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BIOLOGY CORNER

Muscles:
A muscle is a tissue which contracts to produce movements in parts of the body or the entire body.

There are three types of muscles, namely,
- cardiac muscle,
- smooth muscle (visceral muscle)
- skeletal muscle (striated muscle).

1. Cardiac muscle
is found in the heart and has the following characteristics:
-It is myogenic (self-stimulating),meaning that the stimulus for contraction originates
from the muscle itself
- It does not get fatigued
- The muscle cells (muscle fibres) are branched and interconnected forming a net-like structure
- The muscle cells die easily when deprived of oxygen and food or exposed to toxins.

2. Smooth muscles (visceral muscles)
-are made of long, spindle-shaped cells and are found in the walls of several body tubes and organs.
NOTE:
Rings of smooth muscles are called sphincters.

3. Skeletal muscles
- are muscles which are attached to the skeleton and play a major role in
locomotion.
NOTE:
When viewed under the microscope they look striped (striated) and are therefore called striated muscles.
-They are multinucleated (each muscle cell has several nuclei).
- Skeletal muscles are voluntary while cardiac and smooth muscles are involuntary.
NOTE:
A voluntary muscle is a muscle whose contraction is consciously controlled by the brain.

-Skeletal muscles occur in pairs known as antagonistic muscles.
-Antagonistic muscles are
pairs of muscles which produce movement in opposite directions at the same joint.
The muscle that causes bending of the joint when it contracts is called a flexor muscle while the one that causes extending of the joint when it contracts is called the extensor muscle.
NOTE:
Skeletal muscles occur in antagonistic pairs because each muscle can only contract but requires the contraction of another muscle to relax or lengthen it.
-Examples of antagonistic muscles are the biceps and triceps which act on the elbow joint.
-The biceps are the flexor muscles while the triceps are the extensor muscles.

CHALLENGE QUESTION

The vertices of quadrilateral ABCD are A (2, 4), B (-1, 5), C (–3, 4) and D (–2, 2).

(a) Calculate the gradient of line CD.

(b) Show that line AD is perpendicular to line CD.

(c) Find the equation of line CD. Give your answer in the form ax+by=c where a,b,c∈Z
Lines AB and CD intersect at point E.

(d) Find the coordinates of E.

(e) Find the distance between A and D.

The distance between D and E is √20.

(f) Find the area of triangle ADE.

TIPS ON PERSONAL STUDY

Personal study is very important as it helps you to identify your weakness and strength in a given subject.

Here are some of the questions that you should ask yourself before studying;
a. Which subject(s) am I having problems?
b. What do I know about this topic?
c. Where is my weakest point?
Once you have answered these questions correctly you will have a fruitful personal study.

Also you need to have a personal study timetable. This is a very important tool of which one needs to follow it without fail.

Finally, there are some questions that you should ask yourself after the personal study such as:
a. What new knowledge have I acquired for this study?
b. How can I paraphrase this? Or put it in my own words.
c. Am I able to share this with a friend?

Asking your self the above questions will help you to have a fruitful personal study.

Enjoy your personal study.😀😀😀😀

COMPOSITION WRITING SKILLS
In order to write a good composition it is important that you write something of your interest or your personal experience wherever possible. It is difficult to write about something that you are not interested in or haven’t experienced or even seen anyone experience.
WRITING HINTS
1. Read all the questions carefully but do not needlessly spend so much time on choosing the question you will perfectly write on. Do not start writing your composition until you are fully sure of what is expected of you. It would greatly help if you chose the question which appeals to your experience or interests or you have vast knowledge on.
2. Do not under or over write. Stick to the required number of words- between 250 and 350 words. Avoid writing freak essays [too short essays].
3. Balance your points-never write too much on one point. The time to show how much you know is in history, geography or science. A composition is a test on how much you can communicate. You are writing to communicate thus if nothing is understood then nothing has been achieved.
4. Observe coherence and cohesion in both sentences and paragraphs. Let each sentence or paragraph flow naturally from the one before and lead naturally to the one after.
5. Avoid roundabout way of expressing oneself [circumlocution]. e.g. The sister to my father[aunt]. The mother to my mother [grandmother]
6. Observe grammar. Strictly follow the rules of the language. Do not leave essential elements of the sentence such as the subject and verb.
7. Use simple language- characterized by simple words and sparingly usage of over flowery language. Never use serious sounding words in an attempt to impress the examiners when a simpler word[s] would be more suitable in the particular context.
For example, Grade 12 girls displayed their culinary prowess. Instead of: Grade 12 girls showed how well they could cook.
8. Use formal language unless in rare cases i.e. informal letters. Formal language is the acceptable form of English used in official reports, texts and references while informal language is one not officially acceptable. Vulgar language on the other hand is substandard which expresses pomposity and is not appropriate in your writing. e.g Dick got sloshed at our do. [Sloshed-drunk/ do-party]
Below are some examples of formal and informal words;
Formal informal
-Psychotic -insane
-Incarcerated -in jail
-Recline - lie/eat
9. British and American words or spellings may be used but with consistency.
British American
Colour color
Labour labor
Pavement side walk
Chemist drug store
Pub bar
Lift elevator
Traffic lights robots

10. Pay attention to spellings, punctuations, and capitalisation.
11. Do not use abbreviations unless otherwise.
12. Do not write numbers in digits except for dates, addresses, telephone numbers and other conventional figures
13. Avoid using long-winding sentences lest the examiner loses his way in them.
14. Never leave your reader in suspense. Say what you want to say and not what you meant to say. e.g Peggy told Mary that she had seen her teacher. (Whose teacher was seen?).
15. Avoid using ambiguous sentences- sentences with many meanings.e.g Patrick agreed with Paul that he should not go. [Who should not go between the
two?] be more specific.
16. Use a variety of sentence starters, sequence indicators and connectors. Sentence starters and connectors enhance cohesion-linking parts together i.e. sentences and paragraphs. In other words sentence starters and connectors hold the whole composition together thereby making it interesting and meaningful.
REFERENCES
English language senior pamphlet (Grade 10-12).
Botha, M. (2018). English amplified : teaching and learning English full package. Lqnc publication : Lusaka.

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. – Malcolm X

Tips on answering examination questions part two (2)
7. Describe and explain
‘Describe and explain’ means you give a reason for each point you give in your description.

8. Calculate/ find
To calculate means you workout the answer to a numerical problem. You show all your working so that even if you
make a mistake you will still get some marks. Make sure that you work in SI units and always give your final answer in SI units. Sometimes Find can be used instead of calculate. Find may mean measure.

9. Give three reasons / examples
This tells you how many reasons or examples, which are different from each other, to give. There are no extra marks
for giving more than what you are asked to give.

10. Compare
Compare means point out the differences and similarities. Explain which are which, do not just make two lists.

11. Outline
This requires a leaner to give a briefly over view of the topic. The number of marks will help you decide how much is
needed. Restrict your answer to main points only.

12. Predict
‘Predict’ or ‘ deduce’ means that you do not have to remember the answer. Instead you get the answer by applying the
logic to other information in the question.

is back. Here is a challenge question from past exam papers about graphs of polynomials.

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