Organisations for GCSE Biology revision tips: prep like a pro
Written by: Cara Head
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8 minutes
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Organisation in Biology refers to how the cells and tissues that comprise multicellular organisms are organised into specialised groups and then can be extended to how the organism fits into its environment. This is the basis of the hierarchical structure in living organisms where:
Similar cells working together are grouped to form tissues
Tissues carrying out one function are groups to form organs
Organs working together for one function form organ systems
The organ systems working together form the whole organism
The organism within a population of the same species of organism
The populations of different species within a community
The community of organisms interacting with their environment as part of an ecosystem
This is a key topic within GCSE Biology. It lays the foundations for more challenging topics such as understanding the digestive system or the circulatory system. On the surface, this seems a simple topic, but over the years of teaching GSCE Biology, I have seen many students get stuck on the topic of biological organisation. Common challenges include learning and applying the definitions to exam questions, or over-summarising answers. I will review some key details required for your understanding and how to apply these to the GCSE Biology exams. I will also provide effective revision tips for mastering biological organisation.
Levels of biological organisation
Biological organisation provides a framework to understand the hierarchy of the natural world. Starting with the simplest biological structure, a cell, the biological organisation increases in complexity leading to tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms, it then continues into populations, communities and ecosystems.
It is vital to understand a definition of each of these levels to ensure your understanding of the GCSE Biology course.
Cells: the basic unit of life
Tissues: groups of cells that work together for the same function
Organs: multiple tissues working together for the same function
Organ systems: groups of organs that work together
Organisms: whole individual living things
Populations: groups of the same species living within one geographical area
Communities: all the populations of one geographical area
Ecosystems: the interactions between organisms and their environment
The following two images show the hierarchy of organisation levels with two animal species, a deer and a fish:
Fig. 1 Levels of organisation within an organism
Fig. 2 Levels of organisation outside of the organism
The following table summarises examples of each level further:
Level of organisation | Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
Cell | Muscle cell | Rod and cone cell (in the eye) | Palisade cell (within a plant |
Tissue | Muscle tissue | Retina | Palisade mesophyll |
Organ | Bladder | Eye | Leaf |
Organ system | Excretory system | Visual system | Shoot system |
Organism | Human | Shark | Pine tree |
Population | The human population of a town | The shark population off the coast of Florida, USA | The pine tree population within a forest |
Community | Populations of different species within a town (including humans, cats, dogs, blackbirds, and oak trees) | Populations of sharks, turtles, stingrays, fish, stingrays etc off the coast of Florida, USA | Populations of pine trees, oak trees, birch trees, holly trees etc within a forest |
Ecosystem | The interactions between the community and the environment (such as weather, air quality, and water pollution) | The interactions between the community and the environment such as water temperature, oxygen levels, sunlight | The interactions between the community and the environment such as temperature, rainfall, carbon dioxide levels, pH levels of soil |
Mastering organisation for revision
Revision is personal to the individual: What works for your classmate or a sibling won’t necessarily work for you. You need to try out a few different strategies first to see how each feels for you and to see how best the learning is embedded in your brain. I will discuss a few revision strategies below and then it is up to you to pick out which ones you’d like to try; you should get a feel pretty quickly for what your brain likes.
Remember that simply highlighting your class notes or reading through notes is not a great way to revise. This is passive learning and the brain does not tend to recall information learnt in this way. Active learning is a much better approach; this means you need to be doing something with the information you are trying to revise.
Flashcards | These are a set of physical or digital cards that contain summarised information such as keyword definitions, short questions and answers or labelled diagrams. You can either make a set yourself (but avoid copying out large chunks of text from a textbook or revision note) or use premade ones. The key is to keep the information on the flashcard concise and easy to recall. Examples to include would be definitions for each of the levels of hierarchy mentioned above with an example for each |
|---|---|
Make it interesting | The brain remembers information better when we create something with meaning. If you write out some bullet points on a scrappy piece of paper just to “get it done” then your brain will not engage with this. Taking some time to think about how you present the information and making it visually appealing or interesting will help your brain recall this information at a later date. Use colour coding, consider making a simple diagram summarising the levels of organisation or even a silly mnemonic such as CTOOOPCE: Can Tigers Only Operate Open Parachutes Catching Elephants? You don’t have to be an artist or poet for this, keep it simple but effective and memorable! |
Practice questions | Engaging with self-assessment is a great way to work out what information has been embedded in the brain and what still needs more work. You could do this yourself but even better is to get someone else to test you. You will soon see which areas of your specification you need to revisit and you might be surprised with how much you can answer! Examples might include creating some questions and answers for a friend to test you on: What is the definition of a population? Save My Exams has a bank of Topic Questions for each exam board so you can find a vast range of questions focused on biological organisation. |
Past exam questions | This is useful to see how content is assessed in the exam. You will start to understand command words (the word at the start of the question, such as describe or explain) and get a feel for what the exam paper will look like in the real exam. Save My Exams has an extensive library of past papers where you can find questions assessing biological organisation. |
Teaching someone else | If you can confidently and correctly teach someone else about biological organisation then you can be fairly sure you know your stuff! Try it out with family members or classmates and explain a concept to them such as the relationship and interactions between each of the levels, so that they can understand it. It is ok if you need to use your revision notes or flashcards to start with, you will get better with practice. |
Get organised on organisation of GCSE Biology
The levels and hierarchy of biological organisation are an important topic in GCSE Biology. They underpin many other topics such as digestion, the heart and circulatory system, cell differentiation, ecology and the environment. The various levels help to determine structure, function, and interaction within the organism. By grouping each level biologists can understand what biological systems are made of, how they support the next level and the interactions at a cellular level within an organism but also the role of organisms themselves such as predators, prey and decomposers. By understanding biological organisation scientists can make informed decisions regarding medicines, drug therapies, agriculture, food production and security, and sustainability.
The GCSE Biology exams bring up many challenges, such as understanding biological organisations but being prepared ahead of time is a great way to overcome many of these. I hope this article has given you some practical tips to try out to help you feel in control of your revision for biological organisation and prepare for the exams.
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