AQA GCSE Biology
Below you'll see GCSE Biology paper 1 video lessons – free to watch. Use them to catch up, revise or learn content.
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Watch the video to see the full planning, revision and practice system which includes full paper 2 resources.
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Cell Biology (Paper 1)
1. Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes ~ 11 mins
This video will help you label eukaryotic cells (plant & animal cells) and prokaryotic cells (bacterial cells). The labels and functions of the sub-cellular structures learned here are very important for later lessons, such as photosynthesis, respiration and protein synthesis.
2. Cell Specialisation ~ 10 mins
This video will help you to explain how the structure of different types of cell relate to their function in a tissue, an organ, an organ system or the whole organism. The cells are: muscle cells, sperm cells & nerve cells in humans and xylem, phloem and root hair cells in plants.
3. Cell Differentiation
A video to explain the importance of cell differentiation to make new cells that make up a new organism. Stem cells in plants are also described.
4. Microscopy
This video is to help you understand how microscopy has developed over time and how electron microscopy has helped us understand sub-cellular structures.
5. Microscopy Calculations
A video to help you describe how to prepare an uncontaminated culture using aseptic technique and explain the steps that need to be taken.
6. Culturing Microorganisms
In this video we deal with the calculations you need to be able to do relating to growing microorganisms, for example estimating population sizes using mean doubling time.
7. Culturing Microorganisms - Calculations
This video explains how to do magnification calculations including rearranging the equation to calculate image size, real object size and magnification.
8. Mitosis and the Cell Cycle
A video to help you understand the three overall stages of the cell cycle and cell division by mitosis.
9. Stem Cells
This video goes through stem cells in embryos, in adults and in the meristems of plants. It also describes therapeutic cell cloning and potential issues with using stem cells in research.
10. Diffusion
In this GCSE Science video, we go through the definition of diffusion, gives examples of where it happens in living things and also explain how different factors affect the rate of diffusion
11. Diffusion II - Exchange Surfaces
A GCSE Science video to explain the need for exchange surfaces and a transport system in multicellular organisms in terms of surface area to volume ratio.
12. Osmosis
This video help you to understand how osmosis works and how water moves between cells based on the concentration of solutions inside and outside of cells.
13. Active Transport
In this video, we go through the definition of active transport and describe how it helps absorb sugars in the small intestine and minerals into plants.
Organisation (Paper 1)
14. The Human Digestive Systems - Enzymes
This video focuses on the structure, role and functioning of enzymes and introduces their role in metabolism and the digestive system.
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15. Digestive System and Digestion
This video looks into the how cells are organised into tissues, organs and organ systems and takes a look at the enzymes of the digestive system.
16. The Heart and Blood Vessels
In this video we look at the structure of the heart and at the double circulation in humans and we do a comparison between arteries, capillaries and veins. Let's get this one under our belt!
17. The Heart and Blood Vessels - Control of Heart Rate
This lesson explains how the heart rate is controlled by a group of cells called the pacemaker. It also goes through artificial pacemakers and how they help with irregular heart beats.
18. Blood
This video gives you a description of the role of the blood and the components that make it up. It also gives you important information of the roles of the different parts of the blood.
19. Coronary Heart Disease
This video describes what we mean by coronary heart disease and what the possible treatments are. After watching this, you should be able to evaluate methods of treatment bearing in mind the benefits and risks associated with the treatment.
20. Health Issues
In this video we look at the relationship between health and disease and we look at and name the different kinds of disease that can possibly interact to cause health issues, for example stents, statins and transplants.
21. Effect of lifestyle on some non-communicable diseases
Explain the effect of lifestyle factors including diet, alcohol and smoking on the incidence of non-communicable diseases at local, national and global levels
22. Cancer
This video links the process of mitosis to uncontrolled cell growth that form tumours that can be benign or malignant (cancerous).
23. Plant Tissues
This video goes through the main plant tissues that you need to know and the way the structures are related to their functions.
24. Plant Organ Systems - Transport
This lesson goes though the way substances are transported through tissues such as xylem and phloem and introduces the role of stomata.
25. Plant Organ Systems - Factors affecting Transpiration
This video goes through the meaning of transpiration and explains the factors that affect transpiration
Infection and Response (Paper 1)
26. Communicable Diseases
This is quite a long video and covers all the communicable diseases you need to know.
27. Human Defence Systems
This lesson goes through the non-specific and specific ways in which the body defends itself against pathogens.
28. Vaccination
This video gives the details of vaccination in terms of how a vaccine works and why it is important to vaccinate as many people in the population as possible.
29. Antibiotics and Painkillers
This lesson describes the role of antibiotics, the dangers if they are not used properly and also the role of painkillers in helping overcome illness.
30. The Discovery and Development of New Drugs
New drugs take a long time to develop. This video goes through all the stages of the development of new drugs that are used as medicines.
31. Monoclonal Antibodies and Uses - Higher Tier
This video for GCSE biology only contains higher tier content and describes the production of monoclonal antibodies using lymphocytes and also gives examples of their uses including pregnancy tests, drug delivery and identification of chemicals.
32. Plant Diseases
This video goes through the various plant diseases you need to know about and includes some higher tier content.
33. Plant Defence Responses
This video describes how plants defend themselves from disease.
Bioenergetics (Paper 1)
34. Photosynthesis and Measuring Rates - Higher Tier
In this video we describe the process of photosynthesis and we look at ways in which we can measure the rate of photosynthesis.
35. Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis - Higher Tier
This video is all about the factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis and how plant growers might use this information to decide the best conditions for the growth of plants.
36. Uses of Glucose from Photosynthesis
This video describes what happens with the glucose made as a result of photosynthesis including the formation of amino acids using glucose and nitrates from soil.
37. Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration
This video describes the process of aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
38. Response to Exercise
This video goes through the response of the body and muscles to exercise and why we need an increased breathing and heart rate.
39. Metabolism
This video explains what metabolism is and gives examples of the kinds of metabolic reactions that happen in plants and animals.