Biology Higher level

mayordenis

any pointers cause im not sure what to study??

PrecariousNuts

genetics, digestion, excretion, biochemistry, reproduction and experiments

Kold

Where exactly did you gain these pointers?

PrecariousNuts

6 biggest chapters in the book and have been on every sample paper so it sounds about right

ps ecology

nesthead

everything!! anything could come up.

two things that definatley will tho are food and ecology. it'd be a help to know all the exeriments in those two topics too!

Kold

What exactly would they ask about experiments?

conZ

Procedures (what do you do before cutting cow's head off?)
Apparatus used (What chemical was used and what effect did it have?)

That sort of sith.

nesthead

What exactly would they ask about experiments?

ehh section B?? the section of short questions devoted entirely to experiments. (its also here that one of the questions will undoubtably be ecology or food.)

also one or two of the long questions may have "describe an experiment to show [blah blah]"

CuLT

Originally posted by Kold
What exactly would they ask about experiments?

Hehe did you even look at the sample papers this year Kold?

Kold

No.

DEmeant0r

Does anyone know if there was any other experiment to demonstrate osmosis? My class did not do the Visking Tube, we did another one, but I totally forgot any details on it. It's frustrating.

DEmeant0r

Anyone?

mayordenis

there is only the one as far as the course is concrned

conZ

Does the second experiment involve potatoes or some ****?

HarryD

Originally posted by conZ
Procedures (what do you do before cutting cow's head off?)

Kill it ?





Sorry I couldn't resist

DEmeant0r

Originally posted by conZ
Does the second experiment involve potatoes or some ****?

exactly!!!! wat's it called and do u have any info on it?

Cathy

We read about it, but we didn't do it. It's something to do with cutting two equal-sized cubes out of the same potato (so that they're of the same density, weight etc), rinsing them, drying them, weighing them, putting one in a solution and just leaving another out, leave them for a few hours and then take them out and weigh them again. The one in the solution will have gone up in weight, thus proving osmotic activity has taken place blah blah blah.


PS: That was made up. Don't count on it, but I think it's okay.

uary

Cut out a scoop in 2 potatoes,
put them in water
put sugar or salt in cavity of one
levae other one alone
water comes into cavity of one with salt or sugar
no water in other.

conZ

Just studied that Potatoe demonstration of Osmosis in study, so it's fresh in my,.. what the **** is that called.. thing in your head. Goes beep,... Ahh! fresh in my mind.

Do demonstrate Osmosis:

Get two spuds (I think I might actually use spuds in the exam if it comes up) - two spuds of any/different size.

Weigh them both.

Set up two beakers - one with 5% salt solution, and the other with distilled water.

Label them, or whatever.

Leave both for 20 minutes. Come back, and measure each spud after taking them out of the water.

Results:
Spud 1 : Salt solution : Weight 7.5g -> 7.5g
Spud 2 : Water : Weight 9.0g -> 10.5 g

You get the general idea. Draw a little picture, to waste time and look good.

AngelofFire

Photosynthesis hasn`t come up for the last 2 years

conZ

I'm sure ye're all aware that this is the first year of the new Biology Syllabus. Therefore, with the Education departments retardedness and following on from trends set in recent years, there will most likely be a few mistakes in the paper (that frog question that came up a few years back, that also appeared sometime during the 70's).

Well, the Biology question-setters are infamous for their papers.

I was told about that question by my Maths grind teacher, and he said that everyone who attempted the question got full marks.

So what deems an attempt at the question? --Writing the question number at the top of the page, or writing a sentance or two.
I know in maths an attempt is deemed an attempt when you get the first line correct.

I'm pushing on 8/1 with a dodgy question this year.

Cathy

I haven't studied. So I'm pretty much relying on every question being messed up, resulting in me getting full marks for my pathetic attempts at them, and being given an A1. That's the plan, at least.

conZ

I didn't do a bean for the mocks. Not a sausage, and I managed to get 40% on the button by taking pot-shots at a few parts of each question. It was pathetic, but I passed - so with any bit of effort and knowledge of experiments, you could go far.

Hopefully though, my experience will be somewhat different tomorrow evening.

DEmeant0r

I've only done the human biology, no plants for me. Gonna cram some Ecology and Experiments in after my Business exam... hopefully I'll have enough time.

Cathy

Originally posted by conZ
I didn't do a bean for the mocks. Not a sausage, and I managed to get 40% on the button by taking pot-shots at a few parts of each question. It was pathetic, but I passed - so with any bit of effort and knowledge of experiments, you could go far.

Hopefully though, my experience will be somewhat different tomorrow evening.

I don't know. My Biology's gone to hell, really, since the mocks. In the mock, I got 82%, but I don't remember a thing. I did way more work for the mocks than for the actual Leaving Cert...

DEmeant0r

Originally posted by Cathy
I don't know. My Biology's gone to hell, really, since the mocks. In the mock, I got 82%, but I don't remember a thing. I did way more work for the mocks than for the actual Leaving Cert...

Me too, I've actually only started to revise about half a week ago

Cathy

Try this on for size: I haven't looked at a Biology book since school ended. And that's including this evening. I really have to go and study... good luck tomorrow, everyone! If you're as bad as me, you'll need it...

DEmeant0r

Thanks, you too, I'll need luck for Business haven't studied that since school finished, ugh!

PrecariousNuts

T minus 2 hours

Agent Smith

hmmm.....
looks like nobody left early so far....



(i dont do biology....)

DEmeant0r

****ing hell, That was a **** hard paper. What the hell was with that DNA diagram? For the first exam of the new syllabus you'd expect it to be easy.

I think I just barely passed if even. :mad:

subway_ie

Originally posted by Demeant0r
****ing hell, That was a **** hard paper. What the hell was with that DNA diagram? For the first exam of the new syllabus you'd expect it to be easy.

I think I just barely passed if even. :mad:

A lot of people from my school were saying it was a really easy paper? Maybe it's just your question choices?

DEmeant0r

Nope, I could do some of them, but the questions were worded really awkwardly.

mayordenis

the DNA question was phrased very weird couldnt really make sense of it.

DEmeant0r

I also studied the wrong experiments, that's my fault, but I most of what other things I revised came up, but the questions were fuking hard and weirdly phrased. If I passed I'd be really happy and lucky.

Cathy

That was a horrible horrible paper. They were all worded really really weirdly, but I think I did okay... Possibly a B, if I'm lucky. And what was the diagram in the second last question in section C about? It was weird.

PrecariousNuts

I thought it was very easy. I managed to answer every short question, experiment and long question. I knew genetics was a definite, same with photosynthesis and excretion so it was a matter of just writing out the answer.

I can't see the problem with the first part of genetics, all you had to do was label the sugar and phosphate group and draw in the complementary base and helix.

Second last question, wasn't that a diagram of the carpel with a pollen tube? I skipped that part and did b and c, much easier

c0rk3r

i found it easy but hard at some parts

what was the answer to 2 part (i) something liek "what do ecologist call it when the same species have different traits such as height" i wrote phenotype but wasnt sure


found the long questions kinda hard compared to the sameple papers and the mocks but managed to answer them well

PrecariousNuts

Only dodgy question was Q15a part b/c I didn't know if they meant drugs as is cocaine or drugs as in levadopa... so I did both

DEmeant0r

Originally posted by c0rk3r
i found it easy but hard at some parts

what was the answer to 2 part (i) something liek "what do ecologist call it when the same species have different traits such as height" i wrote phenotype but wasnt sure


found the long questions kinda hard compared to the sameple papers and the mocks but managed to answer them well

I said characteristics

PrecariousNuts

Originally posted by c0rk3r
i found it easy but hard at some parts

what was the answer to 2 part (i) something liek "what do ecologist call it when the same species have different traits such as height" i wrote phenotype but wasnt sure


found the long questions kinda hard compared to the sameple papers and the mocks but managed to answer them well

I said deviation from normal, sure it was a bell curve that they gave us and I don't remember it from the book. Ecology is a whole pile of waffle anyway, you should have seen my answers for the lemming question

CuTeAnGeL

i thought it was an alright paper, dont see wat all the fuss was about! it wasnt the nicest but it wasnt the worst of them either! everythin i studied came up...n believe me, that wasn't a lot, im so lucky! every1 in my year thought it was deadly, even harder than our mock but i thought it was easier! lol wat did ye all think of it?

DEmeant0r

Originally posted by PrecariousNuts
I said deviation from normal, sure it was a bell curve that they gave us and I don't remember it from the book. Ecology is a whole pile of waffle anyway, you should have seen my answers for the lemming question

I said the reasons they come back every few years was because the foxes all died and because of hunting

Cathy

Originally posted by PrecariousNuts
I thought it was very easy. I managed to answer every short question, experiment and long question. I knew genetics was a definite, same with photosynthesis and excretion so it was a matter of just writing out the answer.

I can't see the problem with the first part of genetics, all you had to do was label the sugar and phosphate group and draw in the complementary base and helix.

Second last question, wasn't that a diagram of the carpel with a pollen tube? I skipped that part and did b and c, much easier

Looking back on it, I suppose I didn't do too badly - but I just felt horrible coming out. The short questions were okay, but the experiments were a bit iffy. I hadn't really prepared them, I suppose. I was really tired and stressed this morning so I just left the details of photosynthesis and respiration out as I've never really liked them. In Section A, I did questions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, in Section B I did questions 7 and 8, (I had to make up half of 7 though, as I hadn't even looked over it), and in section C I did questions 10, 12, 13 and 15. The paper's already up on www.examinations.ie if anyone's bothered to have a look... and I've just realised that I could have done parts b and c of question 14 much better than I did 15... oh well, it's over. I'm just going to forget about it until August.
c0rk3r, I wrote variation, but I'm not sure. Precariousnuts, I'm sure either would have been fine. I would have done levodopa though.
I'm not sure if I wrote enough for question 13 b - for 24 marks, I only had about two or three points each for mRNA and tRNA. I wrote in rRNA but then I crossed it out because I didn't think it had anything to do with it... I'm going to bed. I never have to know Biology again!

PrecariousNuts

Yeah rRNA - binds weakly to the mRNA is all I could come up with. I got a decent amount of points for mRNA and tRNA. I was very disappointed with regards to the lack of cross questions in genetics. The part c was stupid, it was like a reading comprehension.

The experiments were crap. I had problems writing the dissection of the heart onto what? 6 lines?. The stem one was average and same with the fermentation one. I would have prefered immobilised enzymes or leaf yeast, but I think my long questions made up for it.

Anyway, I'll never have to do bio again and its reward enough.

Cathy

Originally posted by PrecariousNuts
had problems writing the dissection of the heart onto what? 6 lines?

Actually yeah, there wasn't enough room for most of my answers in Sections A and B. It was really awkward fitting it in, and I wasn't writing very big...ly. Is that a word? No it's not. But I don't care.

PrecariousNuts

English is well finished by now, bigly can be a word if you want it to be, anything goes.

Cathy

Originally posted by PrecariousNuts
English is well finished by now, bigly can be a word if you want it to be, anything goes.

Excemuhllent!

DEmeant0r

I was bagging on DNA experiment to come up so was my teacher, but once again the state commission screwed me in the ass. Wish I had revised the alcohol production experiment.

PrecariousNuts

You can still get an A (85% bang on) if you skip both of the experiments

5*20 for part A
2*30 for part B
4*60 for part C

340/400 = .85

Cathy

Excemuhllent once more... maybe I did better than I thought. Because they can't mark it that hard, can they?