The Scanning Electron MicroscopeAAAS Annual Meeting Biology
Head of Department: Dr P. Rowe
Take the new virtual tour of Scitec
View Gallery of images of recent 2nd Form Fossil hunting, and this summer's trip to Namibia.
The Biology Department is now accommodated on the first floor of the SciTec building. Biology is a core subject at GCSE and attracts high numbers of students at AS and A2, and is equally at home amongst science options or as a stand-alone science amongst arts and social sciences. We have a very strong and healthy tradition of supporting theoretical concepts, wherever possible, with practical work that ranges from traditional experiments and field trips, to gene technology. Trips and expeditions are also a hallmark of the Biology department, ranging from our annual badger watching outings in a local wood, to expeditions to Borneo and Ecuador.
Biology AS is often a prerequisite for a medical application and increasing numbers of universities are requiring A2. The Biology department prepares large numbers of medical applicants every year and we have increasing numbers of students choosing biology or a related biological science at university.
The department is staffed by:
Dr R. Barnes BSc PhD (Research Fellow)
Mr W.W.Gough BSc
Mr D.J. Higgins MBiochem
Mrs M. Holmstrom BSc MSc
Dr W.F.Holmstrom BSc PhD
Dr J. Hunt BSc PhD
Mr P.S.C.King BSc MSc
Mr A Langsdale BSc MSc
Dr P. Rowe BSc Ph.D
Course content
GCSE
The lower school are taught either single award Biology IGCSE or Dual Award in Science (both EdExcel). Both levels of examination are excellent preparation for taking Biology in the Upper School as well as for university entrance. Both examinations and specifications are rigorous and demanding enough to offer a stimulating biological course to all our pupils.
There is no coursework component for the pupils but rather practical paper examinations which are set in the summer session. The courses cover a wide variety of traditional and contemporary biological themes and is very well supported by practical exercises and theory. The IGCSE Dual Award Science specification can be accessed here and the Single Award Biology specification here.
The Biology department also incorporates ‘How Science Works’ (from the AQA specification) into its teaching of the subject, building and improving skills such as data interpretation, criticising and improving experimental design and drawing appropriate conclusions. The decision as to whether pupils will benefit the most from taking either Single Award Biology or Dual Award Science is made by the Head of Science and is based on a pupil's likely relative performance in both types of examination.
AS
We teach the AQA(B) specification. For details of course content, and pattern of assessment, follow this link.
The AQA specification covers both contemporary work on gene technology and transgenics through to mammal and plant physiology and represents full and wide-ranging coverage of the subject. Practical and investigative work is an important part of our teaching. The AS course comprises three units ('Core Principles', 'Genes & Genetic Engineering' and 'Physiology & Transport') and it makes for an excellent stand-alone AS subject or as an excellent foundation for A2. Pupils complete one pieces of coursework which they complete in lesson time.
A2
We teach the AQA specification, details of which (specification and pattern of assessment) can be accessed here. Both the AS and A2 courses are contextually-based which means that the material is designed to be taught within an overall concept rather than as discrete units of unrelated knowledge. The AS course comprises Unit 1 (Biology and Disease), Unit 2 (The Variety of Life) and a practically-based examination (the ISA).
Despite having a different approach to IGCSE, much of the AS material builds directly from the IGCSE course although new areas are also incorporated. At A2, Units 3 (Populations and the Environment) and 4 (Control in Cells and Organisms) are taught, with a further practical examination (the A2 ISA). Again, much of this course builds on what has been taught before and there is more of an emphasis on longer answer questions and the opportunity to demonstrate reading beyond the A2 specification in an essay question.
AAAS
Each year members of the Lower and Upper Sixth studying any of the sciences have the opportunity to attend the annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This gives them the chance to hear about the latest developments in a wide range of disciplines from leaders in the field from around the world.
Research Fellow
The department also employs a Research Fellow, Dr Rachel Barnes who runs an on-going molecular genetics research programme. Dr Barnes and a team of Upper School pupils work on a gene sequencing project as part of the Arabisopsis genome research group (in conjunction with the Plant Sciences unit at Cambridge University). The project involves contemporary techniques of gene sequencing, transgenics and expression analysis and is available as part of the Great Ideas in Science Course. It represents an opportunity to become directly involved with genuine research and problem-solving in a highly active and fast moving area of biology.