What is it
Students learn that characteristics are passed from parents to offspring through genes, the difference between inherited and environmental variation, and Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection with supporting fossil evidence.
Why it matters
This is students' first formal encounter with genetics and evolution — the two ideas that unify all of modern biology — building directly toward GCSE's detailed treatment of DNA, alleles and natural selection.
Exam tip
When explaining natural selection, always use the full four-step chain — variation exists, some variants survive better, they reproduce more, the useful trait becomes more common — partial explanations lose marks.
Related topics
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