Eighty marks in 20 to 25 items. The marks follow the command word: identify names a point, describe gives its features, explain adds cause and effect, and assess or evaluate ends with a judgement.
Marks
80, in 20 to 25 items
Longest items
At least two worth 7 to 9 marks
Often on
An experiment, a table or graph, a cross or a case
Calculator
NESA-approved
Write to the marks
One clear point per mark for identify, outline and describe.
For explain, give the point, tie it to the organism or data in the question, then say what it causes.
For assess and evaluate, weigh a strength and a limitation, then give a judgement and its reason.
Use the stimulus
Quote the numbers, the organism or the result in the question. An answer that could be written without reading the stimulus is rarely a full-marks answer.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
Some mRNA codons and the amino acids they code
Codon
GGC
GAC
CCG
CUG
GUC
Amino acid
glycine
aspartic acid
proline
leucine
valine
In a hypothetical population of the Australian sheep blowfly, a point mutation in a cell that forms eggs changes one triplet on the template strand of the gene for an esterase enzyme from CCG to CTG. Flies with the changed enzyme can break down an insecticide that sheep farmers spray. Using the codon table, which statement best describes the effect on the enzyme and on the population's gene pool if farmers keep spraying?
Question 2
Mean body mass of adult brushtail possums in three regions (survey data)
Region
Mean body mass (kg)
Far north Queensland
1.9
Central New South Wales
2.6
Tasmania
3.4
In a survey of adult common brushtail possums, mean body mass was larger in cooler places (see the table). Which explanation of this pattern is best supported by biology?