WAEC Syllabus For Biology

The 2024 WAEC Biology Syllabus is now available; candidates preparing for the 2024 WAEC are advised to download it in order to become prepared for the upcoming Waec Examination.

Candidates can direct their reading or study toward the better topics and courses that will be required for the WAEC exam in 2024 by using the WAEC Syllabus for Biology 2024.

You must prepare for the exam by studying the biology content from the WAEC syllabus. The Biology exam’s goals, objectives, notes, and format are all included. To prepare for your exam, you must study the biology curriculum. It will act as a guide for you to determine the subjects to read. There are also notes on ideas that you ought to focus on understanding.

Use the syllabus as a starting point for your exam preparations. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) textbooks and the Biology syllabus are listed in this article.

Aims and Objectives

This syllabus is intended to evaluate candidates on the following criteria:

1. Knowledge of the anatomy and functions of living things, as well as a love of nature;

2. Acquiring the necessary laboratory and field skills to carry out and assess biological experiments and projects;

3. Gaining the necessary scientific abilities, such as the ability to observe, categorize, and interpret biological data;

4. Gaining the basic biology knowledge necessary for future studies in the biological sciences at the graduate level

5. Formation of scientifically oriented problem-solving mindsets;

6. Being able to apply biological principles to issues relating to one’s own, others, the environment, the health of the community, and the economy;

7. Knowledge of the connections between biology and other scientific fields.

Scheme of Examination

There will be three exams: Papers 1, 2, and 3, all of which must be taken. Papers 1 and 2 will be combined into one paper that must be taken in one sitting.

PAPER 1: will be composed of fifty multiple-choice questions that will be taken from Section A of the syllabus (the section of the syllabus which is common to all countries).

It will carry 50 marks and last for 50
minutes.

PAPER 2: will be made up of six essays that are chosen at random from the entire syllabus.
The essay will be divided into Sections A, B, and C.

Section A:  There will be four exams made up of questions from Section A of the syllabus.

Section B:  This will only apply to candidates in Ghana and will be based on Section B of the curriculum (ie the section of the syllabus peculiar to Ghana). Short, structured questions will make up the test.

Section C:  This will only apply to candidates in Ghana and will be based on Section B of the curriculum (ie the section of the syllabus peculiar to Ghana). Short, structured questions will make up the test.

Biology Syllabus Topics

Section A

A: VARIETY OF ORGANISMS

1. Living organisms: Candidates should be able to:

a.  Characteristics

i. Differentiate between the characteristics of living and non-living

b.  Cell structure and functions of cell Components things.

c.  Level of organization i. identify the structures of plants and animal cells.

ii.  Cell e.g. euglena and paramecium,

iii.  analyse the functions of the components of plants and animal

ii. Tissue, e.g. epithelial tissues and hydra cells.

iii.  Organ, e.g. onion bulb iv.  compare and contrast the structure of plant and animal cells.

iv.  Systems, e.g. reproductive, digestive

v. Trace the levels of organization among organisms in their excretory logical sequence in relation to the five levels of organization of living organisms.

vi.  Organisms e.g. Chlamydomonas

2.  Evolution among the following: Candidates should be able to:

a.  Monera (prokaryotes), e.g. bacteria and i. analyse  external  features  and  characteristics  of  the  listed

blue-green algae organisms:

b.  Protista (protozoans and protophyta), ii. apply the knowledge from (i) above to demonstrate increase in

e.g. Amoeba, Euglena and Paramecium structural complexity.

c.  Fungi, e.g. mushrooms and Rhizopus. iii.  trace the stages in the life histories of the listed organisms.

d.   Plantae (plants) iv.   apply the  knowledge  of  the  life  histories  to  demonstrate

the gradual transition from life in water to life on land.

i.  Thallophyta (e.g. Spirogyra)

v. Trace the evolution of the listed plants.

ii. Bryophyta (mosses and liverworts) e.g.

Brachmenium and Merchantia.

iii. Pteridophyta (ferns) e.g. Dryopteris.

iv. Spermatophyta (Gymnospermae and Angiospermae)

–  Gymnosperms e.g. Cycads and conifers.

–  Angiosperms (monocots, e.g. maize; dicots, e.g. water leaf)

e.  Animalia (animals)

i.  Invertebrates

–  coelenterate (e.g. Hydra)

–  Platyhelminthes (flatworms) e.g. Taenia

–  Nematoda (roundworms)

–  Annelida (e.g. earthworm)

–  Arthropoda e.g. mosquito, cockroach, housefly, bee, butterfly

–  Mollusca (e.g. snails)

ii.  Multicellular animals (vertebrates)

–  Pisces (cartilaginous and bony fish)

–  Amphibia (e.g. toads and frogs)

–  Reptilia (e.g. lizards, snakes and turtles)

–  Aves (birds)

–  Mammalia (mammals)

3. Structural/functional and behavioural adaptations of organisms.

b.  adaptive colouration and its functions

c.  Behavioural adaptations in social animals

d.  Structural adaptations in organisms.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Trace the advancement of invertebrate animals.

ii.  determine the economic importance of the insects studied.

iii.  asses their values to the environment.

i. Trace the advancement of multi-cellular animals.

ii.  determine their economic importance.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe how the various structures, functions and behaviour adapt these organisms to their environment, and way of life

Candidates should be able to:

i.  Categorize countershading in fish, toads and snakes and warning colouration in mushrooms.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  Differentiate various castes in social insects like termites and their functions in their colony hive.

ii.  Account for basking in lizards, and territorial behaviour of other animals under unfavourable conditions (hibernation and aestivation).

Candidates should be able to account for adaptation in organisms with respect to the following:

i.  Obtaining food (beaks and legs of birds, mouthparts of insects, especially mosquitoes, butterflies and moths.)

ii.  Protection and defence (stick insects, praying mantis and toad)

iii.  Securing mates (redhead male and female Agama lizards, display of fathers by birds).

iv.  Regulating body temperature (skin, feathers and hairs)

v.  Conserving water (spines in plants and scales in mammals).

B: FORM AND FUNCTIONS

The internal structure of flowering plant

i.  Root

ii.  Stem

iii.  Leaf

b.   The internal structure of a mammal

Nutrition

a.   Modes of nutrition

i.  Autotrophic

ii. Heterotrophic

b. Types of Nutrition

c. Plant Nutrition

i.  Photosynthesis

ii. Mineral requirements (macro and micro-nutrients)

d.  Animal Nutrition

i.  Classes of food substances; carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, vitamins, mineral salts and water

ii.  Food tests (e.g. starch, reducing sugar, protein, oil, fat etc.

iii.  The mammalian tooth (structures, types and functions)

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify the transverse sections of these organs.

a.  relate the structure of these organs to their functions.

b. Identity supporting tissues in plants (collenchyma) sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem fibres)

c.  Describe the distribution of supporting tissues in roots, stem and leaf

Candidates should be able to:

i. Examine the arrangement of the mammalian internal organs.

ii.  describe the appearance and position of the digestive, reproductive and excretory organs.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Compare the photosynthetic and chemosynthetic modes of nutrition;

ii. provide examples from both flowering and non-flowering plants iii. compare autotrophic and heterotrophic modes of nutrition.

Candidates should be able to:

differentiate the following examples:

–  holozoic (sheep and man)

–  Parasitic (roundworm, tapeworm and Loranthus)

–  saprophytic (Rhizopus and mushroom)

–  carnivorous plants (sundew and bladderwort)

–  determine their nutritional value.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  Differentiate the light and dark reactions, and state conditions necessary for photosynthesis.

ii.  determine the necessity of light, carbon (IV) oxide and chlorophyll in photosynthesis.

iii. detect the presence of starch in a leaf as evidence of photosynthesis.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify macro-and micro-elements required by plants.

ii.  recognise the deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  indicate the sources of the various classes of  food;

ii.  relate the importance and deficiency e.g. scurvy, rickets, kwashiorkor etc. of each class;

iii.  determine the importance of a balanced diet.

Candidates should be able to detect the presence of the listed food items from the result of a given experiment.

Candidates should be able to:

iv. Mammalian alimentary canal

v. Nutrition process (ingestion, digestion, absorption, and assimilation of digested food.

Transport

Need for transportation

b.  Materials for transportation.

Excretory products, gases, manufactured food, digested food, nutrient, water and hormones)

c.  Channels for transportation

i.  Mammalian circulatory system (heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries)

ii  Plant vascular system (phloem and xylem)

d. Media and processes of mechanism for transportation.

4. Respiration

a.  Respiratory organs and surfaces

b.  The mechanism of gaseous exchange  in:

i. Describe the structure of a typical mammalian tooth;

ii.  differentiate the types of mammalian teeth and relate their structures to their functions.

iii.  compare the dental formulae of man, sheep, and dog.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate the structure of the various components of the alimentary canal and its accessory organs (liver, pancreas, and gall bladder) to their functions.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify the general characteristics of digestive enzymes;

ii.  associate enzymes with the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats;

iii.  determine the end products of these classes of food.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Determine the relationship between the increase in size and complexity and the need for the development of a transport system in plants and animals.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Determine the sources of materials and the forms in which they are transported.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe the general circulatory system;

ii.  compare specific functions of the hepatic portal vein, the pulmonary vein and artery, the aorta, the renal artery and the vein

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify the organs of the plant vascular system.

ii.  understand the specific functions of the phloem and xylem.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify media of transportation (e.g. cytoplasm, the cell sap, body fluid, blood and lymph);

ii.  know the composition and functions of blood and lymph;

iii.  describe diffusion, osmosis, plasmolysis and turgidity as mechanisms of transportation in organisms.

iv.  compare the various mechanisms of open circulatory systems, in animal transpiration pull, root pressure and active transport as mechanisms of transportation in plants.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Examine the significance of respiration;

ii.  describe a simplified outline of the chemical process involved in glycolysis and Krebs cycle with reference to the role ATP iii deduce from an experimental set-up, gaseous exchange and products, exchange and production of heat energy during respiration.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe the following respiratory organs and surfaces with organisms in which they occur; body surface, gill, trachea, lungs, stomata and lenticel.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  Plants

ii.  Mammals

c.  Aerobic respiration

d.  Anaerobic respiration

Excretion

Types of excretory structures: contractile vacuole, flame cell, nephridium, Malpighian tubule, kidney, stoma and lenticel.

b.  Excretory mechanisms:

i.  Kidneys

ii.  lungs

iii.  skin

c.  Excretory products of plants

Support and movement

a.  Tropic, tactic, nastic and sleep movements in plants

b.  supporting tissues in animals

c.  Types and functions of the skeleton

i.  Exoskeleton

ii.  Endoskeleton

iii.  Functions of the skeleton in animals

i.  describe the mechanism for the opening and closing of the stomata;

ii.  determine respiratory movements in these animals.

Candidates should be able to:

iii.  examine the role of oxygen in the liberation of energy for the activities of living organisms;

iv.  deduce the effect of an insufficient supply of oxygen to the muscles.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Use yeast cells and sugar solution to demonstrate the process of fermentation.

ii.  know the economic importance of yeasts.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Define the meaning and state the significance of   excretion;

ii.  relate the characteristics of each structure with functions.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate the structure of the kidneys to the excretory and osmoregulatory functions.

ii. identify the functions and excretory products of the lungs and the skin.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  deduce the economic importance of the excretory products of plants, e.g carbon (IV) oxide, oxygen, tannins, resins, gums, mucilage, alkaloids etc.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  determine the need for support and movement in organisms;

ii.  identify supporting tissues in plants (collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem fibres);

iii.  describe the distribution of supporting tissues in roots, stem, and leaf.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  relate the response of plants to the stimuli of light, water, gravity and touch;

ii.  identify the regions of growth in roots and shoots and the roles of auxins in tropism.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate the location of chitin, cartilage and bone to their supporting function.

ii.  relate the structure and the general layout of the mammalian skeleton to their supportive, locomotive and respiratory function.

iii.  differentiate types of joints using appropriate

examples.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Apply the protective, supportive, locomotive and respiratory functions of the skeleton to the well being of the animal.

Reproduction

a.  A sexual reproduction

i.  Fission as in Paramecium

ii.  Budding as in yeast

iii.  Natural vegetative propagation

iv.  Artificial vegetative propagation.

b.  sexual reproduction in flowering plants

i.  Floral parts and their functions

ii.  Pollination and fertilization

iii.  products of sexual reproduction

c.  Reproduction in mammals

i.  structures and functions of the male and female reproductive organs

ii.  Fertilization and development. (Fusion of gametes)

8.  Growth

a.  meaning of growth

b.  Germination of seeds and conditions necessary for germination of seeds.

Co-ordination and control

a.  Nervous coordination:

i.  the components, structure and functions of the central nervous system;

ii.  The components and functions of the peripheral nervous systems;

iii.  Mechanism of transmission of impulses;

iv.  Reflex action

b.  The sense organs

i.  skin (tactile)

ii.  nose (olfactory)

iii.  tongue (taste)

iv.  eye (sight)

v.  ear (auditory)

c.  Hormonal control

i.  animal hormonal system

–  Pituitary

–  thyroid

–  parathyroid

–  adrenal gland

–  pancreas

–  gonads

ii.  Plant hormones (phytohormones)

Candidates should be able to:

i.  differentiate between asexual and sexual reproduction

ii.  apply natural vegetative propagation in crop production and multiplication.

iii.  apply grafting, budding and layering in agricultural practices.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate parts of flowers to their functions and the reproductive process.

ii.  deduce the advantages of cross-pollination.

iii. deduce the different types of placentation that develop into simple, aggregate, multiple and succulent fruits.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  differentiate between male and female reproductive organs

ii.  relate their structure and function to the production of offspring.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe the fusion of gametes as a process of fertilization.

ii.  relate the effects of the mother’s health, nutrition and indiscriminate use of drugs on the developmental stages of the embryo up to birth.

iii.  Modern methods of regulating reproduction on e.g. invitro fertilization and birth control

Candidates should be able to:

i. Apply the knowledge of the conditions necessary for germination to plant growth.

ii.  differentiate between epigeal and hypogeal germination.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Apply the knowledge of the structure and function of the central nervous system in the coordination of body functions in organisms.

ii.  illustrate reflex actions such as blinking of the eyes, knee jerk etc.

iii. differentiate between reflex and voluntary actions as well as conditioned reflexes such as salivation, riding a bicycle and swimming.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Associate the listed sense organs with their functions.

ii.  apply the knowledge of the structure and functions of these sense organs in detecting and correcting their defects.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Locate the listed endocrine glands in animals.

ii.  relate the hormone produced by each of these glands to their functions.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Examine the effects of various phytohormones (e.g. auxins, gibberellin, cytokinin, and ethylene) on growth, tropism, flowering, fruit ripening and leaf abscission.

d.  Homeostasis Candidates should be able to:

i. Body temperature regulation i.  relate the function of hormones to regulating the levels of

ii.  Salt and water regulation materials inside the body.

C: ECOLOGY

1. Factors affecting the distribution of Candidates should be able to: Organisms i. deduce the effects of temperature; rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, altitude, salinity,

i.  Abiotic turbidity, pH and edaphic (soil) conditions on the distribution of organisms.

ii.  use appropriate equipment (e.g. Secchi disc, thermometer, rain gauge etc) to measure abiotic factors.

iii.  Biotic

Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe how the activities of plants/animals (particularly humans) affect the distribution of organisms.

2. Symbiotic interactions of plants Candidates should be able to: and animals i.  determine appropriate examples of symbiosis,  parasitism, saprophytism, commensalism, mutualism, amensalism, competition, predation and cooperation among organisms.

ii.  associate the distribution of organisms with food chains and food webs in particular habitats.

(a)  Energy flow in the ecosystem: food chains

(b) Nutrient cycling in nature

i.  carbon cycle Candidates should be able to:

i. Describe the cycle and its significance including the  balance of

atmospheric  oxygen and carbon (IV) oxide and global

warming.

ii. water cycle

Candidates should be able to:

i. Assess the effects of the water cycle on other nutrient cycles.

iii. Nitrogen cycle Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate the roles of bacteria and leguminous plants in the cycling of nitrogen.

3. Natural Habitats Candidates should be able to:

i. Associate plants and animals with each of these habitats.

(a)  Aquatic (e.g. ponds, streams, lakes seashores and mangrove swamps)

(b)  Terrestrial/arboreal (e.g. tree-tops of oil palm, Candidates should be able to:

abandoned farmland or a dry grassy (savanna) field, i. relate adaptive features to the habitats in which an organism burrows or holes. lives.

Local (Nigerian) Biomes)

a. Tropical rainforest

b.  Guinea savanna (southern and  northern)

c.  Sudan Savanna

d.  Desert

e.  Highlands of montane forests and grasslands of the Obudu, Jos, and Mambilla Plateau.

The Ecology of Populations:

(a)  Population density and overcrowding.

(b)  Adaptation for survival

i.  Factors that bring about competition

ii.  Intra and inter-specific competition

iii.  Relationship between competition and succession.

(c)  Factors affecting population sizes:

i.  Biotic (e.g. food, pest, disease, predation, competition, reproductive ability).

ii.  Abiotic (e.g. temperature, space, light, rainfall, topography, pressure, pH, etc.

(d)  Ecological succession

i.  primary succession

ii.  secondary succession

SOIL

a) (i) characteristics of different types of soil (sandy, loamy, clayey)

i. soil structure

ii.  porosity, capillarity and humus content

iii.  Components of the soil

i. inorganic

ii. organic

iii. soil organisms

iv. Soil air

v. Soil water

Soil fertility:

i.  loss of soil fertility

ii.  Renewal and maintenance of soil fertility

Candidates should be able to:

i.  locate biomes in regions

ii.  apply the knowledge of the features of the listed local biomes in determining the characteristics of different regions of Nigeria.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Determine the reasons for rapid changes in the human population and the consequences of overcrowding.

ii.  compute/calculate density as the number of organisms per unit area.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  Relate increase in population, diseases, shortage of food and space with the intra- and inter-specific competition.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  Determine niche differentiation as a means of reducing intra-specific completion.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  Relate competition to succession.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Deduce the effect of these factors on the size of the population.

i. Determine the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, e.g. drought or scarcity of water which leads to food shortage and lack of space which causes an increase in disease rates.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Trace the sequence in succession to the climax stage of stability in the plant population.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify physical properties of different soil types based on simple measurement of particle size, porosity or water retention ability.

ii.  determine the amounts of air, water, humus and capillarity in different soil types experimentally.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Relate soil characteristics, types and components to the healthy growth of plants.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  relate such factors as loss of inorganic matter, compaction, leaching, erosion of the topsoil and repeated cropping with one variety.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Apply the knowledge of the practice of contour ridging, terracing, mulching, poly-cropping, strip-cropping, use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, crop rotation, shifting cultivation, etc to enhance soil conservation.

7. Humans and Environment

(a)  Diseases:

(i)  Common and endemic diseases.

ii.  Easily transmissible diseases and disease syndrome such as:

–  poliomyelitis

–  cholera

–  tuberculosis

–  sexually transmitted disease/syndrome (gonorrhoea, syphilis, AIDS, etc.

b.  Pollution and its control

(i)  sources, types, effects and methods of control.

(ii)  Sanitation and sewage

(c)  Conservation of Natural Resources

(d)  Game reserves and National parks

Candidates should be able to:

i. Identify ecological conditions that favour the spread of common endemic and potentially epidemic diseases e.g. malaria, meningitis, dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, typhoid fever and cholera etc.

ii.  relate the biology of the vector or agent of each disease with its spread and control.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Use the knowledge of the causative organisms, mode of transmission and symptoms of the listed diseases to their prevention/treatment/control.

ii.  apply the principles of inoculation and vaccination on disease prevention.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Categorize pollution into air, water and soil pollution.

ii.  relate the effects of common pollutants to human health and environmental degradation.

iii. determine the methods by which each pollutant may be controlled.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Examine the importance of sanitation with emphasis on solid waste sewage disposal, community health and personal hygiene.

ii assess the roles and functions of international and national health agencies (e.g. World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), International Red Cross Society (IRCS), and the Ministries of Health and Environment.

Candidates should be able to:

(i)  apply the various methods of conservation of both renewable and non-renewable natural resources for the protection of our environment for present and future generations.

(ii)  outline the benefits of conserving natural resources and prevention of desertification.

(iii) identify the bodies responsible for the conservation of resources at the national and international levels (e.g. Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria National Parks, World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and their activities).

(iv) assess their activities.

Candidates should be able to:

i.  Know the location and importance of game reserves and National parks in Nigeria

D: HEREDITY AND VARIATIONS

(I) Variation In Population

a. Morphological variations in the physical appearance of individuals.

(i)  size (height, weight)

(ii)  Colour (skin, eye, hair, coat of animals, scales and feathers.

(iii)  Fingerprints

b.  Physiological variation

(i)  Ability to roll tongue

(ii)  Ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC)

(iii)  Blood groups

c.  Application of discontinuous variation in crime detection, blood transfusion and determination of paternity.

Heredity

a)  Inheritance of characters in organisms;

i)  Heritable and non-heritable characters.

b) Chromosomes – the basis of  heredity;

(i)  Structure

(ii)  Process of transmission of hereditary characters from parents to offspring.

c)  Probability in genetics and sex determination.

a)  Application of the principles of  heredity in:

i)  Agriculture

(ii)  Medicine

Candidates should be able to:

i. Differentiate between continuous and discontinuous variations with examples.

ii.  relate the role of environmental conditions, habitat and the genetic constitution to variation.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  measure heights and weight of pupils of the same age group;

ii)  plot graphs of the frequency distribution of the heights and weights.

Candidates should be able to:

i) Observe and record various colour patterns in some plants and mammals.

Candidates should be able to:

i) Apply the classification of fingerprints in identity detection.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  identify some specific examples of physiological variation among the human population.

ii)  categorize people according to their physiological variation.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  apply the knowledge of blood groups in blood transfusion and determination of paternity. ii) use discontinuous variation in crime detection.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Determine heritable and non-heritable characters with examples.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Illustrate the simple structure of DNA

Candidates should be able to:

i.  illustrate segregation of genes at meiosis and recombination of genes at fertilization to account for the process of transmission of characters from parents to offspring.

Candidates should be able to:

i) deduce that the segregation of genes occurs during gamete formation and that the recombination of genes at fertilization is random in nature.

Candidates should be able to:

i. Analyze data on cross-breeding experiments.

ii.  apply the principles of heredity in the production of new varieties of crops and livestock through cross-breeding.

iii. deduce the advantages and disadvantages of out-breeding and in-breeding.

iv. analyze elementarily the contentious issues of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and gene therapy and biosafety.

Candidates should be able to:

i)  apply the knowledge of heredity in marriage counselling with particular reference to blood grouping, sickle-cell anaemia and the Rhesus factors.

ii)  examine the significance of using recombinant DNA materials in the production of important medical products such as insulin, interferon and enzymes.

b. Sex–linked characters e.g. baldness, haemophilia, colour blindness, etc.

i) identify characters that are sex-linked.

E: EVOLUTION

TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES

1. Theories of evolution Candidates should be able to:

a) Lamarck’s theory i.) relates organic evolution as the sum total of all adaptive

b) Darwin’s theory changes that have taken place over a long period of time

c) organic theory resulting in the diversity of forms, structures and functions among organisms.

ii.) Examine the contributions of  Lamarck and Darwin to the theory of evolution.

iii.) Know evidence in support of organic evolution

2. Evidence of evolution Candidates should be able to:

i.) provide evidence for evolution such as fossil records, comparative anatomy, physiology and embryology.

ii.) Trace evolutionary trends in plants and animals.

iii.) Provide evidence for modern evolutionary theories such as genetic studies and the role of mutation.

The general layout of the mammalian skeleton and the various kinds of joints should also be familiar to candidates. The individual bones listed in the content column should be able to be recognized, drawn, labelled, and described in terms of their functions.

It won’t be necessary to know the exact structure of the skull. It won’t even be necessary to examine the histological makeup of the bones and cartilage. Candidate explanations of how these tasks are carried out should be clear.

To illustrate the various functions of the skeleton, one should consider how the skeleton and muscles interact when moving. The study should be done on the various kinds of supporting tissues, such as xylem (wood) sclerenchyma, collenchyma, and turgid parenchyma.