Biology Practice Exam Discussion

[Biology24123]

Can anyone please share with me Unit 3 VCAA papers before 2002 as I can't seem to find them anywhere

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/biology/exams.aspx

[Bruzzix]

Can anyone please share with me Unit 3 VCAA papers before 2002 as I can't seem to find them anywhere

I've attached 2000 and 2001 in this post.

EDIT: removed copyrighted material. It's not freely available from VCAA, therefore sharing it is to infringe copyright. Last time I'm saying this, please don't share copyrighted material on the thread. If you get caught by one of the NatMods, they will ban you guys!

[THEBEAST]

I've attached 2000 and 2001 in this post.

Thank you so much!!!

[Sine]

Is biology your only 3/4 this year? How often are you doing practice exams?

Yup it's my only 3/4 how many are you doing this year?
I'm doing 1-2 practice exams but lately I've been reviewing my notes thoroughly especially for both Unit 3 & 4

Do you guys reckon we would need to get 40/40 for MC to have a chance at getting a 45
the average score in MC's have been
2014:~28.75
2013:~27.26

[Biology24123]

Yup it's my only 3/4 how many are you doing this year?
I'm doing 1-2 practice exams but lately I've been reviewing my notes thoroughly especially for both Unit 3 & 4

Do you guys reckon we would need to get 40/40 for MC to have a chance at getting a 45
the average score in MC's have been
2014:~28.75
2013:~27.26

Obviously it depends on how you do on the SA but 40/40 would make it a lot easier. 1-2 exams every days???

[Sine]

Obviously it depends on how you do on the SA but 40/40 would make it a lot easier. 1-2 exams every days???

I'm trying to do 2 exams but been doing 1 exam each day of the holidays.
With the non-VCAA exams I tend to finish them with time to spare and I don't just wait for time to run out.
But with VCAA I do them in full timed conditions+reading time.

[Biology24123]

I'm trying to do 2 exams but been doing 1 exam each day of the holidays.
With the non-VCAA exams I tend to finish them with time to spare and I don't just wait for time to run out.
But with VCAA I do them in full timed conditions+reading time.

What scores do you get on non VCAA ones?

[Sine]

What scores do you get on non VCAA ones?

I wasn't doing too well always around 4 marks were barely accessible so I was getting around 60-65/75 but doing better on VCAA stuff

What do you guys reckon the cut-off will be for a 45?

 

[Biology24123]

I wasn't doing too well always around 4 marks were barely accessible so I was getting around 60-65/75 but doing better on VCAA stuff

What do you guys reckon the cut-off will be for a 45.

No clue. This is predicted to be a harder exam since last years was very easy. 98-100/110?

[cosine]

Has anyone done last years exam? If so, how did you go. Mind posting your score?

[chemzy]

How do you get 110% on an exam?

[Bruzzix]

How do you get 110% on an exam?

Slip some cash into the paper before you hand it in.

[BakedDwarf]

How do you get 110% on an exam?

You write extra questions on the exam paper and answer them.

[Sine]

Okay so I did VCAA 2001 Unit 4 and have a few questions.

Q6(b)Identify one selection pressure which may occur in spring and explain how this selection pressure accounts for the difference in the frequency of the two differently coloured ladybird beetles
I identified the correct selection pressures---predators
I then said In the spring there may be predators that can more easily identify & find black beetles than red beetles thus they are more likely to be eaten by the predators thus population decreased i.e Perecentage of black beetles decrease

The model answer is:
Predators (e.g. birds) are the selection pressure and flowers present in spring which camouflage the red beetles from
predators. The black beetles are more obvious and are eaten by predators while the red beetles survive and reproduce or a
different predator is present in spring that eats black beetles in preference to the red beetles.
Did I have to suggest the presence of flowers?

Q7(b)(i) Give one possible reason why fossils of Archaeopteryx are rare:
My answer: It is a transitional species & fossil. Which would have existed for a short time period
VCAA answer: Archaeopteryx were not common or lived in area where conditions were unsuitable for fossilisation or only lived in a small
region or the animal deteriorated before fossilisation.

(ii)Give one possible reason why some of the Archaeopteryx fossil are incomplete
My answer: they were not fully buried initially
VCAA answer: Before fossilisation the individual was partially eaten or decomposed or its bones were scattered by water/predators. After
fossilisation the fossil could have been broken or destroyed by Earth’s movements.

Q8(b) Attached
My answer Those isolated populations are not representative of the original population thus will have varying allele frequencies & if g allele is not present it won't get inserted unless gene flow occurs

VCAA answer: The Founder effect or population established from a few individuals which randomly results in different allele frequencies
depending upon the genotypes of the founding members or a Bottleneck or population reduced to a few individuals
randomly result in different allele frequencies or Genetic Drift, in a population there may be chance events which can cause
changes in allele frequencies and this has a greater potential impact on a small population.
Students who referred to the example given and mentioned what may happen if the founding members of a population
were all heterozygotes or alternatively all homozygotes(GG) were awarded full marks.

Thankyou

[cosine]

Okay so I did VCAA 2001 Unit 4 and have a few questions.

Q6(b)Identify one selection pressure which may occur in spring and explain how this selection pressure accounts for the difference in the frequency of the two differently coloured ladybird beetles
I identified the correct selection pressures---predators
I then said In the spring there may be predators that can more easily identify & find black beetles than red beetles thus they are more likely to be eaten by the predators thus population decreased i.e Perecentage of black beetles decrease

The model answer is:
Predators (e.g. birds) are the selection pressure and flowers present in spring which camouflage the red beetles from
predators. The black beetles are more obvious and are eaten by predators while the red beetles survive and reproduce or a
different predator is present in spring that eats black beetles in preference to the red beetles.
Did I have to suggest the presence of flowers?

Q7(b)(i) Give one possible reason why fossils of Archaeopteryx are rare:
My answer: It is a transitional species & fossil. Which would have existed for a short time period
VCAA answer: Archaeopteryx were not common or lived in area where conditions were unsuitable for fossilisation or only lived in a small region or the animal deteriorated before fossilisation.

Archaeopteryx were not common, hence they are transitional fossils/organisms and there were not many in the population that could have been fossilised. Your answer is correct.

(ii)Give one possible reason why some of the Archaeopteryx fossil are incomplete
My answer: they were not fully buried initially
VCAA answer: Before fossilisation the individual was partially eaten or decomposed or its bones were scattered by water/predators. After fossilisation the fossil could have been broken or destroyed by Earth’s movements.

Not being buried initially implies that they did not have the sufficient conditions to fossilise, or that because they took so long to be burried/deposited with layers of sediment, their remains were subject to decay/deterioration and hence disallowed them to fossilise. Your answer is correct but you could definitely expand on it, just because they were not fully burried, so what though? ^ 

Q8(b) Attached
My answer Those isolated populations are not representative of the original population thus will have varying allele frequencies & if g allele is not present it won't get inserted unless gene flow occurs

VCAA answer: The Founder effect or population established from a few individuals which randomly results in different allele frequencies depending upon the genotypes of the founding members or a Bottleneck or population reduced to a few individuals
randomly result in different allele frequencies or Genetic Drift, in a population there may be chance events which can cause
changes in allele frequencies and this has a greater potential impact on a small population.
Students who referred to the example given and mentioned what may happen if the founding members of a population
were all heterozygotes or alternatively all homozygotes(GG) were awarded full marks.

What do you mean by not representative of the original population? I would say that because the population size is much smaller, then any non-selective event, like genetic drift (bottle neck or founder effect) or even if like a massive draught hit the population, will reduce the allele frequency. You could also argue that because the Gg allele has a higher reproductive rate than the GG allele, then populations with the Gg allele will keep reproducing much quicker, hence the allele frequency will rise for the g allele, than populations dominated by the GG allele.