EDEXCEL Biology Unit 2 6BIO2 21st May 2012

I would love to get an A, I want to carry on with biology and chem at uni. I might be in your situation next year :/ I had a spanish speaking exam which, well, didn't exactly go great, and I'm scared I won't do well in this chemistry exam. I am terrified of A2 exams, they're a lot harder than AS I've heard? Good luck with your A2s!

Do you know what exactly you want to study or do you just have an idea it'll be something bio/chem related?
Have you considered the universities you're hoping to apply to?
I did Spanish at AS too! But my speaking didn't so great either I dropped it after AS.
I do Maths, Chem & Bio now. What's your other AS subject?

Don't be terrified! I'm not going to lie, it is difficult and when people have told you that it's a lot harder than AS, they're not kidding. BUT, it's not impossible either! With chemistry, you learn a lot of the basics in AS so making sure you have a solid foundation now will really help you to understand/pick up things faster next year. For biology, I have to admit, I don't think it's that similar to AS But that might be because I'm comparing it to chemistry where I find that everything learnt in AS relates/needs to be used in A2. But with bio, you just learn another 4 different topics which isn't very closely related to what you've done this year. But this is just my opinion; besides, biology isn't my strong point so maybe you'll find links between things that never even crossed my mind!
I can't comment too much on spanish considering I dropped it but, from what I've heard from people that chose to carry on with it, it does get a lot more trickier. Especially with speaking, they can ask you anything as opposed to the distinct topics we have at AS. But don't quote me on that, it's just what I've been told, you may find it okay - it'll differ depending on what exam board you do as well. (I did edexcel)

For A2, just have a positive attitude from the beginning and make sure you start working from September. It'll put you in a much better position by May/June if you've been regularly revising/making notes instead of waiting until April before doing anything constructive. You don't want to be making notes in May when you could be going through all the past papers and really understanding the mark scheme.
I know it's not always possible, especially right at the beginning of the year, but once you've learnt certain topics, you should try finding exam questions specific to those topics and practice. Like I said, right at the start you won't be able to but once it gets to further into the year, really try and do exam questions earlier because it'll really help. This is what I found anyway, even though I revised my butt off last year and I thought I'd do well, I ended up not doing as well as I thought. It was just exam technique and knowing what exactly they're asking for that put me down but this year I did past papers from the beginning so hopefully this year works out better than last, haha.

Sorry for the long paragraphs, I think I got a little carried away with sharing my experience
Hope atleast some of it is helpful!

I'm thinking biological sciences, although I'm starting to re-consider as I have no idea what I want to do after I've been to University... my teacher told me that you can do so much with this degree so I suppose it's a good choice since I'm still undecided. As for Unis... well, I've been looking at the likes of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Sheffield, UCL etc, but I think I'm going to base my decision on my AS results and my A2 grades. I'm dropping spanish also! I'm doing Biology, Chemistry and English Literature but I wish I'd chosen physics or maths because English or spanish hardly fit in with biological sciences :/ what's your third A2 subject? And have you got any offers from unis if you don't mind saying?

Thank you so much for your advice, I actually do feel much better now and I'm going to try my best to work from September. I think that's what I'm going to have to do if I want to get good grades, plus I'm guessing it will be a lot less stressful when exam time comes. Again thanks

i think it's here -> http://www.mediafire.com/?418nynasohiaa

Well, I say can, I just had a Spanish exam today and I have English Literature on Wednesday so I've just been concentrating on them although I have been doing revision on and off since we started units 3 and 4 so I'm not too worried How is your revision going? I'm really surprised there isn't a thread on this exam already! For the unit 1 and 2 exam there was a huge thread ...

I applied for biomedical sciences which has the similiar benefits that your teacher mentioned.
Having a few different degree options right now is good so that when you get your results you can just choose between the ones that you've already put some thought in to as opposed to just getting your grades and then trying to find/pick a degree out of nowhere. If you're unsure of what you want to do specifically then a broader degree like biological sciences will let you explore topics in more depth at uni and therefore make a better decision later on.
The unis that you've mentioned are all very respectable and if you've done a little research then you'll realise that entry requirements will be fairly high for them. But don't let that put you off, knowing now what they roughly want will encourage you to work all that much harder to get those tops grades at the end. And to be honest, you do seem quite hardworking and determined so I'm sure you'll get the grades you deserve

My 3rd subject is Maths. But I took the exams for it early so I've already completed that A level. So only have biology and chemistry exams in Summer. (I know that's quite lucky considering it's one less subject to worry about but it also means a lot more pressure to get really high marks. And chem+bio are not easy subjects at all! )
I think taking English Lit and Spanish is pretty good. It doesn't put you at a disadvantage at all. It could even work in your favour for some unis because it'll show you're well-rounded and there are a lot of universities that like a variety of subjects. But that's obviously assuming that you've still taken the main subject(s) needed for your degree, and you've taken both chemistry and biology so you should be fine.

I applied to Kings, St Georges and Brunel to do biomedical sciences. And Queen Marys and Leicester for medical genetics. (I couldn't choose one subjects so I split it )
I got offers from all of them and chose Kings as my firm who want AAB. I've already got an A in Maths so I need to get AB in chem+bio (really scared! )
And my insurance is Queen Mary who wants 300 points.

You're welcome, I'm glad I could help
Revise hard for now and then make sure you have an amazing Summer because next year you won't have too much time to take it easy, haha.

YOU are a LEGEND.

Those notes are AMAZING. You don't happen to have any notes for 6BI05 unit 4 (or 5 if you count AS coursework as being unit 3) do you?

thank you so much for those notes

I'm hoping that going into biological science will allow me to look at quite a few aspects of science meaning that I can choose if I would like to specialise into a certain area I looked into biomedical sciences too but I was under the impression that it involves more maths than biological and as I said I don't do maths :/ I was considering taking up a further AS level in year 13, most likely maths, but I don't know if that would give me an advantage or not. Do you know what you want to do with your degree?

Congrats on your A in maths, and with your uni offers. I've heard they're all respectable Unis too. You sound like you'll be able to get your A and B in chem and biology, especially since you know where you went wrong the first time. Have you completed any work experience which would be related to biomedical science? I have none whatsoever, I've been looking into it but can't find anything other than the nuffield science bursary, the deadline to which has already passed :/

Thanks I'm going to do my best! I've been revising biology today and feeling a little more confident, going to start going through past papers tonight.

If you want to go into something with more Maths aspects in it then you can consider doing another AS level next year. But I really don't think that not having Maths will put you at any disadvantage. If you check the websites of the univerisities you're interested in, it'll say whether they want Maths or not. I think the majority will just specify that they want sciences but then any other A level subject(s) so you should be fine.
I've done some research into the different fields I can go into but I haven't got my heart set on anything specific yet. I'm just going to wait and see what I think of the topics when I learn them at degree level then probably choose the ones I find most interesting

Thanks. Sadly, I was one mark off an A* so despite doing well, I do still kick myself about it sometimes. A lot of people told me to resit but getting the A* wouldn't have an effect on my uni requirements and the Maths exam would the same day as another exam so I just felt it'd be better if I left it.
I have some experience, but to what extent they're biomedical sciences related I don't know, but it's still something. I've been volunteering at a elderly care home for the past 2 years, I've done 2 weeks at a surgery, I've shadowed doctors, I've done some pharmacy-related work. It may seem like a lot but it really isn't because it's pretty difficult to get placements. I did bits here and there and then just really dressed it up when I was writing about it in my personal statement.
Just try and get as much stuff as you can that's science (maybe mainly biology) related so that you'll have stuff to write about in your PS. You'll write a lot about yourself and extra curricular things you've done (to show them you do have a life as well, haha ) but they need to be able to really see your passion for the subject.

I think I may have overloaded you today with information about A2, applying for universities etc, sorry!

No really I appreciate it all! It helps to talk about it with someone who's planning on doing something similar to me, and to be honest you've helped a lot more than anyone at my college has. Oh wow you have had a lot of experience! I did work in a residential home for a couple of months, I could work there or volunteer again although I don't know how I could relate it to biological science. I'm going to dedicate my summer to finding experience, my step dad's sister does research and I might have a chance working with her although I think she lives in london which is nowhere near where I live. I'm going to complete some wider reading too in the summer, I just haven't had time before.

I hate getting one mark off a grade, it's so frustrating! But like you said I think you're right not to resit, it would just put you under more pressure. Have you considered getting one of your papers remarked, if you can still do that? I'm not sure how it works, I've never done it myself but maybe they could find you a mark somewhere.

I've got a few questions about Jan 09, and would be grateful if someone can help Here's the link to the paper: http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/QP%20GCE%20Curriculum%202000/January%202009/6BI02_01_que_20090114.pdf.

For q4b) How do you work out the answer?
And for 6a) I didn't really understand what they were asking (probably easy marks), but is it asking which statements are true/false for polysaccharides in general? If so, I can understand why it is a polymer of glucose, but can't you get polysaccharides not made from glucose? And it says "molecule may have side branches"- surely that's true? E.g. amylopectin?

Thanks

I think (please anyone correct me if I'm wrong) for 4b) the answer is the gender of turtles is determined by the temperature of the ground in which the eggs are laid. In my understanding it's because the temperature actually affects which proteins are synthesised as it will activate/deactivate certain genes (for gender). Therefore the gene expression is affected by the temperature. For the others, the temperature is not affecting the differentiation of the genes but rather the processes in the cell. It's only the rates that are affected, not changes to the cell (in asexual reproduction the cells will be identical copies obviously ) I hope that made sense

And with 6a) I agree that it isn't clear what they are asking for. But I think it is for polysaccharides in general. I don't understand the question either, if would make sense if they were referring to the mentioned polysaccharides only but the question doesn't suggest that at all; some polysaccharides do have side branches don't they? I found another thread on this:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1472858

Aw, good, I'm really glad it's helped! And, I agree, it's useful speaking to someone who can relate as opposed to speaking to someone who'll give more general advice.
If nothing else then I think you should definitely volunteer there again because something's better than nothing! When you mentioned you were interested in biological sciences and wanted experience, the first thing that came to mind was research so if you could somehow get the chance do work or even just overlook your stepdad's sister then that'd be really amazing. And I'm sure you'd learn tonnes from it too, so even just a day would help you get a real insight into how things are in industry.
I live in London, haha, where abouts are you from?
I didn't do any reading to be honest, I did try but it was Summer and I couldn't really get myself to sit through any books
But if you look at certain university websites, you might be able to find a list of the science-related books that they recommend, so if you choose one of the books from there then they'll know a lot more about the book (as opposed to a random science book) and will realise you need some research into choosing books that relate to your degree.
Or you could even choose one of the universities that you're particularly interested in and I'm sure that the head of department or one of the professors would have journals or something which if you mention would really show that you have an interest in both their work and the university.
Don't stress out too much on the reading and the experience though, just do what you can and I'm sure it'll be enough. Admissions tutors do appreciate how difficult it can be do get certain placements so just the mention of the little things you have done with an explanation of what you've learnt and how you really found it interesting will be enough for them to see that you're really keen on their subject.

My maths teacher and my parents were really urging me to resit because they said it shouldn't take that much more revision but it'd still be another exam so I'd be feeling more pressure than what's really necessary. I did consider remarking but I just felt that it wouldn't make that much difference. In my opinion, it's subjects more like English or Sociology that may change because different examiners will give marks for different points/ideas whereas for Maths there's only one answer so I either got it right or not, it's unlikely to find an extra mark somewhere. But yeah, that's just how I feel, haha.

can not open it

is there any other way? i am an international student and there seems no other way i can get this from elsewhere.

thanks a lot!!

Yes that's the correct answer, I understand what you're saying as specific conditions will turn genes on so specific mRNA produced, so different proteins are produced, but why can't it be the one about altering growth? More protein = more growth?

I think that the polysaccharide question is so deceptive, it looks simple but then it's confusing. But for the branched bit, it said "may have branches" surely that's true? E.g. amylose vs amylopectin? Thanks for giving a link to that thread I read it...but people seem to be confused about the same point

Sigh, feel so unprepared for this exam. Been revising for C2 which is tomorrow :/