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AQA A2 Biology BYA5 (12th June): Inheritance, Evolution and Ecosystems

I thought it was about time that we got one of these going for our specification. Use this thread to discuss any of the units, the exams, or whatever.

there certainly is a LOT to revise for the A2, and this is without the synoptic stuff as well. good thing the grade boundaries are quite low for this exam.

anybody got any good concise notes for BYA5 and BYA6?

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Reply 1

Kinkerz

I'm doing all three...

Got a low B in BYA5 in January, 65/90, so I'm resitting :frown:

I quite like BYA6, but BYA5 and BYA8 are not nice at all.

Reply 2

Isometrix

Kinkerz

I'm doing all three...

Got a low B in BYA5 in January, 65/90, so I'm resitting :frown:

I quite like BYA6, but BYA5 and BYA8 are not nice at all.

kinkerz! imagine finding you here.

yeh i love BYA6 because it has all the human body stuff in. perfect for us medics-to-be huh?

Reply 3

Kinkerz

Isometrix

kinkerz! imagine finding you here.

yeh i love BYA6 because it has all the human body stuff in. perfect for us medics-to-be huh?

I tend to lose most of my marks on the plant crap and on the more sneaky synoptic questions...

Any predictions for essay titles for BYA8? I really hope a polymer one comes up.

Reply 4

Isometrix

Kinkerz

I tend to lose most of my marks on the plant crap and on the more sneaky synoptic questions...

Any predictions for essay titles for BYA8? I really hope a polymer one comes up.

i love the essays on proteins. you could write pages and pages....

here is a list of essay topics my friend gave to me:

The role of carbon dioxide in organisms and ecosystems.
Why offspring produced by the same parents are different in appearance.
Describe how the structures of different polymers are related to their functions.
Describe how nitrogen containing substances are taken into, and metabolised in plants and animals.
Inorganic ions include those of sodium, phosphorus and hydrogen. Describe how these and other inorganic ions are used in living organisms.
Bacteria affect the lives of humans and other organisms in many ways. Apart from causing disease, describe how bacteria may affect the lives of humans and other organisms.
How is negative feedback important in biology.
Describe the importance of condensation and hydrolysis in biological processes.
How is the process of diffusion important in living organisms.
Describe the functions of proteins.
How is the structure of cell organelles related to their functions.
How does the body maintain constant conditions.
Describe the different ways in which organisms obtain nutrients.
What factors determine and organisms phenotype.
Describes the ways organisms use ATP.
Describe the biological importance of water.
How does an amino acid get from being in a protein in food to becoming part of human protein in the person.
How important is surface area in biology?
Describe the transfer of energy between different organisms and their environment.
What are the ways in which different species of organisms differ from each other.

Reply 5

Kinkerz

Isometrix

here is a list of essay topics my friend gave to me:

The role of carbon dioxide in organisms and ecosystems.
Why offspring produced by the same parents are different in appearance.
Describe how the structures of different polymers are related to their functions.
Describe how nitrogen containing substances are taken into, and metabolised in plants and animals.
Inorganic ions include those of sodium, phosphorus and hydrogen. Describe how these and other inorganic ions are used in living organisms.
Bacteria affect the lives of humans and other organisms in many ways. Apart from causing disease, describe how bacteria may affect the lives of humans and other organisms.
How is negative feedback important in biology.
Describe the importance of condensation and hydrolysis in biological processes.
How is the process of diffusion important in living organisms.
Describe the functions of proteins.
How is the structure of cell organelles related to their functions.
How does the body maintain constant conditions.
Describe the different ways in which organisms obtain nutrients.
What factors determine and organisms phenotype.
Describes the ways organisms use ATP.
Describe the biological importance of water.
How does an amino acid get from being in a protein in food to becoming part of human protein in the person.
How important is surface area in biology?
Describe the transfer of energy between different organisms and their environment.
What are the ways in which different species of organisms differ from each other.

Nice one, cheers.
I'll colour code them as to how much I'd appreciate them coming up :grin:

Reply 6

Sonny_1

Kinkerz

Nice one, cheers.
I'll colour code them as to how much I'd appreciate them coming up :grin:

Green being you want to come up

what would you put for polymers one?
and sodium phosphorous and hydrogen ions one?

I hate the bacteria and im sure i havent done anything on nitrogen containing substances are taken ... etc

Do you have the unit 8 revision guide? it has a sample energy transfer one in there and how cell organelles relate to function

Reply 7

Kinkerz

Sonny_1

Green being you want to come up

Sonny_1

what would you put for polymers one?

Carbohydrates - energy storage (starch and glycogen) / structural (cellulose)
Proteins - 1^o, 2^o, 3^o and 4^o structres / enzymes / carrier proteins / specificity
Nucleic acids - DNA, RNA and everything that comes with it!

Sonny_1

sodium phosphorous and hydrogen ions one?

Sodium - nerves / co-transport / nephron (loop of Henlé counter-current malarkey)
Phosphorous - ATP and everything that comes with it!
Hydrogen - pH of blood (carbonic acid dissociation/lactic acid dissociation) / haemoglobin acting as a buffer / chemoreceptors detecting pH change (aortic and carotid bodies et al) -> increase/decrease in breathing rate and depth of breathing, plus increase/decrease in cardiac output.

You can waffle on forever...

Sonny_1

I hate the bacteria and im sure i havent done anything on nitrogen containing substances are taken ... etc

You'll have done the nitrogen cycle etc. BYA5.

Sonny_1

Do you have the unit 8 revision guide? it has a sample energy transfer one in there and how cell organelles relate to function

No I don't. I didn't even know they did synoptic revision guides...
That's be pretty useful too. What sort of stuff does it talk about? (in both)

Reply 8

Kinkerz

I was told that if you do badly in the written part of BYA8, they can re-moderate your coursework and pull it down some marks. I don't know how much I buy it, but the person who told me goes to a good sixth form college, so I thought I'd see what your opinions are.

I did pretty well in my coursework and it gives me a nice buffer for the whole BYA8 module, if you get me. So if this is true it'd be rather detrimental!

Reply 9

moves-my-world

Going through my notes and having done alot of BYA8 past papers I feel confident that alot of sections can be skimmed through. For example, 5 marks was almost dedicated to being able to differentiate between kingdoms in BYA5, but is non-existant in BYA 6 or BYA8. Risky tactic but makes revision alot easier..

Reply 10

moves-my-world

Kinkerz

I did pretty well in my coursework and it gives me a nice buffer for the whole BYA8 module, if you get me. So if this is true it'd be rather detrimental!

Sounds pretty much like scare tactics from a teacher. No doubt his pupils are needing 10 marks for their grade and wants to avoid complacency. My teacher is normally pretty good at attempting scare tactics, as quite alot of cockyness runs through our classroom, and he is yet to mention this.

Reply 11

Kinkerz

moves-my-world

Yeah I wasn't sure whether to buy it or not. Glad someone else thinks it's bull though!

Reply 12

scaryhair

I'm doing BYA6 and BYA8, so glad I'm not resitting BYA5, its a horrible module! Really hope the synoptic is on polymers or proteins, as you can waffle on about them forever. How is everyone's revision going?

Reply 13

Kinkerz

scaryhair

The reason I'm resitting is because it's a horrible module. So horrible infact that my revision for it in January wasn't anywhere near as comprehensive as it should've been. It really is terrible.

My revision for BYA5/6 is going pretty well. I'm doing well on past papers. Revision for BYA8 is non-existant thus far. I've thought about a few essay topics, but other than that, nothing :redface:

Reply 14

Isometrix

scaryhair

i know, i hate BYA5. especially all that stuff on data sampling and ecology. BYA6 is pretty good, lots of human stuff :yes:

BYA8 is decent. i think the essay is pretty easy, but some of the passage questions can be tricky. i'm worried, i haven't started any synoptic preparation yet :redface:

Reply 15

moves-my-world

Anyone know how the BYA8 UMS is calculated?

I'm sitting on 60 in my coursework and say I got 30/60 UMS in my exam, would that equate to exactly 90 or something different?

Reply 16

Kinkerz

moves-my-world

Anyone know how the BYA8 UMS is calculated?

I'm sitting on 60 in my coursework and say I got 30/60 UMS in my exam, would that equate to exactly 90 or something different?

Well the whole module is out of 120. The written exam is 60 and the coursework is 60.

If you've got 60 in your courseowork and get 30 from the written part, then yes, you'll get a 90/120.