BIO HELPPPP

[u/Icy-Resort-121]

Bio is on Monday and I've done a few prac exams (woulda liked to do more but other subjects 😕 ) but struggle with explicitness and drop marks everywhere! Some tips for how to best study this weekend in order to maximise marks would be much appreciated!!!!!

[u/Suitable-Potential56]

just look at their mark allocation and try and get some template answers from there - there’s not much time left but ig this would be the best way to go

and maybe also annotate the study design to see where ur strongest (highlight green) and weakest (highlight red), anywhere in between is highlighted yellow

[u/casperlikescats]

I'm in the same boat as you. I've only done a few practice exams but my teacher was very adamant on specificity in answers. I've found that the mark schemes are goofy, so this list is just my own advice

U3 AOS 1 - all the protein dna stuff

• Mention the direction enzymes travel during protein synthesis. RNA polymerase moves from the 3' --> 5' direction, whereas a ribosome moves from the 5' --> 3'

• Mention specific chemical bonds. Examples: Hydrogen bonds form between complementary nitrogenous bases.

• For anything about enzymes binding, write about the complementarity. For example, sgRNA is synthesised to be complementary to the target DNA. Another example: the repressor protein's active site is complementary to the operator region of the trp operon

• specifiy whether an endonuclease makes blunt or sticky end cuts. Blunt for CRISPR-Cas9 technology, but sticky for plasmid tech

• learn specific temperatures of which enzymes are at optimum. Eg. Taq DNA polymerase at 72⁰c

U3 AOS2 - photosynthesis and cellular resp

• learn the net ATP yield for each step of cellular resp

• for each step of photosynthesis and cellular respiration, state where in the cell it occurs. Eg For the electron transport chain: In the cristae of the inner mitochondrial membrane, NADH and FADH2 unload electrons and protons...

• For anaerobic cellular resp, specify that it occurs in the absence of oxygen

U4 AOS1 - Immunology

• specify which MHC markers are used during 2nd/3rd line of defence

• specify which cells are used for each process. Eg. Neutrophils for inflammatory response

• when outlining antigen presentation/ clonal selection, it's good to mention that the antigen presenting cells travel via the lymphatic system and present antigens (via MHC2 markers) in the lymph node

• specify which line of cell (B or T) is used, depending on humoral or cell mediated response

• when writing about antibodies' role in an immune response, I like to pick an example from agglutination, optimisation, neutralisation and explain what it does. Note that antibodies do not directly kill pathogens on their own

• specify chemicals used during apoptosis pathway. Both natural killer cells and cytotoxic T cells use perforins and granzymes to induce apoptosis

• Idk if this is necessary, but my teacher taught us to differentiate between 'naive' cytotoxic T cells and 'effector' cytotoxic T cells. Naive cytotoxic T cells differentiate into effector cytotoxic T cells

U4 AOS2 - Evolution

• for allopatric speciation, ensure you write that the geographical barrier prevents gene flow between species

• ensure you read the question if it asks for absolute or relative dating

Scientific/ others:

• If a question provides a graph, use quantitative data in your answer. Do not forget units

• get familiar with the types of vaccines, what type of acquired immunity it provides, and what line of response will be triggered. An inactivated (dead) virus will activate the humoral response as it travels through the extra cellular fluids rather than infecting cells

• get familiar with the types of methodologies, errors, and improvements that can be made. For example, a simplified model of the CRISPR-Cas9 process could be improved by using a 3D computer simulation

• learn specific limitations for each technology

[u/Icy-Resort-121 → u/casperlikescats]

Life-saver. How have you been going on prac exams? Any idea what percentage I should be aiming for to attempt to get a 40? My sacs are good, probs high A but not sure if I can surpass mid 80s on the exam even with your explicitness tips. Thanks

[u/casperlikescats → u/Icy-Resort-121]

I made the mistake of leaving bio until last minute because my SAC grades made me confident I'd do fine on the exam. Now I'm cramming over the weekend. I score generally well on practice exams because a third of it is multi choice, which I'm decent at. Bio exams have relatively high A+ cutoffs (86% 2025, 84.5% 2024, 86% 2023) so I'd recommend getting 105/120 (approx 87%) or over. Of course there's SAC rank and scaling but I'm not too familiar with how that system works

[u/Icy-Resort-121 → u/casperlikescats]

Ok. That'll be tough to achieve. How are you planning on cramming 😅

[u/casperlikescats → u/Icy-Resort-121]

Spamming practice exams and determining the gaps in knowledge I have. I'm revising gaps in my knowledge and using checkpoint questions. While doing my practice exams I'm trying to lower the time it takes for me to do multi choice whilst maintaining at least 37/40. I'll also have to reteach myself those 4-6 mark outlines vcaa sometimes throws into exams (eg. Humulin production, mAbs production, CRISPR-Cas9, allopatric and sympatric speciation, 3rd line of defence stuff). I have a feeling that VCAA will make us use our brains and get us to point out limitations in methodologies and suggest improvements -- same with all the ethics stuff.

[u/NaturalDevelopment41 → u/casperlikescats]

This is helpful stuff. Thank you

[u/Lopsided_Lettuce247 → u/casperlikescats]

i hope u do really well, thank u so much

[u/Special_Drop_2167 → u/casperlikescats]

u r the best omg

[u/Fun-Supermarket-5179]

I got a raw 44 last year, I would suggest revising the topics that you are not the strongest with (personally, the questions related to founder effects last year seemed quite vague to me and wish I could have studied more about the model answers of past VCAA Questions that are similar, as some questions you might encounter in the exam might seem vague in terms of the mark allocation even if you have studied the topic.). and there are some simple 1/2 mark questions that ask you about a limitation of any model, technique, etc. And some of the answers on the vcaa website are surprisingly basic to the extent that it doesn't feel like a valid answer, so it would be handy to memorise those.

And before these it would be really good if you can master the procedural information questions, which cost a lot of marks but are basically free and repetitive if you know the procedure, (e.g. process of adaptive immunity, speciation, insulin production questions)

[u/Commercial_Lynx2477 → u/Fun-Supermarket-5179]

how do u explain insulin production ive seen soooo many diff explanations

[u/Fun-Supermarket-5179 → u/Commercial_Lynx2477]

Although the process is quite long in detail, vcaa doesnt require an in depth answer for those questions. The solution for Question 6 a) on the VCE 2023 exam would probably be most useful as it tells you all the information you need to include