Key ideas

4.8 Key ideas

The complex and diverse phenomena of the natural world can be described in terms of a small number of key ideas in biology.

These key ideas are of universal application, and we have embedded them throughout the subject content. They underpin many aspects of the science assessment.

Key ideas in biology:

• life processes depend on molecules whose structure is related to their function
• the fundamental units of living organisms are cells, which may be part of highly adapted structures including tissues, organs and organ systems, enabling living processes to be performed effectively
• living organisms may form populations of single species, communities of many species and ecosystems, interacting with each other, with the environment and with humans in many different ways
• living organisms are interdependent and show adaptations to their environment
• life on Earth is dependent on photosynthesis in which green plants and algae trap light from the Sun to fix carbon dioxide and combine it with hydrogen from water to make organic compounds and oxygen
• organic compounds are used as fuels in cellular respiration to allow the other chemical reactions necessary for life
• the chemicals in ecosystems are continually cycling through the natural world
• the characteristics of a living organism are influenced by its genome and its interaction with the environment
• evolution occurs by a process of natural selection and accounts both for biodiversity and how organisms are all related to varying degrees.