Edexcel igcse biology may 2012 exam discussion

How is everyone revising for this exam?! I've made this as the discussion thread for when it has been 12 hours from the exam. Good luck guys!

Reply 1

mynameisgrace

arghhh i need to read all my notes :frown:

i hope its not like last years paper, which had soo much on plants..

Reply 2

hafsa909

yeah. i need to learn the enzymes, anyone got any tips on how to learn all the enzymes? :smile:

Reply 3

muf_mur

19

i suck at those long 6 mark questions

Reply 4

TrynaPass

Did uu guys realize that in the past papers for bio they discussed 'enzymes for waching powders','human growth hormone', bovine somatotrophin(a growth hprmone in cattle, the one bout milk yield.', human insulin ,...leaving out 'enzymes in the food industry, and human growth hormone?? oh yeah and Human vaccines ???

Reply 5

Tazxx_xx

This is my first GCSE ever, I'm freaking out a bit. :frown:

I havent gone through many past papers...What are topics that are bound to come up? Probably the heart, photosynthesis, respiration?

Reply 6

ZahwahPTTS

Hey guys!

So I found this guy on youtube who explains ALL the things you need to know from the specification:
http://www.youtube.com/user/click4biology/videos?view=1

And when they ask you to "describe an experiment you could do to find out......." you should use CORMS
Compare - Rang of value (independent variable)
Orgasm - species/size/age/sex...(controlled variable)
Replication - More than one reading
Measure - mass/ length/ units (dependent variable)
Same - temperature/ light intensity/ water (controlled variable)
THIS QUESTION COMES FOR 6 MARKS!

Hope it'll help :smile:

Reply 7

KateMcM

Original post by TrynaPass

Did uu guys realize that in the past papers for bio they discussed 'enzymes for waching powders','human growth hormone', bovine somatotrophin(a growth hprmone in cattle, the one bout milk yield.', human insulin ,...leaving out 'enzymes in the food industry, and human growth hormone?? oh yeah and Human vaccines ???

what examples are there for 'enzymes in the food industry'? By the way- beer making hasnt come up for a while I dont think, same with yoghurt making in triple. Anyone doign triple on Friday?

Reply 8

TrynaPass

@KateMCM

'with glucose isomerase which is a bacterial enzyme. it turns glucose into a similar sugar called fructose. it is much sweeter than glucose.

adv.
its cheaper since uu need less do to its sweetness
healthier 'less sugar'

Reply 9

TrynaPass

Original post by Tazxx_xx

This is my first GCSE ever, I'm freaking out a bit. :frown:

I havent gone through many past papers...What are topics that are bound to come up? Probably the heart, photosynthesis, respiration?

'We're in the same boat! My first ever, and maths was already crazy for me -__- but hey we just gotta pray and hope for the best. just give it your all... but anything can come its adviceable that you go through the 2011-2012 papers cause the topics revolved around are normally similar. ive just finished the 2012 january paper... anyone has the mark scheme?

Reply 10

TrynaPass

Original post by KateMcM

what examples are there for 'enzymes in the food industry'? By the way- beer making hasnt come up for a while I dont think, same with yoghurt making in triple. Anyone doign triple on Friday?

'with glucose isomerase which
is a bacterial enzyme. it turns
glucose into a similar sugar
called fructose. it is much
sweeter than glucose.
adv.
its cheaper since uu need less
do to its sweetness
healthier 'less sugar' Omg im so scared can uu post the yogurt and acohol making conditons and so on

Reply 11

ZahwahPTTS

Original post by TrynaPass

'We're in the same boat! My first ever, and maths was already crazy for me -__- but hey we just gotta pray and hope for the best. just give it your all... but anything can come its adviceable that you go through the 2011-2012 papers cause the topics revolved around are normally similar. ive just finished the 2012 january paper... anyone has the mark scheme?

http://www.mediafire.com/?99hzey1atzs4s#k2kg38yffbha4

Reply 12

ZahwahPTTS

Original post by TrynaPass

'with glucose isomerase which
is a bacterial enzyme. it turns
glucose into a similar sugar
called fructose. it is much
sweeter than glucose.
adv.
its cheaper since uu need less
do to its sweetness
healthier 'less sugar' Omg im so scared can uu post the yogurt and acohol making conditons and so on

Don't panic, the yogurt making is in paper 2 (as written in the specification) so you still have time to revise it

Reply 13

TrynaPass

Original post by ZahwahPTTS

Don't panic, the yogurt making is in paper 2 (as written in the specification) so you still have time to revise it

So can uu give me ideas of topics to read for in paper 1 ... do uu have any hunches ? our school teachers have given us a few but i still feel like its not enougH

Reply 14

Tazxx_xx

Original post by TrynaPass

So can uu give me ideas of topics to read for in paper 1 ... do uu have any hunches ? our school teachers have given us a few but i still feel like its not enougH

There are a few things that I've seen in most of the past papers. I'd go over the function of the heart (and circulatory system), structure of a leaf, differences between wind and insect pollinated flowers, pollination, digestive system, food chains, photosynthesis and respiration (especially the word equations), they usually put in a question regarding the genotypes and phenotypes of parents, fertilizer and nitrates,selective breeding, the chemical tests for glucose and starch... Normally those are just the small questions, but I defintely would go over all of that.

Reply 15

ZahwahPTTS

Original post by TrynaPass

So can uu give me ideas of topics to read for in paper 1 ... do uu have any hunches ? our school teachers have given us a few but i still feel like its not enougH

A VERY common question (it always comes) is
" Describe an experiment you could do to find out...." And it's for 6 marks! So quite important
To answer that question, use "CORMS" which stands for
Compare - range of value (independent variable)
Orgasm - species/ size/ age/ sex ... (controlled variable)
Replication - more than one reading
Measure - Mass/ length/ units (dependent variable)
Same - Temperature/ light intensity/water (controlled variable)

Other questions that seems to come up all the time are about eutrophication (for 6 marks), structure of the leaf (for 6 marks), "describe how a pyramid of biomass is different from a pyramid of numbers", Fish farm (6 marks), and ALWAYS "giving the possible genotypes for the offspring"

Also be careful if they ask you to describe Natural Selection and Selective breeding.

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 16

KateMcM

Original post by TrynaPass

'with glucose isomerase which
is a bacterial enzyme. it turns
glucose into a similar sugar
called fructose. it is much
sweeter than glucose.
adv.
its cheaper since uu need less
do to its sweetness
healthier 'less sugar' Omg im so scared can uu post the yogurt and acohol making conditons and so on

Thank you- we haven't done that- just had it written as part of a list!

Will post alchohol and yoghurt later x

Reply 17

member963009

OP

Original post by KateMcM

Thank you- we haven't done that- just had it written as part of a list!

Will post alchohol and yoghurt later x

you guys are freaking me out! are you guys doing the same syllabus? because igcse Edexcel has nothing about enzymes in industry!!! what!!!

even the specification / nor student book has it?

Reply 18

TrynaPass

I use the edexcel igcse Biology student book
'a pearson company book'

go to page 238-239 if uu have it , its all there there's no need for me to lie.