NSWBiology

Module 8: Non-infectious Disease and Disorders

8 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Inquiry Question 2: Do non-infectious diseases cause more deaths than infectious diseases?

Investigate the causes and effects of non-infectious diseases in humans, including but not limited to: genetic diseases, diseases caused by environmental exposure, nutritional diseases and diseases caused by cancer
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on causes of non-infectious disease. Covers genetic, environmental, nutritional, lifestyle and age-related categories with named examples, distinguishing causal mechanisms and risk factors.
9 min answer →
Collect and represent data from secondary sources to evaluate the method used in an example of an epidemiological study, including incidence, prevalence, mortality, and the methods and benefits of epidemiology
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on epidemiology. Defines incidence, prevalence and mortality, compares cohort, case-control and cross-sectional study designs, and applies them to the Doll and Hill lung cancer studies.
10 min answer →
Investigate the causes and effects of named genetic diseases on humans, including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia and Huntington's disease, and analyse pedigrees showing their inheritance
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on genetic disorders. Covers cystic fibrosis (autosomal recessive, CFTR), sickle cell anaemia (autosomal recessive, HBB), Huntington's disease (autosomal dominant, HTT), with pedigree analysis and inheritance patterns.
11 min answer →
Investigate the causes and effects of named nutritional and environmental diseases, including diabetes (type 2), cardiovascular disease and mesothelioma
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on nutritional and environmental disease. Covers type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis) and mesothelioma, with mechanisms, risk factors and burden of disease in Australia.
11 min answer →

Inquiry Question 4: How can technologies be used to assist people who experience disorders?

Inquiry Question 1: How is an organism's internal environment maintained in response to a changing external environment?

Investigate the responses of a named Australian ectothermic and endothermic organism to changes in the ambient temperature, and explain how these responses assist in maintaining homeostasis, including negative feedback, positive feedback, thermoregulation and osmoregulation
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on homeostasis. Covers negative and positive feedback loops, thermoregulation in endotherms and ectotherms, osmoregulation by the kidney, and how the hypothalamus and ADH integrate the response.
10 min answer →

Inquiry Question 3: Why are epidemiological studies used?

Investigate the treatment, management and possible future directions for the cure of non-infectious diseases using an example that has been treated by both pharmaceutical and medical interventions, including education programs and screening
A focused answer to the HSC Biology Module 8 dot point on disease prevention. Covers education campaigns, screening programmes (mole-watch, bowel screening, BreastScreen, cervical screening) and public-health interventions such as plain packaging and immunisation.
9 min answer →