Biology help

Original post by SAK1987

How do you know in the AQA past papers which questions are the ones that are how science work questions? Are these the higher mark questions? I had both my AS and A2 route t practicals yesterday with their associated exams and am pretty sure I flunked them both. It is very hard being a private student doing it. I really need to do very well in my exams just to scrape the C that I require overall.

By associated exams do you mean task 3?

Reply 81

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by SAK1987

How do you know in the AQA past papers which questions are the ones that are how science work questions? Are these the higher mark questions? I had both my AS and A2 route t practicals yesterday with their associated exams and am pretty sure I flunked them both. It is very hard being a private student doing it. I really need to do very well in my exams just to scrape the C that I require overall.

So the HSW questions will make up most of the exam, they're things like describe and explain these data, interpret this graph, answer questions on this case study etc etc. A classic example would be "Evaluate a ban on smoking" (I'm sure a question like that came up in one of my GCSE papers). "Factual recall" questions are easy marks if you've revised, there won't be anything abstract about them, they will simply be questions like "Describe the cell cycle" or "Explain how the concentration of CO2 in the blood is reduced". If things are the same as my year, then AQA biology papers will be made up mostly of HSW questions, and then at the end you will have some big factual recall questions (15 marks in biol 4 and a 25 mark essay in biol 5).

Btw, I don't know what route t practicals are, but I'm sure it'll be fine, if you have any other concerns then feel free to contact me, I know what you feel like because I'm worried about my uni exams so I can empathise fully with you! haha

Reply 82

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by TianaEsther

How and when did you start revising for the BMAT and the ukcat and how did you ensure that your revision was effective enough? Thanks! :smile:

You're asking the wrong person about the UKCAT I'm afraid, I messed up badly, I only spent a week revising for it, and got like 640ish, maybe even less (I try and forget haha), so definitely start preparing a good few weeks in advance (although don't let it ruin your summer holiday!). I can give much better advice on the BMAT though, I started revising pretty soon after I sent my application off (because you do the BMAT after you submit your UCAS form) because by that point I knew that I definitely had to do the BMAT (as I applied to 2 BMAT unis). BMAT revision was much easier as you can actually revise science for it, in my year there was an online revision guide, if they still have that then use it, that was how I knew I had revised enough for the science because I had revised that quite a lot, and trust me, everything they ask will be in that book, I think I got best/joint best score for the science in my year because I actually bothered to revise for it, everyone else just thought you'd need GCSE knowledge but you do need more than that. As for section 1, just do past papers, there are a lot don't worry, but yh, get used to working under pressure and the style of questions, that's all you really can do. Finally, for the essay, make sure you actually do some, because I didn't, and I got a 2.5A out of 5 haha, it nearly cost me 2 offers (anything below 2.5 is not accepted by the unis I applied to) so yh I cut it fine there. Basically the moral of this story is, practise makes perfect.

Ask me anything else if you have questions, best of luck

Reply 83

TianaEsther

10

Original post by AortaStudyMore

You're asking the wrong person about the UKCAT I'm afraid, I messed up badly, I only spent a week revising for it, and got like 640ish, maybe even less (I try and forget haha), so definitely start preparing a good few weeks in advance (although don't let it ruin your summer holiday!). I can give much better advice on the BMAT though, I started revising pretty soon after I sent my application off (because you do the BMAT after you submit your UCAS form) because by that point I knew that I definitely had to do the BMAT (as I applied to 2 BMAT unis). BMAT revision was much easier as you can actually revise science for it, in my year there was an online revision guide, if they still have that then use it, that was how I knew I had revised enough for the science because I had revised that quite a lot, and trust me, everything they ask will be in that book, I think I got best/joint best score for the science in my year because I actually bothered to revise for it, everyone else just thought you'd need GCSE knowledge but you do need more than that. As for section 1, just do past papers, there are a lot don't worry, but yh, get used to working under pressure and the style of questions, that's all you really can do. Finally, for the essay, make sure you actually do some, because I didn't, and I got a 2.5A out of 5 haha, it nearly cost me 2 offers (anything below 2.5 is not accepted by the unis I applied to) so yh I cut it fine there. Basically the moral of this story is, practise makes perfect.

Ask me anything else if you have questions, best of luck

Thank you so much! I'll ask any other questions perhaps nearer to the time if I have any.

Reply 84

SAK1987

3

Original post by AortaStudyMore

So the HSW questions will make up most of the exam, they're things like describe and explain these data, interpret this graph, answer questions on this case study etc etc. A classic example would be "Evaluate a ban on smoking" (I'm sure a question like that came up in one of my GCSE papers). "Factual recall" questions are easy marks if you've revised, there won't be anything abstract about them, they will simply be questions like "Describe the cell cycle" or "Explain how the concentration of CO2 in the blood is reduced". If things are the same as my year, then AQA biology papers will be made up mostly of HSW questions, and then at the end you will have some big factual recall questions (15 marks in biol 4 and a 25 mark essay in biol 5).

Btw, I don't know what route t practicals are, but I'm sure it'll be fine, if you have any other concerns then feel free to contact me, I know what you feel like because I'm worried about my uni exams so I can empathise fully with you! haha

Thanks for your reply. Good luck with your exams. I need to get better at answering how science works questions. I need to get high marks on my written papers to just get a C overall. Is there anyway to get better at answering these qs? Please let me know. Thanks. I am doing notes from the AQA and CGP books and compiling a list of past papers qs for each topic. I am finding there is a lot of content and I am unsure how much is revelant. I guess I need to stick to the specification to work that out.

Reply 85

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by SAK1987

Thanks for your reply. Good luck with your exams. I need to get better at answering how science works questions. I need to get high marks on my written papers to just get a C overall. Is there anyway to get better at answering these qs? Please let me know. Thanks. I am doing notes from the AQA and CGP books and compiling a list of past papers qs for each topic. I am finding there is a lot of content and I am unsure how much is revelant. I guess I need to stick to the specification to work that out.

There probably is a way to get better at those questions, I sort of just improved with time really, I guess the best way is to just think things through with logic, unfortunately not everyone is that good at this (myself included!), but yh, when you get a question like that, don't panic, sit and think for a little bit about what to write. If you're like me and you panic a bit in exams, then leave tricky questions until the end and go back to them, that way you don't have to worry about finishing the exam, and it really clears your head, and hopefully, eventually something clever will come to mind! Like I said, it's really just logic, which you can't improve with revision, but yh, just sit and think, we had a question in our biol 4 paper that was something like "Why is global warming increasing the concentration of salt in fields near the sea" or something, and you just have to apply what you know and some logic to realise that sea water is salty and global warming causes sea levels to rise, piece them together and you have an answer. That's the best advice I can give tbh, schools can only teach so much, you can't really teach someone how to think, so just do the past papers and any other HSW questions and you'll be fine

Reply 86

username2396569

OP

11

How's everyone getting on? I hope you're all coping with EMPA's/ISA's/Revision, remember if you need any help on anything I'm here, if I'm going to procrastinate my own revision it may as well be productive!

Reply 87

sububzi

11

Honestly you sound like some amazing person actually wanting to help all of us, like I really appreciate it. I'm struggling so much with my work ethic and I have three weeks until my AS exams and honestly I don't think I can get 4 A's. I just feel like I can't do it and it's so demoralising. I mean I've been getting B's and A's throughout the year in my mocks but when I do the specimen papers (we have a new spec) I genuinely just flop them like less than 50% it's ridiculous.

I just feel like I'm losing hope and it's so scary

Reply 88

fannehh

2

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions, you've been super helpful!! Few questions...
1) in trasition metal precipitation reactions how do you know how many NH4 ligands have replaced the water ones?? Is it always 4??
2) could you send me your notes on genetic engineering/recombinant DNA and stuff on genetics like codominance and all that and also on buffers for chemistry (if you have them) please?
3) can you explain the light dependent stage of photosynthesis ? I always get confused about where the 2 electrons go after getting 'excited' and in what order everything happens! :frown:

also what happens to the products of photolysis??
Thanks! :h:

Reply 89

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by sububzi

Honestly you sound like some amazing person actually wanting to help all of us, like I really appreciate it. I'm struggling so much with my work ethic and I have three weeks until my AS exams and honestly I don't think I can get 4 A's. I just feel like I can't do it and it's so demoralising. I mean I've been getting B's and A's throughout the year in my mocks but when I do the specimen papers (we have a new spec) I genuinely just flop them like less than 50% it's ridiculous.

I just feel like I'm losing hope and it's so scary

Hey, so don't worry about work ethic, it happens to the best of us, I have my first exam in 2 days and I've been so lazy with revision, you just have to believe in yourself, and find something to motivate you. Personally, this was much easier at school than at uni, as I knew I needed the grades to get into medical school, and I was also one of the best in the school so I had that to motivate me, now at uni, there are no grades and I'm average at best, so it gets hard. What you need to do is just do what you can, and organise yourself, this is something I cannot do, but I've been trying to while revising for my exam, because without structure you just won't know what to do and you'll end up getting hardly anything done. Also, find something to motivate you, long term or short term. I sometimes revise whilst listening to some motivational music to get myself pumped up (this sound ridiculous haha), and I also sometimes watch some motivational videos or something, which kind of works. As for long term, have some aspirations, what do you want to do? Try let those aspirations help motivate you.

As for the papers, again, don't worry. Please trust me, when I did past papers, I did them half halfheartedly, because sitting in your bedroom is no way near the same as doing the real thing in an exam hall, you'll be surprised at how much more you know when you're in the exam compared to when you're doing a paper at home, partly because you have adrenaline, but also because if you're like me, then when doing past papers you tend to rush them so you can find out how well you've done as soon as possible. I still do this now, I can't do questions anymore because I get them all wrong as I just speed through them as fast as possible. So don't worry about getting low marks, if you're scoring low in the past papers then just don't do them, as they can demoralise you, save them for closer to the real thing when you've revised a bit more.

So yh, just believe in yourself, I know exactly how you feel because I am in pretty much the same situation as you (just a couple of years further down the line), I tell myself every day that I can pass my exams, because I have many doubts, I was on the phone to my parents tonight telling them about how I'm going to fail etc etc, you just have to believe you can do well or else you'll just get stressed, and that doesn't help anything. Also 3 weeks is plenty of time, like i said, try organise yourself, it will help, and also, try and enjoy what you're learning, just think about how clever you'll seem compared to other people if you revise! Talk to your parents about what you're revising and you'll be surprised with how much you will know.

Anyway, I'm a bit of a keyboard warrior, I like to write a lot haha. I'm not sure if this has helped at all, but just remember that this lack of motivation to revise is pretty normal, so don't worry, I've been doing like 4-5 hours a day of revision for 3 weeks for a medical school exam, it's not very much, but if I believe I can pass it with that much revision then I believe you can get 4 A's in your AS's!

Reply 90

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by fannehh

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions, you've been super helpful!! Few questions...
1) in trasition metal precipitation reactions how do you know how many NH4 ligands have replaced the water ones?? Is it always 4??
2) could you send me your notes on genetic engineering/recombinant DNA and stuff on genetics like codominance and all that and also on buffers for chemistry (if you have them) please?
3) can you explain the light dependent stage of photosynthesis ? I always get confused about where the 2 electrons go after getting 'excited' and in what order everything happens! :frown:

also what happens to the products of photolysis??
Thanks! :h:

Aah transition metals... As far as I can remember, it can be 6 NH3s in some cases when in excess, apart from Fe(II)? I'll try and get back to you regarding the first question, when I've done my exam on monday, I'll be able to spend a bit more time refreshing my memory on transition metals, and I'll be able to give a proper explanation.

I've had a couple of people ask me for genetics notes, again, once my exam is out the way, I'll have more time to send some good notes, in the mean time, let me know your email or something? This always sounds really dodgy when I ask for things like this! But it's the best way for me to send them.

I can help you more with the last question, so chlorophyll gets oxidised by light, i.e. it loses electrons, these electrons feed into an electron transport chain, and as they move from one component of the chain down to the next, they lose energy, this energy is harvested to make ATP. The electrons then leave the ETC and combine with NADP and hydrogen to form NADPH, which is then used in the calvin cycle to make glucose.

Photolysis is used for 2 things, 1 it generates electrons to replace the ones chlorophyll has just lost, and it also produces the hydrogen that combines with the electrons and NADP at the end of the ETC. Oxygen is obviously released as a waste product. Hope that helps, there are technically photosystems involved, but I doubt you need to know those at A-level, I didn't! Sorry about the other 2 things, I'm struggling as it is to remember the stuff for my exam on monday, so I can't quite remember all the transition metal stuff from last year :P and yh I'll try and get the notes to you when I have a bit more time.

Reply 91

fannehh

2

Original post by AortaStudyMore

Aah transition metals... As far as I can remember, it can be 6 NH3s in some cases when in excess, apart from Fe(II)? I'll try and get back to you regarding the first question, when I've done my exam on monday, I'll be able to spend a bit more time refreshing my memory on transition metals, and I'll be able to give a proper explanation.

I've had a couple of people ask me for genetics notes, again, once my exam is out the way, I'll have more time to send some good notes, in the mean time, let me know your email or something? This always sounds really dodgy when I ask for things like this! But it's the best way for me to send them.

I can help you more with the last question, so chlorophyll gets oxidised by light, i.e. it loses electrons, these electrons feed into an electron transport chain, and as they move from one component of the chain down to the next, they lose energy, this energy is harvested to make ATP. The electrons then leave the ETC and combine with NADP and hydrogen to form NADPH, which is then used in the calvin cycle to make glucose.

Photolysis is used for 2 things, 1 it generates electrons to replace the ones chlorophyll has just lost, and it also produces the hydrogen that combines with the electrons and NADP at the end of the ETC. Oxygen is obviously released as a waste product. Hope that helps, there are technically photosystems involved, but I doubt you need to know those at A-level, I didn't! Sorry about the other 2 things, I'm struggling as it is to remember the stuff for my exam on monday, so I can't quite remember all the transition metal stuff from last year :P and yh I'll try and get the notes to you when I have a bit more time.

Thanks very much, that explanation was super helpful!! :biggrin:

Reply 92

dyezrawna

3

Hey Aorta, do you have any tips for how to revise for the EMPA 6X/3X?

Reply 93

username2396569

OP

11

Original post by dyezrawna

Hey Aorta, do you have any tips for how to revise for the EMPA 6X/3X?

Hey, I'm going to assume you're talking about biology. So, personally, what I did was revise the relevant topics in depth, you don't need to, because there's usually only 1 mark for a factual based question in the EMPAs, but it might help with understanding some of the other questions. The main preparation I did was talking to my school friends about what might come up. We effectively predicted half the questions and came up with answers for them too. It got me and my 2 best friends 60/60 UMS :P Erm, in general, for task 2 for unit 6X (if you haven't already done it), make sure you get those marks, we were taught how to answer the task 2 questions word for word and some idiots still got those answers wrong. Task 2 at A2 is the stats test questions, and unless they've changed it they should always be the same, ie state a null hypothesis, name the right stats test, use the stats test, and interpret it. No one has any excuse not to get full marks on those questions, so just look at mark schemes and learn them. Unit 3X is a bit more tricky, as you have to do a graph? But yh it's still pretty easy to get those marks. Don't lose easy marks, because you need some headroom to lose the harder marks.

So yh, that's all you can really do, you can do past papers if you want, but they'll rarely repeat questions, so that's up to you, I didn't do them

Reply 94

sububzi

11

You're actually an angel no joke 😭❤️Xxx

Reply 95

dyezrawna

3

Original post by AortaStudyMore

Hey, I'm going to assume you're talking about biology. So, personally, what I did was revise the relevant topics in depth, you don't need to, because there's usually only 1 mark for a factual based question in the EMPAs, but it might help with understanding some of the other questions. The main preparation I did was talking to my school friends about what might come up. We effectively predicted half the questions and came up with answers for them too. It got me and my 2 best friends 60/60 UMS :P Erm, in general, for task 2 for unit 6X (if you haven't already done it), make sure you get those marks, we were taught how to answer the task 2 questions word for word and some idiots still got those answers wrong. Task 2 at A2 is the stats test questions, and unless they've changed it they should always be the same, ie state a null hypothesis, name the right stats test, use the stats test, and interpret it. No one has any excuse not to get full marks on those questions, so just look at mark schemes and learn them. Unit 3X is a bit more tricky, as you have to do a graph? But yh it's still pretty easy to get those marks. Don't lose easy marks, because you need some headroom to lose the harder marks.

So yh, that's all you can really do, you can do past papers if you want, but they'll rarely repeat questions, so that's up to you, I didn't do them

Thank you! You're so helpful

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Reply 96

Aimen.

7

Heyy!
I wanted to ask about biology unit 6 edexcel.

Attachment not found

That's question paper, markscheme and examiner's report respectively..
Could you please tell me a better method of random placing?

Original post by Aimen.

Heyy!
I wanted to ask about biology unit 6 edexcel.

Attachment not found

That's question paper, markscheme and examiner's report respectively..
Could you please tell me a better method of random placing?

Dividing the area into quadrants using a computerised graph, and a random number generator to select a quadrant for the study. This is completely random

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Reply 98

Aimen.

7

Original post by PsychoD

Dividing the area into quadrants using a computerised graph, and a random number generator to select a quadrant for the study. This is completely random

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Ohh Thankyou :3 Guess I've seen it somewhere earlier but forgot!