Sample exam questions - the human body - staying aliveIdeas about science

As well as testing your knowledge and understanding of biology, the exam papers will also assess your understanding of 'Ideas about Science' (B7).

Questions on 'Ideas about Science' will appear throughout both exam papers (Breadth and Depth), and at both Foundation Tier and Higher Tier.

There are four main aspects to 'Ideas about Science'. These are:

1. Planning experiments to collect data (including writing hypotheses and predictions, selecting apparatus and describing methods, controlling factors, and working safely).
2. Processing and analysing data (including calculating averages and other statistics, presenting data graphically, identifying patterns and trends, evaluating results and methods, and interpreting data to draw appropriate conclusions).
3. Developing scientific explanations (including ideas about correlation and cause, peer review, and the use of models in science).
4. The impacts of applications of science (including positive and negative impacts on people, other organisms and the environment, and ideas about risk and ethics).

Your understanding of 'Ideas about Science' will be assessed throughout the exam papers, usually as parts of questions that also assess your understanding of biological concepts. There won't be a separate 'Ideas about Science' section in the papers. This is because understanding how scientists work, and how science impacts our lives, is not separate from biology – it's part of it.

When you're revising biology also think about 'Ideas about Science'. How did scientists, or how could you, collect data and evidence about the biological phenomena you're studying? How were the scientific explanations of those phenomena developed? And how do they impact us in the real world? Keeping those things in mind is not only good preparation for your exams, but for life as a well-informed citizen as well!