Bio Syllabus

Biology stage 6 Syllabus (Maintaining a balance)

IDENTIFY the role of enzymes in metabolism and DESCRIBE their chemical composition and use a simple MODEL to describe their specificity on substrates.

* Enzymes are biological catalyst which mean they speed up the process of a chemical reaction without being altered itself

* Enzymes control the hundreds of chemical reactions that make up the metabolism of each cell. These reactions are needed to: obtain energy, build new chemicals for growth and repair and make substances needed by other cells.

* Enzymes are proteins and thus are built from amino acids. The chemical structures are similar in all amino acids consisting of an amino group (-NH2) and a carboxyl, or organic acid group (-COOH) Each strand of protein folds into three dimensional shape which is important for explaining the specificity of different enzymes (proteins: large, complex biological chemicals composed of amino acids. Proteins make up much of the structure of cells. Amino acids: the building blocks of life/ proteins

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IDENTIFY the pH as a way of DESCRIBING the acidity of a substance

* pH is an indication of the Hydrogen Ion (H+) concentration which can assist in describing and determining the acidity or alkalinity of a substance.

EXPLAIN why the maintenance of a constant internal environment is important for optimal metabolic efficiency

* A constant internal environment is essential in metabolic efficiency and any disturbance can have serious consequences. If there is a disturbance, such as change in temperature or pH level, that shifts away from the optimum value for an enzyme reaction to occur the enzyme activity can decrease and if the change is great the enzyme can be permanently damaged or denature.

DESCRIBE homeostasis as the process by which organisms maintain a relatively stable internal environment

* Homeostasis involves all the processes needed for an organism to maintain physical and chemical...