Anyone need help with AS AQA biology?

Hey there! I'm doing a Science Foundation Year at uni which is equivalent to A & AS Level Biology and Chemistry. Unfortunately I didn't pass my last Biology exam and I'm writing a referral exam next month. I seemed to have studied the content quite well but still didn't manage to score enough. Was just wondering what is the best way to do well in such exams?

Hi! Well for biology there are three parts to most exams. Now I am basing my knowledge on my own exam board, your qualification may be totally different, but I'm sure some info can be applied.

In biology there is generally three key things you need to be able to do to be successful in exams. 1. Learn the content - easy enough grab a relevant revision guide and know everything. 2. Apply the content - this is probably the hardest part. You will meet unfamiliar situations, and you will need to apply the knowledge you have to these situations. You will know everything you need to answer the question, it's whether you can bridge the gap between the question and the knowledge you need to recall in order to answer it. 3. How science works - your graphs, experiments, tables, data etc etc. All the reliability, accuracy stuff. You need to know it, and be able to apply it as well.

I find that revising everything in brief to begin with is helpful. Read ahead of any classes you will attend, and go over work after the classes too. Read chapters you are yet to cover. Then go over each chapter in more detail once you know the basics. Go over, make powerpoints, mind maps, notes, posters etc. Do anything you can to remember it. This will cover point 1.

Then complete exam papers - if there are any available. This will get you to cover point 2. Complete papers, then go to the mark schemes, check why you got it either right or wrong. Do the paper again between 1 and 2 weeks later, and see how your marks have changed. did you get anything wrong in both tries? Did you improve? Find out why you've gone wrong, and amend it. This covers point 2.

For point 3 you just need to be able to analyse graphs and tables, and learn all the relevant keywords (bias, variables, controls, reliable, valid etc). You can get this from both learning content and exam papers.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Ask me if you need any further advice

Thank you! That's some great advice. Point 2 is what I'm struggling with at the moment. I know the content but don't seem to put it down in the most apt words to earn enough marks. Might post again to trouble you with some cell division and evolution queries. Thanks again!

Hi again, was going over my notes on protein synthesis and had a query I was hoping you could help me with.
Now I know there are two stages to protein synthesis: 1) Transcription and 2) Translation.
This is what I know of the two stages as per my knowledge:

Before transcription begins, the DNA helix unwinds itself so that the two strands are apart and the base sequence is exposed. which is achieved with the help of specific enzymes and the RNA polymerase which attaches to the DNA molecule at the initiation site. Once in place, the enzymes move along the gene assembling the mRNA by adding matching nucleotides one at a time. Once this is complete the mRNA copy moves away from the DNA molecule, out of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm.

In the translation stage, the mRNA copy moves out of the nucleus through the nuclear pore attaches itself to the ribosomes on the rough endoplasmic reticulum. At the point where the two are attached, the tRNA molecules deliver the necessary amino acids and hold them in place till they are added to the growing polypeptide.

Is this correct?

Also, what I don't understand is that is the DNA replicated to form a mRNA molecule? Where the mRNA and tRNA come from is basically what I'm confused about.

For transcription I believe that is right. I haven't done work on it in a while, but from what I remember it seems right. And for translation I remember that is definitely right.

The mRNA is made from the DNA in the transcription. THe DNA acts as a template, and so the ribonucleotides are joined together to make the mRNA using the DNA as a template for it. It is produced from RNA Polymerase II

tRNA is made by RNA Polymerase III in the nucleus, and then it is transported outside of the nucleus and into the cell. tRNA is made in a pretty similar way to mRNA.

If you wanted anything in more depth I'm afraid that is the limit of my knowledge. Sorry, but I hope it helps a bit

I was just unsure about whether the mRNA is formed from DNA replication itself or it's just a random molecule that helps in forming a copy of the DNA. Thank you that clears things for me