Biology Waec Syllabus
Below is this 2025 Waec Syllabus for Biology. Note that this syllabus is for both internal and external candidates.
Aims and Objectives
- understanding of the structure and functions of living organisms as well as appreciation of nature
- acquisition of adequate laboratory and field skills in order to carry out and evaluate experiments and projects in Biology
- acquisition of necessary scientific skills, for example, observing, classifying and interpreting biological data
- acquisition of the basic relevant knowledge in Biology needed for future advanced studies in biological sciences
- acquisition of scientific attitudes for problem-solving
- ability to apply biological principles in everyday life in matters that affect personal, social, environmental, community health and economic problems
- awareness of the existence of interrelationships between biology and other scientific disciplines
Scheme of Examination
There will be three papers: Papers 1, 2, and 3, all of which must be taken. Papers 1 and 2 will be composite papers to be taken in one sitting.
PAPER 1:
This will consist of fifty multiple-choice objective questions drawn from Section A of the syllabus (the section of the syllabus that is common to all countries). It will carry 50 marks and last for 50 minutes.
PAPER 2:
This will consist of six essay questions drawn from the entire syllabus. The paper will be put into three sections: Sections A, B and C.
Section A:
Will consist of four questions drawn from Section A of the syllabus.
Section B:
It will be for candidates in Ghana only and will be drawn from Section B of the syllabus (i.e., the section of the syllabus peculiar to Ghana). It will consist of short, structured questions.
Section C:
It will be for candidates in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia and will be drawn from Section C of the syllabus (i.e., the section of the syllabus containing material for those countries only). It will also consist of short-structured questions.
Candidates will be expected to answer two questions from Section A and all the short-structured questions from either Section B or Section C.
Each question in Section A will carry 20 marks, while the compulsory short-structured questions in Sections B and C will carry 30 marks. The total score will be 70 marks. The paper shall take 1 hour and 40 minutes.
PAPER 3:
Paper 3 will be a practical test (for school candidates) or a test of practical work (for private candidates) lasting 2 hours and consisting of three sections: Sections A, B and C.
Section A:
This will consist of two compulsory questions drawn from Section A of the syllabus, each carrying 25 marks.
Section B:
This will be for candidates in Ghana only. It will consist of one question drawn from Section B of the syllabus and will carry 30 marks.
Section C:
This will be for candidates in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Liberia. It will consist of one question drawn from Section C of the syllabus and will carry 30 marks.
Candidates will be expected to answer all the questions in Section A and one question in either Section B or C. The paper will carry a total score of 80 marks.
Detailed Biology Syllabus
Concept of Living
- Classification
- Living and non-living things
- Classification of living things into Kingdoms
- Differences between plants and animals
- Organization of life
- Levels of organization
- cell (single-celled organisms): Amoeba, Euglena, Paramecium
- Tissue: Hydra
- Organ (storage organ) bulb, rhizome and heart.
- System/Organ System: In mammals, flowering plants – reproductive system, excretory system, etc.
- Complexity of organization in higher organisms: advantages and disadvantages
- Forms in which living cells exist
- Single and free-living: Amoeba, Paramecium, Euglena, and Chlamydomonas
- Colony: Volvox
- Filament: Spirogyra
- Part of a living organism: cheek cells, onion root tip cells, and epidermis of fleshy leaves
- Cell
- Cell structure and functions of cell components
- Similarities and differences between plant and animal cells
- The Cell and its environment
- Physical and biophysical processes
- diffusion
- osmosis
- active transport
- Properties and functions of the living cell
- Nutrition
- Autotrophic (photosynthesis)
- Heterotrophic (holozoic)
- Cellular respiration
- Aerobic respiration
- anaerobic respiration
- energy release
- Excretion
- Excretion in single-celled aquatic organisms. Diffusion by body surface and by the contractile vacuole
- Waste products of metabolism
- Growth
- Basis of growth: cell division (mitosis), enlargement, and differentiation.
- Aspects of growth: increase in dry weight, irreversible increase in size and length, and increase in the number of cells.
- Regions of the fastest growth in plants
- Influence of growth hormones and auxins
- Growth curvatures (Tropisms)
- Development: Enlargement and differentiation
- Movement
- Organelles for movement: cilia and flagella
- Cyclosis
- Reproduction:
- Types of reproduction.
- Asexual: fission, budding and vegetative propagation
- Sexual: Conjugation, formation of male and female gametes (gametogenesis), fusion of gametes fertilization)
- Tissues and supporting systems
- Skeletons and supporting systems in animals
- Biological significance
- Skeletal materials, e.g. bone, cartilage and chitin.
- Types of skeleton:Â exoskeleton, endoskeleton and hydrostatic skeleton
- Bones of the vertebral column, girdles and long bones of the appendicular skeleton
- Mechanisms of support in animals
- Functions of skeleton in animals: Protection, support, locomotion and respiratory movement
- Different types of supporting tissues in plants
- Main features of supporting tissues in plants
- Functions of supporting tissues in plants: strength, rigidity (resistance against the forces of the wind and water), flexibility and resilience.
- Transport System
- Need for transport
- surface area/volume ratio.
- substances have to move greater distances
- Transport in animals
- Structure of the heart, arteries, veins and capillaries
- Composition and function of blood and lymph
- Materials for transport: excretory products, gases, digested food, and other nutrients
- Transport in plants
- Uptake and movement of water and mineral salts in plants
- Translocation
- Transpiration
- Movement of water to the apex of trees and herbs
- Respiratory System
- Body surface: cutaneous, gills and lungs.
- Mechanisms of gaseous exchange in fish, toads, mammals and plants
- Excretory Systems and Mechanisms
- Types of excretory systems: Kidney, stomata and lenticels
- Regulation of Internal Environment (Homeostasis)
- Kidney: Structure and functions
- Liver
- Functions of the liver
- The skin
- Structure and function
- Hormonal Coordination
- Animal hormones
- Site of secretion, functions and effects of over and under-secretion
- Plant hormones
- Nervous Coordination
- The central nervous system
- Components of the central nervous system
- Parts of the brain and their functions; cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, hypothalamus and their functions
- Structure and function of the Spinal Cord
- Peripheral Nervous System
- Somatic Nervous System
- Autonomic nervous system
- Structure and functions of the neurone
- Classification of neurones
- Types of nervous actions
- The reflex arc
- Reflex and voluntary actions
- Differences between reflex and voluntary actions
- Conditioned reflex and its role in behavior
- Sense Organs
Structure and function of the:
- Eye
- Ear
- Reproductive System
- Reproductive systems of mammals
- Structure and function of male and female reproductive systems
- Differences between male and female reproductive organs
- Structure of the gametes (sperm and ovum)
- Fertilization, development of the embryo and birth
- Birth control
- Metamorphosis in insects: life histories of butterfly and cockroach
- Comparison of reproduction in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
- Reproduction in flowering plants
- Arrangements of floral parts of a named insect-pollinated flower and a named wind-pollinated flower
- Structure and function of the male and female parts of a flower
- Pollination in Plants
- Types of pollination
- Features of cross-pollinated and self-pollinated flowers
- Agents of Pollination
- Kinds of placentation: axile, marginal and parietal
- Process of development of zygote in flowering plants: Fertilization
- Types of fruits (classification)
- Structure of fruits
- Dispersal of fruits and seeds: Agents of dispersal
Plant and Animal Nutrition
- Plant Nutrition
- Photosynthesis
- Process of photosynthesis and its chemical equation
- Light and dark reactions
- Materials and conditions necessary for photosynthesis
- Evidence of photosynthesis
- Mineral requirement of plants
- Mineral nutrition: Macro and micro-nutrients
- Soil and atmosphere as sources of mineral elements.
- Animal Nutrition
- Food substances; classes and sources
- Balanced diet and its importance
- Food tests
- Digestive enzymes: Classes, characteristics and functions
- Modes of Nutrition
- Autotrophic: Photosynthesis
- Heterotrophic: holozoic, parasitic, symbiotic and saprophytic
- Alimentary System
- Alimentary tract of different animals.
- Dental Formula
- Feeding in protozoa and mammals
Basic Ecological Concepts
- Ecosystem
- Components of the ecosystem and sizes
- Ecological components: environment, biosphere, habitat, population, biotic community and ecosystem
- Components of the ecosystem
- Biotic and abiotic
- Ecological factors
- Ecological factors in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
- Simple Measurement of Ecological Factors
- Physical factors: Climatic, topographic and gaseous
- Edaphic factors: Chemical and physical composition, moisture content and soil texture
- Food webs and trophic levels
- Autotrophs and Heterotrophs
- Producers: autotrophs
- Consumers: heterotrophs
- Decomposers
- Trophic levels of energy relationships
- Food chain
- Food web
- Energy flow
- Food/Energy relationship in aquatic and terrestrial environments
- Pyramid of energy and Pyramid of numbers
- Decomposition in nature
- Decomposers: (micro and macro-decomposers)
- Gaseous products
- Role of decomposers
- Ecological Management
- Biological Associations
- Type of associations: Parasitism, symbiosis, commensalism and saprophytism
- Adaptation of organisms to habitats
- Pollution of the atmosphere
- Nature, names, sources and effects of air pollutants
- Effect of noise
- Water and Soil Pollution
- Type and effects of pollutants
- Ecology of population
- Ecological succession
- Structural changes in species composition, variety or diversity and increase in numbers
- General characteristics and outcomes of succession
- Primary succession
- Succession in terrestrial and aquatic habitats
- Secondary succession, climax of the succession: characteristic of a stable ecosystem
- Factors that affect population size: natality, mortality, emigration, immigration, food shortage, predation, competition and diseases
- Preservation and storage of foods
- The life of selected insects
- Weevils and cotton strainers
- Control of pests
- Microorganisms: Man and health
- Carriers of microorganisms
- Microorganisms in action
- Beneficial effects in nature, medicine and industries
- Harmful effects of microorganisms, diseases caused by microorganisms: cholera, measles, malaria and ringworm.
- Towards better Health
- Methods of controlling harmful microorganisms: high temperature, antibiotics, antiseptics, high salinity and dehydration
- Ways of controlling the vectors
- Public Health
- Refuse and sewage disposal
- Immunization, vaccination and inoculation (control of diseases)
Conservation of Natural Resources
- Resources to be conserved: soil, water, wildlife, forest and minerals
- Ways of ensuring conservation
Variation in Population
- Morphological variations in the physical appearance of individuals
- size, height and weight
- colour (skin, eye, hair coat of animals)
- fingerprints
- Physiological Variations
- Ability to roll tongue
- Ability to taste
- phenylthiocarbamide (PTC)
- Blood groups (ABO) classification
Biology of Heredity (Genetics)
- Genetic Terminologies
- Transmission and expression of characteristics in organisms
- Hereditary variation
- Mendel’s work in genetics
- Mendel’s experiments
- Mendelian traits
- Mendelian laws
- Chromosomes: The basis of heredity
- Structure
- Process of transmission of hereditary characters from parents to offspring
- Probability in genetics (Hybrid formation)
- Linkage, sex determination and sex-linked characters
- Application of the principles of heredity in
- Agriculture
- Medicine
Adaptation for survival and Evolution
- Behavioural Adaptations in Social Animals
- Termites
- Bees
- Evolution
- Evidence of evolution
- Theories of evolution
SECTION B
- Introducing Biology
- Biology as a science of life
- Procedure for biological work
- Importance of Biology
- Body symmetry, sectioning and orientation
- The microscope
- Biological drawings
- Cell Biology
- Movement of substances into and out of cells: Endocytosis and Exocytosis
- Nucleic acids
- DNA structure and replication, RNA transcription
- Protein synthesis
- Cell cycle
- Life Processes in Living Things
- Amoeba, Paramecium, and Euglena
- Spirogyra and Rhizopus
- Mosses and ferns
- Diversity of Living Things
- Characteristics of some of the orders of Class Insecta
- Identification of organisms using biological keys
- Interactions in Nature Soil
- Mammalian Anatomy and Physiology
- Dissection of a small mammal
- Transport:Â Structure of the mammalian heart
- Cellular respiration
- Movement
- Muscles
- Skeletal tissues
- Reproduction
- Secondary sexual characteristics
- Prenatal/Antenatal care
- Plant Structure and Physiology
- Morphology of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants.
- Transport: Guttation
- Reproduction: Floral formula
- Humans and their Environment
- Integrated water resources management
- Health and hygiene
- Drug abuse
- Community Health
- First Aid
- Evolution
- Recombinant DNA Technology
- Biology and Industry
- Biology and water industry
- Contamination of water
- Identification of polluted water
- Wastewater treatment
- Biology and fishing industry
- Fish stock management
- Fish farming
- Biology and food industry
- Food additives
- Biology and Agriculture
- Biotechnology
- Biological fuel generation
SECTION C
- Concept of Living
- Cell theory
- Irritability as a basic characteristic of protoplasm
- Types of responses: taxis and nastism
- Environmental factors that evoke responses; temperature, pH etc
- Excretory Systems
- Diseases of the kidney: Nephritis, kidney stone and diuresis, Their effects and remedies.
- Diseases of the liver: infective hepatitis, cancer of the liver and gallstones. Their effects and remedies
- Sense organs
- Nose
- Tongue
- The skin
- Reproduction
- Courtship behaviour in animals
- Pairing
- Display e.g. peacocks
- Territoriality
- Seasonal migration associated with breeding in herrings, eels and birds.
- Metamorphosis and life history of houseflies.
- Adaptive features in a developing animal
- Yolk in eggs of fish, toads and birds for nourishment
- Placenta in animals
- Germination of seeds
- Essential factors which affect developing embryos.
- Types of germination
Plant and Animal Nutrition
- Nitrogen cycle
- Modes of nutrition:
- autotrophic, chemosynthetic, and carnivorous plants
- Alimentary System
- Alimentary tracts of different animals
- Description and function of various parts.
- Feeding habits
- Categories: Carnivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous
- Modifications and mechanisms associated with the following habits; filter feeding, fluid feeding, feeding adaptation in insects, saprophytic feeding, parasitic feeding etc.
Basic Ecological Concepts
- Ecological Components:
- Lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, niche
- Population Studies by Sampling
- Population size
- Dominance
- Density
- Energy transformation in nature
- Energy loss in the ecosystem
- Solar radiation: its intake and loss at the earth’s surface
- Energy loss in the biosphere
- Nutrient Cycling in Nature
- Carbon Cycle
- Process of the carbon cycle
- Importance of carbon in nature
- Water Cycle
- Importance of water cycle
- Importance of water to living organisms
- Ecological Management
- Tolerance, Minimum and maximum range
- Habitats
- Aquatic habitat: marine, estuarine fresh water under the following headings
- Characteristics of habitat
- distribution of plants and animals in the habitat
- adaptive features of plants and animals in the habitat
- Terrestrial habitat: marsh, forest, grassland, arid land should be studied under the following headings
- Characteristics of habitat
- distribution of plants and animals in habitat
- Balance in Nature
- Dynamic equilibrium population and population density
- Relevance of Biology to Agriculture
- Classification of plants based on life cycle
- Effects of agricultural practices on ecology
- Bush burning
- Tillage
- Fertilizer
- Herbicide/pesticide
- Different farming methods
- Microorganisms: Man and His Health
- Microorganisms around us
- Microorganisms in air and water
- Groups of microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, some algae, protozoa and some fungi
- Microorganisms in our bodies and food
- Public Health
- Food hygiene and health organization.
Application of Variations
- Crime detection
- Blood transfusion
- Determination of paternity
Evolution
- Adaptation for survival
- Factors that bring about competition
- Intra and Inter-species competition
- Relationship between competition and succession
- Structural Adaptation for
- obtaining food protection and defense
- securing mates for reproduction,
- regulating body temperature
- conserving water
- Adaptive Colouration Plants and animals Colouration and their functions
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