• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

General Thoughts - Biology (1 Viewer)

gracie-x

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
6
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
i put sieve plate and companion cells too haha!!
thank god. that was an awesome exam multi choice was easy i thought
that blood question was just stupid lol? and genetics option was good except
the butterflies question which was a bit weird but nonetheless im quite happy :D
 

midifile

Na Na Na Na Naa
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,143
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Re: how did you go?

cccclaire said:
no thats correct about the nitrogenous waste I think. It's just not really a major point, but it isn't incorrect.
It depends on the marking criteria.

If it was Ms Leibman marking, she wouldnt accept that because nitrogenous wastes are made in the liver where amino acids are deaminated.

I wrote that nitrogenous waste concentration increased in one of the past papers I did for her and it came back with a big cross and "NO" written next to it.

But then again, no one else marks as hard as her so who knows
 

frogbutt

Ugliest Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
61
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
i thought it was sieve plate and epidermis. WHAT DID OTHERS PUT!

they were just plain long cells in a layer next to the phloem weren't they?


what was with 'communication' option?! WEIRD. the insect knees. haha.
 

...loz...

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
2
Location
NEGS
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
HGP on Human Story option was a bit of a bitch
but otherwise it seemed ok!!
 

Daline

New Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
8
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Lordie said:
Oh, the changing chemical structure of the blood question. What substances are removed from the brain? I said the oxygen level is less after passing through the brain, however what is removed, ie, what does the blood's chemical form change to whilst going through the brain?
i put blood loses o2, gains co2, and hormones from pituritary gland
 

vs2328

New Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
16
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
LOL for the small intestine i said the blood absorbs glucose and the nutrients from the digested food !!! and as the blood goes through the brain the level of oxygen decreases ..

IS THAT WRONGGG ????? LOL

and with the phloem theory -- did you's write about translocation, pressure flow mechanism and the sugar moving from source to sink??????

and with the accuracy of the blood sketches ....
i only mentioned the fact that wbc are twice as large as the rbc however the diagram shows the rbc was larger. i knew the scale wasnt write but i didnt know how to explain it without contradicting myself (which will kill you)
so what do u reckon my mark will be for only mentioning that one thing ?????
 

dolbinau

Active Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,334
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
frogbutt said:
i thought it was sieve plate and epidermis. WHAT DID OTHERS PUT!

they were just plain long cells in a layer next to the phloem weren't they?


what was with 'communication' option?! WEIRD. the insect knees. haha.
I put sieve plate and companion cell

It depends on the marking criteria.

If it was Ms Leibman marking, she wouldnt accept that because nitrogenous wastes are made in the liver where amino acids are deaminated.

I wrote that nitrogenous waste concentration increased in one of the past papers I did for her and it came back with a big cross and "NO" written next to it.

But then again, no one else marks as hard as her so who knows
Yeah, this is what I was afraid of.
 

Daline

New Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
8
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
vs2328 said:
LOL for the small intestine i said the blood absorbs glucose and the nutrients from the digested food !!! and as the blood goes through the brain the level of oxygen decreases ..

IS THAT WRONGGG ????? LOL

and with the phloem theory -- did you's write about translocation, pressure flow mechanism and the sugar moving from source to sink??????

and with the accuracy of the blood sketches ....
i only mentioned the fact that wbc are twice as large as the rbc however the diagram shows the rbc was larger. i knew the scale wasnt write but i didnt know how to explain it without contradicting myself (which will kill you)
so what do u reckon my mark will be for only mentioning that one thing ?????
i bases marks on 1 mark= 1 point, but if you explained well you could get more, plus was only a 3 mark question


Did anyone do Genetics option, if so what did you do for d) draw and label a diagram of a method used to produce recombinant DNA? i did crossing over in meiosis cause could not think of a thing....
 

midifile

Na Na Na Na Naa
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,143
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
vs2328 said:
LOL for the small intestine i said the blood absorbs glucose and the nutrients from the digested food !!! and as the blood goes through the brain the level of oxygen decreases ..

IS THAT WRONGGG ????? LOL
No thats right

vs2328 said:
and with the phloem theory -- did you's write about translocation, pressure flow mechanism and the sugar moving from source to sink??????
Yes

vs2328 said:
and with the accuracy of the blood sketches ....
i only mentioned the fact that wbc are twice as large as the rbc however the diagram shows the rbc was larger. i knew the scale wasnt write but i didnt know how to explain it without contradicting myself (which will kill you)
so what do u reckon my mark will be for only mentioning that one thing ?????
I dunno. At least 1 maybe 2 if youre lucky.

But the scale was a big thing I think they expected you to mention

dolbinau said:
Yeah, this is what I was afraid of.
Even so, you'd probably only lose one mark.

And I dont know what the BOS is like with marking. My teacher was crazy in terms of marking, and pretty much anything you handed into her would come back covered in red pen saying it was wrong, I'm assuming the BOS is more forgiving, and you had the right idea
 
Last edited:

henry08

Active Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
Messages
1,174
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Which practicing australian scientist did you write about?
 

cccclaire

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
660
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
dolbinau said:
Yeah, this is what I was afraid of.

Don't worry, we have like the most ridiculously hard marker for biology at our school. I got a high distinction in the biology olympiad but have never scored more than 70% in one of her tests.


I think the answer's ok though because it pick up amino acids and stuff which then turn into nitrogenous waste. Also, I doubt the markers will know that much about nitrogenous waste anyway. i think the main things they're looking for are O2/CO2 and glucose concentration.
 

midifile

Na Na Na Na Naa
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
1,143
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Daline said:
i bases marks on 1 mark= 1 point, but if you explained well you could get more, plus was only a 3 mark question


Did anyone do Genetics option, if so what did you do for d) draw and label a diagram of a method used to produce recombinant DNA? i did crossing over in meiosis cause could not think of a thing....
I showed like a some DNA with stickyends (unpaired bases) and a plasmid with sticky ends, and then drew arrows and showed them together with the unpaired bases joining. With a few descriptions of what was happening
 

frogbutt

Ugliest Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
61
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
cccclaire said:
Don't worry, we have like the most ridiculously hard marker for biology at our school. I got a high distinction in the biology olympiad but have never scored more than 70% in one of her tests.


I think the answer's ok though because it pick up amino acids and stuff which then turn into nitrogenous waste. Also, I doubt the markers will know that much about nitrogenous waste anyway. i think the main things they're looking for are O2/CO2 and glucose concentration.
oh of course. the markers wont know ANYTHING about biology. we're all fine.
 

cccclaire

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
660
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
frogbutt said:
oh of course. the markers wont know ANYTHING about biology. we're all fine.

Well i don't know, the lady I spoke to on the hsc advice line seemed to know nothing about biology, and they're supposed to be smarter than the markers.
 

Daline

New Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
8
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
midifile said:
I showed like a some DNA with stickyends (unpaired bases) and a plasmid with sticky ends, and then drew arrows and showed them together with the unpaired bases joining. With a few descriptions of what was happening
ah. okey, yeh that makes a tonne more sense than mine did, too bad i didnt think of it lol
 

cccclaire

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
660
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
midifile said:
I showed like a some DNA with stickyends (unpaired bases) and a plasmid with sticky ends, and then drew arrows and showed them together with the unpaired bases joining. With a few descriptions of what was happening
My diagram was so prettyful.

And I did like 4 diagrams and labelled them like 1-4. I'm pretty sure you're allowed to do that, because it seemed a bit difficult to do it all in one diagram.


My restriction enzymes were pacman's though =]
 

youcantstopbeat

New Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
3
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
i thought it was a pretty good exam overall...
stupidly i only studied for a few hours before the exam *slams desk* but everything on there was the stuff i studied =)

some of the communication option stuff was a bit hard to study for but i think i did well =)
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top