§-Human Biology Q&A
WA · SCSA← Human Biology
Human Biology Q&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 diabetes
Explain how stimulus-response models and negative feedback maintain a stable internal environment within tolerance limits
Explain how immunisation produces artificial active immunity, how herd immunity protects a population, and how antibiotic use and resistance affect the control of infectious disease
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 homeostasis
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 disease
Describe the lines of defence against pathogens, including non-specific defences and the specific immune response with B and T lymphocytes
Explain how blood glucose concentration is regulated by negative feedback, including the roles of the pancreas, insulin and glucagon and the liver
Explain how body fluid composition is regulated, including the role of the kidney and nephron, antidiuretic hormone and aldosterone in osmoregulation by negative feedback
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 gain
Describe how endocrine glands secrete hormones that regulate target cells, using thermoregulation and blood glucose regulation as examples
Explain the resting membrane potential, the generation and propagation of the action potential, the all-or-none principle, the refractory period and saltatory conduction
Describe the structure and function of neurons, the transmission of nerve impulses, synaptic transmission and the reflex arc in homeostatic control
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 variation
Evaluate the types of evidence for human evolution, including fossils, comparative anatomy, biochemistry and DNA
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 population
Describe the major trends in hominin evolution, including bipedalism, brain size and tool use, with reference to key genera
Explain natural selection as a mechanism of evolution and describe directional, stabilising and disruptive selection with reference to their effects on a population
Explain patterns of human variation, including multiple alleles, polygenic inheritance and sex linkage, and distinguish continuous from discontinuous variation
Explain how natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift and mutation change allele frequencies in populations over time
Describe the characteristics that define primates and the classification of humans, and explain how shared primate features indicate common ancestry
Explain the genetic and environmental sources of variation within human populations, including mutation, meiosis and random fertilisation
Explain the process of speciation, including allopatric and sympatric speciation and the reproductive isolating mechanisms that maintain separate species
Explain the Out of Africa hypothesis for the spread of modern humans, compare it with the multiregional hypothesis, and evaluate the supporting evidence