Bioenergetics

Bioenergetics covers photosynthesis and respiration, the two processes that move energy through living things. It includes the photosynthesis equation and limiting factors, the uses of glucose, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, metabolism and the response of the body to exercise.

Learn both word and symbol equations precisely — they carry marks on their own and anchor everything else. Limiting factor graphs are the most examined part of the unit, and they reward describing which factor is limiting in each region of the curve rather than simply reading values off. Anaerobic respiration is worth learning in both forms, since the products differ between animals and yeast. Students most often lose marks by confusing respiration with breathing, and by forgetting that plants respire continuously as well as photosynthesising in the light. One required practical, on limiting factors, sits here.