetation is very complex. Thin petioles
carry heavy and flat laminas, stems support
leaves, flowers and fruits. All plant organs are
exposed to mechanical strains.
1. The collenchyma, a tissue of living cells,
2. the sclerenchyma, a tissue of nearly always
dead cells.
3. the vascular tissue consisting of both living
and dead cells. It is responsible for the
transport and dispersal of water, nutriments
and assimilates.
8 Transportation in plants
Transpiration is the process of water
movement through a plant and its
evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves,
stems and flowers . Water is necessary for
plants but only a small amount of water taken
up by the roots is used for growth and
metabolism. The remaining 97–99.5% is lost
bytranspiration and guttation.
9 Kidney structure and functions

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs in
the renal system.
They help the body pass waste as urine. They
also help filter blood before sending it back to
the heart.
The kidneys perform many crucial functions,
including: maintaining overall fluid balance
regulating and filtering minerals from blood
filtering waste materials from food,
medications, and toxic substances creating
hormones that help produce red blood cells,
promote bone health, and regulate blood
pressure.
10 Liver
The liver is an organ only found in vertebrates
which detoxifies various metabolites,
synthesizes proteins and produces
biochemicals necessary for digestion and
growth. In humans, it is located in the right
upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the
diaphragm.

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14TH OCTOBER,2021

The 10 key Topics in biology that WAEC

9 Kidney structure and functions

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