Biology O Level Syllabus
Sergei Chime
Cambridge O Level Biology helps learners to understand the biological world in which they live and take an informed interest in science and scientific developments. The syllabus includes the basic principles and concepts that are fundamental to the subject, some current applications of biology, and a strong emphasis on practical skills.
We revise our qualifications regularly to make sure that they continue to meet the needs of learners, schools and higher education institutions around the world and reflect current thinking. We have updated this syllabus and all assessment materials so they are clearer and more consistent across the three sciences. This is helpful for teachers who are teaching more than one science syllabus, and students who will enjoy a more coherent experience across each science. Please see the 2023-2025 syllabus document for full details on the changes.
We are developing a comprehensive range of materials to help you teach the updated syllabus. These resources will be available from September 2020 onwards (before first teaching) through our School Support Hub and include:
Enter our exciting extra-curricular activity for teams of Cambridge Upper Secondary science students. Teams work together on a scientific investigation of their choice, build their passion for science and support their academic studies. Find out more about the competition and how to take part.
As the awarding standard has now returned to the pre-pandemic standard, we are working to produce up-to-date grade descriptions for most of our general qualifications. These will be based on the awarding standards in place from June 2023 onwards.
Teachers at registered Cambridge schools can unlock over 30 000 teaching and learning resources to help plan and deliver Cambridge programmes and qualifications, including Schemes of work, Example candidate responses, Past papers, Specimen paper answers, as well as digital and multimedia resources.
AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore topics like evolution, energetics, information storage and transfer, and system interactions.
Based on the Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe) model, this course framework provides a clear and detailed description of the course requirements necessary for student success. The framework specifies what students must know, be able to do, and understand, with a focus on the big ideas that encompass core principles, theories, and processes of the discipline. The framework also encourages instruction that prepares students for advanced work in STEM majors.
The AP Biology framework is organized into eight commonly taught units of study that provide one possible sequence for the course. As always, you have the flexibility to organize the course content as you like.
Higher education professionals play a key role in developing AP courses and exams, setting credit and placement policies, and scoring student work. The AP Higher Education section features information on recruitment and admission, advising and placement, and more.
This chart shows recommended scores for granting credit, and how much credit should be awarded, for each AP course. Your students can look up credit and placement policies for colleges and universities on the AP Credit Policy Search.
The AP Program is unique in its reliance on Development Committees. These committees, made up of an equal number of college faculty and experienced secondary AP teachers from across the country, are essential to the preparation of AP course curricula and exams.
This course focuses on the basic principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and recombinant DNA technologies. The material presented introduces modern biology at the molecular level: the structure and function of biological macromolecules, the basics of cellular metabolism, meiosis and inheritance, DNA replication, the basics of gene expression, and general recombinant DNA techniques.
Eric Lander is a Professor of Biology at MIT and Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. He is the President and Founding Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Director of its Genome Biology Program. As one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project, Lander and colleagues are using these findings to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the basis of human disease.
Tyler Jacks is a Professor of Biology at MIT and Director of the The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. He is also an HHMI Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Jacks Lab research interests include the genetic events that contribute to the development of cancer and the effects of mutations on normal embryonic development.
Hazel Sive is Associate Dean of the School of Science at MIT as well as a Professor of Biology and member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The Sive Lab uses zebrafish and frog embryos to understand the evolution and molecular structure of the vertebrate nervous system.
Penny Chisholm is a Professor of Biology and also a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at MIT. The Chisholm Lab research interests include ecological genomics with particular focus on ecology, evolution, and comparative genomics of marine cyanobacteria and the viruses that infect them.
Graham Walker is a Professor of Biology at MIT and an HHMI Professor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Walker Lab focuses on the regulation and mechanism of action of proteins involved in DNA repair and mutagenesis and in other cellular responses to DNA damage.
Dr. Michelle Mischke is Technical Instructor in the Department of Biology at MIT. She has been an instructor for all three versions of the Introductory Biology courses at MIT. Dr. Mischke worked closely with MIT OpenCourseWare on developing this OCW Scholar website.
Genevieve Gould grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. Ever since she was young she was interested in math, and in high school she discovered she was also very interested in biology. To further explore her interest in biology, Genevieve performed research at UC Davis during the summer of 2004 studying disease resistance in rice plants in the lab of Dr. Pamela Rondald. Genevieve went on to obtain her B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, with an emphasis in Genetics, Genomics, and Development from the University of California, Berkeley in 2009. She graduated with honors for the computational research she performed in the lab of Dr. Michael Eisen studying nucleosome repelling sequences. Today Genevieve is a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Christopher Burge in the Department of Biology at MIT where she is studying the role of the branch point sequence in regulation of splicing. In her free time, Genevieve enjoys sailing, playing soccer, and ice skating.
Nicole De Nisco grew up in Los Angeles, California and is the first in her family to pursue a Ph.D. in science. Nicole first attended MIT as an undergraduate and graduated with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Biomedical engineering. She continued on as a graduate student at MIT and is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Biology in the Walker Lab. Her graduate research explores the symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and their plant hosts. In addition, Nicole is a Graduate Resident Tutor in the undergraduate dorm, Next House, and a teaching fellow at the Harvard Extension School. When not doing research, mentoring or teaching, she enjoys cooking, traveling and scuba diving.
Here you will find an archive of select syllabus files. Graduate courses have numbers > 500; all others are undergraduate-level courses. Courses with a BZ prefix are offered through the Department of Biology. Courses with a LIFE prefix are introductory courses offered by the LIFE core, which spans a number of departments including Biology. Select the course you would like and click on the Lookup button. Courses with an ECOL prefix are offered through the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (GDPE), one of our interdisciplinary degree programs.
Taught by Dr. Vijayaraghavan. A study of phenomenology and fundamental concepts that apply to all living systems. Major topics include: cell biology, physiology, genetics, and development.
Syllabus - Dr. Vijayaraghavan, Fall 2023
Taught by Dr. Han. The nature, scope, and implication of recent accomplishments in genetics. A consideration of human birth defects, hereditary diseases, and the potential of the human species to manipulate its own genes. Satisfies the college non-laboratory science requirement. Satisfies the college laboratory science requirement with completion of 1035. Does not count toward the requirements for a major or minor in cell and molecular biology.
Syllabus - Dr. Han, Fall 2023
Taught by Dr. Han. Prerequisite or co-requisite: CELL 1030. Laboratory and computer exercises to reinforce concepts discussed in CELL 1030. Students will learn basic laboratory skills, including microscopy and techniques of molecular biology. Satisfies the college laboratory science requirement with completion of 1030. Does not count toward the requirements for a major or minor in cell and molecular biology.
Syllabus - Dr. Han, Fall 2023
Taught by Dr. Vijayaraghavan. Students who select the Service Learning option will participate in a project centered on a topic in the aspects of general biology, especially related to marine and/or environmental studies, and will be selected by student(s) in consultation with the instructor and community partner.
Syllabus - Dr. Vijayaraghavan, Fall 2023
Taught by Drs. Dotson and Meadows. Prerequisite: CELL 1010. The principles of genetic analysis and the nature of genes. Discussion of the chromosomal and molecular mechanism of replication, mutation, expression, and transmission of heritable characteristics.
Syllabus - Dr. Meadows, Fall 2023