Biology Syllabus

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓differentiate between the characteristics of living and non-living things
• ✓identify the structures of plant and animal cells
• ✓analyse the functions of the components of plant and animal cells
• ✓compare and contrast the structure of plant and animal cells
• ✓trace the levels of organization among organisms in their logical sequence

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓analyse external features and characteristics of the listed organisms
• ✓apply this knowledge to demonstrate increase in structural complexity
• ✓trace the stages in the life histories of the listed organisms
• ✓apply knowledge of life histories to demonstrate gradual transition from life in water to life on land
• ✓trace the evolution of the listed plants
• ✓trace the advancement of the invertebrate animals
• ✓determine the economic importance of the insects studied
• ✓assess their values to the environment
• ✓classify plants into annuals, biennials and perennials
• ✓trace the advancement of multi-cellular animals
• ✓determine their economic importance

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓describe how the various structures, functions and behaviour adapt these organisms to their environment and way of life
• ✓categorize countershading in fish, toads, snakes and warning colouration in mushrooms
• ✓differentiate various castes in social insects like termites and their functions in their colony
• ✓account for basking in lizards, territorial behaviour and hibernation/aestivation
• ✓account for adaptation in organisms with respect to obtaining food, protection, securing mates, regulating body temperature and conserving water

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓identify the transverse sections of these organs
• ✓relate the structure of these organs to their functions
• ✓identify supporting tissues in plants (collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem fibres)
• ✓describe the distribution of supporting tissues in roots, stem and leaf
• ✓examine the arrangement of the mammalian internal organs
• ✓describe the appearance and position of the digestive, reproductive and excretory organs

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓compare autotrophic and heterotrophic modes of nutrition
• ✓provide examples from both flowering and non-flowering plants
• ✓compare the photosynthetic and chemosynthetic modes of nutrition
• ✓differentiate holozoic, parasitic, saprophytic and carnivorous feeding with examples
• ✓determine their nutritional value
• ✓differentiate the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis
• ✓determine the necessity of light, carbon (IV) oxide and chlorophyll in photosynthesis
• ✓detect the presence of starch in a leaf as evidence of photosynthesis
• ✓identify macro- and micro-elements required by plants
• ✓recognise the deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium
• ✓indicate the sources of the various classes of food
• ✓determine the nutritional value of food
• ✓relate the importance and deficiency (e.g. scurvy, rickets, kwashiorkor) of each class of food
• ✓determine the importance of a balanced diet
• ✓detect the presence of a food type from the result of a given experiment
• ✓describe the structure of a typical mammalian tooth
• ✓differentiate the types of mammalian tooth and relate their structures to their functions
• ✓compare the dental formulae of man, sheep and dog
• ✓relate the structure of the alimentary canal and its accessory organs (liver, pancreas and gall bladder) to their functions
• ✓identify the general characteristics of digestive enzymes
• ✓associate enzymes with digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats
• ✓determine the end products of these classes of food

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓determine the relationship between increase in size and complexity; and the need for the development of a transport system in plants and animals
• ✓determine the sources of materials and the forms in which they are transported
• ✓describe the general circulatory system
• ✓compare specific functions of the hepatic portal vein, the pulmonary vein and artery, aorta, the renal artery and vein
• ✓identify the organs of the plant vascular system
• ✓understand the specific functions of the phloem and xylem
• ✓identify media of transportation (e.g. cytoplasm, cell sap, body fluid, blood and lymph)
• ✓state the composition and functions of blood and lymph
• ✓describe diffusion, osmosis, plasmolysis and turgidity as mechanisms of transportation in organisms
• ✓compare the various mechanisms of open circulatory systems in animals, transpiration pull, root pressure and active transport in plants

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓explain the significance of respiration
• ✓describe a simplified outline of the chemical processes involved in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle with reference to ATP production
• ✓deduce gaseous exchange and products, exchange and production of heat energy during respiration from experimental set up
• ✓describe the following respiratory organs and surfaces with organisms in which they occur: body surface, gill, trachea, lungs, stomata and lenticel
• ✓describe the mechanism for the opening and closing of the stomata
• ✓determine respiratory mechanisms in plants and animals
• ✓examine the role of oxygen in the liberation of energy for the activities of living organisms
• ✓explain the effect of insufficient supply of oxygen to the muscles
• ✓use yeast cells and sugar solution to demonstrate the process of fermentation
• ✓state the economic importance of yeasts

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓define the meaning and state the significance of excretion
• ✓relate the characteristics of each structure with functions
• ✓relate the structure of the kidneys to the excretory and osmo-regulatory functions
• ✓identify the functions and excretory products of the lungs and the skin
• ✓deduce the economic importance of the excretory products of plants e.g. carbon (IV) oxide, oxygen, tannins, resins, gums, mucilage, alkaloids

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓determine the need for support and movement in organisms
• ✓identify supporting tissues in plants (collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem fibres)
• ✓describe the distribution of supporting tissues in root, stem and leaf
• ✓relate the response of plants to the stimuli of light, water, gravity and touch
• ✓identify the regions of growth in roots and shoots and the roles of auxins in tropism
• ✓relate the location of chitin, cartilage and bone to their supporting function
• ✓relate the structure and the general layout of the mammalian skeleton to their supportive, locomotive and respiratory function
• ✓differentiate types of joints using appropriate examples
• ✓apply the protective, supportive, locomotive and respiratory functions of the skeleton to the wellbeing of the animal

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓differentiate between asexual and sexual reproduction
• ✓apply natural vegetative propagation in crop production and multiplication
• ✓apply grafting, budding and layering in agricultural practices
• ✓relate parts of flower to their functions and reproductive process
• ✓state the advantages of cross pollination
• ✓deduce the different types of placentation that develop into simple, aggregate, multiple and succulent fruits
• ✓differentiate between male and female reproductive organs
• ✓relate their structure and function to the production of offspring
• ✓describe the fusion of gametes as a process of fertilization
• ✓relate the effects of the mother’s health, nutrition and indiscriminate use of drugs on the developmental stages of the embryo up to birth
• ✓explain the modern methods of regulating reproduction e.g. in-vitro fertilization and birth control

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓apply the knowledge of the conditions necessary for germination on plant growth
• ✓differentiate between epigeal and hypogeal germination

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓apply the knowledge of the structure and function of the central nervous system in the coordination of body functions
• ✓illustrate reflex actions such as blinking of the eyes, knee jerk
• ✓differentiate between reflex and voluntary actions as well as conditioned reflexes
• ✓relate the listed sense organs with their functions
• ✓apply the knowledge of the structure and functions of these sense organs in detecting and correcting their defects
• ✓state the location of the listed endocrine glands in animals
• ✓relate the hormone produced by each of these glands to their functions
• ✓examine the effects of various phytohormones (e.g. auxins, gibberellin, cytokinin, and ethylene) on growth, tropism, flowering, fruit ripening and leaf abscission
• ✓relate the function of hormones in homeostasis

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓relate the effects of temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, altitude, salinity, turbidity, pH and edaphic (soil) conditions on the distribution of organisms
• ✓use appropriate equipment (secchi disc, thermometer, rain gauge) to measure abiotic factors
• ✓describe how the activities of plants/animals (particularly human) affect the distribution of organisms

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓determine appropriate examples of symbiosis, parasitism, saprophytism, commensalism, mutualism, amensalism, competition, predation and cooperation among organisms
• ✓explain the distribution of organisms with food chains and food webs in particular habitats
• ✓define chains and webs
• ✓describe the carbon cycle and its significance including the balance of atmospheric oxygen and carbon (IV) oxide and global warming
• ✓assess the effects of water cycle on other nutrient cycles
• ✓relate the roles of bacteria and leguminous plants in the cycling of nitrogen

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓associate plants and animals with each of these habitats
• ✓relate adaptive features to the habitats in which organisms live

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓locate biomes in regions
• ✓apply the knowledge of the features of the listed local biomes in determining the characteristics of different regions of Nigeria

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓determine the reasons for rapid changes in human population and the consequences of overcrowding
• ✓compute/calculate density as the number of organisms per unit area
• ✓relate increase in population, diseases, shortage of food and space with intra- and inter-specific competition
• ✓determine niche differentiation as a means of reducing intra-specific competition
• ✓relate competition to succession
• ✓deduce the effect of these factors on the size of population
• ✓determine the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors
• ✓trace the sequence in succession to the climax stage of stability in plant population

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓identify physical properties of different soil types based on simple measurement of particle size, porosity or water retention ability
• ✓determine the amounts of air, water, humus and capillarity in different soil types experimentally
• ✓relate soil characteristics, types and components to the healthy growth of plants
• ✓relate such factors as loss of inorganic matter, compaction, leaching, erosion of the top soil and repeated cropping with one variety
• ✓apply the knowledge of the practice of contour ridging, terracing, mulching, poly-cropping, strip-cropping, use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, crop rotation, shifting cultivation, etc. to enhance soil conservation

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓identify ecological conditions that favour the spread of common endemic and potentially epidemic diseases e.g. malaria, meningitis, dracunculiasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, typhoid fever and cholera
• ✓relate the biology of the vector or agent of each disease with its spread and control
• ✓define drug abuse and addiction
• ✓list the commonly abused drugs
• ✓state the effects of drug abuse on human health
• ✓use the knowledge of the causative organisms, mode of transmission and symptoms of the listed diseases to their prevention, treatment and control
• ✓apply the principles of inoculation and vaccination on disease prevention
• ✓categorize pollution into air, water and soil
• ✓relate the effects of common pollutants to human health and environmental degradation
• ✓determine the methods by which each pollutant may be controlled
• ✓explain the importance of sanitation with emphasis on solid waste, sewage disposal, community health and personal hygiene
• ✓assess the roles and functions of international and national health agencies (WHO, UNICEF, IRCS, ministries of health and environment)
• ✓apply the various methods of conservation of both the renewable and non-renewable natural resources
• ✓outline the benefits of conserving natural resources and prevention of desertification
• ✓identify the bodies responsible for the conservation of resources at the national and international levels (NCF, Federal Ministry of Environment, National Parks, WWF, IUCN, UNEP)
• ✓identify and state the location and importance of game reserves and national parks in Nigeria

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓differentiate between continuous and discontinuous variations with examples
• ✓relate the role of environmental conditions, habitat and the genetic constitution to variation
• ✓measure heights and weights of pupils of the same age group
• ✓plot graphs of frequency distribution of the heights and weights
• ✓observe and record various colour patterns in some plants and animals
• ✓apply classification of fingerprints in identity detection
• ✓identify some specific examples of physiological variation among human population
• ✓categorize people according to their physiological variation
• ✓apply the knowledge of blood groups in blood transfusion and determination of paternity
• ✓use discontinuous variation in crime detection

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓determine heritable and non-heritable characters with examples
• ✓illustrate simple structure of DNA
• ✓illustrate segregation of genes at meiosis and recombination of genes at fertilization
• ✓deduce that segregation of genes occurs during gamete formation and that recombination of genes at fertilization is random in nature
• ✓analyze data on cross-breeding experiments
• ✓apply the principles of heredity in the production of new varieties of crops and livestock through cross-breeding
• ✓deduce advantages and disadvantages of out-breeding and in-breeding
• ✓analyze elementarily the contentious issues of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and gene therapy and biosafety
• ✓apply the knowledge of heredity in marriage counselling with particular reference to blood grouping, sickle-cell anaemia and the Rhesus factors
• ✓describe the significance of using recombinant DNA materials in the production of important medical products such as insulin, interferon and enzymes
• ✓identify characters that are sex-linked

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓define biotechnology
• ✓list some applications in agriculture, medicine, pharmaceutical and food industries

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓relate organic evolution as the sum total of all adaptive changes that have taken place over a long period of time resulting in the diversity of forms, structures and functions among organisms
• ✓explain the contributions of Lamarck and Darwin to the theory of evolution
• ✓state the evidences in support of organic evolution

Objectives — candidates should be able to:

• ✓mention the evidences for evolution such as fossil records, comparative anatomy, physiology and embryology
• ✓trace evolutionary trends in plants and animals
• ✓state the evidence of modern evolutionary theories such as genetic studies and the role of mutation