VCE Biology Question Thread

[Gogo14]

Cheers guys.
But cosine, how did you only end up with 44 in bio if u did so much work?!?

[cosine]

Cheers guys.
But cosine, how did you only end up with 44 in bio if u did so much work?!?

I will put it this way for you, sometimes in life, you don't always get what you deserve, there is nothing guaranteed in life besides failure, failure is 100% guaranteed for every individual on this planet. So because I did so many practice exams, I was not guaranteed a raw 50, because remember we all make mistakes, and I guess I made a bit too many during my actual exam.

How can you prevent making mistakes? Well, you can not. So just do your absolute best and keep working hard. You will never be guaranteed a 40+ no matter how hard you study, because just like me, mistakes are inevitable, and I am only saying this so that who ever reads this does not be massively disappointed come results day, like I did.

I am not saying that you can't get a 40+, because you clearly can, I am just saying that in my case, mistakes got the best of me and hence I only got a 44. It can happen to anyone, don't even get me started on my methods score, sigh... xD

[Gogo14]

Well high study score or not, you're still a bio god cosine.

[Buttercrisis]

Hi, this is first time here and I'm not really sure if this is the way to ask a question, so if I clicked the wrong button or something I'm really sorry! Please tell me if I did something wrong! :0
I just had something I was confused about:
I don't really understand the protein structures? I know the four types, but I don't really get what they are. Like, can a protein only ever be one structure? Or can it change structures? Are they just different types of shapes, kind of? 
Like would you say: 'Protein X is of secondary structure' or something along those lines?
Because I've read some notes and stuff, and it says stuff like 'tertiary structure: folding/shape of protein'. Like that doesn't really make sense to me, because it's not even describing the shape or anything, it's just saying 'shape of protein'. Like how do I know what shape that is?!
If anyone could help me out, I'd be really grateful! Thanks!

[heids]

Hi, this is first time here and I'm not really sure if this is the way to ask a question, so if I clicked the wrong button or something I'm really sorry! Please tell me if I did something wrong! :0

Warm welcome to AN - and you did everything right

I just had something I was confused about:
I don't really understand the protein structures? I know the four types, but I don't really get what they are. Like, can a protein only ever be one structure? Or can it change structures? Are they just different types of shapes, kind of? 
Like would you say: 'Protein X is of secondary structure' or something along those lines?
Because I've read some notes and stuff, and it says stuff like 'tertiary structure: folding/shape of protein'. Like that doesn't really make sense to me, because it's not even describing the shape or anything, it's just saying 'shape of protein'. Like how do I know what shape that is?!
If anyone could help me out, I'd be really grateful! Thanks!

Think of it a bit like 'steps' in the process of making a protein.  You've got to do Step 1 before you can build on it and do Step 2, then 3, then 4. 

So in step 1, primary structure, you string the beads (amino acids) together into a chain.  In step 2, secondary structure, you then make little folds and coils (alpha helices and beta-pleated sheets) in little local places in the chain.  Then step 3, you wrap the whole thing up, including all its step-2-kinks, into an overall 3D shape.  Then step 4, you glue it to other folded chains.  Bam, you've got a full protein.

(Note: not all proteins go through all these steps - they might stop at secondary or tertiary structure).

Does that make any sense, or do you need more explanation?  Have to agree, this can very easily be confusing.

[plsbegentle]

So my first sac is coming up pretty soon and i was just wondering if anyone could provide me with some tips or even a template on how to write up a practical report at an A+ standard.
Thanks in advance

[kingy123]

Quick Biology question, Please help!!!!
What is the independent variable of an experiment where 2 bacterial species ( one is gram positive and the other gram negative) are tested to be susceptible to various kinds of antibiotics through the use of a antibiotic mastring.

any reply soon would be great
thanks fellas

[Buttercrisis]

Warm welcome to AN - and you did everything right

Think of it a bit like 'steps' in the process of making a protein.  You've got to do Step 1 before you can build on it and do Step 2, then 3, then 4. 

So in step 1, primary structure, you string the beads (amino acids) together into a chain.  In step 2, secondary structure, you then make little folds and coils (alpha helices and beta-pleated sheets) in little local places in the chain.  Then step 3, you wrap the whole thing up, including all its step-2-kinks, into an overall 3D shape.  Then step 4, you glue it to other folded chains.  Bam, you've got a full protein.

(Note: not all proteins go through all these steps - they might stop at secondary or tertiary structure).

Does that make any sense, or do you need more explanation?  Have to agree, this can very easily be confusing.

Thank you so much! 
Yeah, I get it now, thanks! I just had another question:
So if they can stop at secondary or tertiary, or even primary (can they stop there?), can they still be considered full proteins?
Thanks so much!

[TheAspiringDoc]

Quick Biology question, Please help!!!!
What is the independent variable of an experiment where 2 bacterial species ( one is gram positive and the other gram negative) are tested to be susceptible to various kinds of antibiotics through the use of a antibiotic mastring.

any reply soon would be great
thanks fellas

both the type of antibiotic and type of bacterial species I believe

[kingy123]

both the type of antibiotic and type of bacterial species I believe

Are you sure? our teacher said its really just 2 separate experiments in one big experiment, so i was thinking it would just be the antibiotic.

[plsbegentle]

Quick Biology question, Please help!!!!
What is the independent variable of an experiment where 2 bacterial species ( one is gram positive and the other gram negative) are tested to be susceptible to various kinds of antibiotics through the use of a antibiotic mastring.

any reply soon would be great
thanks fellas

Usually, there is only one independent variable. In ur question, its really strange because it doenst have a controlled variable (the part that is kept constant), but im guessing the independent variable are the antibiotics, could be wrong doe.

[sunshine98]

Are you sure? our teacher said its really just 2 separate experiments in one big experiment, so i was thinking it would just be the antibiotic.

If she/he is treating it as two experiments each using one type of the two  bacterial species  each  then you could say the antibiotic is the independent variable. But definitely agree with pslbegentle cause it seems that there isn't any controlled variable from what information you've provided.   

[TheAspiringDoc]

Well obviously they just try all combinations of the two independent variables and the question doesn't specify the control cause who cares, it's about only the independent and dependent variables

[kingy123]

If she/he is treating it as two experiments each using one type of the two  bacterial species  each  then you could say the antibiotic is the independent variable. But definitely agree with pslbegentle cause it seems that there isn't any controlled variable from what information you've provided.   

The controlled variable was simply a dish with no bacteria and no antibiotics present.

[TheAspiringDoc]

True or false: the folding of a protein into its functional 3D shape takes place on the ribosomes.

False yeah?