How to answer Regents Biology constructed-response questions
About 40% of the questions ask you to write your own answer. Each is worth 1 credit: answer exactly what is asked, and use the cluster's data or organism to show it.
Share of the test
About 40% of the questions
Credit
1 per question
Often on
A passage, a data table, a graph or a model
Here
Written answers read against the creditable answers, with your next step
Write to the question
Find the task word first: identify, describe, explain, predict, use data to support a claim.
Answer in one or two sentences, and name the organism, the variable or the number you used.
When a question asks for evidence, quote the value from the table or graph, with its unit.
Use the cluster
Each question builds on the cluster's storyline. An answer that ignores the passage or the data is rarely the one that earns the credit.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
Bean seedlings after three weeks
Soil water level
Mean root length (cm)
Mean shoot height (cm)
dry
18
9
medium
12
14
wet
8
15
A student grew bean seedlings for three weeks in soil kept at three water levels, with all other conditions the same (an invented data set). Which conclusion is best supported by the table?
Question 2
Salinity and plant cover in a coastal marsh
Year
Salinity (parts per thousand)
Cattail cover (%)
Cordgrass cover (%)
1
0.5
70
0
4
2
55
10
7
6
25
40
10
11
5
62
13
15
2
72
As sea level rose along a coastal river, biologists measured the salinity of the water in a marsh and the percent of the marsh covered by two plants (table). Cattails grow only in fresh or slightly salty water; cordgrass tolerates salt water. Which claim do these data best support?