Courses | Junior Cycle Grinds | Leaving Cert Grinds

Biology

Biology Leaving Certificate – Live Lesson

Biology – Genetic Crosses and Evolution

Evolution is how species slowly change over time and in the middle of the 19th century, biology was transformed when two English naturalists, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, independently worked out just how evolution works. Around the same time, a Czechoslovakian monk, Gregor Mendel, began to work out the laws of inheritance - how traits are passed on from one generation to the next. Building on what Mendel discovered, we can now work out the traits of the potential offspring between a couple of any species, using a method called a genetic cross.

Biology – Ecology

Ecology is the study of living organisms, the environment in which they live and the relationships between them. It's first important to understand how the ecosystem works, how energy moves from one level of the food chain to the next and how nutrients are recycled. Then we can look at how organisms interact with each other and how populations rise and fall.

Biology – Microbiology

All living organisms can be classified into five different groups - these are called the '5 Kingdoms of Life'. Two of these groups are animals and plants; the other three groups - monera (bacteria) , protista and fungi - are microorganisms. Microorganisms are living organisms that are so small that we can't see them with the naked eye - we need a microscope to see them. These tiny creatures dominate the planet and we must aim to have a good understanding of the different types of them, their structure, what they eat, how they reproduce and examples of ones that are both good and bad for us.

Biology – Blood and the Immune System

The immune system is our body's natural defense against pathogens - bacteria, protists, fungi and viruses which cause disease. There are two parts to it - the innate and the adaptive immune systems. The innate immune system is a general defense against all pathogens, whereas the adaptive immune system involves a process where different types of white blood cells recognise and kill specific pathogens. Only once we understand how the immune system works, can we begin to understand what the different blood groups are and how people can become immune to certain pathogens.

Biology – Experiments

There are 22 practical experiments on the leaving cert course. This lesson will first focus on the scientific method and how and why experiments are done. It will then cover nine key experiments - food tests (1 experiment), enzyme experiments (4 experiments) and the study of an ecosystem (4 experiments). The experiments are based off the theoretical course content and for these nine, it helps to have a good understanding of the cell, biochemistry and ecology.

Biology – The Cell

The cell is the functional unit of biology - everything alive either is a cell or is composed of cells. For this reason, a good understanding of the structure and function of the cell is imperative to the rest of biology. This lesson will study biomolecules - the chemicals that cells are made from; the different structures in a cell and what they do; how substances move in and out of cells; and how we use microscopes to study cells. After completing this lesson, you'll be ready to look at biology at another level.

Biology – Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the chemistry of cells - or, put more plainly, how cells function. A cell is constantly being run by different chemical reactions inside it - the two main ones we will study are photosynthesis and respiration. These chemical reactions are driven by two types of big molecules inside the cell - energy carriers and enzymes. Once we understand how cells work, naturally, we can manipulate them in industry to produce food, drink and medicine.

Biology – Genetics (DNA)

When you look inside a cell, then inside the nucleus, keep zooming in and you'll see the organisms DNA - the blueprint of life. It's crucial to have a good understanding of the fine structure of DNA (and of another similar molecule called RNA) before progressing through the rest of genetics. Next, we look at how cells are constantly copying their DNA and then dividing in two, themselves. After this we look at how cells read the genetic code inside the DNA and use this code to manufacture proteins - and how we can use this information to our advantage to make proteins in the lab or in the factory.

Chemistry

Chemistry – Atomic Chemistry

This lesson covers the atomic chemistry section of leaving cert chemistry, which includes atomic structure, electrons & orbitals, trends in the periodic table, bonding and radioactivity. This is a broad topic with a lot of content and every year it makes up question 5 of the exam paper, as well as various other smaller questions. After completing this lesson, you'll have a much better understanding of these topics and how to answer questions on them.

Chemistry – Stoichiometry

This lesson will cover the stoichiometry section of Leaving Cert Chemistry. This is the maths side of chemistry and for this lesson, you'll need a periodic table and a calculator! We will cover moles and how to convert from moles to mass, number of molecules, gas volume and concentration, and then how to apply these skills to working out different bits of information about a reaction. After completing this course, you'll have a much better understanding of how to answer all the different kinds of stoichiometry questions in leaving cert chemistry papers.

Chemistry – Titrations

A titration is an experiment carried out to determine the concentration of a solution. There are 6 titrations on the leaving cert chemistry course, and each year one of them will make up question 1 on the exam paper. In this lesson, we will look at the theory behind each of these 6 titrations, how to carry out the experiment and how to calculate the concentration of a solution using stoichiometry.

Chemistry – Equilibrium

Equilibrium is the point in a reversible reaction where the rate of the forward reaction is the same as the rate of the backward reaction - or, more simply, the point at which the reaction settles down. Equilibrium is like the reset point for the reaction, and it will always return to this point. In this lesson we will gain a better understanding of chemical equilibrium. We will also look at how to calculate the equilibrium point and how to predict how the reaction will respond to different changes.

Chemistry – Acids & Bases and pH

In this lesson, you will learn all about the two main theories of acids and bases - Bronsted-Lowry and Arrhenius - and how acids and bases react with each other. We will also cover the concept of pH and how to calculate the pH value for a strong acid, a strong base, a weak acid and a weak base.

Chemistry – Water

A true understanding of water as a compound is really central to chemistry and will help you with other topics like pH and titrations. In this lesson we will focus on hardness in water, drinking water treatment and waste water treatment. We will also go through the three important water experiments - how to test a water sample for total hardness, for dissolved oxygen content and for the concentration of free chlorine.

Chemistry – Thermochemistry and Fuels

Thermochemistry involves studying how heat and temperature change in chemical reactions. We need to understand the two main types of reactions - endothermic and exothermic reactions - as well as a few definitions, and how to calculate the total change of heat in a reaction.We'll then learn about how fuels are produced and processed and what makes one fuel more efficient than another. Together, these will take up question 6 on the exam paper.

Chemistry – Organic Chemistry

Organic chemistry is an important topic which makes up a large portion of the leaving cert paper. In this lesson, we will first discuss 8 families of chemical compounds called homologous series - the alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and esters. We will then describe the different types of chemical reactions that these compounds can take part in, and how members from one family can be converted to members of another.

French

Junior Certificate French – La nourriture et la cuisine

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate La nourriture et la cuisine (Food and Cooking). This lesson will cover: Les Fruits et Légumes – Fruit and Vegetables Écoutez ! – Listening Comprehension Dans la Cuisine – In the Kitchen Au Restaurant – At the Restaurant Exam Strategies With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of the City! Never miss a beat again when it comes to talking about food!

Junior Certificate French – Dans la ville

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Dans la Ville (In the City). This lesson will cover: Les bâtiments – The Buildings Les commerces – The Shops Trouvez votre chemin! – Find your Way! Prepositions Ècoutez – Listening With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of the City! Never miss a beat again when it comes to talking about your area!

Junior Certificate French – L’école

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate L’école (School). This lesson will cover: Les matières et la salle de classe – Subjects and the classroom Les métiers – Trades Les fournitures scolaires – School supplies L’expression écrite – Written Expression Ècoutez – Listening Comprehension With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of L’école (School).

Junior Cert French - Holidays / Les vacances

Junior Certificate French – Les vacances

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Les vacances (Holidays). This lesson will cover: Le transport – Transport Les vacances – Holidays Written Expression – Les vacances Ècoutez – Listening Comprehension With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of Les vacances (Holidays).

Junior Cert French - Weather / Les temps

Junior Certificate French – Les temps, la météo, les jours, les mois, les saisons

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Les temps, la météo, les jours, les mois, les saisons (The weather, the days, the months, the seasons). This lesson will cover: La météo – the weather Les jours, les mois, les saisons – the days, months, years Ècoutez – Listening Comprehension With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of Les temps, la météo, les jours, les mois, les saisons (The weather, the days, the months, the seasons)!

Junior Cert French - Numbers / Letters - Les nombres / l'alphabet

Junior Certificate French – Les nombres etc

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Les nombres etc (Numbers, etc). This lesson will cover: Les nombres etc. – Numbers etc. L’alphabet et les couleurs – The alphabet and the colours Les poids, les mesures, les récipients – Weight, measures, containers Les Adjectifs – Adjectives Ècoutez – Listening Comprehension With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of numbers!

Junior Certificate French – La Maison

In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate La Maison (The House). This lesson will cover: La maison – The House Les tâches ménagères – Household tasks Written Expression – La maison Reading Comprehension – La maison Les animaux – The animals Ècoutez – Listening With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of the City! Never miss a beat again when it comes to talking about your area!

Junior Certificate French Le corps, La famille, and Les loisirs

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Le corps, La famille, and Les loisirs (Body, Family, and Recreation). This lesson will cover: Le corps – The Body Les émotions et les sentiments – Emotions La famille – Family Les vêtements – Clothing Les loisirs – Hobbies Ècoutez – Listening Comprehension With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Reading, Writing and Speaking of French on the topic of Le corps, La famille, and Les loisirs (Body, Family, and Recreation).

Junior Cert French - Letter / Postcard / Note

Junior Certificate French letter writing

This course is an Annual Subscription. In this lesson we will cover both higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate Letter Writing. This lesson will cover: Informal Letter Note Game Zone With listening exercises, tests, sentence structure and interactive videos, improve your Letter and Note Writing! Never miss a beat again when it comes to writing letters!