IB Biology Topic Tests

Discover the properties of water, including hydrogen bonding, understanding how this relates to the functions of life. Understand the mechanism of cohesion and adhesion, as well as water’s ability to act as a solvent.

Explore the impact of water’s physical properties on aquatic habitats as well as the extra-terrestrial origin of water and its importance in discovering new life.

Explore the structure and function of DNA and RNA, including sugar-phosphate bonding, hydrogen bonding, complementary base pairing, nitrogenous bases and nucleotides, discovering the code for life. 

Discover the directionality of DNA and RNA, understanding helix stability and the structure of nucleosomes. Explore the scientific evidence of DNA and its diversity through the Hershey-Chase experiment and Chargaff’s data.

Dive into versatile properties of carbon including condensation and hydrolysis reactions. Explore the role of different carbon compounds, such as monosaccharides, polysaccharides, fatty acids, lipids, triglycerides, and steroids in sustaining life.

Discover amino acids, the building blocks for metabolic compounds and genetic code. Understand the role of pH and temperature in influencing these functions.

Explore the chemical diversity of proteins, understanding how this influences structure, bonding, and function.

Explore enzymes, the backbone of metabolism. Understand how their structure enables catalysis and activation energy influence in a wide variety of reactions. Consider the influence of temperature, pH and substrate concentration on enzyme activity.

Discover the role of enzymes in the intracellular and extracellular reactions required to sustain life. Understand energy production, negative feedback, and the different pathways possible for a reaction, considering the effect of enzyme inhibition on these processes.

Discover the role of ATP as the source of energy production and life. Consider the factors contributing to cell respiration, including oxygen availability.

Dive into the mechanism of cell respiration, understanding how ATP is yielded from various organic compounds in the mitochondria during anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Consider how this process differs in humans and yeast.

Explore the transformation of light and carbon dioxide into energy for sustaining plant life, understanding the role of photosynthetic pigments in enabling this process.

Dive into the conversion of light into energy and oxygen in different photosystems. Explore the Calvin Cycle, illustrating the outcomes of light dependent and independent reactions.

Explore the theories behind DNA replication and the essential role of enzymes in guiding this process. Discover the intricate role of transcription and translation in protein production. Uncover the fascinating process of artificial DNA copying. 

Explore the directionality of DNA replication, considering the action of enzymes on leading and lagging strands. Consider the implications of this mechanism on DNA proofreading.

Explore transcription and translation, the processes enabling gene expression. Understand how hydrogen bonding, complimentary base pairing, template stability, and mutations in influencing this.

Discover the directionality of transcription and translation, considering the variability and modification of gene expression.

Discover molecular-level changes to genetic code. Understand the causes and process of mutation, considering both its harmful and harmless consequences.

Explore the uses modern uses of genetic modification. Consider the gene knockout technique, CRISPR sequences, and highly conserved genes as methods for understanding genetic function and providing an avenue for future research.

Discover the formation of carbon compounds on Earth, understanding that cells are the smallest units of self-sustaining life. Explore the scientific evidence behind spontaneous evolution, carbon compound origins, and the universal common ancestor of genetic code.

Explore cells, the structural units of life. Identify microscopic structures using different imaging methods and describe their functions, understanding the difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes.  

Discover the origin and evolution of cells, exploring endosymbiosis, differentiation, and multicellularity.

Explore the structural features and diversity of viruses, understanding how this relates to survival, replication, and evolution. Consider common viruses causing disease, including influenza and HIV.

Discover lipid bilayers and their structural importance in membrane structure and functions, including diffusion, osmosis, and active transport.

Explore the influence of different compounds on the composition of lipid bilayers, including fatty acids and cholesterol. Uncover the mechanism of membrane fluidity, adhesion, and transport channels. 

Discover organelles, the subunits of cells, understanding the advantages of their composition on sustaining life.

Dive into the adaptations of mitochondria and chloroplasts, understanding how this enables cell respiration and photosynthesis. Discover the structures and functions of a double-membrane nucleus, rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and vesicle.

Dive into the formation of unspecialised cells, understanding the therapeutic properties of stem cells. Consider cell size and surface-area-to-volume ratio as limits to cell function. 

Discover the adaptations of cells, considering the unique properties of pneumocytes, muscle, and gametes.

Explore cell signalling, the basis for the complex mechanisms supporting life. Understand how proteins, bacteria, hormones, and neurotransmitters exhibit chemical signalling to support various processes.

Explore the role of neurons as electrical impulse carriers. Understand the mechanism of resting and action potentials, as well as synaptic transmission. Consider variations in nerve impulse speed. 

Explore the factors contributing to nerve impulse conduction, understanding how this can be measured using an oscilloscope. Discover the conditions required for synaptic transmission, considering the effect of exogenous chemicals on this process.

Explore the cell cycle, including mitosis and interphase, and understand the role of cyclins in regulating this. Discover what contributes to cell cycle dysregulation and how this can lead to cancer. 

Discover the phases of the cell cycle, understanding the factors contributing to its control and the consequences of disruption.

Uncover gene expression, the mechanism for phenotypic diversity. Explore the role of transcription regulation and degradation control, understanding their contribution to epigenetics. Consider the role of external factors on gene expression.

Explore the properties of water, including solvation and movement across a concentration gradient. Consider how water balance sustains plant and animal life.

Explore water potential, understanding how this contributes to trends in water movement and solute composition.

Discover the variation of life, understanding the factors contributing to diversity. Explore the methods of categorizing organisms, including binominal naming, species, populations, and genomes.

Discover the classification of asexually reproducing species and bacteria. Explore the role of chromosome number in breeding combability, applying methods such as barcodes and dichotomous keys to investigate biodiversity.

Explore the classification of organisms, understanding the hierarchy of taxa and cladistics. Consider the criteria on which classification is based on, including the advantages of this method as well as factors contributing to deviation.

Explore the mechanism of gas exchange, a vital function in all organisms. Consider the conditions required for this process and how this differs amongst, plants and mammals. 

Discover the adaptations of haemoglobin in enabling gas exchange, considering how these can be represented using oxygen dissociation curves. Explore the role of carbon dioxide concentration on actively respiring tissues.

Discover the circulatory system, understanding the adaptations that sustain mammalian life. Explore the structures comprising plant stems, considering how these sustain plant life.

Explore the movement of fluid and exchange of substances throughout the body, describing the cardiac cycle and considering how the circulatory system varies between fish and mammals. Discover the adaptations of xylem and phloem in plant transport.

Explore the mechanism of movement, an essential feature in all living organisms. Discover the structural adaptations of muscles, joints, and bones in enabling essential functions, including moving and breathing.

Explore the components of the human and animal body. Discover the interplay between the nervous system and hormones in modulating movement, sensation, balance, sleep, pain, ventilation, digestion, and heart rate.

Discover trophic responses and their contribution to plant growth. Consider the role of auxin, cytokinin, and ethylene in influencing this process.

Discover pathogens, considering the adaptations of the human body in preventing infection, including the role of the innate and adaptive immune system. Explore the mechanism of immunity and vaccination, relating this to common infectious diseases.

Discover the reproductive adaptations of plants and animals, understanding how this contributes to variation. Understand the anatomy of male and female reproductive systems and hormonal adaptations, including the menstrual cycle.

Discover the sexual development of males and females, exploring their reproductive adaptations. Explore the role of hormones in pregnancy and delivery, as well as the medical uses of hormone replacement therapy.

Explore the production of gametes, considering how variation occurs during their creation. Discover how differences in allele dominance contribute to inherited characteristics, understanding the use of Pedigree charts and box-and-whisker plots in predicting this.

Explore gene linkage, understanding how this contributes to characteristics amongst populations. Discover how punnet grids, dihybrid crosses, and chi-squared tests can represent this relationship.

Discover homeostasis, the balance of life. Understand the role of negative feedback loops, thermoregulation, and hormones in balancing the bodily functions of humans. 

Discover the homeostatic adaptations of the kidneys and circulatory system, understanding how water balance and blood supply is maintained.

Explore the role of base sequences, selective breeding, reproductive isolation, speciation, homologous and analogous structures in changing a population’s heritable characteristics.

Explore the factors affecting speciation, including reproductive isolation, hybridization, sterility, and polyploidy.

Discover the variety of life, considering how extinction, ecosystem loss, and biodiversity crisis influence this. Explore the differences between past and present species on Earth, understanding the need for conservation programmes.

Explore habitats, considering how limiting factors and abiotic environment adaptation affects species distribution. Understand how this relates to the characteristics of terrestrial biomes, including coral reefs, deserts, and tropical rainforests.

Discover the role of a species in an ecosystem. Explore oxygen and nutrition adaptations amongst species, considering how these contribute to fundamental niches.

Explore the interaction between species, considering the role of resource availability, competition, negative feedback, and mutualism in influencing this. Discover the use of tools, including chi-squared tests and population curves, in representing this relationship.

Discover energy transfer in ecosystems, considering the role of organic and inorganic material in enabling this. Explore the use of food chains, energy pyramids, and carbon-cycle diagrams in representing energy flow and its limitations. 

Explore the drive for evolutionary change, understanding the role of sexual reproduction, mutations, and natural selections in selecting population characteristics.

Discover gene pools, the combined characteristics of populations. Consider the role of allele and genotype frequency, as well as genetic equilibrium and trait selection in influencing this.

Discover the properties of natural ecosystems, considering the conditions required to maintain this stability. Understand the importance of sustainability and the consequences of ecosystem stability disruption.

Explore the features of ecological succession, considering how this process differs based on environmental and community changes.

Explore the causes and mechanism of climate change, considering the consequences of this on species, habitats, and ecosystems. Discover methods for carbon sequestration as a means of tackling climate change.

Discover phenology, the timing of biological events. Consider the role of climate change in disrupting phenology and evolution.