WA · SCSAQ&A
Human BiologyQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every WA Human Biology syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Unit 3: Homeostasis and Disease
- Explain how disease, malfunction of feedback systems and environmental factors disrupt homeostasis, using named examples such as diabetes2Q&A pairs
- Explain how stimulus-response models and negative feedback maintain a stable internal environment within tolerance limits3Q&A pairs
- Explain how immunisation produces artificial active immunity, how herd immunity protects a population, and how antibiotic use and resistance affect the control of infectious disease1Q&A pairs
- Describe the organisation of the nervous system into central and peripheral divisions, and the somatic and autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic) divisions and their roles in homeostasis4Q&A pairs
- Classify pathogens and the diseases they cause, describe modes of transmission, and use epidemiological terms such as incidence, prevalence and reservoir to describe the spread of disease1Q&A pairs
- Describe the lines of defence against pathogens, including non-specific defences and the specific immune response with B and T lymphocytes3Q&A pairs
- Explain how blood glucose concentration is regulated by negative feedback, including the roles of the pancreas, insulin and glucagon and the liver3Q&A pairs
- Explain how body fluid composition is regulated, including the role of the kidney and nephron, antidiuretic hormone and aldosterone in osmoregulation by negative feedback1Q&A pairs
- Explain how the body regulates core temperature by negative feedback, including the role of the hypothalamus, thermoreceptors and the effectors that control heat loss and heat gain1Q&A pairs
- Describe how endocrine glands secrete hormones that regulate target cells, using thermoregulation and blood glucose regulation as examples2Q&A pairs
- Explain the resting membrane potential, the generation and propagation of the action potential, the all-or-none principle, the refractory period and saltatory conduction1Q&A pairs
- Describe the structure and function of neurons, the transmission of nerve impulses, synaptic transmission and the reflex arc in homeostatic control1Q&A pairs
Unit 4: Human Variation and Evolution
- Describe the structure of DNA, the relationship between genes, alleles, genotype and phenotype, and how the genetic code underpins variation1Q&A pairs
- Evaluate the types of evidence for human evolution, including fossils, comparative anatomy, biochemistry and DNA1Q&A pairs
- Explain how genetic drift (including founder and bottleneck effects) and gene flow change allele frequencies, and use the Hardy-Weinberg principle to describe a non-evolving population5Q&A pairs
- Describe the major trends in hominin evolution, including bipedalism, brain size and tool use, with reference to key genera2Q&A pairs
- Explain natural selection as a mechanism of evolution and describe directional, stabilising and disruptive selection with reference to their effects on a population4Q&A pairs
- Explain patterns of human variation, including multiple alleles, polygenic inheritance and sex linkage, and distinguish continuous from discontinuous variation1Q&A pairs
- Explain how natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift and mutation change allele frequencies in populations over time4Q&A pairs
- Describe the characteristics that define primates and the classification of humans, and explain how shared primate features indicate common ancestry3Q&A pairs
- Explain the genetic and environmental sources of variation within human populations, including mutation, meiosis and random fertilisation4Q&A pairs
- Explain the process of speciation, including allopatric and sympatric speciation and the reproductive isolating mechanisms that maintain separate species3Q&A pairs
- Explain the Out of Africa hypothesis for the spread of modern humans, compare it with the multiregional hypothesis, and evaluate the supporting evidence2Q&A pairs