Official AQA Biology Unit 1 GCSE 5th June 2013 NEW SPEC

Original post by Applequestria

Bonjour, Jambon :P

I see you've been following the websites I go on at school... ...But I'll answer your questions anyways. I would firstly I predict the grade boundaries this year to be around:

A* - 41 raw marks
A - 35 raw marks
B - 29 raw marks
C - 22 raw marks
D - 17 raw marks

And the pyramid of biomass question, I would think it'd be the third box:
1. Why would they just ask for the best representation of June?
2. The numbers of animal algae are decreasing rapidly in June, so it might've been because there was not enough biomass to feed the animal algae at that time (leading to a pyramid of biomass with a smaller bottom block)

First of all, you know I am not FRENCH! I thought we had cleared it all up about which box it was! Anyway, you are probably close with your prediction of the grade boundaries.

Reply 1082

taz1996

Original post by king_revision

Okay, but point of information : the CGP revision guide also says you don't need to know about it - it tells you to forget it said anything. And the spec doesn't require you to know it.

just to clarify, if there is more animals then plant, which was the case in june (the question asked for june btw), surely more animals ,means more biomass?

Reply 1083

Original post by taz1996

just to clarify, if there is more animals then plant, which was the case in june (the question asked for june btw), surely more animals ,means more biomass?

Note they also gave you a diagram showing size differences between animal and plant plankton - number is not the same as total biomass.

Reply 1084

Original post by Jambon66

First of all, you know I am not FRENCH! I thought we had cleared it all up about which box it was! Anyway, you are probably close with your prediction of the grade boundaries.

I never said you were French :s-smilie:

Reply 1085

qudsia

Original post by Jambon66

What about the rest of the grade boundaries? How many marks do you think for an A, B or C? It would be good if the grade boundaries were low but there were some easy questions. Although, the last question was hard about the plant plankton!

Btw which box did you pick for the very last question about the pyramid of Biomass? I put box 1 but I have doubts now as it is currently disputable whether it was box 1 or 3.

I think to get an A you'll need 33/34 marks, for a B 25/26 an for a C 18/19. Yeh that's true some questions were very simple and easy.
I ticked box 2 for the pyramid of biomass question, but majority of people are saying it was box 1 or 3. My teacher said it was box 1 because every pyramid is pyramid shaped so you could be right. But my teacher also said the grade boundaries could possibly be low because the paper was very long, normally there are 7 or 8 questions, in this one there were 9!

Reply 1086

Original post by qudsia

I think to get an A you'll need 33/34 marks, for a B 25/26 an for a C 18/19. Yeh that's true some questions were very simple and easy.
I ticked box 2 for the pyramid of biomass question, but majority of people are saying it was box 1 or 3. My teacher said it was box 1 because every pyramid is pyramid shaped so you could be right. But my teacher also said the grade boundaries could possibly be low because the paper was very long, normally there are 7 or 8 questions, in this one there were 9!

I panicked near the end where I had to finish the last three questions in ten minutes ;_;

But not all pyramids of biomass are pyramid shaped - there's some stuff in the A-level biology thing that talks about inverted pyramids of biomass and when it doesn't follow the rule.

Reply 1087

qudsia

Yeh i think everyone was short of time towards the end! Including me!
But the exam can't include A-level biology it can only have what's in the Spec.

Reply 1088

Original post by qudsia

I think to get an A you'll need 33/34 marks, for a B 25/26 an for a C 18/19. Yeh that's true some questions were very simple and easy.
I ticked box 2 for the pyramid of biomass question, but majority of people are saying it was box 1 or 3. My teacher said it was box 1 because every pyramid is pyramid shaped so you could be right. But my teacher also said the grade boundaries could possibly be low because the paper was very long, normally there are 7 or 8 questions, in this one there were 9!

I see your teacher's point about the grade boundaries being low because it was longer than other papers. I believe papers normally have around 8 questions but I have seen 7 before (like you said) and of course now 9!

I found I had no time to check through my answers because the paper was so long. I wanted to go back to the 6 mark question on the carbon cycle because I felt I was missing a lot of key info. I had to stick with what I had done in the first place!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1089

taz1996

one site has been predicting aqa and edexcel grades for a looooooong time, they always manage to get it right on the money. They are saying the following:

A* 39
A 32
B 26
C 20

Reply 1090

qudsia

Original post by Jambon66

I see your teacher's point about the grade boundaries being low because it was longer than other papers. I believe papers normally have around 8 questions but I have seen 7 before( like you said) and of course now 9!

Yes so hopefully they will be low! How does the ISA work? I mean, does that mark add onto our overall mark for unit 1?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1091

o_KittyKat_o

Is anyone ready to release the unofficial mark scheme for this exam?

Reply 1092

workboy123

Original post by taz1996

i asked my head of science, and my teachers, they said because of june its the 3rd box, man even CGP guide says this as well, trust me, im uploading an unofficila mark scheme soon anyways so hold tight

Can you get hold of mark schemes for other subjects by any chance?

Reply 1093

[QUOTE="qudsia;43052823"]

Original post by Jambon66

I see your teacher's point about the grade boundaries being low because it was longer than other papers. I believe papers normally have around 8 questions but I have seen 7 before( like you said) and of course now 9![/QUOTE

Yes so hopefully they will be low! How does the ISA work? I mean, does that mark add onto our overall mark for unit 1?

Yes the ISA and Exam will be put together and everything will be in UMS points

A*(360) A(320) B(280) C(240) D(200) E(160) F(120) G(80).

If you do well in ISA's then you don't have have to do as much in the exam papers!

Reply 1094

Original post by o_KittyKat_o

Is anyone ready to release the unofficial mark scheme for this exam?

People are trying but it is hard to finalise some of the answers because some of them are controversial. For example the 9th question.

Reply 1095

Original post by Jambon66

I see your teacher's point about the grade boundaries being low because it was longer than other papers. I believe papers normally have around 8 questions but I have seen 7 before (like you said) and of course now 9!

I found I had no time to check through my answers because the paper was so long. I wanted to go back to the 6 mark question on the carbon cycle because I felt I was missing a lot of key info. I had to stick with what I had done in the first place!

Long doesn't mean low
Hard difficulty means low

It's always 60 marks long

Reply 1096

Original post by Applequestria

Long doesn't mean low
Hard difficulty means low

It's always 60 marks long

I took that into account!

Reply 1097

My new mark scheme!

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2376723&p=43054132#post43054132

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1098

username1006802