‹ Biology simulationsBiology · A Level 9700 · 15 Control and coordinationEight 3D simulations covering Topic 15.1 Control and coordination in mammals and 15.2 Control and coordination in plants. Explore neurones, fire action potentials, race impulses, cross a synapse, contract a sarcomere and watch plants respond.
Click the parts of a motor neurone and a sensory neurone, then compare the nervous and endocrine systems.
| nervous | endocrine | |
|---|---|---|
| signal | electrical impulses (and chemicals at synapses) | hormones in the blood |
| speed | very fast | slower |
| effect lasts | briefly | longer |
| target | specific cells (precise) | target cells with receptors, often widespread |
| examples | reflexes, muscle contraction | ADH, insulin, glucagon |
Receptor cells convert a stimulus into electrical activity. Put salt on the tongue and step through how a taste receptor cell starts impulses in a sensory neurone.
Ion pumps and channels in the axon membrane set up a resting potential. Give a stimulus and watch the channels open and close. Try a stimulus below threshold.
In a myelinated neurone, depolarisation happens only at the nodes of Ranvier, so the impulse jumps from node to node. Race it against an unmyelinated neurone.
After an action potential the membrane cannot fire again for a short time. Increase the stimulus strength and watch the frequency of impulses.
Acetylcholine carries the signal across the synaptic cleft. Send an action potential and follow each event.
Look at a sarcomere and contract it, then zoom in to one cross-bridge cycle with troponin, tropomyosin, calcium ions and ATP.
Plants respond too: the Venus fly trap snaps shut, auxin makes cells elongate, and gibberellin starts germination in barley.
Eight interactive 3D simulations for Cambridge A Level Biology 9700 topic 15 Control and coordination: sensory and motor neurones and the nervous and endocrine systems compared, a chemoreceptor in a taste bud, resting and action potentials with ion channels and the Na+/K+ pump, saltatory conduction, the refractory period and impulse frequency, a cholinergic synapse, the sarcomere and the sliding filament cross-bridge cycle, and the Venus fly trap, auxin and gibberellin in plants.
Eight 3D simulations covering Topic 15.1 Control and coordination in mammals and 15.2 Control and coordination in plants. Explore neurones, fire action potentials, race impulses, cross a synapse, contract a sarcomere and watch plants respond.
Control and coordination is a free, browser-based simulation for Cambridge International AS & A Level Biology 9700 (topic 15 Control and coordination). The course is assessed in Paper 1 (Multiple choice), Paper 2 (AS structured), Paper 3 (Advanced practical), Paper 4 (A Level structured), Paper 5 (Planning, analysis, evaluation). Syllabus for examination in 2025-2027. There are 8 tabs, each a self-contained experiment with its own controls and live readings, and nothing to install: it runs on a laptop, tablet or classroom projector.
Full syllabus map: A Level Biology 9700 topic 15.
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