PAss Functional Skills

Enzymes and digestion

Enzymes and digestion for Functional Skills Biology: what it means, how to set the working out, and the questions it is asked in.
  • Functional Skills
  • Biology
  • Spec R5
  • 10 min read
  • 7 revision boxes

Introduction

2 boxes
3 min read

What is enzymes and digestion?

Listen to this box

Transcript

A short spoken summary of enzymes and digestion and where it is used.

A spoken walk-through of enzymes and digestion before you read the notes.
The specification wording is precise here, and the mark scheme follows that wording exactly.
Worth knowing: 49=7\sqrt{49} = 7.
2 rows

The enzymes and digestion reference table

Read the units in the question before you start; a converted unit is the most common slip.
Worth knowing: 34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}.
Term
Meaning
Example
Row 1 column 1
Row 1 column 2
49=7\sqrt{49} = 7
Row 2 column 1
Row 2 column 2
34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}

Learning

3 boxes
5 steps

How to work with enzymes and digestion

Check the answer against an estimate before you move on, so a place-value slip is caught here.
  1. Read the question and write down what is being asked for.
  2. Set out the working for enzymes and digestion in the order the method gives.
  3. Substitute the values and simplify.
  4. Check the answer against an estimate before writing it down.
Start from the definition and substitute the numbers the question gives you.
Simplify one line at a time: ≈160\approx 160.
Answer: x2+5x+6=0x^2 + 5x + 6 = 0
3 rules

Key facts: Enzymes and digestion

Work through the method one line at a time and write down what changes at each step.
Worth knowing: ≈160\approx 160.

  • Rule 1

    How enzymes and digestion behaves in the 1st of the cases the specification names.
    a2+b2=c2a^2 + b^2 = c^2

  • Rule 2

    How enzymes and digestion behaves in the 2nd of the cases the specification names.
    34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}

  • Rule 3

    How enzymes and digestion behaves in the 3rd of the cases the specification names.
    a2+b2=c2a^2 + b^2 = c^2
4 steps

How to work with enzymes and digestion

The specification wording is precise here, and the mark scheme follows that wording exactly.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing enzymes and digestion laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.
  1. Read the question and write down what is being asked for.
  2. Set out the working for enzymes and digestion in the order the method gives.
  3. Substitute the values and simplify.
  4. Check the answer against an estimate before writing it down.
Start from the definition and substitute the numbers the question gives you.
Simplify one line at a time: ≈160\approx 160.
Answer: ≈160\approx 160

20 minutes

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Examples

2 boxes
1 marks · worked

Worked example: enzymes and digestion

This idea appears again in the higher-mark questions, so it is worth over-learning.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing enzymes and digestion laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.
1 marks · worked

Practice question 7: 34×25\frac{3}{4} \times \frac{2}{5}

Check the answer against an estimate before you move on, so a place-value slip is caught here.
The layout below is the one the mark scheme expects.

Diagram showing enzymes and digestion laid out step by step

The same idea drawn out, so the method is visible.

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Common questions

How many marks is enzymes and digestion usually worth?
Between one and four, depending on how many steps the question asks for.
Is this on the Functional Skills Biology paper?
Yes — it sits in the Research methods strand.