Angela Hall

Designing and Implementing a New Advanced Level Biology Course

Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology is a new advanced level biology course, piloted from September 2002 in England with around 1200 students. This paper discusses the reasons for developing a new advanced biology course at this time, the philosophy of the project and how the materials are being written and the specification devised. The aim of the project is to provide an up-to-date course that interests students, is considered appropriate by teachers and other professionals in biology, and takes full advantage of modern developments in biology and in teaching.

Auxins and shoottropisms-a tenuous connection?

The classical Cholodny—Went (C—W) hypothesis is discussed. This explains geo- and phototropic curvature in shoots in terms of a perception phase at the apex with a response at some remote site. The changes in growth rate which cause the curvature are said to be due to gradients of auxin between the two sides of the shoot. It is pointed out that it is often not possible to separate the site of perception from the site of response, thus removing the need for a chemical message. Experiments with half segments of stems show that the lateral transmission of a message is not involved. It is suggested that the measured auxin concentration gradients are not of sufficient magnitude o account for the observed changes in growth rate which occur during tropic curvature. If shoots are supplied with auxin exogenously so as to set up lateral gradients, then the bending which results is not always in the direction which the C-W hypothesis would predict.

Biology in the Twenty First Century: a new curriculum for school science

Over the past two decades, science has become established as a core school subject in schools in England and Wales, taken by all students aged 5 to 16. But increasingly questions have been raised about the suitability for many students of the curriculum they ;:ire required to follow (Murray and Reiss, 2005). From September 2006, schools in England and Wales will begin teaching a new science curriculum to 14-16 year-olds, leading to the General Certificate of School Education (GCSE) qualification. This article describes the background to the science curriculum changes, the pilot Twenty First Century Science, and assesses the likely impact of the changes on students moving to study science at a higher level.