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March 28, 2024, 10:50:48 pm

Author Topic: VCE Biology Question Thread  (Read 3570446 times)  Share 

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K.Niva

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11925 on: September 16, 2019, 08:21:22 pm »
0
Hey everyone,

With mass extinctions, do we need to know specific examples of extinction events? What does the study design mean about "patterns of biological change over geological time including... mass extinctions." Is it okay to just know what a mass extinction is (definition)?

Also, do we need to know what adaptive radiation is (I found that some resources mention it)?

Thank you 😊
« Last Edit: September 16, 2019, 08:27:22 pm by K.Niva »
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Erutepa

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11926 on: September 16, 2019, 09:15:20 pm »
+5
Hey everyone,

With mass extinctions, do we need to know specific examples of extinction events? What does the study design mean about "patterns of biological change over geological time including... mass extinctions." Is it okay to just know what a mass extinction is (definition)?

Also, do we need to know what adaptive radiation is (I found that some resources mention it)?

Thank you 😊
I think just knowing what a mass extinction is and the characteristic changes in genetic diversity that accompany it are sufficient (i.e. the large-scale divergent evolution (adaptive radiation) to fill now available niches). I don't think specific examples are necessary, but having a rough idea of some past mass extinctions may help you consolidate and contextualise what they are.

Adaptive radiation is an example of divergent evolution but I don't think you'll need to be able to label and example as adaptive radiation at a VCE level (just divergent evolution should suffice). I am not 100% sure though and It probably won't hurt to just know.
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K.Niva

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11927 on: September 16, 2019, 09:36:01 pm »
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I think just knowing what a mass extinction is and the characteristic changes in genetic diversity that accompany it are sufficient (i.e. the large-scale divergent evolution (adaptive radiation) to fill now available niches). I don't think specific examples are necessary, but having a rough idea of some past mass extinctions may help you consolidate and contextualise what they are.

Adaptive radiation is an example of divergent evolution but I don't think you'll need to be able to label and example as adaptive radiation at a VCE level (just divergent evolution should suffice). I am not 100% sure though and It probably won't hurt to just know.

Thank you so much! Also wondering, to what extent do we need to know about radiometric dating? For example, is it enough to know that the radioactive isotope of Carbon-14 decays to nitrogen-14, has a half-life of 5730 years and can date things up to ages of 50,000 to 60,000 years?
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Erutepa

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11928 on: September 16, 2019, 09:53:00 pm »
+5
Thank you so much! Also wondering, to what extent do we need to know about radiometric dating? For example, is it enough to know that the radioactive isotope of Carbon-14 decays to nitrogen-14, has a half-life of 5730 years and can date things up to ages of 50,000 to 60,000 years?
For radiometric dating, you should know that carbon-14 dating uses the proportion of carbon-14 remaining in a sample to determine the age of the sample since carbon-14 decays to nitrogen-14 with a half-life of 5730 years (i think saying approximately 6000 years is fine though). Due to its half life it can only really date things reliably up to ages of 60,000 years and it can only date organic materials (things that possess sufficient carbon quantities).
You should also know a longer range dating technique such as potassium-40 dating whereby the proportion of potassium-40 is used to determine the age of a sample as potassium-40 decays into argon-40 with a half-life of 1.25 billion years. Potassium-40 dating can date much older sample when carbon-14 can't and can also date inorganic samples wheras carbon-14 can't.

Also, note that another absolute dating technique aside from radiometric dating is electron spin resonance.
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LAH0001

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11929 on: September 18, 2019, 07:57:06 pm »
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I'm starting Biology 1&2 next year in year 10. Does anyone have any advice that I can use to do well, and how can I prepare myself for units 3 & 4? Thanks.

Erutepa

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11930 on: September 18, 2019, 09:19:21 pm »
+3
I'm starting Biology 1&2 next year in year 10. Does anyone have any advice that I can use to do well, and how can I prepare myself for units 3 & 4? Thanks.
The most important thing, in my opinion, is to try and enjoy the subject. Try to really foster a love for bio because being passionate about a subject pays off in the long run.
But if you want to be proactive, you can try to read ahead on some content in 3/4 (there's really no need to push yourself too hard though - you'll have plenty of time to master 3/4 bio when you actually get around to it). In particular, you may want to read up on immunology and the immune system as thats where I hear most people struggle and get confused.
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pugs

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11931 on: September 22, 2019, 09:40:24 pm »
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hi,

just wondering, why do prokaryotes lack exons and introns?

thanks! :)


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PhoenixxFire

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11932 on: September 22, 2019, 10:36:51 pm »
+2
hi,

just wondering, why do prokaryotes lack exons and introns?

thanks! :)
Prokaryotes can't do any post transcription modifications (including splicing of exons and introns) because they don't have a nucleus - if they can't cut any bits out, then they can't have bits that are meant to be cut out. There's no barrier between where transcription and translation occur - an mRNA strand can be being translated by ribosomes whilst it's still being transcribed!
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Evolio

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11933 on: September 23, 2019, 08:05:42 am »
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Hi guys!
I just finished marking the 2018 Biology VCAA exam I did and I had a few questions regarding my own answers.

2.c (2 marks)
In some human diseases, malfunctions in programmed cell death result in the death of too many cells.
Explain at a cellular level what may have gone wrong to bring about this excessive cell death.
What I wrote:
There may be an excessive amount of signalling molecules such as death ligands initiating programmed cell death. A certain gene may be expressed at a higher intensity causing the production of a lot of signalling proteins.
Is what I wrote sufficient? I'm not sure if I should add anything else.

3.a (2 marks)
Describe two chemical barriers that could be present in a plant that is protecting itself from an invading pathogen.
What I wrote:
Chemicals containing antibiotics that target bacteria.
Releases toxins that destroy the pathogen and prevent them from reproducing.
I was wondering whether 'destroying the pathogen' would be too specific and too exact, if  you know what I mean? Are these two points valid? What else could I add to my answer?

I just wanted some feedback on my answers as I'm not sure if they are correct and yes I did check the examiner's report.
Thanks in advance, guys!

Erutepa

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11934 on: September 23, 2019, 08:20:34 am »
+3
Hi guys!
I just finished marking the 2018 Biology VCAA exam I did and I had a few questions regarding my own answers.

2.c (2 marks)
In some human diseases, malfunctions in programmed cell death result in the death of too many cells.
Explain at a cellular level what may have gone wrong to bring about this excessive cell death.
What I wrote:
There may be an excessive amount of signalling molecules such as death ligands initiating programmed cell death. A certain gene may be expressed at a higher intensity causing the production of a lot of signalling proteins.
Is what I wrote sufficient? I'm not sure if I should add anything else.
As stated in the examiner's report, the question required you to not only state what could have happened, but how that thing would have caused this excessive cell death. You have correctly stated the greater production of death ligands, but you need to give a bit further detail about how this would have caused excessive cell death.
As such, I think it would get 1 mark.
Quote
3.a (2 marks)
Describe two chemical barriers that could be present in a plant that is protecting itself from an invading pathogen.
What I wrote:
Chemicals containing antibiotics that target bacteria.
Releases toxins that destroy the pathogen and prevent them from reproducing.
I was wondering whether 'destroying the pathogen' would be too specific and too exact, if  you know what I mean? Are these two points valid? What else could I add to my answer?

I just wanted some feedback on my answers as I'm not sure if they are correct and yes I did check the examiner's report.
Thanks in advance, guys!
This last one seems pretty good. however, instead of saying antibiotics that 'target' the bacteria, it might be more correct if you say antibiotics that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria.
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ssillyssnakes

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11935 on: September 23, 2019, 01:21:25 pm »
+1
Does anyone have some tips on avoiding writing too much whilst still writing enough to get the marks? I always end up writing an essay which makes my responses less clear than I'd like
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Matthew_Whelan

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11936 on: September 23, 2019, 01:47:13 pm »
+1
Does anyone have some tips on avoiding writing too much whilst still writing enough to get the marks? I always end up writing an essay which makes my responses less clear than I'd like
Try reading VCAA examination reports from previous years. They will say what they want from questions and how they want it. Otherwise try removing unnecessary information from your responses.
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darkz

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11937 on: September 23, 2019, 04:37:44 pm »
+2
Does anyone have some tips on avoiding writing too much whilst still writing enough to get the marks? I always end up writing an essay which makes my responses less clear than I'd like

In my opinion, at the end of the day, just make sure that you answer the question. Use the number of lines given as a good indicator of how much you should write, albeit, I probably wrote much more in long immunity/evolution questions than necessary. For some questions, you might also try using dot-points which can help give some structure to your answers.
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alexthenerd

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11938 on: September 24, 2019, 12:08:24 pm »
0
hey guys,
this is not really a content based question but around how many marks can you afford to drop in the exam to still get an A+?
i know that this varies year to year and it's kinda hard to answer but i am currently doing practice exams and i have no idea whether my marks are on track for the score that i want to be getting. i'm really aiming for a 45+ so and A+ is kinda necessary on the exam :(
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darkz

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Re: VCE Biology Question Thread
« Reply #11939 on: September 24, 2019, 12:09:58 pm »
+2
hey guys,
this is not really a content based question but around how many marks can you afford to drop in the exam to still get an A+?
i know that this varies year to year and it's kinda hard to answer but i am currently doing practice exams and i have no idea whether my marks are on track for the score that i want to be getting. i'm really aiming for a 45+ so and A+ is kinda necessary on the exam :(

According to the 2018 grading distribution, you could drop 24 marks to get an A+
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