JAMB/UTME syllabus for biology

What is the aim of Jamb syllabus for biology?

The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Biology is to
prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination. It is designed to test their achievement of the
course objectives, which are to:
1. demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the concepts of the interdependence and unity of life;
2. account for continuity of life through reorganization, inheritance and evolution;
3. apply biological principles and concepts to everyday life, especially to matters affecting the
individual, society, the environment, community health and the economy.

Things that you should know about this syllabus

•It is your compass in biology when preparing to sit for biology in jamb because it guides you on the topics to read and what you should know about the topics after reading them.
•Topics : These are the contents that you should read intensively, you can find them in the recommended textbooks by jamb.
•Objectives : These are what you should know or should be able to do after reading each topic.

Section A: VARIETY OF ORGANISMS

Topics

1. Living organisms:
 a. Characteristics
 b. Cell structure and functions of cell components
c. Level of organization
 i. Cell e.g. Amoeba, cheek cell
 ii. Tissue, e.g. epithelial tissues
 iii. Organ, e.g. leaf and heart
 iv. Systems, e.g. reproductive
 v. Organisms e.g. Chlamydomonas

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. differentiate between the characteristics of
 living and non-living things;
ii. identify the cell structures;
iii. analyse the functions of the components of
 plants and animal cells;
iv. compare and contrast the structure of plant and
 animal cells;
v. trace the levels of organization among
organisms in their logical sequence in relation
to the five kingdom classification of living
organisms.

Topics

2. Evolution among the following:
 a. Monera (prokaryotes), e.g. bacteria and
 blue green algae.
b. Protista (protozoans and protophyta),
 e.g. Amoeba, Euglena and Paramecium
c. Fungi, e.g. mushroom and Rhizopus.
d. Plantae (plants)
 i. Thallophyta (e.g. Spirogyra)
 ii. Bryophyta (mosses and liveworts) e.g.
 Bryachymenium and Merchantia.
 iii. Pteridophyta (ferns) e.g. Dryopteris.
 iv. Spermatophyta (Gymnospermae and
 Angiospermae)
 - Gymnosperms e.g. Cycads and
conifers.
 - Angiosperms (monocots, e.g. maize;
 dicots, e.g. water leaf)
e. Animalia (animals)
i. Invertebrates
 - coelenterate (e.g. Hydra)
 - Platyhelminthes (flatworms) e.g. Taenia
 - Nematoda (roundworms)
 - Annelida (e.g. earthworm)
 - Arthropoda (insects) e.g. Millipedes,
ticks, mosquito, cockroach, housefly,
bee, butterfly
- Mollusca (e.g. snails)
 ii. Multicellular animals (vertebrates)
- pisces (cartilaginous and bony fish)
- Amphibia (e.g. toads and frogs)
- Reptilia (e.g. lizards, snakes and
turtles)
- Aves (birds)
- Mammalia (mammals)

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. analyse external features and characteristics of the
listed organisms:
ii. apply the knowledge from (i) above to
demonstrate increase in structural complexity;
iii. trace the stages in the life histories of the listed
organisms;
 iv. apply the knowledge of the life histories to
demonstrate gradual transition from life in
water to life on land;
v. trace the evolution of the listed plants.
vi. trace the evolution of the invertebrate animals;
vii. determine the economic importance of the
 insects studied;
viii. asses their values to the environment;
 ix. trace the evolution of multi-cellular animals;
 x. determine their economic importance.

Topics

3. Structural/behavioural adaptations of
vertebrates (bony fish, toad, lizard, bird,
small mammal) to the environment.

Objectives

   Candidates should be able to:
i. describe how the various structures and behaviour
adapt these organisms to their environment.

Section B: FORM AND FUNCTIONS

Topics

1. Internal structure of a flowering plant
 i. Root
 ii. Stem
 iii. Leaf
b. Internal structure of a mammal

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. identify the transverse sections of these
 organs;
 ii. relate the structure of these organs to their
 functions.
 iii. examine the arrangement of the mammalian
 internal organs;
 iv. describe the appearance and position of the
 digestive, reproductive and excretory organs.

Topics

2. Nutrition
a. Modes of nutrition
i. Autotrophic
 ii. Heterotrophic
 Types of Nutrition
b. Plant nutrition
 i. Photosynthesis
 ii. Mineral requirements
 (macro and micro-nutrients)
 c. Animal nutrition
 i. Classes of food substances;
 carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils,
 vitamins, mineral salts and water
 ii. Food tests (e.g. starch, reducing
 sugar, protein, oil, fat etc.
 iii. The mammalian tooth
 (structures, types and functions)
iv. Mammalian alimentary canal
 v. Nutrition process (ingestion, digestion,
 absorption, and assimilation of digested
 food.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
 i. compare the photosynthetic and chemosynthetic
 modes of nutrition;
 ii. provide examples from both flowering and non-
 flowering plants;
 iii. compare autotropic and heterotrophic modes of
 nutrition.

Topics

3. Transport
 a. Need for transportation
b. Materials for transportation.
Excretory products, gases, manufactured food,
digested food, nutrient, water and
hormones)
c. Channels for transportation
i. Mammalian circulatory system (heart,
 arteries, veins, and capillaries)
ii Plant vascular system (phloem and xylem)
d. Media and processes of mechanism for
 transportation.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
 differentiate the following examples:
- holozoic (sheep and man)
- Parasitic (roundworm, tapeworm and
Loranthus)
- saprophytic (Rhizopus and mushroom)
- carnivorous plants (sundew and
bladderwort)
- determine their nutritional value.
Candidates should be able to:
i. analyse the light and dark reactions, materials
 and conditions necessary for photosynthesis;
ii. determine the necessity of light, carbon (IV)
 oxide and chlorophyll in photosynthesis;
iii. detect the presence of starch in a leaf as an
 evidence of photosynthesis.
Candidates should be able to:
i. identify macro-and micro-elements required
 by plants;
ii. determine the deficiency symptoms of
 nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
Candidates should be able to:
i. indicate the sources of the various classes of
 food;
ii. relate the importance of each class;
iii. determine the importance of a balanced diet.
Candidates should be able to detect the presence
of the listed food items from the result of a given
experiment.
 Candidates should be able to:
 i. describe the structure of a typical mammalian
 tooth;
ii. differentiate the types of mammalian tooth
 and relate their structures to their functions.
iii. compare the dental formulae of man, sheep,
 and dog.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the structure of the various components of
 the alimentary canal and its accessory organs
 (liver, pancreas, and gall bladder) to their
functions.
 Candidates should be able to:
i. identify the general characteristics of digestive
 enzymes;
ii. associate enzymes with digestion of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats;
iii. determine the end products of these classes of
 food.

Topics

4. Respiration
a. Respiratory organs and surfaces
b. The mechanism of gaseous exchange in:
i. Plants
ii. Mammals
c. Aerobic respiration
d. Anaerobic respiration

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. examine the significance of respiration;
ii. describe the process of glycolysis;
iii. compare the similarities of the process in plants
 and animals;
iv. deduce from an experimental set up, gaseous
 exchange and products, exchange and
 production of heat energy during respiration.
Candidates should be able to:
i. describe the following respiratory organs and
surfaces with organisms in which they occur;
body surface, gill, trachea, lungs, stomata and
lenticels;
ii. relate the characteristics of the respiratory
surfaces listed above to their functions.
Candidates should be able to:
i. describe the mechanism for the opening and
closing of the stomata;
ii. determine respiratory movements in these
animals.
Candidates should be able to:
iii. examine the role of oxygen in the liberation of
 energy for the activities of the living organisms;
iv. deduce the effect of insufficient supply of
oxygen to the muscles.
Candidates should be able to:
i. use yeast cells and sugar solution to demonstrate
 the process of fermentation;
ii. asses the economic importance of yeasts.

Topics

5.Excretion
a. Types of excretory structures:
 contractile vacuole, flamecell,
 nephridium, Malpighian tubule, kidney,
 stoma and lenticel.
b. Excretory mechanisms:
i. Kidneys
ii. lungs
ii. skin
c. Excretory products of plants

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. Interpret the meaning and significance of excretion;
ii. identify the characteristics of each structure.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the structure of the kidneys to the excretory
 and osmo-regulatory functions.
. identify the functions and excretory products of
 the lungs and the skin.

Topics

6. Support and movement
a. Tropic, tactic, nastic and sleep
 movements in plants
b. supporting tissues in animals
c. Types and functions of the skeleton
 i. Exoskeleton
 ii. Endoskeleton
iii. Functions of the skeleton in animals

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. determine the need for support and movement in
 organisms;
ii. identify supporting tissues in plants (collenchyma,
 sclerenchyma, xylem and phloem fibres);
iii. describe the distribution of supporting tissues in
 roots, stem, and leaf.
 Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the response of plants to the stimuli of light,
 water, gravity and touch;
ii. identify the regions of growth in roots and shoots
 and the roles of auxins in tropism.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the location of chitin, cartilage and bone to
 their supporting function;
ii. relate the structure and the general layout of the
 mammalian skeleton to their supportive,
locomotive and respiratory function;
iii. differentiate types of joints using appropriate
 examples.
Candidates should be able to:
i. apply the protective, supportive, locomotive and
 respiratory functions of the skeleton to the
wellbeing of the animal.

Topics

7. Reproduction
a. A sexual reproduction
 i. Fission as in Paramecium
 ii. Budding as in yeast
 iii. Natural vegetative propagation
 iv. Artificial vegetative propagation.
b. sexual reproduction in flowering plants
i. Floral parts and their functions
ii. Pollination and fertilization
 iii. products of sexual reproduction
c. Reproduction in mammals
i. structures and functions of the male
 and female reproductive organs
ii. Fertilization and development.
(Fusion of gametes)

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. differentiate between asexual and sexual
 reproduction;
ii. apply natural vegetative propagation in crop
 production and multiplication;
iii. apply grafting, budding and layering in
 agricultural practices.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate parts of flower to their functions and
 reproductive process;
ii. deduce the advantages of cross pollination;
iii. deduce the different types of placentation that
 develop into simple, aggregate, multiple and
 succulent fruits.
Candidates should be able to:
i. differentiate between male and female
 reproductive organs;
ii. relate their structure and function to
 the production of offspring.
Candidates should be able to:
i. describe the fusion of gametes as a process of
 fertilization;
ii. relate the effects of the mother’s health, nutrition
 and indiscriminate use of drugs on the
developmental stages of the embryo up to birth.

Topics

8. Growth
a. meaning fo grwoth
b. Germination of seeds and condition
necessary for germination of seeds.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. apply the knowledge of the conditions necessary
for germination on plants growth;
ii. differentiate between epigeal and hypogeal
 germination.

Topics

9. Co-ordination and control
a. Nervous coordination:
 i. the components, structure and functions
 of the central nervous system;
ii. The components and functions of the
 peripheral nervous systems;
iii. Mechanism of transmission of impulses;
iv. Reflex action
b. The sense organs
i. skin (tactile)
ii. nose (olfactory)
iii. tongue (taste)
 iv. eye (sight)
 v. ear (auditory)
c. Hormonal control
 i. animal hormonal system
 - Pituitary
 - thyroid
 - parathyroid
 - adrenal gland
 - pancreas
 - gonads
 ii. Plant hormones
 (phytohormones)
d. Homeostasis
 i. Body temperature regulation
 ii. Salt and water regulation

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. apply the knowledge of the structure and function
of the central nervous system in the coordination
of body functions in organisms;
ii. illustrate reflex actions such as blinking of the
eyes, knee jerk; etc.;
iii. differentiate between reflex and voluntary actions
as well as conditioned reflexes such as salivation,
riding a bicycle and swimming;
Candidates should be able to:
i. associate the listed sense organs with their
functions;
ii. apply the knowledge of the structure and
functions of these sense organs in detecting an
correcting their defects.
Candidates should be able to:
i. locate the listed endocrine glands in animals;
ii. relate the hormone produced by each of these
 glands to their functions.
Candidates should be able to:
i. examine the effects of various phytohormones (e.g.
 auxins, gibberellin, cytokinin, and ethylene) on
 growth, tropism, flowering, fruit ripening and leaf
 abscission.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the function of hormones to regulating the
 levels of materials inside the body.

Section C: ECOLOGY

Topics

1. Factors affecting the distribution of
 Organisms
 i. Abiotic
ii. Biotic

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. describe how the activities of
 plants/animals (particularly human)
 affect the distribution of organisms.
Candidates should be able to:
i. deduce the effects of temperature; rainfall, relative
 humidity, wind speed and direction, altitude,
salinity, turbidity, pH and edaphic (soil) conditions
on the distribution of organisms.
ii. use appropriate equipment (e.g. sechi disc,
 thermometer, rain gauge etc) to measure abiotic
 factors.

Topics

2. Symbiotic interactions of plants
and animals
(a) Food chains, food webs and
 trophic levels
(b) Energy flow in the ecosystem.
(c) Nutrient cycling in nature
 i. carbon cycle
 ii. water cycle
 iii. Nitrogen cycle

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. determine appropriate examples of
 symbiosis, parasitism, saprophytism,
 comensalism, mutualism, amensalism,
 competition, predation and
 cooperation among organisms;
ii. associate the distribution of organisms
 with food chains and food webs in
 particular habitats.
Candidates should be able to:
i. interpret the ecological pyramids of
 numbers, biomass and energy.
Candidates should be able to:
i. describe the cycle and its significance
 including the balance of atmospheric
 oxygen and carbon (IV) oxide.
Candidates should be able to:
i. assess the effects of water cycle on other
 nurtrient cycles.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate the roles of bacteria and leguminous plants in
the cycling of nitrogen.

Topics

3. Natural Habitats
(a) Aquatic (e.g. ponds, streams, lakes
 seashores and mangrove swamps)
(b) Terrestrial/arboreal (e.g. tree-tops of oil palm,
abandoned farmland or a dry grassy (savanna)
field, and burrow or hole.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. associate plants and animals with each of these
habitats.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate adaptive features to the habitats in which an
organisms lives.

Topics

4. Local (Nigerian) Biomes)
a. Tropical rainforest
b. Guinea savanna (southern and
 northern)
 c. Sudan Savanna
 d. Desert
 e. Highlands of montane forests and
 grasslands of the Obudu, Jos,
 Mambilla Plateau.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. locate biomes to regions
ii. apply the knowledge of the features of the listed
local biomes in determining the characteristics of
 different regions of Nigeria.

Topics

5. The Ecology of Populations:
(a) Population density and
 overcrowding.
(b) Factors affecting population sizes:
i. Biotic (e.g. food, pest, disease,
 predation, competition, reproductive
 ability).
ii. Abiotic (e.g. temperature, space, light,
 rainfall, topography, pressure, pH,
 etc.
c. Ecological succession
i. primary succession
ii. secondary succession

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. determine the reasons for rapid changes in human
population and the consequences of
overcrowding;
ii. compute/calculate density as the number of
organisms per unit area;
iii. apply modern methods to control human
 population;
Candidates should be able to:
i. deduce the effect of these factors on the size of
population.
i. determine the interactions between biotic and
abiotic factors, e.g. drought or scarcity of water
which leads to food shortage and lack of space
which causes increase in disease rates;
Candidates should be able to:
i. trace the sequence in succession to the climax
stage of stability in plant population.

Topics

6. SOIL
a) (i) characteristics of different types
 of soil (sandy, loamy, clayey)
 i. soil structure
 ii. porosity, capillarity and humus
 content
 iii. Components of the soil
 i. inorganic
 ii. organic
 iii. soil organisms
b) Soil fertility:
i. loss of soil fertility
 ii. Renewal and maintenance of soil
fertility

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. identify physical properties of different soil types
based on simple measurement of particle size,
porosity or water retention ability;
ii. determine the amounts of air, water, humus and
capillarity in different soil types experimentally.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate soil characteristics, types and components to
the healthy growth of plant.
Candidates should be able to:
i. relate such factors as loss of inorganic matter,
compaction, leaching, erosion of the top soil and
repeated cropping with one variety
Candidates should be able to:
i. apply the knowledge of the practice of contour
ridging, terracing, mulching, poly-cropping,
strip-cropping, use of organic and inorganic
fertilizers, crop rotation, shifting cultivation, etc
to enhance soil conservation.

Topics

7. Humans and Environment
(a) Diseases:
 (i) Common and endemic diseases.
ii. Easily transmissible diseases and disease
syndrome such as:
- poliomyelitis
- cholera
- tuberculosis
- sexually transmitted disease/syndrome
(gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS, etc.)
b. Pollution and its control
(i) sources, types, effects and methods of
control.
 (ii) Sanitation and sewage
(c) Conservation of Natural Resources


Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. identify ecological conditions that favour the
spread of common endemic and potentially
epidemic disease e.g. malaria, meningitis,
drancunculiasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis,
 typhoid fever and cholera etc.;
ii. relate the biology of the vector or agent of each
disease with its spread and control;
Candidates should be able to:
i. use the knowledge of the causative organisms,
mode of transmission and symptoms of the listed
diseases to their prevention/treatment/control.
ii. apply the principles of inoculation and
vaccination on disease prevention.
Candidates should be able to:
i. categorize pollution into air, water and soil
pollution;
ii. relate the effects of common pollutants to human
health and environmental degradation;
iii. determine the methods by which each pollutant
may be controlled.
Candidates should be able to:
i. examine the importance of sanitation with
emphasis on sewage disposal, community health
and personal hygiene;
ii assess the roles and functions of international and
national health agencies (e.g. World Health
Organization (WHO), United Nations
International Children Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), International Red Cross Society
(IRCS), and the ministries of health and
environment.

Candidates should be able to:
(i) apply the various methods of conservation of
both the renewable and non-renewable natural
resources for the protection of our environment
for present and future generations;
(ii) outline the benefits of conserving natural
resources;
(iii) identify the bodies responsible for the
conservation of resources at the national and
international levels (e.g. Nigerian Conservation
Foundation (NCF), Federal Ministry of
 Environment, Nigeria National Parks, World
Wildlife Foundation (WWF), International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
 United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) and their activities;
(iv) asses their activities.

Section D: VARIATION AND HEREDITY

Topics

1. Variation In Population
 a. Morphological variations in the
 physical appearance of individuals.
(i) size (height, weight)
(ii) Colour (skin, eye, hair, coat of animals,
scales and feathers.
 (iii) Fingerprints
b. Physiological variation
(i) Ability to roll tongue
(ii) Ability to taste
 phenylthiocarbamide
 (PTC)
 (iii) Blood groups
b. Application of discontinuous
 variation in crime detection,
 blood transfusion and
 determination of paternity.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. differentiate between continuous and
 discontinuous variations with examples;
ii. relate the role of environmental
 conditions, habitat and the genetic
 constitution to variation.
Candidates should be able to:
i) measure heights and weight of pupils of
 the same age group;
ii) plot graphs of frequency distribution
 of the heights and weights.
Candidates should be able to:
i) observe and record various colour
 patterns in some plants and mammals.
Candidates should be able to:
i) apply classification of fingerprints in
 identity detection.
Candidates should be able to:
i) identify some specific examples of
 physiological variation among human
 population;
ii) categorize people according to their
 physiological variation.
Candidates should be able to:
i) apply the knowledge of blood groups in
 blood transfusion and determination of
 paternity;
ii) use discontinuous variation in crime
 detection.


Topics

2. Heredity
 a) Inheritance of characters in
 organisms;
 i) Heritable and non-heritable
 characters.
 b) Chromosomes – the basis of
 heredity;
(i) Structure
 (ii) Process of transmission of
 hereditary characters from
 parents to offspring.
 c) Probability in genetics and sex
 determination.
 a) Application of the principles of
 heredity in:
 (i) Agriculture
(ii) Medicine
b. Sex – linked characters e.g. baldness,
haemophilia, colour blindness,etc.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. determine heritable and non-heritable
 characters with examples.
Candidates should be able to:
i. illustrate simple structure of DNA
Candidates should be able to:
i. illustrate segregation of genes at meiosis
 and recombination of genes at fertilization
 to account for the process of transmission
 of characters from parents to offsprings.
Candidates should be able to:
i) deduce that segregation of genes occurs
 during gamete formation and that
 recombination of genes at fertilization is
 random in nature.
Candidates should be able to:
i. analyze data on cross-breeding
 experiments;
ii. apply the principles of heredity in the
 production of new varieties of crops and
 livestock through cross-breeding;
iii. deduce advantages and disadvantages
 of out-breeding and in-breeding;
iv. analyze elementarily the contentious
 issues of genetically modified
 organisms (GMO) and gene therapy.
Candidates should be able to:
i) apply the knowledge of heredity in
 marriage counselling with particular
 reference to blood grouping, sickle-cell
 anaemia and the Rhesus factors.

ii) examine the significance of using
 recombinant DNA materials in the
 production of important medical
 products such as isulin, interferon and
 enzymes.
Candidates should be able to:
i) identify characters that are sex linked.

Section E: EVOLUTION

Topics

1.) Adaptation for survival:
a) Factors that bring about competition.
b) Intra and inter-specific competition
c) Relationship between competition and
 succession.

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
 i) relate increase in population, diseases,
 shortage of food and space with intra-
 and inter-specific competition.
Candidates should be able to:
i) determine niche differentiation as a
 means of reducing intra-specific
 competition.
Candidates should be able to:
i) relate competition to succession.

Topics

2) Structural adaptations in organisms

Objectives

Candidates should be able to account for adaptation
in organisms with respect to the following:
i) obtaining food (beaks and legs of birds;
mouthparts of insects, especially mosquito,
butterfly and moth.)
ii) protection and defence (stick insects, praying
mantis and toad.
iii) securing mates (redhead male and female Agama
lizards, display of feathers by birds).
iv. regulating body temperature (skin, feathers and
hairs).
v. conserving water (spines in plants and scales in
mammals).

Topics

3) Adaptive colouration and its functions

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i. categorize countershading in fish, toads and
snakes and warning colouration in mushrooms.


Topics

4) Behavioural adaptations in social animals

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i.) differentiate various castes in social insects like
termites and their functions in their colony/hive;
ii.) account for basking in lizards, territorial
behaviour of other animals under unfavourable
conditions (hibernation and aestivation).
Topics

5. Theories of evolution
i) Lamarck’s theory
 ii) Darwin’s theory

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i.) relate organic evolution as the sum total of all
adaptive changes that have taken place over a
long period of time resulting in the diversity of
forms, structure and functions among organisms.
ii.) examine the contributions of
 Lamarck and Darwin to the theory
 of evolution.

Topics

6. Evidence of evolution

Objectives

Candidates should be able to:
i.) provide evidences for evolution such
 as fossil records, comparative
 anatomy, physiology and embryology;
ii.) trace evolutionary trends in plants
 and animals;
iii.) provide evidence for modern
 evolutionary theories such as genetic
 studies and the role of mutation.

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