§-Human Biology syllabus
WA · SCSA← Human Biology
Human Biology syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the WA Human Biology syllabus, with a focused answer for each. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions and links to related points.
Unit 3: Homeostasis and Disease
Module overview →What happens to the body when homeostatic control mechanisms fail or are overwhelmed?
Explain how disease, malfunction of feedback systems and environmental factors disrupt homeostasis, using named examples such as diabetes
How does the body keep its internal environment stable when conditions outside keep changing?
Explain how stimulus-response models and negative feedback maintain a stable internal environment within tolerance limits
How do vaccines protect a whole community, and why are antibiotics losing their power against bacteria?
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
How is the nervous system divided up so that some responses are voluntary and others run automatically?
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
What are the different types of disease-causing agents and how do they spread between people?
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
How does the body defend itself against pathogens and remember the ones it has already met?
Describe the lines of defence against pathogens, including non-specific defences and the specific immune response with B and T lymphocytes
How does the body keep blood glucose steady between meals and after eating a sugary snack?
Explain how blood glucose concentration is regulated by negative feedback, including the roles of the pancreas, insulin and glucagon and the liver
How do the kidneys keep the water and salt content of the blood constant whether you drink a litre of water or sweat it out?
Explain how body fluid composition is regulated, including the role of the kidney and nephron, antidiuretic hormone and aldosterone in osmoregulation by negative feedback
How does the body hold its core temperature near 37 degrees whether it is freezing or sweltering outside?
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
How do hormones coordinate slow, widespread and sustained responses across the body?
Describe how endocrine glands secrete hormones that regulate target cells, using thermoregulation and blood glucose regulation as examples
How does a nerve cell turn a stimulus into an electrical signal that travels the length of an axon?
Explain the resting membrane potential, the generation and propagation of the action potential, the all-or-none principle, the refractory period and saltatory conduction
How does the nervous system detect change and respond within a fraction of a second?
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
Module overview →How is the information that makes us different from one another stored and read in our DNA?
Describe the structure of DNA, the relationship between genes, alleles, genotype and phenotype, and how the genetic code underpins variation
What different lines of evidence show that humans share ancestry with other species?
Evaluate the types of evidence for human evolution, including fossils, comparative anatomy, biochemistry and DNA
How can chance alone change a population's genetics, and what does a population with no evolution look like?
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
What anatomical trends mark the evolution of modern humans from earlier hominins?
Describe the major trends in hominin evolution, including bipedalism, brain size and tool use, with reference to key genera
How does selection pressure reshape a population, and why does it sometimes favour the extremes and sometimes the average?
Explain natural selection as a mechanism of evolution and describe directional, stabilising and disruptive selection with reference to their effects on a population
Why do some traits come in clear-cut categories while others vary smoothly across a whole range?
Explain patterns of human variation, including multiple alleles, polygenic inheritance and sex linkage, and distinguish continuous from discontinuous variation
How do the allele frequencies of a whole population change from one generation to the next?
Explain how natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift and mutation change allele frequencies in populations over time
What features do humans share with other primates, and where do we sit in the classification of life?
Describe the characteristics that define primates and the classification of humans, and explain how shared primate features indicate common ancestry
Where does the variation between individual humans actually come from?
Explain the genetic and environmental sources of variation within human populations, including mutation, meiosis and random fertilisation
How does one species split into two that can no longer interbreed?
Explain the process of speciation, including allopatric and sympatric speciation and the reproductive isolating mechanisms that maintain separate species
How did modern humans come to populate the whole planet, and what does the evidence say about where we started?
Explain the Out of Africa hypothesis for the spread of modern humans, compare it with the multiregional hypothesis, and evaluate the supporting evidence