British Biology Olympiad 2014

How do you apply?

Your teacher will need to sign up, ask him/her.

i'm on wjec, but it the highlighted bits don't make sense? how do i know which is on my syllabus and which is not?

It depends which course youre following. If your doing human look at red and yellow, if biology blue and red. The non-highlighted you have covered and the colour i missed out you will have too.

~M

Reply 41

vhvjhdbhfh

I'm in year 13 and doing OCR biology and on the website it says "To comply with the rules of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), the balance of the various topics, the style of papers and the questions have to conform to the IBO syllabus, which is very broad. It is clear that most candidates will not have covered all of the syllabus but no-one is at a disadvantage as this is a similar problem for everyone who is entered. Different sections will be covered or omitted according to which UK examination board and options are being studied."

Does this mean that the parts of the olympiad specification which are not covered by OCR will be left out, or do i need to look at those too?

for anyone doing OCR: https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2013/07/Biology_Olympiad_v_OCR_syllabus_spec.pdf

thank you!

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Reply 42

Mattywooda

Original post by vhvjhdbhfh

I'm in year 13 and doing OCR biology and on the website it says "To comply with the rules of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), the balance of the various topics, the style of papers and the questions have to conform to the IBO syllabus, which is very broad. It is clear that most candidates will not have covered all of the syllabus but no-one is at a disadvantage as this is a similar problem for everyone who is entered. Different sections will be covered or omitted according to which UK examination board and options are being studied."

Does this mean that the parts of the olympiad specification which are not covered by OCR will be left out, or do i need to look at those too?

for anyone doing OCR: https://british-biology-olympiad.s3.amazonaws.com/media/medialibrary/2013/07/Biology_Olympiad_v_OCR_syllabus_spec.pdf

thank you!

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Theyll be examined, it means your course will omit different parts

Reply 43

DCMed96

16

Being overwhelmed by the vast knowledge of Biology, A2 and beyond. i am just an AS student ....... :frown:

Reply 44

vhvjhdbhfh

ah okay thanks :smile:

does anyone know the exact date? i know it's between 20-28th jan

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Reply 45

Claree

17

Original post by vhvjhdbhfh

ah okay thanks :smile:

does anyone know the exact date? i know it's between 20-28th jan

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I think your school decides the exact date. It just has to be taken sometime within that period. :smile:

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Reply 46

dogs4eva7

20

Original post by Mattywooda

Theyll be examined, it means your course will omit different parts

wait what do you mean by 'your course'? you mean 'your paper'?

Reply 47

vhvjhdbhfh

i think it means you will be tested on everything regardless of whether it has been covered by your exam board or not? i did the past paper on the website last night (no revision) and then just went through to see which sections i need to have a better look at (definitely genetics and biosystematics haha)

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Reply 48

tooskyblue

Just did it, I'm expecting about 50%. I googled some of the questions after I was done with the paper and my guesswork was 50% right and 50% wrong. :/

Reply 49

itssimplyme

14

Original post by tooskyblue

Just did it, I'm expecting about 50%. I googled some of the questions after I was done with the paper and my guesswork was 50% right and 50% wrong. :/

It's all about taking part haha :h:

But yeah, same applies :smile:

Only 6 of us sat it and we all felt the same :smile:

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Reply 50

dogs4eva7

20

Original post by itssimplyme

It's all about taking part haha :h:

But yeah, same applies :smile:

Only 6 of us sat it and we all felt the same :smile:

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how was it?? feeling confident?

Reply 51

itssimplyme

14

Original post by jenigma

how was it?? feeling confident?

Not really but I have no idea why I was selected because I only happen to take A2 biology because I enjoy biology, hoping to take economics at uni, so I didn't take this too seriously anyway :smile:

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Reply 52

dogs4eva7

20

Original post by itssimplyme

Not really but I have no idea why I was selected because I only happen to take A2 biology because I enjoy biology, hoping to take economics at uni, so I didn't take this too seriously anyway :smile:

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ah man! i wanna do well enough :frown:

Reply 53

Jezebel7

So when's everyone sitting the paper?? We were only told about the olympiad last week, I have no idea to revise, as i'm only 1/2 way through the AS course :frown:

(

Reply 54

Memetics

8

Original post by Jezebel7

So when's everyone sitting the paper?? We were only told about the olympiad last week, I have no idea to revise, as i'm only 1/2 way through the AS course :frown:

(

I'm sitting it tomorrow. I'm the same as you, but I'm up in Scotland so it's the equivalent qualification.

Do the Past Paper on the website and look up all the stuff you don't know. Make sure you know your course, look at what's left in it and look at the A2 course, no point in trying to memorise it though.

Reply 55

Claree

17

Why is the answer to this question on the 2010 past paper from the website D? I don't really understand the question or the suggested hypotheses. :colondollar:

65. Researchers have shown that young female black grouse mate preferentially with
males that have mated with other females. Which of the following is not a testable
hypothesis for the ultimate causation of this behaviour?

A. Copying other females speeds mate selection and reduces potential
exposure to predators
B. Imitation helps younger females learn to recognize male traits that may
increase fitness
C. Copying other females speeds mate selection and increases the fitness of
young females
D. Selected males occupy a location near the centre of the lek (display &
courtship area)
E. Mate selection in black grouse is determined by a combination of genetic
and environmental factors

Thanks :biggrin:

Reply 56

tooskyblue

I was struggling with that one as well;

Could it be because if you were to study hypothesis D, you wouldn't be able to determine whether the males who stand in the centre of the lek are selected, or are selected because they stand in the centre of the lek?

A can be tested by comparison between two groups of females;

E can also be tested I'd imagine.

B and C are very similar; if one can be tested i'd assume both can be tested.

Reply 57

tooskyblue

Original post by Claree

Why is the answer to this question on the 2010 past paper from the website D? I don't really understand the question or the suggested hypotheses. :colondollar:

65. Researchers have shown that young female black grouse mate preferentially with
males that have mated with other females. Which of the following is not a testable
hypothesis for the ultimate causation of this behaviour?

A. Copying other females speeds mate selection and reduces potential
exposure to predators
B. Imitation helps younger females learn to recognize male traits that may
increase fitness
C. Copying other females speeds mate selection and increases the fitness of
young females
D. Selected males occupy a location near the centre of the lek (display &
courtship area)
E. Mate selection in black grouse is determined by a combination of genetic
and environmental factors

Thanks :biggrin:

See my above reply