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March 28, 2024, 10:20:51 pm

Author Topic: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY  (Read 5333 times)  Share 

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Faraz

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how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« on: March 21, 2008, 04:00:08 pm »
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hey guys last week I received my first 3&4 SAC result for bio which I had though I had aced because I knew it in and out but when I got my result it was a medium and I was very suprised and the teacher had a talk with me and told me that the reason I lost marks was that I put in too much information and also my cunclusion structure was incorrect. So I wanted do my best on the next SAC coming up after the holidays so please help!!! tell me how to do the perfect SAC write up
Currently bumming around VU doing marketing/international trade :)

beezy4eva

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Re: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2008, 05:49:49 pm »
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TITLE
In biology usually you're given a title page, with a spot for your name, date and prac partner(s). If not, you should make a title page or put all this information as a header on the first page of your prac. On some pracs you may be required to make up a title. The title should tell you straight up what the prac is going to be about and not be too vague E.g a prac testing the effects of temperature on sucrase action on sucrose would be titled 'Effects of temperature on sucrase acting on sucrose' rather than something like 'Sucrase prac'

AIM
The aim is basically a summary of what you're going to try and test for. Sometimes you may be asked to write your own aim.
Eg sticking with the sucrase example the aim might be 'To test the effects of varying temperatures on the the enzyme sucrase and its activity on sucrose'

HYPOTHESIS
The hypothesis is not always included in a prac. If you are asked to write a hypothesis, its basically just asking you "What do you think will happen in this prac?" You should decide what you think will happen from the information on the topic that you will already know from class ie you should decide on a logical outcome. The hypothesis does not necessarily need to be what will happen as sometimes you won't know what will happen. The whole point of doing a prac is to test your hypothesis.
Eg for the sucrase prac, a hypothesis may be "As temperature increases, the rate that sucrase breaks down sucrose will increase, till sucrase is above its optimum temperature, which is predicted to be 50 degrees. After this point, the enzymes will denature and therefore the rate of activity will decrease."

MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE
If your doing a prac directly onto a worksheet you won't need to worry about this. But if you've done the prac on seperate sheets of paper you may be required to cut & paste the materials & procedure onto your sheet. This is only really if your teacher requests that you do so. Otherwise you can just put 'Refer to prac sheet'.

RESULTS
This can be a range of things depending on the prac. Usually results will require you to put your information in a table and possibly display it in other forms such as graphs or draw before and after diagrams. Make sure to include units of measurement (eg g, ml, ohms, ect.) in any recordings. Any diagrams should be drawn neatly and fairly large and be well labelled. Graphs should also be drawn fairly large, preferrably on graph paper. Make sure to give any graphs a title, label all axis (again make sure to include units) and most importantly graph neatly. Also if you put in a line of best fit don't assume that it will start at the origin (the point 0,0) and any part of the line that goes beyond your data should be drawn with a dotted line (to indicate its extrapolation and not data that you've tested for). Also label any outliers.

QUESTIONS
Any questions your teacher gives you with your prac should go after results and before the discussion/conclusion.

DISCUSSION/CONLUSION
This is where you summarise your results and point out wheither hypothesis was true. You need to explain why your results are what they are and point out anything that went wrong. *Also say what may have effected your results and what could have been done to make your results more accurate. This may be written in another part just before the conclusion, titled LIMITATIONS. Limitations DO NOT include human errors (things you've stuffed up), they include problems that occur due to lab equipment or certain other factors, for example an inaccurate weight balance or lack of time to allow for a reaction to occur.*
Example: By testing the rate at which solutions of sucrase(2%) broke down sucrose(5%) solutions at different temperatures, we were able to observe the effect that temperature will have on sucrase activity. As predicted, sucrase works most efficiently at 50 degrees C, while acting least effectively at 0 degrees C and 80 degrees C. This is because at 0 the enzyme sucrase becomes inhibited as it is too cold and at 80 it becomes denatured. Our results for the 40 degree sample was inaccurate, as the thermostat on the water bath was broken. For a more accurate results, we should have used pipettes to measure out exact amounts of sucrase and sucrose solution rather than using measuring cylinders. Also by testing at more temperatures we would have been able to better observe the effects temperature has on sucrase activity.
2008 ENTER: 98.10
Biology 50, Chemistry 45, Mathematical Methods *, Specialist Mathematics *, Further Mathematics(2007) 46

“DNA transcription takes place through an advanced process of magic.”
~ Harry Potter on Biology

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bucket

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Re: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2008, 10:11:07 pm »
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what beezy said is pretty much spot on, except that you need to include the variables in the experiment.
My bio teacher said it was fine to put a subheading (preferably between the hypothesis and materials/predure, but anywhere is fine) titles variables, and to list and explain them there. You have to mention which ones are the controlled variables, and which are the independent and dependent variables(there should be one independent and one independent, and a whole bunch of controls).
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beezy4eva

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Re: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2008, 05:10:25 pm »
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thing is its going 2 vary from teacher 2 teacher. Each teacher may have different things they want u 2 include in ur prac (ive never had 2 do the variables thing) so probably a better way would be 2 ask ur teacher what they need u 2 include in a prac... or look at the assesment sheet u get with most pracs
2008 ENTER: 98.10
Biology 50, Chemistry 45, Mathematical Methods *, Specialist Mathematics *, Further Mathematics(2007) 46

“DNA transcription takes place through an advanced process of magic.”
~ Harry Potter on Biology

“WHO THE HELL PUT THE TRAIN STATION 2000 KM AWAY FROM MELTON'S REMNANTS OF CIVILIZATION??????!!!!”
~ V-Line Commuter on Melton Railway Station

Chocolate

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Re: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2008, 01:26:14 pm »
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Quote
that the reason I lost marks was that I put in too much information

Really? I always assumed you can include as much information as you feel relevant, and as long as the set criteria of each question is acknowledged, then you should gain full marks. Of course, you have to take into consideration how you've expressed your answer and IF it's correct..but..I don't understand how more detail in an answer validates the removal of marks..?

Chocoholic

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Re: how to do the perfect SAC write up for BIOLOGY
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2008, 01:25:25 pm »
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hey guys last week I received my first 3&4 SAC result for bio which I had though I had aced because I knew it in and out but when I got my result it was a medium and I was very suprised and the teacher had a talk with me and told me that the reason I lost marks was that I put in too much information and also my cunclusion structure was incorrect. So I wanted do my best on the next SAC coming up after the holidays so please help!!! tell me how to do the perfect SAC write up

The exact thing happened to me. I walked out the SAC thinking "wow I aced that", Boy! was i wrong. I did the same mistakes as u Faraz. My mark wasn't that bad but i was preety disapointed so gotta make it up nxt SAC.

« Last Edit: April 13, 2008, 06:24:31 pm by Chocoholic »