OCR A-Level Biology


The following extracts from this specification are relevant to the teaching of origins:
 

2 Specification Aims


2.1 Spiritual, Moral, Ethical, Social and Cultural Issues

These specifications provide an opportunity for candidates to appreciate:
  • a sense of awe and wonder at the scale and impact of natural processes and phenomena;
  • the role of biology in describing the structure and functioning of the natural world;
  • the importance of animals, plants and microorganisms to life on earth;
  • the place of mankind in the natural world;
  • the moral, ethical, social and cultural implications of some of the applications of biology and technology.
TiS: We welcome this acknowledgement of the wider issues which relate to biology, and it is for this reason that we suggest that particular care should be taken to teach the subject of origins in a manner which is fair and balanced.


5.4.5 Classification, Selection and Evolution


Learning Outcomes

Candidates should be able to:

(a) describe the important features of the five Kingdoms.

(b) explain the meaning of the term species.

(c) describe the classification of species into taxonomic groups (genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom), and appreciate the significance of the various concepts of the species.

(d) explain the relationship between classification and phylogeny.

(e) explain how natural selection may bring about evolution.

(f) explain why variation is important in selection.

(g) explain how all organisms can potentially overproduce.

(h) explain, with examples, how environmental factors can act as stabilising or evolutionary forces of natural selection.

(i) describe the processes which affect allele frequencies in populations. (The Hardy-Weinberg principle is not required.)

(j) explain the role of isolating mechanisms in the evolution of new species.

(k) outline, with examples, structural and physiological adaptations of organisms to their environment.

(l) describe one example of artificial selection.




5.5.2

(b) assess the natural advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction and explain its evolutionary consequences.


TiS: Asexual reproduction is twice as efficient at passing on genes to the next generation. Furthermore, it means that an optimal gene configuration can be passed on - in its entirety - to offspring. Therefore, within an evolutionary framework the origin of sexual reproduction is deeply mysterious. For more regarding this topic, see the article: Evolution and Sex by Harrub and Thompson (2003). Please note that we are not responsible for the contents the page linked here.

5.6.2

(d) compare selective breeding with the evolutionary process.



5.6.3

(g) describe the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and pesticide resistance in insects and discuss the implications of the evolution of such resistance.
TiS: For an essay on this topic, see the "Evidence for evolution" section of this website.