Introduction

Maths for Biology

In this course, Dr Chris Willmott (University of Leicester) breaks down how we use maths in the world of biology: beginning by (i) an introduction to why maths is necessary in biology, as well as some general tips and tricks for you to remember whenever using maths throughout the GCSE programme; we then (ii) move onto units and prefixes, where we discuss SI units amongst other units that are typically applicable to biology, as well as when and where to use them along with the appropriate prefix; we move on (iii) to discuss ordinary and standard form, what these principles are, when to use them and how to convert between the two; finally (iv) we finish up by discussing decimal places and significant figures, as well as how to round to various significant figures and some practise examples.

Introduction

In the first mini-lecture, Dr Chris Willmott (University of Leicester) begins this course with an introduction to maths in biology. We break down why we need maths in biology and go through a number of tips and tricks which are important to remember when using maths throughout the GCSE biology programme. These times include remembering to always use units, measuring distances in mm in biology and simply asking yourself "is this a sensible number?" when answering a question.