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Exam Tips - read these and DO WHAT THEY SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

In all exams........

  • read the question carefully - answer the question set NOT the question you wish had been set
  • The little number thingy at the end of the question means something. If it is a 2 and you answer comprises one word it is going to have to be one Zidane of a good word to be worth two marks - mentally mark your answer - do you award yourself a mental tick for each mark available?
  • read over your answers and the questions at the end
    • ask yourself.........
      • "have I answered the question set?"
      • "can I improve my answers (possibly in the light of other questions on the paper)?"

In Biology exams........

general advice

  • DO NOT re-write the question verbatim - this is NEVER worth any marks and will only waste time
  • If there is something which is "obvious" but which is not explicit in the question - state it. For example........

Describe how this experiment could be modified to determine the effect of enzyme concentration on the activity of urease (4)

You may think it is "obvious" that the modified experiment will consider the effect of using a range of enzyme concentrations and that this is implicit in the question. Well, it is implicit, so, if you make it explicit by stating it, you will get a mark.

  • Don't ignore the easy marks in favour of the harder ones. For example.....

Describe what is meant by the semi-conservative replication of DNA (4)

Some students faced with this question may consider the meaning of replication to be "obvious" and would concentrate on explaining semi-conservative.

But the following marks were available: 

        copying DNA [1 mark]

        making identical copies [1 mark]

So half of the marks were for a very simple definition of replication

  • On a similar theme - many questions which look difficult initially can be answered by reference back to the fundamental material you learned at the beginning of the course

REMEMBER: large surface area and diffusion are the answer to an awful lot of questions. I can think of one exam paper where, correctly used, the word "diffusion" is worth 4 marks out of 70 or 6%

 

Experiment Questions

You are often asked to describe what is shown in a graph. This question is not asking you to explain what is happening but merely to say what you see:

  • describe the trends (increasing, decreasing etc)
  • if there are numbers on the graph - use them (between time 0 and 10 seconds the value increases from 8cm3 to 23cm3. In this case it may be possible to get a second mark for calculating the rate of increase which is 1.5cm3s-1)

When a question describes an experiment and asks you to modify it to test another factor - you are being asked to show that you will keep as many variables constant as possible while changing one, and only one, of them. The following are all variables that may be considered:

  • pH (i.e. state the need for a buffer)
  • temperature
  • volume
  • time
  • concentrations of reactants

Essay Questions

Essays are worth 10 marks so you need 10 mental ticks. LIST THESE AT THE BEGINNING then write the essay. If you are running out of time add any that you haven't yet incorporated as bullet points

 

 

 

 

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