Biology Post-exam Discussion

[Jenny_2108]

Think a lot of people would've forgotten ligation in dna replication.

Shit. Forgot that one. Hope that 4 marks is not solely dependent on getting everything in there because there are a lot of things going on in DNA replication =/

I showed the process using 4 steps, I think the mark allocation would be something like:

-Unzipping of the double-helix by DNA Helicase
-Binding of RNA primers to the separated strands of DNA
-DNA polymerase elongates the primers by adding new DNA nucleotides, needed to show leading strand and lagging strands (okazaki fragments)
-Ligation by DNA Ligase

I did all of that but instead of ligation I had the direction of synthesis and the 5' to 3' or whatever thingo.

I thought direction is from 3' to 5'? :O
Btw, if I write primers only (without saying RNA primers), is it ok?

How did you ans part a of the last ques? Evidence of skeleton that they climb the tree?
I feel so bad  now, there are lots of vocabulary I didn't understand at all. I saw the ques and was like wth, what does this word mean. Probably just me because I'm ESL student ==

[HighLatency]

Opposable thumbs (+feet)?

w.e I hope the guy who wrote the exam just undergoes simultaneous, whole body apoptosis...

[Shenz0r]

Think a lot of people would've forgotten ligation in dna replication.

Shit. Forgot that one. Hope that 4 marks is not solely dependent on getting everything in there because there are a lot of things going on in DNA replication =/

I showed the process using 4 steps, I think the mark allocation would be something like:

-Unzipping of the double-helix by DNA Helicase
-Binding of RNA primers to the separated strands of DNA
-DNA polymerase elongates the primers by adding new DNA nucleotides, needed to show leading strand and lagging strands (okazaki fragments)
-Ligation by DNA Ligase

I did all of that but instead of ligation I had the direction of synthesis and the 5' to 3' or whatever thingo.

I thought direction is from 3' to 5'? :O
Btw, if I write primers only (without saying RNA primers), is it ok?

How did you ans part a of the last ques? Evidence of skeleton that they climb the tree?
I feel so bad  now, there are lots of vocabulary I didn't understand at all. I saw the ques and was like wth, what does this word mean. Probably just me because I'm ESL student ==

It's read in a 3' to 5' direction, but the new DNA strand can only be made in a 5' to 3' direction. I think HighLatency was just talking about the labelling of each end of DNA.

I think I said something like opposable thumbs, allowing them to grip onto the trees better. But my friends said the femur bone could've been more angled, and hence less bi-pedalism and therefore the species would be more suited to climbing around trees to escape predation etc

[itsdanny]

Anyone by chance took a copy of the exam? Would like to have a look at one particular question.

Sent by Android

[HighLatency]

I think gorillas have straight legs but they don't climb trees....I think.

[achre]

I said opposable thumbs and prehensile feet, so small fossils of hands/feet exhibiting those characteristics would lead scientists to conclude they were small in stature and could climb trees?
 

[Gazillionaire]

arms of the fossils were longer than the legs of the fossils - this is very common in hominoids that brachiate

[Shenz0r]

That sounds like the best answer, actually.

VCAA may accept alternative answers but don't count on it.

[alphamale]

How did everyone go?
Personally it was a bit like last semester when it was slightly easy, but some tricky questions.

Only difference was multiple choice was easier than i thought 

[InsaneMcFries]

Anyone else not see the question where you put the x on the graph?

[itsdanny]

arms of the fossils were longer than the legs of the fossils - this is very common in hominoids that brachiate

Same thing I thought, although it did not mention anything about brachiation, but rather "climbing", unless climbing trees goes is correlated to swinging on trees? But damn, I should've went with my first answer.. thought too much about swinging, rather than the stem of the question that states climbing.

Think a lot of people would've forgotten ligation in dna replication.

Shit. Forgot that one. Hope that 4 marks is not solely dependent on getting everything in there because there are a lot of things going on in DNA replication =/

I showed the process using 4 steps, I think the mark allocation would be something like:

-Unzipping of the double-helix by DNA Helicase
-Binding of RNA primers to the separated strands of DNA
-DNA polymerase elongates the primers by adding new DNA nucleotides, needed to show leading strand and lagging strands (okazaki fragments)
-Ligation by DNA Ligase

Instead of drawing images of DNA replication, I transcribed it instead, and placed it into a flow-chart concept kind of illustration. Would this still be accepted since it did just ambiguously say a 'diagram', which necessarily could imply any sort of communicable form of information?

Anyone else not see the question where you put the x on the graph?

Had one friend who did that! I guess that's what happens when you're under pressure I would think. What did you get for the age after calculating the half-lives?

[Shenz0r]

Instead of drawing images of DNA replication, I transcribed it instead, and placed it into a flow-chart concept kind of illustration. Would this still be accepted since it did just ambiguously say a 'diagram', which necessarily could imply any sort of communicable form of information?

It did say a "labelled" diagram, so I think it was asking for a drawn representation.

Don't worry about it too much though I reckon

[lollypop96]

Is a strong collar bone for brachiation a valid answer for the climbing trees one?

[laurameulman]

I thought it was slightly harder than unit 3's exam but still fair.

For the climbing trees one i said having opposable digits to be able to grab onto tree branches etc.

I found the first multiple choice question quite ambiguous. It asked something about the structure shown and the centromere was labelled, i think it could have been interpreted that the question was about the centromere and not the entire chromosome. Thoughts? Anyway, i said it was found in all eukaryotic organisms (i think).

[barrry321]

where did you guys put the X on the graph and do you guys remeber how many years it was?