VCE Biology Question Thread

[Scribe]

Thanks for the detailed responses PhoenixxFire and Vox 

I just completed the 2014 VCAA Biology exam. For question 9a, I was asked to draw the structure of an amino acid. I drew the chemical formula of an amino acid but the VCAA examination report asked for a "simple representation". Would I be marked down for this?

[Sine]

Thanks for the detailed responses PhoenixxFire and Vox 

I just completed the 2014 VCAA Biology exam. For question 9a, I was asked to draw the structure of an amino acid. I drew the chemical formula of an amino acid but the VCAA examination report asked for a "simple representation". Would I be marked down for this?

drew the chemical formula??
What does that mean?

As long as you have the carboxyl, amino group, R group, and H atom all connected to the alpha carbon you should get the marks.
it says "labelled diagram"

[PhoenixxFire]

Ah ok. Thank you <3
For the P generation, is there a reason why you have to specifically cross a dominant purebred with a recessive purebred or is this pretty much like a test cross?

(By P generation you mean the parents yeah? It's been a while since I did 1/2 bio haha). The only reason I can think of would be to ensure all the offspring are heterozygous and all have the same phenotype. You wouldn't have to cross those 2, unless you wanted phenotypically identical offspring. Otherwise you could just cross whichever. A test cross is slightly different - it allows you to determine the genotype of the parent, whereas this would let you determine the phenotype (and genotype) of the offspring.

Thanks for the detailed responses PhoenixxFire and Vox 

I just completed the 2014 VCAA Biology exam. For question 9a, I was asked to draw the structure of an amino acid. I drew the chemical formula of an amino acid but the VCAA examination report asked for a "simple representation". Would I be marked down for this?

The study design regarding this has actually changed a little bit - we have to know it in more detail now. To be safe you should probably label the amino, carboxyl, and R groups, but I really doubt you'd get marked down for it.

[Scribe]

drew the chemical formula??
What does that mean?

As long as you have the carboxyl, amino group, R group, and H atom all connected to the alpha carbon you should get the marks.
it says "labelled diagram"

Sorry. I meant the structure that I have attached.

[Sine]

Sorry. I meant the structure that I have attached.

yeah what you've drawn is definitely fine, I probably would've done the same.

Just some questions in bio they allow students to group COOH and NH3 etc because not everyone is expected to knows the bonding (students who don't do chem)

[Azim.m]

How are the products of apoptosis removed after the event of apoptosis?
I described the process of phagocytosis, whereas the solutions to the question explains the process of endocytosis (of blebs). Would I still be correct?

[C14M8S]

How are the products of apoptosis removed after the event of apoptosis?
I described the process of phagocytosis, whereas the solutions to the question explains the process of endocytosis (of blebs). Would I still be correct?

I don't think you'd lose any marks for mentioning both - remember that phagocytosis is merely a form of endocytosis. You're being more specific, which isn't a bad thing.

[M-D]

Is DNA replication part of the current Units 3 & 4 study design?

[PhoenixxFire]

Is DNA replication part of the current Units 3 & 4 study design?

Nope. Used to be, it’s out now

[Agimo]

Could someone please explain why the answer to question 9 of the multichoice section for VCAA 2012 exam 1 is C? I understand why the other options are incorrect, but C seem incorrect as well. In my textbook it says that MHCII markers present antigens to lymphocytes, not MHC1 markers.

[Azim.m]

2017 biology nht exam 11.bii
Would it be correct to say that resources might be wasted because of its low rate of success as this approach is purely based on chance?

[persistent_insomniac]

Is gene therapy in the new study design because it was in the 2016 exam

[C14M8S]

Is gene therapy in the new study design because it was in the 2016 exam

Gene therapy is still a part of the study design.

2017 biology nht exam 11.bii
Would it be correct to say that resources might be wasted because of its low rate of success as this approach is purely based on chance?

It'd be more correct to say that mutagen exposure could lead to the formation of deleterious alleles, which would be detrimental to the coral environment.

[passbleh]

Hey

Could someone please help me with understanding the positioning of Mitochondria and Chloroplasts in this phylogenetic tree. The answer is A but I don't understand why and there are no detailed answers for 2018 NH exams.

Thanks!!

[PhoenixxFire]

Couldn't be bothered typing so I hope this makes sense

Spoiler

Edit: I knew I'd already answered this somewhere, finally found it.

The branching off lines represent a difference in evolution. The order they branch off in represents the order those characteristics evolved in. Archaea and bacteria don’t have mitochondria or chloroplasts so they branch off first (Everything on the 2 left branches has neither mitochondria or chloroplasts, everything on the right branch has mitochondria – indicated by the right branch being named ‘mitochondria’). Then fungi and animals split from plants (everything on the 2 left branches has mitochondria but not chloroplasts, the right branch is labelled ‘chloroplasts’ so everything on that branch (ie. plants) have chloroplasts).

2017 biology nht exam 11.bii
Would it be correct to say that resources might be wasted because of its low rate of success as this approach is purely based on chance?

Yeah I'd say it's incorrect given they specified in the examiners report that other biological effects were accepted, no mention anywhere of anything that isn't a biological consequence.

Could someone please explain why the answer to question 9 of the multichoice section for VCAA 2012 exam 1 is C? I understand why the other options are incorrect, but C seem incorrect as well. In my textbook it says that MHCII markers present antigens to lymphocytes, not MHC1 markers.

You’re correct, they only present to Tc cells. Don’t really know what’s up with that question.