2015 Biology Exam PDF and Suggested Solutions

[Jay.C]

When you think it's not pointing to the valve but to the vessel and you give the function of the lymph vessel  wow just wow, I really messed up this exam.

[cosine]

When you think it's not pointing to the valve but the vessel and you give the function of the lymph vessel  wow just wow, I really messed up this exam.

we all did, honestly. although it wasnt incredibly difficult, instead it was weird and non-representative of what majority of us studied. >20 marks on evolution, they really pushed us to the limits. If it makes you feel any better bro, I myself lost a minimum, and i put an emphasis on minimum of 10 marks, easy. I was hoping bio would be my best subject because of the effort I put into it, but hey VCAA never ceases to annoy me. I guess don't worry too much about it, not that I can speak myself because im probably more depressed than you right now, but ay it's over so focus on your real year 12 subjects for next year, you can redeem yourself i cant.. Good luck

[Yacoubb]

Guys I see you're all down so I'm just going to post this!

Remember that when VCAA sets a difficult exam, it often means that if YOU guys who are extremely bright and well-equipped with Biology knowledge will be rewarded because the bell-curve will be in your favour. I personally know someone who walked out of our Biology exam and was adamant he was going to get nothing above 36-37, and ended up surprising himself and getting a 50. Why? Because in Biology, you just never know. So while some of you may be gutted having checked the answers, I strongly recommend you realise it's not over. You never know, you may be pleasantly surprised when results come out!

[Gromekk]

To be honest from what I have seen on the exam for this question (briefly looked at this question), alternative splicing is probably the best answer. It is the way to account for the fact that the same genetic sequence can yield different proteins (alternative splicing of exons = different AA = different tertiary structures & 3D protein conformations). So yup :-)

I sure hope its alternative splicing!

[Sine]

Guys I see you're all down so I'm just going to post this!

Remember that when VCAA sets a difficult exam, it often means that if YOU guys who are extremely bright and well-equipped with Biology knowledge will be rewarded because the bell-curve will be in your favour. I personally know someone who walked out of our Biology exam and was adamant he was going to get nothing above 36-37, and ended up surprising himself and getting a 50. Why? Because in Biology, you just never know. So while some of you may be gutted having checked the answers, I strongly recommend you realise it's not over. You never know, you may be pleasantly surprised when results come out!

thanks, I really needed that

personally how did you feel coming out of your exam and having looked at both 2013 & 2015 exams is it safe to say cut-offs will be lower for 2015.

[Yacoubb]

thanks, I really needed that

personally how did you feel coming out of your exam and having looked at both 2013 & 2015 exams is it safe to say cut-offs will be lower for 2015.

When I came out of my exam, I was happy ( I sat it in 2013 and you can probably agree it is significantly easier imo than 2014 and 2015). But I still had doubts - my answers may have been a) completely off or b) not been to the liking of my assessors of what not. Biology you really never know, and I was ready to get a SS in my 30s too because you never know.

I 100% think cut-off will be lower than 2013, 2015 either will be a little bit lower or equal to 2014, but I reckon A+ cut off 87-92/110. That's just my prediction though!

& another thing; don't let a SS dictate your experience of a subject. I loved English, and still believe it was my strongest subject and I was incredibly disappointed when I got 42 for all the work I put in. However, my passion for English remains and wont be overshadowed by my SS. Neither should Bio if God-forbid you don't do as well as expected.That was my whole experience for VCE actually; my ATAR was  lower than I deserved and I was disappointed. But it's not going to dictate my ability or future Good luck guys!

[Sine]

When I came out of my exam, I was happy ( I sat it in 2013 and you can probably agree it is significantly easier imo than 2014 and 2015). But I still had doubts - my answers may have been a) completely off or b) not been to the liking of my assessors of what not. Biology you really never know, and I was ready to get a SS in my 30s too because you never know.

I 100% think cut-off will be lower than 2013, 2015 either will be a little bit lower or equal to 2014, but I reckon A+ cut off 87-92/110. That's just my prediction though!

& another thing; don't let a SS dictate your experience of a subject. I loved English, and still believe it was my strongest subject and I was incredibly disappointed when I got 42 for all the work I put in. However, my passion for English remains and wont be overshadowed by my SS. Neither should Bio if God-forbid you don't do as well as expected.That was my whole experience for VCE actually; my ATAR was  lower than I deserved and I was disappointed. But it's not going to dictate my ability or future Good luck guys!

just for reference 2014 was really easy A+ cut-off was 96/110

A+-cut-off predictions have been around 90 so that's a little bit of hope, thanks

Do you guys know anyone who was actually genuinely happy (and aiming for a high SS) coming out of that exam?

[Yacoubb]

just for reference 2014 was really easy A+ cut-off was 96/110

A+-cut-off predictions have been around 90 so that's a little bit of hope, thanks

Do you guys know anyone who was actually genuinely happy (and aiming for a high SS) coming out of that exam?

I have two strong students who admitted that there were several questions that were tricky. One of my students who LOVED evolution hated the amount of evolution covered in the exam, so not that I have heard of, no!

And wow! I didn't check grade distributions for last year - I totally reckon 2013 was a better exam than 2014 though. 2013 really reflected a good Biology student's knowledge on the exam. Many people who I know that sat 2014 felt ripped off.

[Sine]

I have two strong students who admitted that there were several questions that were tricky. One of my students who LOVED evolution hated the amount of evolution covered in the exam, so not that I have heard of, no!

And wow! I didn't check grade distributions for last year - I totally reckon 2013 was a better exam than 2014 though. 2013 really reflected a good Biology student's knowledge on the exam. Many people who I know that sat 2014 felt ripped off.

2014 was pretty much if you've done all the past vcaa exams you'd do well.

I know that you got 101/110 for your bio exam, did you check solutions and estimate an exam score?

[Yacoubb]

2014 was pretty much if you've done all the past vcaa exams you'd do well.

I know that you got 101/110 for your bio exam, did you check solutions and estimate an exam score?

I only checked multiple choice, and knew I'd scored 40/40 and stopped there. I didn't want to check short answer because I also had further maths exams and I didn't want to know if I had made mistakes on short answer for Bio because it would cloud my ability to study for further. I'm not one who likes to check answers lol!

[heids]

Do you guys know anyone who was actually genuinely happy (and aiming for a high SS) coming out of that exam?

So far haven't met anyone really happy with that exam.

It was hard, guys.  It was hard.  Yacoubb is 100% correct.  If everyone finds it hard, then you won't have to score nearly as well to get the SS you were desiring.   You guys were looking for high SSes, and from watching your questions and answers, I can tell you it wasn't unfounded.  Believe in us - an SS is seriously compared with everyone else, and if everyone did bad like you (as I strongly imagine they would), you're still sitting in just the same place you were compared with everyone else.

Looking at many of those questions, I know I wouldn't have had a clue last year and would've got a much lower score on the exam than I did on the 2014 exam; even when trying it out myself yesterday, I couldn't answer all those questions closed-book-exam-conditions.

Basically, I want to say, don't focus on the marks you lost - chances are everyone else lost them too, and you're all right and tight as you were before the exam.  It's about how you sit compared with everyone else, and I highly doubt that AN's brains will suddenly have taken a hard hit while everyone else excelled.  I feel like repeating this a hundred times over, because it's seriously true and it hurts me to see you all so depressed!!!

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk stuff out... I'll be getting back to you all later today

(And yeah, imo 2014 was defs harder than 2013 which had the easiest MC imaginable, but 2015 harder than 2014)

[cosine]

I only checked multiple choice, and knew I'd scored 40/40 and stopped there. I didn't want to check short answer because I also had further maths exams and I didn't want to know if I had made mistakes on short answer for Bio because it would cloud my ability to study for further. I'm not one who likes to check answers lol!

so yacoubb you got 101/110 and were you rank 1 for the 47? the cut off was 93/110, so it doesnt work like if you get half the cut off, you get 45? im so desperate right now i should just study for spesh ...

[StupidProdigy]

With that question on recombinant gametes where you had to fill in the box. I only did BR br and left the two other boxes blank..would they accept that?

[Yacoubb]

so yacoubb you got 101/110 and were you rank 1 for the 47? the cut off was 93/110, so it doesnt work like if you get half the cut off, you get 45? im so desperate right now i should just study for spesh ...

I know a friend who got 45 in Bio my year and scored 97 or 98 (I forget exactly). So I guess that's around the half-way mark. I was actually annoyed because when I got back my results (statement of study score) I realised that I lost marks from one assessor more than the other. Like one assessor I think took off like 4 marks, and the other took off like 14 marks. It just goes to show - you don't kno and it depends a lot on who is marking your work. The crazy Bio lady who wants everyone to fail because she didn't get above 45 in Bio, or the relaxed guy correcting exams on his balcony in CBD. Luck.

[Yacoubb]

With that question on recombinant gametes where you had to fill in the box. I only did BR br and left the two other boxes blank..would they accept that?

I think you'd get part marks - given that 4 gametes are produced you'd had to have just shown 4 gametes (2 just repeated). I know it's such a stupid way of asking the question.