How to go about writing an essay in A level biology (for exampe: The importance of proteins in the control of processes and responses in organisms)

When attempting an essay question like this it is important to pull together topics from different areas of the course. Start by writing a quick plan including 5 relevant topics that you feel confident talking about. Your essay should start with a brief introduction that defines any key words in the title and lists the topics you are going to discuss. For this question, the introduction should contain the definition of a protein and an explanation as to why it is important to control metabolic processes. Next, should be your main paragraphs answering the question. Each paragraph should discuss a topic in depth, making around five correct scientific points and then, most importantly, linking the topic back to question. Relevant topics for this question could include: blood glucose control, haemoglobin affinities, enzymes as catalysts, movement across cell membranes and transcription factors. When picking topics, you should try to pick at least one that allows you to include something from beyond the specification, whether that is something you have learned from your extra reading or the beyond the specification topics the exam board has specified. For example in this question, one could discuss the affinity of different animals in the paragraph on haemoglobin. Your essay should end with a short conclusion, summarising your points and pulling them all together. For example, in this question you could quickly discuss why the structure of proteins makes them suited to this role.