ATAR Notes: Forum
Archived Discussion => 2012 => Mid-year exams => Exam Discussion => Victoria => Biology => Topic started by: Markkiieee on June 12, 2012, 11:21:09 am
-
It's over!
-
Easier than I had though :D
-
Disappointed no experimental design? No reflex arc.. No rational drug design.. What are you doing vcaa
-
EASY = HIGH A+ cut off.
Fml!
-
Yeah I know...ahaha
-
yeah MC was so easy haha, but yeah higher A+ cut off
-
Any questions startle you guys?
-
Polypeptide question was the hardest? I thought it was
-
Polypeptide question was the hardest? I thought it was
yep stuffed that one up XD
-
Medium difficulty to be honest.
Not hard, but I wouldn't say it was easy either.
Doing practice papers benefited me greatly.
-
hey guys, for the cytosol/cytoplasm thing, is it legit if i said that the cytosol is the fluid in a cell and the cytoplasm refers to the organelles that are suspended in the fluid... i forgot to mention cytoplasm also includes the fluid itself... lol but i kinda hinted it WHATEVZ
-
I kinder did that too :( I hope we get the marks!
-
Dayum.. preety good exam, don't think I went good though :( i'll be happy with a B-B+
-
I was pretty happy with it, was hoping it would be harder because then a lower A+ cut off because I am 99% sure I made a million dumb mistakes :P
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
ahh fml. knew it seemed too easy haha
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
Damn! Me too. That question was very fishy to me. I was thinking of double helix, hm, nucleotides along the double helix, 25 for one particular nitrogenous base, how much for the other... Should have re-read it carefully in the 20 minutes I had left. :-\
-
I got 75 because having DNA it's double stranded, with 100 pairs it means theres 200 nucleotides all together. So minus the 25 adenine bases give you 175, then minus the complementary thymine bases to get 150. Dividing this by two would give you the 75...I think? :-\
-
Can anyone recall the exact question?
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
Sunnava...
Now I'm just counting down all the marks I've lost. At least 5 at this stage.
Oh god I've stuffed this exam so bad...
-
Hahahaha same # kenoy and diamonds
-
Multiple choice question 4 with the anticodons, what is it lol
-
Multiple choice question 4 with the anticodons, what is it lol
Amino acid.
They carry the anticodon that is a complementary to the codon on the mRNA molecule, which drops off a specific amino acid.
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
Damn! Me too. That question was very fishy to me. I was thinking of double helix, hm, nucleotides along the double helix, 25 for one particular nitrogenous base, how much for the other... Should have re-read it carefully in the 20 minutes I had left. :-\
Yea I thought it was too easy at first and I was like why did they do this, but I just let it go and didn't really think over it :(
-
OH SHIT
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
Damn! Me too. That question was very fishy to me. I was thinking of double helix, hm, nucleotides along the double helix, 25 for one particular nitrogenous base, how much for the other... Should have re-read it carefully in the 20 minutes I had left. :-\
Yea I thought it was too easy at first and I was like why did they do this, but I just let it go and didn't really think over it :(
Every bloody time I over-think a question I get it wrong...don't think hard enough and still get it wrong wHY
-
It said it was 100 base pairs meaning their must be 200 individual base pairs, so 25 + 25 leaves 150 /2 = 75, is that right?
-
It said it was 100 base pairs meaning their must be 200 individual base pairs, so 25 + 25 leaves 150 /2 = 75, is that right?
Logically yes, that is correct.
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
right answer was 75 because they said pairs or smth.. i circled 25 FML. i didn't read the question properly UGH
uughhh..... me to
Damn! Me too. That question was very fishy to me. I was thinking of double helix, hm, nucleotides along the double helix, 25 for one particular nitrogenous base, how much for the other... Should have re-read it carefully in the 20 minutes I had left. :-\
Yea I thought it was too easy at first and I was like why did they do this, but I just let it go and didn't really think over it :(
Every bloody time I over-think a question I get it wrong...don't think hard enough and still get it wrong wHY
Thats like me. Everytime I think about it more it feels like I stuffed up more on the exam :(
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
The question said there were 100 base "pairs" Meaning there are 200 amino acids
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
The question said there were 100 base "pairs" Meaning there are 200 amino acids
I don't know the question, but your statement doesn't make sense? :S
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
The question said there were 100 base "pairs" Meaning there are 200 amino acids
You mean 200 nucleic acids :X
And yeah so there were 25 adenine bases and 25 thymine bases which left 150 nucleic acids and you half that to get 75
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
The question said there were 100 base "pairs" Meaning there are 200 amino acids
You mean 200 nucleic acids :X
Nucleotides? :S
-
The right answer was 25, wasn't it? I cant remember which base it was, but, lets say it was G which I think it was, then there is going to be 25% C. That leaves 50%- half of that will be A and half will be T.
Was the question different? That's what I thought it said.
The question said there were 100 base "pairs" Meaning there are 200 amino acids
You mean 200 nucleic acids :X
Nucleotides? :S
Well that IS embarassing.
-
I circled 75.
-
Wasn't a hard exam, just quite a few questions which were aimed to trick students,
answers may vary due to different interpretations, hopefully with justifications of answers VCAA will award marks even if it is not the answer they are looking for.
-
Sorry my mind is on other things
-
My brain has flushed out Biology already, I've already got my feet up looking forward to the holidays :P
Good luck to everyone else who has another exam this week :)
-
I think it was a very straight-forward exam. It felt like it was examing very superficical things, which as someone said, will equal a very high A+ cut off :(
But yay i got the base pairing question right :D
-
Dunno if you guys had trouble with this, but from Douchy:
If you are upset about Q8 aii. Take heart. I think the question is defective. It asks you to Name compound Y. Since [ M ] is clearly the Light-dependant stage of Photosynthesis, and [ P ] is Cellular respiration (as the table below this diagram makes clear), that means Compound Y is a product of the light dependant stage, that is used by cellular respiration. Im sure the answer they wanted was Oxygen, but Oxygen is NOT a compound. It can't be glucose because although that IS a compound, it's not a product of the light dependant stage, but of the light independent stage, and is shown appropriately in the diagram coming out of [ N ]. It can't really be NADPH either - although that is a compound, because Y is shown to be used by [ P ] which NADPH is not. So there really is no correct answer.
I don't know this for sure but I suspect that the VCAA will just not count that question - or will accept any of the above unsatisfactory answers. I'll certainly be writing to the VCAA to suggest that.
So don't be upset. You should only ever kick yourself for things you could have done right but didn't. In this case, I think it was an unanswerable question.
-
Thank god for douchy
-
I said oxygen...didn't even think of the 'compound' thing. stupid vcaa
-
Same im like oxygen but that isn't a compound. Then i wrote nadph then i changed it back to oxygen. Argh.
-
I'm fairly certain VCAA has referred to oxygen and other things as compound "variable" before though...
-
Same im like oxygen but that isn't a compound. Then i wrote nadph then i changed it back to oxygen. Argh.
Same here. :P
-
i did oxygen too.. was it nadph?
-
won't it be oxygen cause i was thinking of oxygen gas, thus its a compound
-
won't it be oxygen cause i was thinking of oxygen gas, thus its a compound
That exactly what i thought
-
oxygen gas o2 is a molecule not a compound
-
Was it just me or did anyone else get the DNA multiple choice question wrong? The right answer was 75 ot 25
Yeah i got 75. LOL
-
What do you guys think you got \75?
-
Dunno if you guys had trouble with this, but from Douchy:
If you are upset about Q8 aii. Take heart. I think the question is defective. It asks you to Name compound Y. Since [ M ] is clearly the Light-dependant stage of Photosynthesis, and [ P ] is Cellular respiration (as the table below this diagram makes clear), that means Compound Y is a product of the light dependant stage, that is used by cellular respiration. Im sure the answer they wanted was Oxygen, but Oxygen is NOT a compound. It can't be glucose because although that IS a compound, it's not a product of the light dependant stage, but of the light independent stage, and is shown appropriately in the diagram coming out of [ N ]. It can't really be NADPH either - although that is a compound, because Y is shown to be used by [ P ] which NADPH is not. So there really is no correct answer.
I don't know this for sure but I suspect that the VCAA will just not count that question - or will accept any of the above unsatisfactory answers. I'll certainly be writing to the VCAA to suggest that.
So don't be upset. You should only ever kick yourself for things you could have done right but didn't. In this case, I think it was an unanswerable question.
wow thank god!
-
What did you guys write for the 50% carbon dioxide question
-
i said to re-use the co2 produced from process P and to remove the pyruvate from the system so no co2 would be produced from process p, not sure if there right tho
-
What was the q asking again?
-
I said that (most likely wrongly) that process P will be controlled to allow CO2 produced in the power plants to be used by cellular respiration instead. But a lot of people said that the rate of photosynthesis would be higher than the rate of cellular respiration, so it uses more, but that was my cohort.
The question was quite complex, it was about Chlorella bacteria or something.
-
Dunno if you guys had trouble with this, but from Douchy:
If you are upset about Q8 aii. Take heart. I think the question is defective. It asks you to Name compound Y. Since [ M ] is clearly the Light-dependant stage of Photosynthesis, and [ P ] is Cellular respiration (as the table below this diagram makes clear), that means Compound Y is a product of the light dependant stage, that is used by cellular respiration. Im sure the answer they wanted was Oxygen, but Oxygen is NOT a compound. It can't be glucose because although that IS a compound, it's not a product of the light dependant stage, but of the light independent stage, and is shown appropriately in the diagram coming out of [ N ]. It can't really be NADPH either - although that is a compound, because Y is shown to be used by [ P ] which NADPH is not. So there really is no correct answer.
I don't know this for sure but I suspect that the VCAA will just not count that question - or will accept any of the above unsatisfactory answers. I'll certainly be writing to the VCAA to suggest that.
So don't be upset. You should only ever kick yourself for things you could have done right but didn't. In this case, I think it was an unanswerable question.
wow thank god!
I'm with Douchy on this - oxygen is NOT a compound, it's an element. Reminds me of the time last year when VCAA marked 'ethene' wrong because they thought it wasn't an organic compound.
-
i reckon on a difficulty level of 1-10, it would be about 5.5. leaning towards the more difficult side because
there were still those question that stiked me in the heart.
was prett challenging in terms of the short answers............................i reckon i got ~70/75 :P
-
I asked my teacher she said it must be o2, because they can't call it an element so it'd have to be a compound or whatevs,
She said it was a weird one
-
im pretty should they should have called it a molecule
-
After reading responses of other people on this forum, I think we can all agree that while this exam wasn't particularly hard, a lot of people were prone to silly mistakes due to some tricky questions.
By the way does anyone know what the typical A+, A, B+ and B cut-off usually is?
-
I asked my teacher she said it must be o2, because they can't call it an element so it'd have to be a compound or whatevs,
She said it was a weird one
I'm pretty sure O2 isn't a compound lol.
A compound has to have 2 or more elements in it (e.g. water H + O)
-
After reading responses of other people on this forum, I think we can all agree that while this exam wasn't particularly hard, a lot of people were prone to silly mistakes due to some tricky questions.
By the way does anyone know what the typical A+, A, B+ and B cut-off usually is?
A+ was 60/75 last year
-
A+ was 60/75 last year
Although the exam was easier than last year's, it had some tricky questions which were not too obvious. Did people find it easier than 2008's exam? If so I would expect and A+ cut off at 62.5-63. If not, I would probably expect an A+ cut of 61. What do you guys think would be fair?
-
Well I found 2011 extremely easy and straightforward, was it really easier than that? I'd say 60-61 cut off tbh. This exam has a lot of controversy.
-
A+ was 60/75 last year
Although the exam was easier than last year's, it had some tricky questions which were not too obvious. Did people find it easier than 2008's exam? If so I would expect and A+ cut off at 62.5-63. If not, I would probably expect an A+ cut of 61. What do you guys think would be fair?
i found 2011s easier but idk probs just the atmosphere of the actual exam. hey, what did you put for the fetus baby? AND what did you put for the last MC... about HIV
-
Well I found 2011 extremely easy and straightforward, was it really easier than that? I'd say 60-61 cut off tbh. This exam has a lot of controversy.
That sounds fair enough. I hope this is the case.
i found 2011s easier but idk probs just the atmosphere of the actual exam. hey, what did you put for the fetus baby? AND what did you put for the last MC... about HIV
I think I put D for the foetus baby but can't remember what I put for the last question to be honest. (I may or may not have put C)
-
^ I put D as well for the foetus baby, mainly through elimination of the other three options. For the last one, I don't remember the letter, but I remember it being that the HIV antigen was complementary to the HIV antibody, or something similar to that.
It was a decent exam, I made silly mistakes, mainly on the easy ones as usual. Parts of the last question really threw me off though-the input/output and the lowering of the CO2 levels.
I just really want to know whether that retina question was positive or negative feedback! Luckily it was only one mark in case I got it wrong, but everyone seems to be divided about it. Does 'hyperpolarisation' usually refer to positive or negative, all I know is that it is the opposite of depolarisation.
-
A+ was 60/75 last year
Although the exam was easier than last year's, it had some tricky questions which were not too obvious. Did people find it easier than 2008's exam? If so I would expect and A+ cut off at 62.5-63. If not, I would probably expect an A+ cut of 61. What do you guys think would be fair?
Personally I reckon the 2008 exam was easier. The Multiple Choice was clearly easier than 2012, however I think the Short Answer questions were at the same level. 2012 may have even been a little trickier to be honest.
-
I found it somewhat easier than i expected, even though i missed out on 50% of the biology classes this semester. I'm going to apply for DES just in case xD.
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
yeah haha, that's what I meant.
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
yeah haha, that's what I meant.
fml. i didnt do as well as i wanted to in this exam! trick questions, i'm planning to ace unit 4. honestly.... i hope that 40+ is still in sight
-
Sapphire, do you remember the actual question?
-
The exam was quite straight forward but it was easy to make silly mistakes if you didn't read the questions carefully. We have 54 more days or so to wait until the results come out but there isn't much pout discussing anawers as the exam is over, the only thing you can do now is just learn from your mistakes and not make the same mistakes again. Mistakes like reading more carefully and dividing up your time more carefully in the exam. But don't lose hope or motivation, even if you don't get the mark you wanted this semester, you have next semester to improve. That is something we won't have for much longer after they get rid of mid year exams next year.
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
More than a ripper actually - my friend got an A in exam 1 (might have been a low A :/ ) and got 75/75 on exam 2, ended up with a 42. So yeah, you'll need to rip Exam 2 to shreds if you get B+ to get 40+.
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
More than a ripper actually - my friend got an A in exam 1 (might have been a low A :/ ) and got 75/75 on exam 2, ended up with a 42. So yeah, you'll need to rip Exam 2 to shreds if you get B+ to get 40+.
...... pretty sure i wont get 40+ now... hahahahahah, i dont know how you can "rip" an exam more than getting full marks. :'( i actually want to cry!
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
More than a ripper actually - my friend got an A in exam 1 (might have been a low A :/ ) and got 75/75 on exam 2, ended up with a 42. So yeah, you'll need to rip Exam 2 to shreds if you get B+ to get 40+.
...... pretty sure i wont get 40+ now... hahahahahah, i dont know how you can "rip" an exam more than getting full marks. :'( i actually want to cry!
Spherelin - noo! You haven't found out your grade, you might find you did way better than you thought :)
Oh, and that was kinda insensitive of me before - I should have clarified - that year (2010) that I was talking about my friend, the endofyear was insanely easy (A+ cut was like 62.5). So even if you get a B+, if you can get high A+ in SACs and get 70+ in a decent unit 4 exam you can push into the 40s...the gap between 40 and 42 is big (top 7.6% to top 4.3%).
-
hey do we defs need an A or above for this midyear to get over 40 for bio?
I think High B+ and High A+ can get you a 40-41
You need a ripper A+ though, 70+/75 for Bio
More than a ripper actually - my friend got an A in exam 1 (might have been a low A :/ ) and got 75/75 on exam 2, ended up with a 42. So yeah, you'll need to rip Exam 2 to shreds if you get B+ to get 40+.
...... pretty sure i wont get 40+ now... hahahahahah, i dont know how you can "rip" an exam more than getting full marks. :'( i actually want to cry!
Spherelin - noo! You haven't found out your grade, you might find you did way better than you thought :)
Oh, and that was kinda insensitive of me before - I should have clarified - that year (2010) that I was talking about my friend, the endofyear was insanely easy (A+ cut was like 62.5). So even if you get a B+, if you can get high A+ in SACs and get 70+ in a decent unit 4 exam you can push into the 40s...the gap between 40 and 42 is big (top 7.6% to top 4.3%).
fingers crossed :( i really wanted an A+, but it's okay. :) thanks for your kind words :P