How to answer WACE Biology short answer and extended answer questions

Short answer questions build in parts from a stimulus; extended answers reward linked points and clear diagrams. Follow the command word: describe gives features, explain adds cause and effect, and evaluate ends with a judgement.

Short answer	4 to 6 questions in parts that get harder, often on data or recent research
Extended answer	One Unit 3 and one Unit 4 question, each chosen from two
Calculations	Punnett squares, pedigree probabilities, allele frequencies, means and percentages

Write to the question

For a genetics problem, write the parents' genotypes, the gametes and the Punnett square before the ratio or probability.
For explain, give the point, tie it to the organism, disease or data in the question, then say what it causes.
For evaluate, weigh a benefit and a risk, then give a judgement and its reason.

Use the stimulus

Quote the numbers, the organisms 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

A three-generation pedigree, given as a table of individuals
Person	Generation	Sex	Parents	Affected
I1	I	male	not in this family	yes
I2	I	female	not in this family	no
II1	II	male	I2 (mother) and I1 (father)	yes
II2	II	female	I2 (mother) and I1 (father)	no
II3	II	female	I2 (mother) and I1 (father)	yes
II4	II	male	not in this family	yes
III1	III	female	II3 (mother) and II4 (father)	no
III2	III	male	II3 (mother) and II4 (father)	yes

The table describes three generations of a family with an inherited condition. Which mode of inheritance is the only one consistent with this pedigree, and what is the probability that the next child of II3 and II4 is affected?

Question 2

A survey in a coastal town recorded the mean number of mosquitoes caught per trap night and the number of Ross River virus cases notified in each month (graph). Which statement best explains why the peak in cases came after the peak in mosquitoes?

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Questions people ask

How long should an extended answer be?

Long enough to make each point, link it to the next and develop it. Plan a sequence of linked points, or a labelled diagram with notes, rather than a list.