Northern Ireland · CCEASyllabus

Combined Science syllabus, dot point by dot point

Every dot point in the Northern Ireland Combined Sciencesyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.

B1 Cells, Living Processes and Biodiversity

Module overview →

What are the parts of animal and plant cells, how are cells specialised, and how do we measure them under a microscope?
Animal and plant cell structures and their functions, examples of specialised cells and their adaptations, the levels of organisation from cell to organism, and using a light microscope including magnification calculations.
8 min answer →
How does the nervous system coordinate the body, and how does the eye detect light?
The central nervous system, sensory, relay and motor neurones, the reflex arc as a fast automatic response, the structure and function of the eye, and how the eye focuses light and adjusts to light intensity.
8 min answer →
How do organisms interact in an ecosystem, and how does energy and carbon move through it?
The terms population, community, habitat and ecosystem, producers, consumers and decomposers, food chains and food webs, the flow of energy through trophic levels and why it is lost, pyramids of numbers and biomass, and the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
8 min answer →
What are enzymes, how does temperature and pH affect them, and how do they digest our food?
Enzymes as biological catalysts, the lock and key model and the active site, how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity including denaturing, the organs of the digestive system, the enzymes amylase, protease and lipase, the role of bile, and absorption in the villi.
8 min answer →
What makes a balanced diet, and how do we test food for the main nutrients?
The components of a balanced diet and their sources and functions, the consequences of an unbalanced diet, and the chemical food tests for starch, reducing sugar, protein and fat.
7 min answer →
How do plants make food by photosynthesis, and how is the leaf adapted to do it?
The word and symbol equations for photosynthesis, the role of chlorophyll and chloroplasts, the limiting factors of light, carbon dioxide and temperature, the structure of a leaf and how its tissues and stomata are adapted for photosynthesis and gas exchange.
8 min answer →
How do we measure organisms in a habitat, and how do humans affect biodiversity?
Using quadrats and transects to sample organisms, the meaning of biodiversity, the causes and effects of pollution including the use of indicator species, the consequences of habitat destruction and deforestation, and conservation measures.
8 min answer →
How do we breathe, how do gases exchange in the lungs, and what is respiration?
The structure of the human respiratory system, the mechanism of breathing in and out, gas exchange in the alveoli and their adaptations, the difference between breathing and respiration, and aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
8 min answer →

B2 Body Systems, Genetics, Microorganisms and Health

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C1 Structures, Trends, Reactions and Analysis

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C2 Further Reactions, Rates, Organic Chemistry and Calculations

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P1 Motion, Force, Energy, Density, Kinetic Theory and Radioactivity

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P2 Waves, Light, Electricity, Magnetism, Electromagnetism and Space

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Practical Skills

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What practical skills are assessed in the CCEA Double Award, and how do you score well in them?
The prescribed practicals across Biology, Chemistry and Physics, the working-scientifically skills assessed (planning, variables, measuring, recording, analysing and evaluating), and how the Practical Skills unit is examined.
10 min answer →