Summarized Scheme of Work (Term 1 Science)

Week Topic
1 Biology: Inheritance and Selection – 9A
Family Traits
Family Health
Types of variation
Causes of variation
Selective breeding
4 Biology: Fit and healthy – 9B
Being fit and healthy
Smoking
Diet, alcohol and drugs
Maintaining fitness
7 Biology: Plants and Photosynthesis – 9C
What is photosynthesis
Leaves and glucose
Roots and water
10 Biology: Plants for Food – 9D
Plants as food
Fertilizers and competition
Inheritance & Selection

Learning Objectives;
Definition of family traits and examples of family traits
Definition of Family Health, importance of family health
Types of variation
Causes of variation
Selective breeding
 Inheritance and Selection
Family Traits
FAMILY TRAITS (SKIN COLOUR, HEIGHT, ALBINISM, ETC.)
DEFINITION OF GENETICS
Genetics is the scientific study of heredity and variation in living things.
The transfer of materials which lead to heredity and variation occurs during reproduction in living things.
Heredity is a branch of genetics which studies how children or offspring take after their parents.
Family traits can be defined as transmittable characteristics which are passed from parents to offspring or
children or progeny from one generation to another through reproduction. You may have your hair color as
your mother or your eye color as your father.
► We all have inherited traits that we share in common with others. Families share many traits in
common because parents pass down inherited traits to their children. Yet, every person has a
combination of traits that is unique to them. However, the modern science of genetics which seeks
to understand the process of inheritance only began with the work of Gregor Mendel in the
mid-19th century. Although he did not know the physical basis for heredity, Mendel observed that
organisms inherit traits via discrete units of inheritance which are now genes. Gregor Mendel is the
father of Genetics because his work on genetics formed the foundation for quantitative and
scientific study of genetics.
Fused ear lobe
Free ear lobe
EXAMPLES OF FAMILY TRAITS

► Colour of skin ( Complexion )

► Height ( Tallness or Shortness )
► Colour of eyes
► Colour of hair
► Intelligence
► Shape of nose
► Blood group
► Albinism
DNA Strands
► Nucleic acids are complex molecules produced by living cells and are essential to
all living organisms. These acids govern the body’s development and specific
characteristics by providing hereditary information and triggering the production
of proteins within the body. This computer-generated model shows two strands of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the double-helical structure typical of this class
of nucleic acids.
► It should be noted that the transmission of traits from parents to offspring or
children (heredity) only cannot determine the manifestation of the traits. The
environment plays its own part as heredity is the nature while the environment is
the nurture.
Human Male Karyotype
► This karyotype of a human male shows the 23 pairs of chromosomes that are
typically present in human cells. The chromosome pairs labeled 1 through 22 are
called autosomes, and have a similar appearance in males and females. The 23rd
pair, shown on the bottom right, represents the sex chromosomes. Females have
two identical-looking sex chromosomes that are both labeled X, whereas males
have a single X chromosome and a smaller chromosome labeled Y.
MEANING OF DOMINANT AND
RECESSIVE TRAITS
► A dominant trait can be defined as a trait that is expressed in an offspring when
two individuals with contracting traits or characteristics are crossed. Dominant
traits are controlled by dominant genes.(RR, TT)
► A recessive trait can be defined as the traits from parents which do not produce
any effects in the presence of dominant traits. Recessive traits are controlled by
recessive genes. (rr, tt)
► Both parents have to be carriers of a recessive trait in order for a child to express
that trait. If both parents are carriers, there is a 25% chance with each child to
show the recessive trait.
► The genes are the basic unit of heredity. They determine the nature of inherited
characteristics or traits.
IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY TRAITS

► The importance of family traits cannot be over-emphasized. It is possible to predict traits

to be expected in the offspring before marriage is conducted between two individuals.
Family traits can be used to:
► Determine the intelligence of individuals
► Determine or detect certain diseases that run in the family. An example is sickle cell
anemia
► Determine in particular who does a child resemble in the family
► Determine the blood group of an individual which could be A, B, AB or O.
► Trace the family genealogy
► The family genealogy or family tree or pedigrees are lines of generation of parents and
offspring which trace the descendants of a man and his wife. A man with more than one
wife will have one family tree for each of his wife.
The Family Tree
► EVALUATION
► State five importance of family traits
► Explain family genealogy
► Define the word family traits
► List five family traits
► The scientific study of heredity and variation is called ……………..
► Traits are also called ……………
► ………….. is also referred to as progeny
► Who is the father of genetics?
Introduction

► Family Health
► Types of diseases and mode of transfer.
► Disease vectors
► Life of mosquito and other vectors.
► Control measures
► STDS, HIV/AIDS
► Consequences and prevention
 KS3 Biology

9A Inheritance and
Selection

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Contents
9A Inheritance and Selection

Types of variation

Causes of variation

Variation investigation

Selective breeding

Summary activities
Family characteristics
What characteristics have been passed on in this family?
Inherited characteristics
The members of this family tree are related and so
they share certain similar characteristics.

Shared family characteristics are inherited from parents.

So why don’t all family members look exactly alike?
Different types of variation
People are similar, but not identical, to their parents or each
other. The differences in a species are called variation.

Variation can come about for two reasons. What are they?
1. People inherit characteristics from both of their parents
and each person gets a different combination of features.
This is called inherited variation.
2. Other characteristics are affected a person’ surroundings.
This called environmental variation.
Which features are environmental and which are inherited?
Variation – environmental or inherited?
Contents
9A Inheritance and Selection

Types of variation

Causes of variation

Variation investigation

Selective breeding

Summary activities
Inherited characteristics
Deciding whether a characteristic only?
is inherited or
environmental can cause a lot of discussion.

Scientists have now decided that only four features are

truly inherited and not affected by the environment at all.
What are the four truly inherited characteristics?
natural eye colour
natural hair colour
blood group
some inherited diseases
From a cell to DNA
Fertilization and cell division – animation
Identical twins – animation
Non-identical twins – animation
What causes other features?
Is nose shape an inherited or
environmental characteristic?
The shape of this person’s nose
is just like their mum’s nose.
However their nose was broken
and ended up with a kink in it.
So, the initial nose shape was
inherited, but over time it has
been affected by the environment.

Apart from eye colour, natural hair colour, blood group and
some inherited diseases, all other features are caused by a
mixture of inheritance and environmental factors.
What environmental factor might affect skin colour?
Variation summary
Variation in humans can be due to inherited factors,
environmental factors or a combination of both factors:
Inherited variation
When humans reproduce via sexual reproduction, the
nuclei of the male sex cell and the female sex cell fuse.
This cannot happen the same way twice, which makes each
individual unique.

Environmental variation
Some features are due to the conditions in a person’s
surroundings. For example, accent is just affected by
environment but skin colour is due to both inherited and
environmental factors.
Contents
9A Inheritance and Selection

Types of variation

Causes of variation

Variation investigation

Selective breeding

Summary activities
 Variation investigation – beefsteak tomatoes
Eric bought 50 beefsteak tomatoes for his restaurant.
The mass of each tomato was measured (in grams) and
the results are given in the following table.
 Variation investigation – beefsteak tomatoes
The masses of the beefsteak tomatoes can be made into a
frequency graph by counting how many tomatoes weigh
between 78 g and 82 g, 82 g and 96 g and so on.
Distribution of Mass of Beefsteak Tomatoes

frequenc
y

mass (g)
What does this graph show?
 Variation investigation – plum tomatoes
Eric also bought 50 plum tomatoes from the local farm,
which were also weighed. The masses (in grams) of this
second type of tomatoes are listed in the table below:
 Variation investigation – plum tomatoes
The masses of the plum tomatoes can be displayed in a
frequency graph by counting how many tomatoes weigh
between 40 g and 44 g, 44 g and 48 g and so on.
Distribution of Mass of Plum Tomatoes

frequenc
y

mass (g)
What does this graph show?
 Variation investigation – comparing results
Compare the frequency graphs for the masses of the
beefsteak and plum tomatoes.

Distribution of Mass Distribution of Mass

of Beefsteak Tomatoes of Plum Tomatoes
frequenc

frequenc
y

y
mass (g) mass (g)

● Are there any differences between the two sets of results?

 Variation investigation – analyzing results
Other questions to consider when comparing
the frequency graphs for the masses of the
beefsteak and plum tomatoes.

● What can you say about the variation of mass within each
species of tomato and the variation between the two sets
of results?
● Are there any other measurements of the tomatoes that can
be easily recorded and would show a similar set of results
to the measurements of mass?

● Some quantities cannot be measured immediately but are

important to those who grow and those who buy a crop of
tomatoes, e.g. disease resistance and time taken to ripen.
Can you think of any more quantities like this?
Contents
9A Inheritance and Selection

Types of variation

Causes of variation

Variation investigation

Selective breeding

Summary activities
What is selective breeding?
Selective breeding is a process used to produce
different breeds of animals or varieties of plants that
have useful characteristics.
Farmers can choose individual
cows to mate in order to produce
a generation of cows that will
yield more milk.

Apple growers want to produce a type of

apple that is tasty and resistant to disease.
This can be done by crossing a variety of
apple known for taste with another variety
that shows strong resistance to disease.
 Selective breeding – true or
false?
Contents
9A Inheritance and Selection

Types of variation

Causes of variation

Variation investigation

Selective breeding

Summary activities
 Glossary
● characteristics – The features of a living thing.
● environmental variation – Differences in
characteristics caused by surroundings or living conditions.
● inherited variation – Differences in characteristics
that are passed on from parents to offspring.
● natural selection – Passing on inherited characteristics
that make living things best adapted for survival.
● selective breeding – Producing specific offspring
that have useful characteristics of both parents.
● variation – The differences in characteristics between
living things.
Multiple-choice quiz
 KS3 Biology

9B Fit and
Healthy
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Contents
9B Fit and Healthy

Being fit and healthy

Smoking

Diet, alcohol and drugs

Maintaining fitness

Summary activities
Are you fit and healthy?
What does it means if someone is fit and healthy?

Being fit and healthy can

mean different things to
different people.

It can be defined as the

ability of a body to cope
with all the demands of
its lifestyle.

Fitness is made up of four

factors. What are they?
Are you fit and healthy?
Fitness is made up of four factors – “the four s’s”:

fitness

suppleness strength speed stamina

What parts of the body are involved in each fitness factor?

Being fitandand
Fitness healthhealthy
generally depend on
how well the body’s systems are working:
⬤ respiratory system;
⬤ digestive system;
⬤ circulatory system and blood;
⬤ skeletal system and joints.

Athletes follow strict fitness regimes to

maintain these important systems and
keep their bodies fit.

How do the body’s systems get the energy they

need to work properly?
 The utilization of energy and
The body’s cells carry out respiration to provide the body’s
respiration
systems with the energy needed to work properly.

Glucose and oxygen react in the body’s cells to release energy

by the following chemical reaction:

glucose carbon ener

oxygen dioxide water
gy

Which body systems are involved in providing the reactants

involved in respiration?

Which body system is involved in transporting the reactants

and products of respiration around the body?
The utilization of energy
Measuring fitness
In a fit person, the normal heart rate and
normal breathing rate are low.
To measure your heart rate you can place
two fingers on your wrist and count the
number of beats per minute. Ideally this
should be between 60 and 90 beats per
minute.

During exercise the heart rate increases. After exercise, the heart
rate returns back to normal.
The time it takes for the heart rate to return to normal is called the
recovery time and is a useful indicator of fitness.
The fitter a person is, the faster their recovery time. Why?
Measuring fitness
Fitness can be measured by calculating recovery times after a
few simple exercise tests:
Running on the spot.
Stepping on and off a step or chair.
Pressing a set of bathroom scales with
arms raised.

For each test:

● measure the heart rate of the person taking the exercise
before and after the activity;
● measure the heart rate at regular intervals until it returns
to normal;
● work out how long it took for the person’s heart rate
to return to normal after completing the exercise.
Contents
9B Fit and Healthy

Being fit and healthy

Smoking

Diet, alcohol and drugs

Maintaining fitness

Summary activities
 The respiratory system and
Why is a respiratory system that works
health
properly essential for good health?

The respiratory system provides the

body with the oxygen it needs for
respiration.
The lungs are delicate, spongy
organs that deal with 12,000 litres of
air each day.

Smoking is a very dangerous habit that has serious effects on the

lungs and respiratory system.
How does smoking damage health and fitness?
Cigarette smoke experiment
Harmful chemicals in cigarettes
How does smoking affect the lungs?
Which picture shows the healthy lungs of a non-smoker and which
show the unhealthy lungs of a smoker?

healthy lungs smoker’s lungs

Not a difficult question to answer but some people still think
that smoking is cool!
How does smoking affect health?
How will these chemicals be harmful to the body’s systems?

● Carbon monoxide – A poisonous gas that reduces the

around of oxygen that red blood cells carry around the body.

● Tar – A brown, sticky substance that consists of tiny particles

and is formed when tobacco smoke condenses. It is
deposited in the lungs and coats the surface of the alveoli.

● Nicotine – An addictive drug that affects the central

nervous system. It increases the heart rate and narrows
the blood vessels, causing high blood pressure.

Smoking affects the respiratory and circulatory systems

but has many other effects on the body. What other health
problems and diseases are related to this habit?
How does smoking affect health?
dental hygiene lung cancer
problems asthma heart disease
impaired
facial wrinkles immune system cervical cancer

emphysema kidney cancer

Effects of smoking on
mouth, lip and health
throat cancer leukaemia

pancreatic cancer bronchitis sperm abnormalities

and impotence
testicular cancer osteoporosis
stomach cancer
liver cancer menstrual bladder cancer
problems
Scary smoking
Smoking statistics!
doesn’t just make you unfit and unhealthy, it kills.

● In the UK, around 114,000 smokers die every year as a

result of their habit – that’s the same as 13 people per hour!

● Smoking kills around five times more people in the UK than

road traffic accidents, other accidents, poisoning and
overdose, alcoholic liver disease, murder and
manslaughter, suicide and HIV infection all put together!

● About half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually

be killed by their habit!
With such scary statistics about smoking, what can be done
to help people give up this harmful habit?
Smoking ban
Passive smoking has health implications for
people who do not smoke.
● People living with a smoker are
25% more likely to get lung cancer.
● Every year, 17,000 children are
admitted to hospital due to inhaling
smoke from those around them.

Due to the serious effects of smoking on smokers and

non-smokers, the government have proposed a ban in every cafe,
restaurant and pub that sells food in England.

Will everyone have the same response to this proposal to

protect public health?
Smoking bans around the world
Smoking is banned in many public places around the world…

Norway
New York South Korea
Romania
California Ireland
Iran Tokyo
Boston France
Italy Pakistan
Greece
Turkey Thailand
Uganda
Tanzania
Australia
South Africa
Smoking ban opinions
Smoking – true or false?
Contents
9B Fit and Healthy

Being fit and healthy

Smoking

Diet, alcohol and drugs

Maintaining fitness

Summary activities
A balanced diet
Diet is the usual food and drink that each person consumes and is a
very important part of health.
A balanced diet means eating the right types of food in the right
amounts so that the body gets the nutrients it needs.
What are the seven nutrients needed in a balanced diet?
● carbohydrates
● proteins
● fats
● vitamins
● minerals
● water
● fibre
Why are these nutrients needed and what foods contain them?
Nutrients in a balanced diet
Food groups in a balanced diet
Eating too little or too much
How can eating too little or too much affect health?

Eating too little means that the body doesn’t enough nutrients.
Deficiency diseases, like anaemia or scurvy, can occur if specific
nutrients are missing.

Eating too much means that the body consumes more

energy than it uses and
so the excess starts to build up.
People who are very overweight for their
height are said to be obese. Currently,
15%of 15 year olds are obese.
Obesity is a serious health problem as it affects the heart,
blood pressure and can lead to joint problems.
What’s the missing nutrient?
How does alcohol affect health?
Alcohol is a recreational drug that has
short term and long term effects on the
body.
Alcohol is a depressant that works by
slowing down the nervous system and
relaxing the brain.
Alcohol can reach the brain in just one
minute. Too much alcohol can damage
the brain!
The liver breaks down alcohol to remove
this toxic drug from the body. Too much
alcohol can damage the liver leading to
cirrhosis or cancer!
Alcohol advice
Alcohol is an addictive drug, which can have serious
consequences. It kills nearly as many people as smoking.
It is recommended that men should drink no more than
21 units a week (which is the same as 10 pints of lager):

and women 14 units (which is the same as 7 alcopops):

The effects of alcohol
What isisaanydrug?
A drug substance
that changes the way the
body or mind works.

How many different types of drug

can you name?

Paracetamol, alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and ecstasy are all

examples of substances that can be called drugs.

Some drugs are beneficial, like asthma drugs, but others like
alcohol and nicotine in cigarettes can cause harm.
Drugs can be categorized into over-the-counter drugs,
prescription drugs, recreational drugs and illegal drugs.
Different types of drug
Contents
9B Fit and Healthy

Being fit and healthy

Smoking

Diet, alcohol and drugs

Maintaining fitness

Summary activities
Maintaining fitness
Fitness can be maintained by:
1. eating a balanced diet;
2. avoiding excessive alcohol;
3. not smoking;
4. getting regular exercise.

Exercise can actually be hazardous if done inappropriately:

● lifting weights which are far too heavy;
● prolonged running on hard surfaces without appropriate
shoes.
How can poor exercise cause injury to muscles and joints?
Different types of joints
Contents
9B Fit and Healthy

Being fit and healthy

Smoking

Diet, alcohol and drugs

Maintaining fitness

Summary activities
Glossary
● alcohol – An addictive drug that acts a depressant and affects the
brain and the liver.

● balanced diet – Eating the right types of food in the right amounts
so that the body gets the nutrients it needs.
● carbon monoxide – A poisonous gas in cigarette smoke that
reduces the amount of oxygen in blood.

● drug – A substance that changes how the body works.

● fitness – Good health or physical condition, especially as the result
of exercise and proper nutrition.

● nicotine – A poisonous, addictive drug in cigarettes that affects the

central nervous system and heart rate .

● tar – A brown, sticky chemical produced by tobacco when it burns

that coats the surface of the lungs.
Multiple-choice quiz
 KS3 Biology

9C Plants and
Photosynthesis
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Contents
9C Plants and Photosynthesis

What is photosynthesis?

Leaves and glucose

Roots and water

Summary activities
How do plants grow?
Many years ago people thought
that plants ate soil and that made
them grow.

Think about it, if that really

happened then there wouldn’t be
any soil left!

Plants actually grow by making

their own food, not by eating
soil!

So where does the stuff that

plants are made of come from?
How do plants make their own food?
One of the raw materials that plants need to make food
does come from the soil, the other comes from the air.
What are these two raw materials called?

carbon dioxide
(from the air)

water
(from the soil)
Plants use carbon dioxide and water to make their own food
in a chemical reaction. What is the name of this reaction?
How do plants make their own food?
Plants make their food from carbon dioxide and water in a
chemical reaction called...
photosynthesis.

carbon dioxide
(from the air) glucose
oxygen
water
(from the soil)

The food made by photosynthesis is the sugar glucose.

Oxygen gas is also made as a by-product of photosynthesis.
How do plants grow?
Plants need energy for photosynthesis to take place.
Where does this energy come from?

light energy

carbon dioxide
(from the air) glucose
oxygen
water
(from the soil)

The energy for photosynthesis comes from the Sun.

Where in a plant does photosynthesis take place?
How do plants grow?
Plant cells in the upper surface of leaves have chloroplasts
which contain the green pigment called chlorophyll.

light energy

carbon dioxide chlorophyll

(from the air) glucose
oxygen
water
(from the soil)

It is chlorophyll that absorbs light energy from the Sun

to make photosynthesis happen.
Photosynthesis summary
Plants make their own food by the process of photosynthesis.
In this chemical reaction, chlorophyll in plant cells absorbs light
energy to change carbon dioxide and water into glucose and
the by-product oxygen.
What is the word equation for photosynthesis?
light
energy
carbon glucos oxyge
dioxid water
e e n
chlorophyl
l
This equation can be read as:
“carbon dioxide and water, in the presence of light
energy
and chlorophyll, produces glucose and oxygen”.
 What is needed for
photosynthesis?
 Photosynthesis: word equation
activity
Contents
9C Plants and Photosynthesis

What is photosynthesis?

Leaves and glucose

Roots and water

Summary activities
How are leaves adapted?
Leaves are small ‘factories’
that produce food for plants
by photosynthesis.

Leaves are adapted so that

photosynthesis can take place.

Plants need carbon dioxide,

water, sunlight and chlorophyll
to carry out this important
process.

What features of leaves

make them suitable for
photosynthesis?
How are leaves adapted?
The features of leaf that make it
suitable for photosynthesis are:
● A leaf is broad and flat to
capture lots of sunlight.
● Veins carry water to the leaf
and take food from the leaf
to the rest of the plant. Veins
also help to support the leaf.
● Certain plant cells contain
chloroplasts with chlorophyll.
● Small holes called stomata in
the underside of a leaf allow
gases in and out.
Inside a leaf
What
Whatdo plants
do plants with use glucose
the glucose for?
made by photosynthesis?

Some glucose is used straight away in

respiration. Plants also carry out respiration to
release the energy they need for life processes.

Some glucose is converted into starch and

other
glucose substances for storage. These stores of energy
can be used later when the plant needs them.

Some glucose is used to make new chemicals

such as proteins, sugars and fats that the plant
also needs to function properly.
Testing leaves for starch
Contents
9C Plants and Photosynthesis

What is photosynthesis?

Leaves and glucose

Roots and water

Summary activities
How does water enter a plant?
Water is one of the raw materials
needed for plants to carry out
photosynthesis.

How does water enter a plant?

Water from the soil enters a plant

through the roots.

You can’t normally see them but

roots are a very important part of a plant.

Why are roots branched and spread out through the soil?
How are roots adapted?
Roots are branched and spread out
for two reasons:

● to absorb water (and mineral salts)

from a large amount of soil.

● to anchor the plant in the soil.

Taking a closer look, roots are

covered in root hair cells.

Root hair cells have thin walls

and a large surface area to help water
them absorb lots of water.

How are roots adapted to their job?

Why do plants need water?
Water is needed by plants for photosynthesis
but this important liquid is also used in many
other ways:

● to provide dissolved minerals that keep the plants healthy;

● to transport substances around the plant;

● to keep the plant rigid and upright;

● to keep the plant cool;

● to allow other chemical reactions to occur in plant cells.

What happens to a plant if it does not get enough water?

Contents
9C Plants and Photosynthesis

What is photosynthesis?

Leaves and glucose

Roots and water

Summary activities
Glossary
● chlorophyll – The green pigment inside chloroplasts
that plants need for photosynthesis to take place.
● chloroplast – The part of a plant cell where
photosynthesis occurs.
● glucose – The sugar plants make during photosynthesis.
● palisade cell – A type leaf cell with lots of chloroplasts.
● photosynthesis – The process by which plants use
carbon dioxide and water to produce glucose and oxygen
in the presence of light and chlorophyll.
● starch – Extra glucose from photosynthesis is stored as
this substance which can be tested for with iodine.
● stomata – Small holes in the lower surface of a leaf
that allow gases in and out.
● xylem – Tubes in veins that carry water around a plant.
Multiple-choice quiz
 KS3 Biology

9D Plants for Food

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2004
Contents
9D Plants for Food

Plants as food

Fertilizers and competition

Pests and pesticides

Summary activities
Humans in food chains
Humans eat many different foods and so are at the top of
many food chains.
What are the food chains for the ingredients in this slice of
pizza?

wheat
(bread) human

cow’s milk
grass (cheese) human

tomato human

pepper human

What do these and all food chains have in common?

Plants as producers
All food chains start with a producer.

Plants are called producers because they produce the food that humans and all other
consumers depend on.
How do plants make their food?
Plants use light energy to carry out photosynthesis:

light energy
carbon
dioxide water glucose oxygen
chlorophyll
The glucose produced by plants is converted into starch for storage or used to make
proteins, fats and other substances.
Which parts of plants can be eaten?
Food from plants
Plants provide food in many different forms – some foods are from the leaf, the stem or the
root of a plant, others are the seed or the fruit of a plant.

Which parts of plants are these foods from?

Which part of a plant?
Contents
9D Plants for Food

Plants as food

Fertilizers and competition

Pests and pesticides

Summary activities
Healthy plant growth
Plants need carbon dioxide and water for photosynthesis
but they also need small amounts of mineral salts for
healthy growth.

Where do plants get mineral salts from?

Mineral salts are dissolved in water in the soil and so plants absorb these nutrients in the
water they take in from the soil.

The three main elements in mineral salts are:

● nitrogen (N) – needed for healthy leaves;
● phosphorus (P) – needed for healthy roots;
● potassium (K) – needed for healthy flowers and fruit.
Fertilizers and plant growth
Plants take in mineral salts from the soil and in time there are less nutrients
available in the soil.

Farmers add chemicals called fertilizers to

soil to make sure that their crops get enough
mineral salts.

Manufactured fertilizers can be expensive.

So why do farmers choose to use them?

Fertilizers help crops to grow well and so increase the farmer’s crop yield.

What other types of fertilizer are there?

Competition between plants
Organisms that share a habitat have to
compete
with each other for limited living resources.
A weed is any plant that
is growing in the wrong place.
Weeds are a problem for farmers as they
compete
with the crops for resources such as light,
water, living space and mineral salts.

How does competition

affect the growth of crops?
Controlling weeds
Weeds compete with crops for living
resources and this can reduce crop yield.

What can farmers do to control weeds?

One way farmers can control weeds is to
use chemicals called herbicides (or
weedkillers).

Weeds are part of the food web. How might

using herbicides affect other organisms in
the food web?
Contents
9D Plants for Food

Plants as food

Fertilizers and competition

Pests and pesticides

Summary activities
Pests and
Pests are plant
animals that eat andgrowth
be a problem for farmers.
damage crops and so can

Pests reduce crop yield and compete with humans for food.
What animals might be considered as pests by farmers?

● Caterpillars are pests specific to

a type of plant such as cabbages.
● Snails and slugs are pests that
eat the leaves of many plants.
● Other common pests include
insects, birds and mice.

If the number of pests is reduced, what happens to crop yield?

Controlling pests
What can farmers do to control pests?

One method of pest control is the

use of pesticides that kill pests.

Pesticides contain poisonous chemicals called toxins.

Pesticides can kill useful animals as well as the pests that they were meant to kill.
Pests are part of the food web and the toxins in pesticides can affect other organisms in a
food chain or food web.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of pesticides?

Pesticide in a food chain
Introducing a pesticide at the bottom of a food chain can have huge effects on the
organisms above.

Consider the following food chain from a lake:

plant small large grebe

plankton zooplankton fish fish (bird)

A pesticide called DDT was sprayed on the lake to

control mosquito larvae.

DDT is a toxin that does not break down in the

environment and so stays in animals’ bodies if it is eaten.

The plant plankton at the bottom of the food chain

absorbed some of the DDT from the water.
How did this affect the rest of the food chain?
Pesticide
plant
in a food chainsmall large grebe
plankton zooplankton fish fish (bird)

DDT 5 ppm 10 ppm

absorbed

Each zooplankton ate lots of plant plankton and got several doses of DDT. Each
zooplankton contained 5 ppm of DDT.

Each small fish ate many zooplankton and so consumed even more DDT.

How much DDT do you think each small fish contained?

Each small fish contained 10 ppm of DDT.

Pesticide
plant
in a food chainsmall large grebe
plankton zooplankton fish fish (bird)

DDT 5 ppm 10 ppm 250 ppm

absorbed

Each large fish ate several small fish and so consumed even more DDT.

How much DDT do you think each large fish contained?

Each large fish had 250 ppm of DDT in it.

Each grebe ate several large fish therefore getting more than one dose of DDT.

How much DDT do you think each grebe contained?

Pesticide in a food chain
plant small large grebe
plankton zooplankton fish fish (bird)

DDT 5 ppm 10 ppm 250 ppm 1600 ppm

absorbed

Each grebe had the amazing amount of 1600 ppm of DDT

in its tissue which could kill the bird.

In most cases, this amount of toxin made the birds’ eggs

have very thin shells. These eggs broke very easily and so
not many chicks were born alive.

This example is actually based on real events that took place in the USA in the 1950s. It
shows how a toxin can be passed on in a food chain and gets more concentrated at each
step.

This is called bioaccumulation.

 Pesticide in a food chain
DDT lead to the decline many species of birds.

What do these pyramids of numbers show about the effect of spraying the lake with the
toxin DDT on the numbers of organism in a food chain?

before spraying after spraying

grebe (bird)
large fish
small fish
zooplankton
plankton
 Pesticide in a food chain
DDT was considered as a safe pesticide when it was first
used to kill insect pests.

The problem was that DDT does not break down in the
environment and the levels of this toxin that built up in top
carnivores proved to be a major hazard.

Today, many countries, including the UK, have banned the use of DDT to protect the
environment.

Alternative chemicals are now used as pesticides instead of DDT. These new pesticides
break down quickly in the environment .

Why aren’t these new pesticides hazardous to wildlife?

Contents
9D Plants for Food

Plants as food

Fertilizers and competition

Pests and pesticides

Summary activities
Glossary
● competition – The demand by two or more organisms for
limited shared resources, such as nutrients, space or light.
● crop – A plant that is grown to be of use to humans.
● fertilizer – A chemical that is added to soil to provide
plants with the mineral salts needed for healthy growth.
● herbicide – A chemical used to kill weeds.
● pest – An animal that damages crops and competes with
humans for food.
● pesticide – A chemical used to kill pests.
● toxin – A poisonous chemical.
● weed – A plant growing in the wrong place that competes
with a crop.
Multiple-choice quiz