WACE Human Biology past exams 2020–2025, by year and topic

The rest of the syllabus

Question-level mapping for these areas is still being verified. Every official paper covering them is in the year table above.

• Unit 3 — Endocrine system — Endocrine glands, their hormones and target organs · Hypothalamus–pituitary control and hormone modes of action (lipid-soluble vs water-soluble, secondary messengers)
• Unit 3 — Central and peripheral nervous system — Divisions of the nervous system: central–peripheral, afferent–efferent, autonomic–somatic, sympathetic–parasympathetic · The central nervous system: brain regions, spinal cord and their protection · Receptors and the reflex arc · Nerve impulse transmission: generation, propagation and the synapse
• Unit 3 — Homeostasis — Nervous versus endocrine control and the principles of homeostasis (feedback, tolerance limits) · Thermoregulation: physiological and behavioural mechanisms · Blood sugar regulation: pancreatic and adrenal hormones, and treating endocrine dysfunction · Body fluid regulation (ADH, aldosterone, thirst) and gas concentration control
• Unit 3 — Response to infection — Pathogens, transmission and the body's external defences · Immune responses: inflammation and fever, B and T lymphocytes, active and passive immunity, vaccines, antibiotics and antivirals
• Unit 4 — Mutations — Mutations as the source of variation: causes, new alleles and differential survival
• Unit 4 — Gene pools — Gene pools and allele frequency change: mutation, selection pressures, genetic drift and founder effect, gene flow · Natural selection, speciation and genetic disease in populations (sickle-cell anaemia)
• Unit 4 — Evidence for evolution — Phylogenetic trees, comparative biochemistry and biotechnology (PCR, gel electrophoresis, DNA sequencing, bioinformatics) · The fossil record and relative and absolute dating techniques
• Unit 4 — Hominid evolutionary trends — Primates and the great apes: cerebral cortex, digits, locomotion, prognathism and dentition · Hominin fossils from Australopithecus afarensis to Homo sapiens · Tool cultures and the evolution of cognitive abilities and lifestyles