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AQA AS Biology 7401/1 and 7401/2 Exam - 26th May and 7th June 2016

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Original post by 0161maria
I got the same, completely messed up the graph q tho, I multiplied by 60 instead of divided smh :/ most likely lost all the marks for that q


****!!!! I multiplied by 60 as well instead of divided. OMG.
That was the only mistake I made on that question I think.

Hopefully a 19 year old meth head will mark my paper and not notice. :O
Original post by maggiedavies
helpful information regarding as level biology - new spec


personally, i thought the exam went decent.
Did any of you guys know about a second set of specimen papers? I did them and most of the questions were based off of paper 1 from set 2.

I guess the next best thing to do is to concentrate on paper 2 on tuesday 7th.

i have compiled a list of topics that were not featured on paper 1 (26th may) and so may come up in paper 2:
- carbohydrates
- more on dna and rna / protein synthesis
- eukaryotic vs prokaryotic cells (comparison of organelles)
- size and surface area
- gas exchange (lungs, fish, insects)
- digestion and absorption (there was 1 question in paper 1 but mostly regarded lipids/triglycerides/hydrolysation)
- haemaglobin
- circulatory system / the heart
- plants: Xylem / pholem
- biodiversity / standard deviation
- taxonomy / natural selection / variation (alleles)
- meiosis
- mutations

as far as biochemistry tests go, lipids/emulsion test will not come up and it is doubtful that the benedicts/sugar test will come up. Revise: Biruret/proteins and iodine/starch tests.

here is a list of what is less likely to come up as was featured on paper 1:
- lipids and proteins
- enzyme action including factors affecting (inhibitors)
- dna/rna
- atp
- inorganic ions
- mitosis
- cell membrane
- diffusion / osmosis / active transport
- the immune system and immunity/vaccines
- antibodies in medicine (elisa)
- hiv/viruses
- there was 1 questions regarding mutations, but suggest revising it anyway.

I am going to revise the hell out of these topics ^

you can find the specimen set 2 papers + mark scheme on this thread, click here.
I also suggest watching 'mr pollock biology' youtube channel!

Good luck guys!


you angel thank you so much for this :h:h:h
Surely they will lower the grade boundaries since its a new spec and none of us have any past papers to revise from!!???
I think they will tbh I think it will be about 70% for the A . No lower than 65% for the A I'd guess but I have no idea
Original post by Lola1244
Surely they will lower the grade boundaries since its a new spec and none of us have any past papers to revise from!!???
I had a stupid moment and put spearmans rank for the stat test :u: ifyouknowyouknow
btw bacteria rna yeh?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by TheOnlyAngel
i think a diveristy question was below it?? Give two ways how the base sequence can be used to compare....something.....something diversity ??? i think

i had 5 minutes to do the last question, i cried to myself in the exam:cry2::cry2::cry2::cry2:




I definitely did that diversity question. Was that directly below the statistical method of? As in on the same page? Omg no dw - timing was really difficult in that paper!
Anyone explained why the mutation leads to over activity of the alpha and beta secretase enzymes? Barely had time to finish so I literally just wrote there was a mutation in the DNA base sequence resulting in a different mRNA sequence so enzyme with slightly different active site formed which could lead to over activity or under activity lol idk that question
Original post by AbbieNathan
I definitely did that diversity question. Was that directly below the statistical method of? As in on the same page? Omg no dw - timing was really difficult in that paper!


i think the stat question was above the diversity question
I wrote that mutations leads to change in base sequence hence change in primary or polypeptide therefore change in tertiary structure of enzyme therefore enzyme is no longer complementary to substrate hence no e-s formed @rosemondtan
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Lola1244
Surely they will lower the grade boundaries since its a new spec and none of us have any past papers to revise from!!???


Doesn't matter if it's new spec or old it matters how well everyone did tbf. I think it'll be 58-57 for an A, seeming as tho most people found it easy some found it hard
Original post by Rach2802
I got 225 then divided it by 10 so it was 22.5 - the mark scheme will probably have a range that can be correct! :biggrin:


Hmm I didn't get that I got 185 ish / 14, did u do a tangent
Original post by maggiedavies
I've read that too but the mark schemes to past / specimen papers have different methods.

The attached image for example (is not from the Bio paper), e.g.
Work out the rate of reaction at 30 seconds. Draw line going up till it hits the line, then go across (left). 1.4.
1.4 divided by 30 = 0.04


It's a tangent, drawing across is ridiculous and not proper as, the gradient is not a constant value. You can only draw a tangent to find the most accurate rate
Original post by Charlyy27114
In the resynthersizing of atp question ( can't spell it haha ) did any one mention the enzyme atp synthase ? I don't know if I needed to but I did ?


Yes, I sed ADP + inorganic phosphate recombine in condensation reaction through aid of atp syntha
How many marks do think you have all dropped ?
Original post by Charlyy27114
How many marks do think you have all dropped ?


15-17. I hope. You?


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Original post by Charlyy27114
How many marks do think you have all dropped ?


About 75 😂
Original post by LightAtTheEnd
Guys my teacher never did anything like T test? Can you explain to me what it is for future reference?


Do you have the official textbook? It's mentioned at the back.



Briefly, the T test analyses two sets of data and sees if there is any difference between the mean values of both.

For example, you can test the heights of women in Wales and Scotland, getting a set of heights for both. The T test determines whether the difference between the mean values means anything.

If you had lots of test subjects and there wasn't much of a difference between the means then you get a low T test score. A low T test score means that any difference was just by chance.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Original post by Asad_2015
It's a tangent, drawing across is ridiculous and not proper as, the gradient is not a constant value. You can only draw a tangent to find the most accurate rate


I agree the tangent is the proper and concise way to do it.
But it's not what the examiners want for this Bio spec exam and I don't know why. When you look at past papers / specimen paper, it doesn't say what they did to work it out but when you look at what method marks and calculations they have done along with the general correct answer, it is obvious that they have drew across rather than a tangent.
Anybody know any grade boundary percentages?
The paper was out of 75, wasn't it?

Or what they were for last year?
Let me know please!

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