Hi, My Biology exam is in a few weeks, What is the best way to study smart and efficiently so that I maximise my study score but spend the minimum time on biology?
Hey,
As C14 said, practice exams are probably best. Make sure your keep track of where you're losing marks though, so have a sheet and record what section of the study design the question was on or something like that. If you're doing very well in U3 AOS 1 but very badly in U3 AOS 2 (for example) then you know to do more revision on AOS 2 and not waste more time on things you already know well.
I've got a few more questions.
1) Can rationally designed drugs be detected as foreign and treated as antigens by the immune system?
2) For the context of VCE biology, can antisense mRNA being used as a silencer be used as a form of 'rationally designed drug' or does that fall under a different category?
3) Are there any good resources that focus solely on experimental design terminology that I should look in to, or should I just stick to practice exams at this stage?
1. I'd imagine not. I mean, it's possible but they're very small molecules and they're not cells/don't produce proteins like bacteria/viruses. (Definitely not for VCE)
2. For VCE, no. A rationally designed drug is one made specifically to fit into a molecular shape, for VCE you just need to know about enzyme inhibitors.
Spoiler
the concept of rational drug design in terms of the complementary nature (shape and charge) of small molecules
that are designed to bind tightly to target biomolecules (limited to enzymes) resulting in the enzyme’s inhibition
and giving rise to a consequential therapeutic benefit, illustrated by the Australian development of the antiviral
drug Relenza as a neuraminidase inhibitor
3. Potentially have a look at psychology resources - Experimental design has been in the psychology curriculum for ages. I'd be wary about just doing practice exams - I don't know about new ones this year but a lot of last year's commercial exams didn't really have that much experiment design in them.
Hi!
If a question were to ask us to describe a relative dating technique, do we describe stratigraphy or the use of index fossils?
For example, in question 7a of the 2007 Biology Exam 2 (https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/exams/biology/biology2_assessrep_07.pdf), a mark was given for describing stratigraphy but I described index fossils.
However, in question 6iii of the 2010 Biology Exam 2 (https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/exams/biology/BiolEx2_AssRep03.pdf), a mark was given for either describing stratigraphy or index fossils.
Thanks!
Unless there's extra information/something in another part of the question excluding that answer then yeah you should be fine with either. VCAA answers don't include all the possible options. If it was a common incorrect answer they probably would have said so though, meaning it was probably marked correct.
What is the purpose of DNA having a 3' and 5' end? I came across this question and apparently its worth 2 marks but I only got mark Also, what are the differences in transduction for hydrophillic and hydrophobic signalling molecules !!!! Thankyou!!
What do you mean by purpose? That's a bit of a weird way to word the question. It would probably want something like
-DNA is anti parallel
-DNA is read 5' to 3'
It's a bit weird that it asks for the 'purpose' though, rather than just asking what it means.
Hydrophilic signalling molecules cannot pass through the plasma membrane so they bind to a membrane bound receptor, which causes internal changes that leads to a second messenger molecule inside the cell (there are some pretty cool videos of this on youtube which might help if that’s confusing). Hydrophobic signalling molecules can pass through the plasms membrane, so they enter the cell and bind to an intracellular receptor in the cytosol.
Anyway I've got a few more questions -
1) What do lysozymes break down in particular? Is this relevant for VCE biology or should I just know that they are first-line barriers against antigens?
2) Are there any differences between classical Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism aside from the integration of modern genetics?
1. They break down bacterial cell walls but you don't need to know that for VCE
2. Nah, that's really the only difference. It's just been updated with current knowledge. Don't need to know about it for VCE though.