Biology

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A S S E S S M E N T R E P O R T

Science Learning Area

BIOLOGY 2005 ASSESSMENT REPORT

GENERAL COMMENTS
Student achievement in the 2005 Biology exam was similar to the results achieved in 2004. The mean score for the 2005 examination was 56.7 %, which compares with previous means of 59.8% (2004), 59.4 % (2003), 57.7 % (2002), 54.2 % (2001) and 53.7% (2000). The range of examination marks was from 4 to 188 out of a possible 200. The mean marks for Sections A, B, C, and D were 65.2 %, 54.0%, 66.9 %, and 44.9 % respectively.

SECTION A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Twenty six students scored full marks in Section A. The mean of facilities and range of facilities for the each of the last five years are shown below. The facility for a question is the percentage of students who gave the correct response. Year 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Mean (%) 65.2 71.2 62.4 59.4 56.1 57.9 Range (%) 27 to 89 24 to 90 26 to 86 20 to 86 32 to 83 24 to 95

It is the intention of the examination setters to produce multiple-choice questions that vary in difficulty from easy knowledge through to difficult knowledge and problem solving. This variation in question difficulty is reflected in the range in the question facility as seen in the table above. Most questions are also intentionally discriminating so that, ideally, poorer students are likely to choose the four responses with equal frequency, whereas more capable students will show a distinct preference for the correct response. Data from the 2004 multiple-choice questions show that the top ten percent of the students preferred the correct response for every question, whilst the bottom ten percent of students preferred the correct answers only for questions 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 24.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE ANALYSIS
The table below indicates the percentage of responses for each of the questions in Section A . Question Percentage of Responses for Each Alternative J 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 9 27 21 6 15 25 71 2 79 17 29 13 6 83 10 12 4 15 34 1 3 82 10 3 8 K 7 50 6 77 5 7 10 3 7 68 19 18 80 2 6 12 83 54 46 9 6 6 30 89 5 L 71 13 67 8 23 4 14 25 8 10 7 34 5 7 77 65 7 14 12 14 85 6 17 2 54 M 12 10 6 10 57 65 5 70 6 4 45 34 8 8 7 11 6 16 7 75 6 7 44 5 33

COMMENTS ON SELECTED MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS Question 2 This was the most poorly done question in Section A. While most students identified the shape of receptors on the bacteria as essential for clumping to occur, only 27% of students recognised that mutations in the bacterial DNA could alter the shape of the receptor and hence affect clumping. Question 11 This question tested the understanding of the cell cycle. Almost half the students incorrectly believed that all cells continue to divide. Less than a third of students identified that mitosis would be blocked before mitosis began. Question 12 In this data-analysis question, one third of students from all deciles incorrectly identified answer L. This would indicate many students misread the question and identified the most consistent rather than the inconsistent statement. Question 19 While 80% of students identified fatty acids as components of lipids, a significant minority were unable to recall that lipids are transported via the lymph vessels in the villi. Question 23 The majority of students were able to identify most of the characteristics of R and K selected species. Less able students believed that K selected species characteristically produced many offspring throughout their lifetime. Question 25 The majority of students identified that Set 1 was less accurate than Set 2. However, only the more capable students were able to identify the greater scatter in Set 2, reducing the precision of the results for that set of data.

SECTION B: SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

In general, 2 marks are allocated for one well-expressed piece of information. Questions that require an explanation are worth 4 marks and therefore, in order to obtain full marks, students must supply 2 relevant and connected pieces of information. The mean mark for Section B was 52.9%. As with Section A, the examination setters aim to produce short-answer questions that vary in difficulty from easy knowledge through to difficult knowledge and problem solving. The mean mark for each question is shown in the table below.

Question 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Mean Mark/Maximum Mark 4.7/8 5.6/10 5.5/10 6.5/12 6.6/12 3.6/8 3.3/8 2.8/6 2.7/6 6.1/10 3.9/6 2.8/4

Mean Mark (%) 59.1 55.8 54.8 54.2 55.3 45.3 40.8 46.1 45.7 60.8 64.4 69.3

GENERAL COMMENTS Many students fail to gain marks as a result of misinterpretation of questions. Students are encouraged to read questions carefully so their responses are relevant to the question asked. Many students ignore the instruction to give one fact or reason and give multiple answers. Students are reminded that in this circumstance any single wrong answer will lose the students all relevant marks. A number of students rewrite or paraphrase the question. There are no marks for this and valuable examination time is wasted through this practice. Many students are sloppy in their use of biological language. Students who do not use curriculum terminology correctly will be penalised.

Question 26 (a) A surprising number of students were unable to draw a suitable graph. Some graphs showed no increase in activation energy, while others altered the line for the reactants and products. (b) The majority of students were able to explain activation energy. However, some answers were vague or implied that the activation energy was the energy needed for the whole reaction. (c) Weaker students often achieved part marks by recognising that the enzyme lowered the activation energy. Better answers referred to the enzyme inducing strain in the bonds of the substrate molecules strain or aligning reactants to increase the rate of reaction. Generally students handled this question well, using the term denature appropriately. However, a significant minority of weaker students used a variety of other inappropriate terms including describing proteins as dying, being destroyed, exploding or mutating.

Students are reminded that correct use of terminology is critical to success in the examination. Question 27 (a) (i) Most students were able to link the DNA bands to greater similarity in DNA between parents and offspring; however, weaker students failed to explain what should be looked for when comparing DNA bands. (ii) Most students correctly identified father 9. (b) (i) Many students were able to state that PCR needs high temperatures to separate DNA strands and that bacterial enzymes would not denature at high temperatures. Weaker students often believed that whole cells, rather than extracted enzymes, were used in the process. (ii) This question was poorly answered. Only a small minority of students interpreted the question correctly and identified the universality of DNA as the reason why bacterial enzymes function on DNA from any species. (iii) Only a minority of students correctly identified the role of the primer in determining the start of the segment of DNA being copied. Many students confused the primer with probes. Question 28 (a) Few students received full marks for this question. Some students correctly identified the relevant evidence but were unable to explain its significance. The best answers identified the need for carbon dioxide when glucose was not present as the key piece of evidence and explained that carbon dioxide was necessary for photosynthesis to produce the glucose needed for respiration and hence survival. Students are advised that where multiple answers are given to one question an incorrect statement will be penalised. (b) Students were generally able to answer this question successfully. However, weaker answers failed to link increased photosynthesis with increased glucose production. (c) A surprising number of students could not offer a specific result to indicate increased photosynthesis. Better answers identified higher concentrations of oxygen or glucose produced by cells with more of the chemical. Question 29 (a) Most students identified the consequences of mitotic division. However, a significant minority failed to recognise that the daughter cells were genetically identical and so failed to gain full marks. (b) While most students had some concept of the requirements for cell culture, many responses were poorly expressed. Many weaker students referred to constant temperature and pH without qualification. More able students qualified the factors (e.g., normal human body temperature). (c) Most students were able to identify the uncontrolled cell division of cancer cells as the relevant factor in inducing cell division in the hybridoma cells.

(d) Most students were able to identify that the lack of variation would adversely affect the plant population if there were an environmental change. A weakness in many responses was to specify that the environmental change must be detrimental. Question 30 (a) Most students were able to successfully draw the next stage of mitosis. Common errors involved not shading any chromosomes or showing all chromosomes as the same size. (b) Few students correctly identified structures such as the spindle or linear chromosomes, which indicated that this cell was eukaryotic. Many weaker responses stated that the cell was undergoing mitosis but did not specify the evidence that led to this conclusion. A significant number of students identified features of eukaryotic cells not evident in the diagram and hence worth no marks (e.g., membrane-bound organelles or a nucleus.) (c) Generally well answered. Students are reminded that misspelling of curriculum statement terms such as cytoskeleton is penalised. (d) (i) Most students correctly identified autumn as the season when meiosis occurred. (ii) Answers to this question varied greatly in quality of expression. The best answers identified that the fertilised eggs produced in autumn were the result of sexual reproduction and hence showed variation, hence offspring produced asexually from different eggs would show genetic variation. Weaker responses confused meiosis and sexual reproduction. Question 31 (a) Generally students were able to correctly identify exocytosis. A significant minority of students were penalised for incorrect spelling of this curriculum statement term. (b) While students showed an understanding of the structure of the cell membrane, very few students correctly identified the fluidity of the membrane as the key feature for fusion of vesicles. (c) Students were generally able to describe the process of how a change in DNA altered a change in the milk proteins produced. Question 32 This was the most poorly answered question in Section B. (a) Students needed to recognise the process occurring between M and N as fermentation in yeast cells and then write a balanced equation using correct chemical formulae. Many were unable to do this. (b) This problem-solving question required students to understand that aerobic respiration releases more energy than fermentation. (c) Many students did not seem to understand that the energy released from respiration enables a synthesis reaction to occur between ADP and P to form ATP. There is a common misconception that ATP forms directly from glucose.

Question 33 (a) Almost all students were able to use the information in the table to correctly state the relationship between body mass and metabolic rate. (b) Only the better students were able to relate the small size of the mouse to its large surface area to volume ratio, and consequently its rapid rate of heat loss. It was more commonly known that a higher metabolic rate would result in a higher rate of heat production. Question 34 (a) General answers received very little credit. Students were required to be specific about how the structural features of the nephron increased the rate of reabsorption. While many students identified length of tubules increasing the surface area for exchange, surprisingly few were able to identify thinness of the walls as affecting the distance for diffusion. (b) Many students did not appear to link blood pressure with filtration. Question 35 (a) Most answers correctly suggested inter-specific competition for resources. Other answers were also possible. (b) Almost all students were able to produce a table of some form. Marks were lost for inaccuracies (it was commonly believed that rocky outcrops are a type of plant!) and for lack of sufficient detail. (c) As with all 4-mark questions, students were required to connect two well-made points in answering this question. Most could deduce that the environment on Island M was more similar to that of the mainland than Island L. Only the better answers went on to relate this to selective pressures and the consequent effect on the gene pool of the birds. Common misconceptions were that natural selection would not happen on M, and that speciation would occur on L because other birds were present and interbreeding between species might occur! Question 36 (a) Most students were able to correctly state a relevant abiotic factor. (b) It was widely known that the stores of starch would eventually be depleted. Better answers also related the lack of leaves to a reduction in the rate of photosynthesis and the subsequent effect on starch reserves. Question 37 This was the most successfully answered question in Section B. (a) Whilst this question was generally well done many students attempted to explain the reasons for the relationship rather than simply describing it. Students often confused plant species with plants. (b) Most correctly stated a further decrease in diversity.

SECTION C: PRACTICAL QUESTION

Question 38 (a) (i) Most students were able to write a testable statement linking pH to the rate of the enzyme-catalysed reaction. (ii) Answers to this question revealed a range of misconceptions. The most frequent answer was that reducing the effect of random errors increased the accuracy of the data. This answer received only partial credit. The accuracy of an experimental value indicates how close the value is to the true value and depends on the extent to which systematic errors are minimised. (b) (i) Most students understood the importance of only having one independent variable in a well-designed experiment. (ii) The majority of students correctly stated substrate concentration as the independent variable. (iii) It is important that students answer the question they are asked. Students were required to describe the pattern of the results, not to explain it. To gain full marks students were required to correctly describe what happened to the rate of reaction as the substrate concentration was initially increased and then as the concentration continued to increase. Many students referred to the plateau in the graph, and used a variety of spellings of the word to do so. (iv) It was generally known that a lower temperature would decrease the initial rate of reaction. However, many students thought that the rates of the reactions at different temperatures would eventually be the same. (c) (i) To gain full marks students were required to correctly select and label axes, use scales that covered most of each axis, correctly plot the data points, and to draw a line of best fit through the points. A common mistake was to extrapolate the line of best fit back to zero. (ii) Students seemed to have a vague knowledge that systematic errors usually affect all of the results in a consistent manner, but were not always able to indicate clearly how this would impact on the pattern of results.

SECTION D: EXTENDED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Each extended-response question is marked out of 15, with 12 marks being allocated for content (each well-made point is worth 2 marks) and 3 marks for communication. Question 39 had two content parts, with each part being marked out of six, whilst question 40 had three content parts, with each part being marked out of four. In awarding a communication mark the following factors were taken into account: Is the response at least half a page in length and is it structured in the form of sentences and paragraphs? Does the response contain correct grammar and spelling? Does the response clearly explain concepts using relevant and concise biological language?

Students should be able to fully answer an extended-response question in about one page of writing. It is unnecessary for students to re-write the question or to provide an introduction to their response. Both of these practices are time wasting and receive no credit, and may even result in a reduction in the communication mark. Students continue to have difficulty expressing their ideas in a clear and well-organised manner. Question 39 Most students showed a good understanding of the steps involved in the genetic engineering of bacterial cells. However, many students failed to refer to the use of probes to locate the genes involved and so failed to obtain full marks. Many students had difficulty in successfully addressing the second dot point. To obtain full marks for this section, students needed to make three points including at least one point addressing the advantages of lifestyle change and one point addressing the advantages of genetic engineering. Most students successfully made two points. Common arguments made for the benefits of genetic engineering referred to effort, availability, and the lack of harm to animals. Some students misinterpreted the question and described benefits of genetic manipulation of humans to prevent disease, but these answers did not address the question and so failed to gain any marks. A large number of students described in detail the changes in lifestyle that would decrease the risk of acquiring lifestyle related diseases. However, they failed to state the advantages of changes in controlling disease and so did not gain marks. Question 40 Many students continued to show a poor understanding of the process of succession. In addressing the first dot point many students referred to the fire as a selective agent, but failed to specify particular changes in the environment that would alter the plant community. Better responses identified the change in light intensity or nutrient concentration and the reduced competition as key factors in the difference in the community after the fire. Some students misinterpreted the first dot point and discussed the process of succession, which was not relevant. While some students were successfully able to describe the process of succession a significant number confused this concept with the concept of natural selection. Some students failed to gain marks because they described animal succession rather than plant succession as required. The better responses focused on colonising organisms changing conditions, thus suiting the establishment of other species; these new species further changed conditions so that the colonisers were no longer able to survive. The better students were also able to use a variety of examples to support their explanation. Few students were able successfully to address the third dot point. Many students wrote detailed definitions of biodiversity, but these descriptions did not address the question and so earned no marks. The better responses usually explained how interrelationships between species ensured the stability of the ecosystem, and how biodiversity in the ecosystem can survive environmental change.

Chief Examiner Biology

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