AQA A-Level Biology Paper 1 [7th June 2023] Exam Chat

i have my alevel biology exams coming up and i'm really worried about them. i have to get an A for university but i feel like i might not. my biggest issue is the 'application' questions (essentially the whole paper) as no matter how many practice questions i do, i never feel like i know how to answer them.

i know that the best way to revise for bio is to do past paper questions but are there any other tips for other things i could also do? i.e how to go about answer the questions/ reading the questions for what they are asking/ how to write questions including data?

i'll take anything :redface:

Hey

Which exam board are you studying with?

Reply 21

mh05

6

Original post by Evil Homer

Hey

Which exam board are you studying with?

aqa

Original post by mh05

aqa

Would you mind if I move you over to our official exam chat for that paper, it might help you get the answers you're looking for :smile:

Reply 23

koolsal

6

How good are the predicted papers with mark scheme that are available online for a charge by some tutoring companies.

Has someone used them in the past & would they recommend ?

Thanks

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 24

bmedic

11

Adrenaline and Glucagon follow the exact same secondary messenger pathway, so they both stimulate adenylate cyclase which converts ATP to cAMP, and the cAMP stimulates protein kinase to active enzymes for glycogenolysis (glycogen hydrolysed to glucose).

Original post by anon25x

Are the adrenaline and glucagon model similar in that they both convert ATP to cAMP and then glycogen to glucose?
But only the glucagon model uses adenylate cyclase and protein kinase?

Reply 25

â€”-aa

7

where is the official chat, as I would like to join it for aqa bio aqa chem and edexcel maths a levels please

Reply 26

mh05

6

Original post by Evil Homer

Would you mind if I move you over to our official exam chat for that paper, it might help you get the answers you're looking for :smile:

yes please

Original post by mh05

yes please

Done!

Welcome :smile:

Reply 28

prettywindchimes

9

boutta be so scared for this shi . i haven't even been revising properly 😭😭😭😭

Reply 29

CoolGuyPawan

4

I prefer using K+ and Na+ in my biology exams because it saves a lot of writing when describing things such as cotransport of an action potential. Would I still get marks for doing this instead of writing the full name such as "sodium ions"?

Reply 30

Blueowl04

8

Yes, you are allowed to do that, but it has to be correct!! eg. if you wrote Ca+ instead of Ca2+ you would be marked down. This is especially relevant if you're writing about nitrate and nitrites where the writing correct chemical symbol is essential to differentiate between them.
Hope this helps!!

Reply 31

veraaloe

8

Original post by prettywindchimes

boutta be so scared for this shi . i haven't even been revising properly 😭😭😭😭

girl SAME been prioritising my other Alevels LOL

Reply 32

prettywindchimes

9

Original post by veraaloe

girl SAME been prioritising my other Alevels LOL

haha we in it together frfr 💪💪💪 the way ive been hyperfixating on my a level chemistry so much cos i did crap on it for my mock and i need an A so bad at this rate ima have to do some witchcraft occult ritual stuff to pull through 😭😭😜😜

Reply 33

veraaloe

8

Original post by prettywindchimes

haha we in it together frfr 💪💪💪 the way ive been hyperfixating on my a level chemistry so much cos i did crap on it for my mock and i need an A so bad at this rate ima have to do some witchcraft occult ritual stuff to pull through 😭😭😜😜

:') don't worry miss estruch for the clutch

Reply 34

CoolGuyPawan

4

Original post by Blueowl04

Yes, you are allowed to do that, but it has to be correct!! eg. if you wrote Ca+ instead of Ca2+ you would be marked down. This is especially relevant if you're writing about nitrate and nitrites where the writing correct chemical symbol is essential to differentiate between them.
Hope this helps!!

That's great, thanks for the fast reply and I'll make sure to be careful with the ion charges!

Reply 35

prettywindchimes

9

Original post by veraaloe

:') don't worry miss estruch for the clutch

gonna 2x my way through her vids and hoping it'll all make sense
😭💁*♀️

Reply 36

DanielK1456

10

Original post by mh05

i have my alevel biology exams coming up and i'm really worried about them. i have to get an A for university but i feel like i might not. my biggest issue is the 'application' questions (essentially the whole paper) as no matter how many practice questions i do, i never feel like i know how to answer them.

i know that the best way to revise for bio is to do past paper questions but are there any other tips for other things i could also do? i.e how to go about answer the questions/ reading the questions for what they are asking/ how to write questions including data?

i'll take anything :redface:

Firstly it might be comforting to know that AQA state that only 35-39% of questions on paper 1 are application. Around 50% is testing knowledge only (fact recall). The proportion of applcation on paper 2 is over 50% however. I find that paper really challenging because of that as well so you're not alone. Not sure if you've done this already but I would recommend getting all the facts in the course memorised so you don't have to worry about not knowing something (it's easier said than done of course, but you need to know the facts you want to be applying! I would just go through the spec and any class notes to remind yourself of anything you're expected to know) Miss Estruch has a free application question booklet to practise on her website, and there are plenty of other question banks to look up online. Try asking yourself what area of the course the question is from and any facts you might find useful and relevant to the question. It might be helpful to remind yourself as well that they can't expect you to have knowledge of anything outside of the course. The mark scheme will have mark points on just straight facts that you've learnt and are relevant to the question, or a fact you're expected to know intertwined with the context of the question. As I said it's easier said than done, but I hope you find this helpful. Good luck with your exams, I'm taking them too!

Reply 37

birthofbambi

9

hey guys im a bit nervous about practical questions, as i cant find a good pack of questions online, should i focus on memorising the methods for practicals too? need a bit of advice

Reply 38

veraaloe

8

Original post by birthofbambi

hey guys im a bit nervous about practical questions, as i cant find a good pack of questions online, should i focus on memorising the methods for practicals too? need a bit of advice

I suggest looking at the Pratical Handbook as they're only going to ask questions based on the Objectives of the particular pratical !

Reply 39

moonbeige

10

Original post by mh05

i have my alevel biology exams coming up and i'm really worried about them. i have to get an A for university but i feel like i might not. my biggest issue is the 'application' questions (essentially the whole paper) as no matter how many practice questions i do, i never feel like i know how to answer them.

i know that the best way to revise for bio is to do past paper questions but are there any other tips for other things i could also do? i.e how to go about answer the questions/ reading the questions for what they are asking/ how to write questions including data?

i'll take anything :redface:

okay so doing past papers will help you to spot patterns immediately if you havent already! honestly start aiming to do about 2 past papers a week for bio, if not more depending on when you have your exams.

answering questions is all about key terminology you need to know to include such as: when you see "ENZYMES" think "specific tertiary structure, induced fit model, complementary shapes", practice questions and make sure to include all the BOLD and UNDERLINED words!

answering data questions seems complicated but there is a pattern and i will put you on this.
when you see "EVALUATE" there are bits of the markscheme that always come up depending on the context and can be worth up to 3 marks alone out of 4/5 !
when you see EVALUATE - think:
- is there a control group?
- is the experiment carried out for a long enough period of time?
- if its a test on e.g rats, can we automarically assume humans response will be the same?
- is there a stats test to check if the results are statistically significant?
these are usually always on the marksheme for those 3-5 markers about evaluating a method, memorise them to maximise your marks. if its a graph ALWAYS comment on comparisons + standard deviations if present. and try to include data values as well for maximum marks.

**a helpful miss estruch tip is also to just quickly note during the paper the control, independent, dependent variables as well!!**

AQA A-Level Biology Paper 1 [7th June 2023] Exam Chat

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