[ocelot92]

does anybody know what the highest A* boundary was?

[ocelot92]

(Original post by AngryBirds4)
For the big 4-5 mark questions, I write in bullet points... Our teacher said it makes it easier for the examiner to pick out key points, and it also saves you time! Win-Win situation


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

yep gonna try that tomorrow - unless it says 'write in good english'

[g07hg1]

i think the highest b3 grade boundary was 35 for A* - that was in june 2008

[AngryBirds4]

(Original post by ocelot92)
yep gonna try that tomorrow - unless it says 'write in good english'

Oh yes forgot to mention that. If it tells you to use good English, do so, but keep it brief still. If you write an essay, you're just going to waste time. So instead, write a paragraph but keep it simple.

Example(Bullets):

How does haemoglobin work? (3 Marks)

- It is located in the red blood cells.
- It combines with oxygen to form oxyhemoglobin, from the lungs.
- It then 'releases' the oxygen and returns back to haemoglobin wherever the oxygen is needed for respiration.

However, if they ask for good English, simply join these together using however, therefore or just and.

Haemoglobin is located inside the red blood cells in the blood. This haemoglobin can then join with oxygen, from the lungs, to form oxyhemoglobin to be transported around the body to wherever it is needed. Then, the oxygen can detach from the oxyhemoglobin to form oxygen and haemoglobin, and this oxygen can be used for respiration.

However, notice the difference in length? It took me a lot longer to type out the paragraph compared to the bullets, so these are always favourable.

Hope this helps!

[AngryBirds4]

(Original post by g07hg1)
i think the highest b3 grade boundary was 35 for A* - that was in june 2008

From memory (I could be completely wrong), the boundaries were about 31-32 for an A* in January 2012, so it is likely these boundaries will be quite similar.

[PaliD]

Question 6(b) on the Biology Jan 2012 paper was confusing, could someone explain it to me please (It was about having a higher concentration of mineral ions and urea on the hot day than the cold) ..

[g07hg1]

(Original post by AngryBirds4)
From memory (I could be completely wrong), the boundaries were about 31-32 for an A* in January 2012, so it is likely these boundaries will be quite similar.

yeah it's normally around that, I haven't found any higher than 35 and that was only a one-off. The grade boundaries can be found here: http://web.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_grades_archive.php

[FLYINGSPANIARD]

To be honest Biology GCSE is one of the easiest GCSE's ever. if youv done what wev done i.e

unit 1 - end of yr 10
unit 2 - jan yr11
ISA - sometime in yr 11
unit 3 - end of yr 11

youv got to be ridicoulsly stupid to get anything less than a C. Im not particularly clever just read the revision guides before exams and only need 62ums for A* in this next exam. Thats a low C.

[brightbulb]

Nervous about this exam I need 97 UMS to get an A* D: The only subject I have a chance of getting an A* in

[Swords N Thorns]

(Original post by PaliD)
Question 6(b) on the Biology Jan 2012 paper was confusing, could someone explain it to me please (It was about having a higher concentration of mineral ions and urea on the hot day than the cold) ..

It was a hot day, causing him to sweat more.
Therefore he lost more water through his skin through sweat.
Because this water had been lost through sweat, the blood needed to absorb more water from the kidney.
Because more water had been absorbed from the kidney, there was less to be lost in urine, so there was a higher conc. of ions/urea.

Hope this helped!

[AngryBirds4]

(Original post by FLYINGSPANIARD)
To be honest Biology GCSE is one of the easiest GCSE's ever. if youv done what wev done i.e

unit 1 - end of yr 10
unit 2 - jan yr11
ISA - sometime in yr 11
unit 3 - end of yr 11

youv got to be ridicoulsly stupid to get anything less than a C. Im not particularly clever just read the revision guides before exams and only need 62ums for A* in this next exam. Thats a low C.

Some people don't get C's, but that doesn't make them ridiculously stupid. It just means they struggle in this subject.

Don't be so harsh towards people. Why does the Foundation Tier even exist? There must be an awful lot of "ridiculously stupid" people out there then?! ......

[FLYINGSPANIARD]

(Original post by AngryBirds4)
Some people don't get C's, but that doesn't make them ridiculously stupid. It just means they struggle in this subject.

Don't be so harsh towards people. Why does the Foundation Tier even exist? There must be an awful lot of "ridiculously stupid" people out there then?! ......

My point is you dont have to struggle in the subject. If you read the revision guides and remember at least some of the information its practically impossible to get lower than a C. You've got to remember the ums system bumps up marks by a lot. 20/45 is sometimes a C. You dont need to understand the subject to get that just memorize the info. Period.

[AngryBirds4]

(Original post by FLYINGSPANIARD)
My point is you dont have to struggle in the subject. If you read the revision guides and remember at least some of the information its practically impossible to get lower than a C. You've got to remember the ums system bumps up marks by a lot. 20/45 is sometimes a C. You dont need to understand the subject to get that just memorize the info. Period.

The word there... "Memorise" (You can't spell), isn't that easy for some people. What if they're disabled, or have some problem which can't be cured? Oh, they must be "ridiculously stupid", sorry.

[PaliD]

Thank You

[FLYINGSPANIARD]

(Original post by AngryBirds4)
The word there... "Memorise" (You can't spell), isn't that easy for some people. What if they're disabled, or have some problem which can't be cured? Oh, they must be "ridiculously stupid", sorry.

Stop trying to go all 'moral high ground' - 'there are disabled people in britain and youv just insulted them' - Bull****.

the fact is there are less disabled people in the UK than disabled, hence why my comment refers to the MAJORITY of people in the UK.

*also sorry didnt realise this was my english exam. I think youv got your dates muddled up. mug. grammar police

[usycool1]

(Original post by FLYINGSPANIARD)
To be honest Biology GCSE is one of the easiest GCSE's ever. if youv done what wev done i.e

unit 1 - end of yr 10
unit 2 - jan yr11
ISA - sometime in yr 11
unit 3 - end of yr 11

youv got to be ridicoulsly stupid to get anything less than a C. Im not particularly clever just read the revision guides before exams and only need 62ums for A* in this next exam. Thats a low C.

Not true. I know loads of people who work so hard to try and achieve a C or D grade but I wouldn't classify them as "ridicoulsly stupid."

[OllieWolly]

Does anyone know if we have to know exactly how breathing works (e.g creating a vacuum which forces air in) or can we just say that gases diffuse in/out of alveoli? Also, have we got to know exactly how blood travels through the heart (what atrium/ventricle it enters and how it's pumped etc)?

[FLYINGSPANIARD]

So your saying people cannot remember less than half of the sylabus? I disagree.

[brightbulb]

(Original post by OllieWolly)
Does anyone know if we have to know exactly how breathing works (e.g creating a vacuum which forces air in) or can we just say that gases diffuse in/out of alveoli? Also, have we got to know exactly how blood travels through the heart (what atrium/ventricle it enters and how it's pumped etc)?

I don't think so - but it might be an advantage to know it.

[TheSilentFez]

Does anyone else find the AQA Mark Schemes infuriatingly fussy and pedantic?
I'm really dreading B3. The questions are so difficult and I'm really trying to get 100 UMS in B1, B2, B3 and the ISA.
I did one past paper and got 37/45 which thankfully was 100 UMS, but only after going through all the other past papers and looking at what the mark scheme expects. Now I'm afraid I won't be so precise tomorrow morning and lose more marks.