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March 28, 2024, 11:38:27 pm

Author Topic: QCE Biology Questions Thread  (Read 13840 times)

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K.Smithy

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #15 on: January 22, 2021, 07:33:47 pm »
+5
-snip-

Hey Flower2021! :)

Firstly, congrats on those results! Such a great accomplishment :)
I would just like to start off by saying that most people (at least those from my school) experience a fairly substantial increase in grades between year 11 and 12. Personally, I found year 12 much easier than year 11 because I had already had a test run of all of the assessment. So I would say if chemistry is the science that you want to keep, try not to stress too much about trying to improve your grade because there is a good chance you will see some improvement just from having a greater familiarity with the types of assessment.
That being said, dropping a subject certainly can be helpful for improving grades as it does allow you to devote that time to other subjects. I don't have any first-hand experience with chemistry, but I do have a friend who did both bio and chem. There is a lot of content in both subjects, but from my friends experience chem is less intuitive than bio and requires more work. Whether you find a subject difficult really comes down to the person, so I would recommend keeping the subject that you enjoy the most (because chances are, if you enjoy it you are more likely to study if more effectively).
I, personally, wouldn't worry too much about scaling. There was a girl at my school who primarily studied subjects that typically don't scale as well (music, HPE, gen math, gen eng, SOR, & psych) and she got a 96+. So I wouldn't stress over how well your subjects scale, rather just put effort in and try your best :) You don't need to study your brain out all the time to get a high ATAR as well ahaha, just prepare well early on, ask questions, and take care of yourself.
If you were to go into a bachelor of science, what are you hoping to study in that? Because determining that could also help with answering this question. You can get into that degree with either bio, chem or physics, but if you were to major in chemistry I would recommend keeping chem and if you were to major in bio I would recommend keeping bio. If you were planning on going into advanced science, however, you would need to keep both. 

In summary, you need to do what you think is best for you. It is super important to take care of your mental wellbeing so if you are finding it too stressful to manage all of those subjects, then I would really talk to a staff member to see what you can do to relieve you of some of that pressure. Whether you drop bio or not comes down to your own preference really - do you enjoy it? is the workload more manageable than chem? what do you want to study in uni? Whatever decision you make try not to worry too much about scaling because, in the end, if you are aiming for a high ATAR scaling doesn't matter as much as how well you perform in your subjects.

Hope this helps! If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to give us a shout :)
Good luck for this year
- Katelyn
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
ATAR: 98.40
2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

Uni Journal ; U3 Bio ; U3 Psych ; U3 Physics

justsomerandom21

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2021, 04:43:00 pm »
0
Just a quick question, but since Bio is pretty content-heavy, am I supposed to memorise all the stuff my teachers give me or just the dot points on the syllabus. All the stuff that are on my teacher's slides are pretty lengthy and hard to memorise. I was just wondering what other people have done that is/have worked for them in the past. Thanks in advance. :)

Billuminati

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2021, 05:16:50 pm »
+2
Just a quick question, but since Bio is pretty content-heavy, am I supposed to memorise all the stuff my teachers give me or just the dot points on the syllabus. All the stuff that are on my teacher's slides are pretty lengthy and hard to memorise. I was just wondering what other people have done that is/have worked for them in the past. Thanks in advance. :)

I did VCE but I think it’s best to memorise everything unless told otherwise. Remember your teachers’ slides are their interpretation of the study design and hence represent what they think is important for you to know for the course. Which means it’s possible for anything on them to pop up on your SACs (basically assessment tasks that contribute to your final subject score if you don’t have those in QCE). You can also try determining if something is just there for context (ie as an example to help you better understand something), or if it’s something you absolutely have to know, when in doubt, never hesitate to ask because teachers are literally paid to answer everything you ask no matter how silly you think your questions are
« Last Edit: July 13, 2021, 05:19:55 pm by Billuminati »
VCE 2016-2018

2017: Biology [38], Further Maths [44]

2018: Methods [37], French [38], Chem [40], English [44]

UMAT: 56/43/80, 57th percentile (LLLLOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL)

ATAR: 98.1

2019-2021: Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Monash (Scholars), minoring in Chemistry

GAMSAT September 2021: 65/67/86, 76 overall (98th percentile)

2022: Chilling

2023+: Transfer to teaching degree

justsomerandom21

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2021, 05:24:28 pm »
0
I did VCE but I think it’s best to memorise everything unless told otherwise. Remember your teachers’ slides are their interpretation of the study design and hence represent what they think is important for you to know for the course. Which means it’s possible for anything on them to pop up on your SACs (basically assessment tasks that contribute to your final subject score if you don’t have those in QCE). You can also try determining if something is just there for context (ie as an example to help you better understand something), or if it’s something you absolutely have to know, when in doubt, never hesitate to ask because teachers are literally paid to answer everything you ask no matter how silly you think your questions are
Thanks so much for the advice :). So just know everything because everything might pop up on the external exam?

Billuminati

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2021, 06:01:12 pm »
+2
Thanks so much for the advice :). So just know everything because everything might pop up on the external exam?

For the external exam, I’d recommend going over past exams because those are the most representative of the actual exam style. Then spend more time studying the things that pop up the most often
VCE 2016-2018

2017: Biology [38], Further Maths [44]

2018: Methods [37], French [38], Chem [40], English [44]

UMAT: 56/43/80, 57th percentile (LLLLOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL)

ATAR: 98.1

2019-2021: Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Monash (Scholars), minoring in Chemistry

GAMSAT September 2021: 65/67/86, 76 overall (98th percentile)

2022: Chilling

2023+: Transfer to teaching degree

justsomerandom21

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #20 on: July 13, 2021, 06:43:07 pm »
0
For the external exam, I’d recommend going over past exams because those are the most representative of the actual exam style. Then spend more time studying the things that pop up the most often
Thanks heaps!

GreenNinja

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #21 on: October 20, 2021, 09:10:06 pm »
0
Hi I am doing a bio assignment on genetic modification of organisms.
I am currently in the process of writing our how GMO is done. ''

So, I understand that the new genes are put into new cells which divide and become a plant or animal. The offspring of the plant or animal will then be affected by the new gene.

What I don't understand, is if the new gene is added into the new cells before or after the sprem or egg meet for animals?
and
Is the plant and animal which has the new genes added affected?
and
How are new genes added to plants with sexual reproduction?

Thanks
« Last Edit: October 20, 2021, 09:39:53 pm by Tech1234 »

K.Smithy

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #22 on: October 25, 2021, 12:48:20 pm »
+4
Hi I am doing a bio assignment on genetic modification of organisms.
I am currently in the process of writing our how GMO is done. ''

So, I understand that the new genes are put into new cells which divide and become a plant or animal. The offspring of the plant or animal will then be affected by the new gene.

What I don't understand, is if the new gene is added into the new cells before or after the sprem or egg meet for animals?
and
Is the plant and animal which has the new genes added affected?
and
How are new genes added to plants with sexual reproduction?

Thanks

Hey Tech1234,
Admittedly, I don't know much about GMO because I never learnt about it in school. I did some googling and here is what I came up with:
- Originally, we would modify embryos by injecting the DNA into the embryo and then implanting that embryo into a female of that species (we would ensure that the DNA is in the embryonic stem cells so that it would be incorporated into the reproductive cells - allowing future offspring to exhibit the trait). Now, we are able to inject the DNA directly into the nuclear envelop of an organisms cells (so it gets to the nucleus) or we can use viral vectors.
- Typically, yes, the organism with the new gene is affected. This is because we are usually after an effect and expect that to be the case once the DNA is recombined. DNA is, after all, an instruction manual that helps an organism to function and so if it is changed then the organism won't function the same. This change will depend on what genes you change.
- For plants, we take their cells and inject the DNA into it. Then we let the cells form a tissue culture, where they eventually turn into a plant (which will ultimately have the desired gene). Then the seeds that this plant produces will inherit the gene.

I hope this helps!
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
ATAR: 98.40
2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

Uni Journal ; U3 Bio ; U3 Psych ; U3 Physics

sophieQ

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2022, 02:00:19 pm »
0
any ideas on a research question relating to either of these student experiments:

• Measure the wet biomass of producer samples.
• Measure the population of microorganisms in Petri dishes to observe carrying capacity

K.Smithy

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Re: QCE Biology Questions Thread
« Reply #24 on: March 08, 2022, 05:35:11 pm »
+2
any ideas on a research question relating to either of these student experiments:

• Measure the wet biomass of producer samples.
• Measure the population of microorganisms in Petri dishes to observe carrying capacity

Hi SophieQ!
Working on a research question can be quite tricky, but there are a few things to consider that can help the process of developing one.
It is important to consider the variables involves (independent and dependent), as well as how you will be measuring them (this should all be included in the question). So, it can be helpful (particularly for biology) to look at different biotic and abiotic factors that may influence the DV.
I feel as though the second experiment would potentially be easiest to develop a question for.

I hope this helps to guide you towards a research questions.
Please feel free to let me know how you go or to ask any questions that you come up with along the way! :)
~ Katelyn
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
ATAR: 98.40
2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

Uni Journal ; U3 Bio ; U3 Psych ; U3 Physics