AQA Biology Synoptic essay!!!

hiya, im trying to prepare for the synoptic essay for AQA Biology A on the 18th june (eeek!) but i dont have anything to compare my essays to. does anyone feel generous and sharing some essays they've had marked so i can see how to attain a good mark?? (pleaase :redface:

)
my teacher did give me a few sample essays to read, but they're both C and grades, so didnt really help lol
i get the general gist of how to put together an essay e.g. cover points from all modules but would really benefit from your help guys!

sheena :smile:

Reply 1

my:favorite:things...

hey! can i join you in asking for tips? my biology teacher is off sick and we havent had a teacher for 2 weeks so i have had no essay practise whatsoever!
and to make it worse the head of science was going to teach us today but he decided to teach his year 9's instead. Its no wonder half my class is failing :frown:

Reply 2

Joe555

13

Don't even get me started on this rubbish exam.....
http://www.biologylessons.net/files/SynopticEssays/SynopticEssays.html

This is an EXTREMELY good website! Treat it as your lover....seriously. I love this website :smile:

(In a non-weird way)

All the essays are pretty much 25/25 and there's loads of guidelines etc. and mark schemes on how to write an essay. I'm on AQA A (the non-human one) too.

Reply 3

kate1310

5

Its horrible isn't it :frown:

We've just been told the usual, bring something in from each module, scientific terminology, lots of depth, generally about 3/4/5 points.
I keep getting Cs, I miss my A lol.

Reply 4

Speedbird2008

3

Not heard of the AQA webiste?

If you're doing past paper type questions, have a look at the mark schemes.

:smile:

Reply 5

kate1310

5

Speedbird2008

Not heard of the AQA webiste?

If you're doing past paper type questions, have a look at the mark schemes.

:smile:

Its an essay, and the mark scheme is generic. So its hardly any help.

Reply 6

my:favorite:things...

I did actually go to the aqa website, found some questions, wrote down as much as i could think of and compared it to what they said you should put in. but its not much use when i don't know how the examiner thinks when they are marking.

Reply 7

sheena18

OP

6

to my favourite things: i feel ur pain lol. my teacher is a total mark-a-phobe and she literally refuses to mark ur essays and barely gave me the two C and D grade essays grrrr.

to joe555: yaaaay! thank you so much! this site is really a godsend, thanks for posting to let us know about it! i'll treat it with care (in the most non-weird way possible lol).

we should keep this thread going as a hatefest to the damn synoptic paper lol!!!

Reply 8

my:favorite:things...

i agree about the website! some of those essays are fantastic!
i'm going to have to get working and take some essays in to school and beg a teacher to mark them.

Reply 9

dhav

Has anyone got an essay or essay plan for the essay "Describe the control mechanisms in living organisms?"

Reply 10

Botticello

20

Why they do this to us? Why? :puppyeyes:

Isnt once enough?

Reply 11

achibachi

any guesses on the titles for this summer's exam?

Reply 12

Joe555

13

"Life......Why?"

Reply 13

satisverborum2003

6

The best advice I'll give is to look at the mark scheme - I found that the structure always follows a pattern - for example first you give a definition of what is being asked of. Then, you state how that thing is made and where it's found, its use etc..

Reply 14

Sparoline

You could always do an essay in the correct time and whatever else from one of the past papers, and get a friend to do the same but with a different question. Then you both use the generic mark scheme (and maybe a text book) and mark each others answers - critically.

This should help you get into the mind of the examiner (which is kinda hard) and also to learn from your friend's answer - and vice versa! I personally think it's a brilliant idea. I'm happy to swap answers with anybody online if they want!

Reply 15

sheena18

OP

6

good idea sparoline, i'll get one done soon and send it over... :smile:

Reply 16

thezoob

my teacher has a funny feeling it could be on the use of ions in biology

Reply 17

tiger_vio

11

thezoob

my teacher has a funny feeling it could be on the use of ions in biology

What the heck would you write for that? :s-smilie:

Actually i can think of some things.... ill list them for my own revison purposes :p:

- Cystic fibrosis
- Resting & action potential
- H+ ions in photosynthesis & respiration
- H+ ions and denaturing of enzymes
- Properties of water..? :s-smilie:

- Plasma membranes.. carrier proteins & channel proteins allowing ions through?
- Oxygen transport/haemoglobin and the hydrogen ions stimulating oxyhaemglobin to unload oxygen
- Transport of ions through a plant- we know mineral ions travel up because of experiments using radioactive tracers, using radioactive forms of ions.
- Na- + Cl- ions involved in the loop of henle

Can anyone think of anything else? Im not a chemist so I find it hard to actually identify what ions are in terms of biology :confused:

Reply 18

person 34

9

thezoob

my teacher has a funny feeling it could be on the use of ions in biology

Why does she think that?

Reply 19

Wenzel

tiger_vio

What the heck would you write for that? :s-smilie:

Actually i can think of some things.... ill list them for my own revison purposes :p:

- Cystic fibrosis
- Resting & action potential
- H+ ions in photosynthesis & respiration
- H+ ions and denaturing of enzymes
- Properties of water..? :s-smilie:

- Plasma membranes.. carrier proteins & channel proteins allowing ions through?
- Oxygen transport/haemoglobin and the hydrogen ions stimulating oxyhaemglobin to unload oxygen
- Transport of ions through a plant- we know mineral ions travel up because of experiments using radioactive tracers, using radioactive forms of ions.
- Na- + Cl- ions involved in the loop of henle

Can anyone think of anything else? Im not a chemist so I find it hard to actually identify what ions are in terms of biology :confused:

For spec A:

Ca2+ ions in the synapse
Cl- ions in the synapse (it's inhibitory)

I don't know if they're on the Biology Spec B syllabus though. And isn't there some ions involved in blood clotting? Not sure about that, but I think I remember some ion being involved. Hm, think I'll go look that up. Ions could be an awesome thing to be asked though.

AQA Biology Synoptic essay!!!

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