Contents

About School-based Assessment (SBA)

Weighting of SBA in the HKDSE 2
Assessment areas on SBA 2

Basic experimental techniques

Making a temporary mount 4
Free-hand sectioning 5
Microscopic examination 6
Using a pipette 7

Skills in performing scientific investigations

Making observations 8
Asking a question 8
Proposing a hypothesis 9
Making a prediction 9
Doing experiments 10
Drawing a conclusion 11

Skills in writing laboratory reports

Functions of a laboratory report 12
Organization of a laboratory report 12
 About School-based Assessment (SBA)
School-based assessment (SBA) is an important component of the HKDSE
Biology and Combined Science (Biology). This booklet aims to help students
better prepare for it.

A Weighting of SBA in the HKDSE

The table below shows the weighting of SBA and the public examination in the
HKDSE Biology and Combined Science (Biology):

Weighting
Component of the HKDSE Combined Science
Biology
(Biology)

Public Paper 1 Compulsory part 60% 40%

examination Paper 2 Elective part 20% —

SBA 20% 10%

B Assessment areas on SBA

The SBA consists of two components: assessment of (1) practical related tasks
and (2) non-practical related tasks. Students will be assessed by their teachers
on their performance in different skills involved in these two tasks:

1 Practical related tasks

Practical related tasks include all laboratory work and fieldwork. Students will be
required to carry out practical work including scientific investigations. Two
ability areas (A and B) will be assessed.

i Ability area A
This area assesses the students’ ability in organizing and performing practical
work, including the use of suitable apparatus and equipment, and the
appropriate skills in carrying out the work. Students are required to make
accurate observations and measurements.

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 About School-based Assessment (SBA)

ii Ability area B
This area assesses the students’ ability in presenting the investigation in
written form. Students should be able to:
• identify the problem to be investigated and to formulate a hypothesis, where
applicable
• devise a plan of investigation according to the problem identified
• record and present results in an appropriate form
• interpret and discuss results, and draw appropriate conclusions
The table below summarises the percentage weighting and the minimum
number of assessments required in S5 and S6 for the different areas of the SBA:

Practical related task

Subject Biology Combined Science (Biology)

Ability area A B A B

Weighting in subject 8% 12% 4% 6%

Minimum S5 1 1
number of 1 1
assessments S6 1 1

2 Non-practical related tasks

Non-practical related tasks are assignments which are considered to be part of
the learning activities provided to students. Examples of such tasks include:
• information searching and report writing
• survey studies
• field-studies or site-visit reports
• designing posters / pamphlets / webpages
• writing articles
• building models or developing multimedia artefacts
Starting from the 2014 HKDSE, students will be assessed on both the practical
and non-practical related tasks in the SBA. The SBA marks for practical related
tasks will constitute 14% of the final subject mark (Combined Science: 7%), and
those for non-practical related tasks will constitute 6% of the final subject mark
(Combined Science: 3%).

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 Basic experimental techniques
A Making a temporary mount
Making a temporary mount is the first step to prepare a specimen for
microscopic examination. Steps of making a temporary mount are shown below:
1 Place the specimen in the middle 2 Add 1 to 2 drops of water or stain
of a slide. to the specimen.

water or stain
(as mounting medium)
specimen

slide

3 Let the edge of a cover slip touch 4 Use a pair of forceps to lower the
the mounting medium. cover slip slowly and cover the
specimen.

cover slip

mounting
medium

5 Soak up excess mounting medium 6 The slide is ready for examination.

with tissue paper.

tissue
paper

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 Basic experimental techniques

B Free-hand sectioning
Free-hand sectioning is the simplest method to prepare a thin section for a
temporary mount. Steps of free-hand sectioning are shown below:
1 Moisten both the razor blade and 2 Hold the specimen at finger tips.
specimen. Rest the razor blade on the tip of
your forefinger. Adjust the
position of the forefinger to
control the thickness of the
section.

specimen razor blade

Petri dish
water

3 Cut the specimen by sliding the
razor blade smoothly towards
yourself. Repeat the steps a few
times to prepare a number of
sections.
4 Put all the sections into a Petri
dish of water. Use a small
painting brush to select the
thinnest section for examination.

painting brush

sections

water

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Practical Skills Book

C Microscopic examination
1 Place the microscope on the bench
with good illumination. Rotate the
low power objective (e.g. 4X) into
position.
2 Look through the eyepiece. Adjust
the angle of the mirror to reflect
light towards the stage.

3 Adjust the condenser and the
diaphragm until the light is
sufficient and even.
4 Clip a prepared slide on the stage.
Watch the stage from the side and
lower the body tube by using the
coarse adjustment knob until the
objective nearly touches the slide.

5 Look through the eyepiece again. 6 Turn the fine adjustment knob
Slowly raise the body tube using until the image is in focus.
the coarse adjustment knob until
the image of the specimen
becomes clear.

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 Basic experimental techniques

D Using a pipette
1 Rinse the pipette with distilled 2 Insert the pipette filler into the
water followed by the solution to pipette. Squeeze the pipette filler.
be transferred. Use another hand to hold the
pipette.
distilled pipette
pipette water filler

3 Insert the pipette into the liquid to
be transferred. Release the filler
slowly until the pipette is filled to
about 2 cm above the graduation
mark.
4 Remove the pipette filler. Cover
the mouth of the pipette by your
forefinger.

graduation
mark

liquid to be
transferred

5 Release your finger to control the 6 Transfer the solution to another

flow until the meniscus of the container, say a conical flask.
solution sits on the graduation Release the solution. Touch the tip
mark. of pipette against the side of the
graduation
mark
flask to release the last drop of
solution.

conical flask
liquid to be
transferred

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 Skills in performing scientific investigations
Biology is a branch of science. Scientists study the natural world using scientific
methods (科學方法).

A Making observations
Scientists are curious about things in nature. They look carefully at the things
that they are interested in.

Example

Peter bought some bread. He left it in a dark place and forgot to eat it. After four days, he
found some bread mould growing on the bread surface.

Oh, some bread mould grew

on the bread surface!

B Asking a question
Scientists often ask questions about the observations they make. Asking the right
question is very important because the question determines what will be
investigated.

How does light affect the growth of

bread mould on bread? Will the bread
mould grow normally without light?

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 Skills in performing scientific investigations

C Proposing a hypothesis
When scientists have a well-defined question in mind, they will suggest a
reasonable answer to the question. This answer which tries to explain what is
observed is called a hypothesis (假說). The hypothesis must lead to a
prediction (預測) that can be tested.

I think that bread mould grows normally

without light. It is because organisms with
chlorophyll need light to survive but bread
mould does not have chlorophyll.

D Making a prediction
Based on the hypothesis, scientists guess what the expected observation will be if
the hypothesis is correct.

I guess that bread mould will not

grow in the presence of light.

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Practical Skills Book

E Doing experiments
The next step is to test the hypothesis by doing experiments.

1 Designing set-ups
In an experiment, an experimental set-up and a control (對照) set-up are usually
prepared. The control set-up is identical to the experimental set-up, except that
the factor under investigation is absent. This ensures that the result of the
experiment is only due to the factor under investigation.
The factors that have an effect on an experiment are called variables (變項).
There are three types of variables:

Variable Definition

Independent variable The factor that you change.

Dependent variable The factor that you measure.

Controlled variables The factors that you keep constant during the experiment.

Example

Here are the set-ups of Peter’s experiment:

light light

bread bread

light-proof box transparent box

Set-up A Set-up B

Set-up A is the experimental set-up while

set-up B is the control set-up. Light is
independent variable. The growth of bread
mould is dependent variable. Humidity,
size and type of bread, etc are the
controlled variables.

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 Skills in performing scientific investigations

2 Collecting data
Apart from preparing the set-ups, it is necessary to collect the experimental
results.

Example

Peter put a transparency with a

transparency
grid onto the bread and count with a grid
the number of squares with bread bread
mould.
bread
mould

The number of squares with

bread mould is 14.

When designing your experiment, think about ways to obtain a more reliable
result. You may include more samples or repeat the experiment to verify your
results.

F Drawing a conclusion
If the results of the experiment match the prediction, the hypothesis is
supported. A conclusion (結論) can then be drawn. The hypothesis may become
a theory (理論) with increased evidence and acceptance in the scientific
community. However, a theory can be overturned when new evidence appears.
If the results do not match the prediction, the hypothesis may be revised or
tested again.
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 Skills in writing laboratory reports
A Functions of a laboratory report
After performing an investigation, you should write a laboratory report to share
what you have done and what you have discovered with other people.

B Organization of a laboratory report

A laboratory report usually includes the following:

1 Date

2 Title
It indicates the broad purpose of the experiment.

Example

Investigation of the effect of light on the growth of bread mould on bread

3 Objective
It gives the precise objective of the experiment.

Example

To find out whether light affects the growth of bread mould on bread.

4 Hypothesis
As discussed before, the hypothesis must lead to a prediction that can be tested.
However, hypotheses are not needed in investigations which do not require the
explanation of observations.

Example

Bread mould grows normally without light.

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 Skills in writing laboratory reports

5 Procedure
This is an account of what you have done during the investigation. It should be
concise, precise and presented logically. A good laboratory report should allow
others to repeat exactly what you have done after following the procedure in the
report. Note the following when writing the procedure:

a Write in reported speech, i.e. past passive voice.

b Number the steps, rather than describing all the steps in a single
paragraph.
c State the quantities of the apparatus and the materials used.
d Use diagrams or tables whenever appropriate. Titles must be given to
the diagrams and tables.
e Do not repeat the details of a step when the step is just repeated with
different kinds / amounts of materials.
f State the assumptions clearly if any biological principles are applied to
the design of the investigation.

6 Results
A good presentation of the experimental results helps interpret the results. There
are different ways to present the results.

i Drawing biological diagrams

It is useful to record the examination of biological specimens in diagrams. Note
the following when drawing biological diagrams:

a Use a sharp HB pencil. Never draw in pen.

b Draw large diagrams, occupying about two-third of an A4 paper.
c Draw with smooth single lines. Keep all parts in proportion.
d Do not shade your diagrams. If you need to show the contrast, you may
only use dots. The denser the dots are, the deeper is the colour.
e Draw ‘freehand’, do not use a ruler or a pair of compasses.
f Draw what you see from the specimen. Do not copy from books.

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Practical Skills Book

g Label different parts of the drawing. Put the labels by the sides, using
labelling lines. Labelling lines should be straight, horizontal and should
not cross each other.
h Give each diagram an underlined title. Put the title at the bottom of the
drawing.
i State how the section is cut if you are drawing a cut surface of a
specimen, such as longitudinal section (L.S.) or transverse section (T.S.).
j State the direction of view if you are drawing a whole specimen, such as
dorsal, ventral or lateral view.
k For microscopic drawing,
(1) only outlines of structures are drawn in low power drawings. No
need to draw individual cell.
(2) draw cells individually in high power drawings. Draw the details of
cells.
(3) write down the power of magnification. The power of magnification
should be proportional to the size of the real specimen.

epidermis

cortex

phloem
xylem

Dicotyledonous plant root T.S. (×20)

companion
cell

sieve tube

vessel
element

Vascular tissue of a dicotyledonous plant root T.S. (×400)

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 Skills in writing laboratory reports

ii Drawing tables
Tables are the primary organization of data. The data of both the independent
and dependent variables can be clearly put side by side for easy comparison.
A title should also be given to the table.

Example

Table 1: The growth of bread mould on bread in different conditions

Condition Number of squares with mould

Without light 15

With light 14

Note that the units of the variables must be correctly stated in the heading of
each column. If measurements are repeated, the raw data of each measurement
should also be presented rather than showing the mean value only.

iii Drawing graphs

This can be considered as the secondary organization of data. It is important for
showing the trends of the results. Note the following when drawing graphs:

a Select the right type of graph. Line graphs and histograms are
commonly used for continuous variables while bar charts are used for
variables in categories.
Rate of photosynthesis in
Effect of light intensity different species of plant
on the rate of photosynthesis under the same light intensity
rate of photosynthesis
rate of photosynthesis
(cm3 / min)

(cm3 / min)

light intensity (arbitrary unit) plant A plant B plant C plant D

Line graph Bar chart

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Practical Skills Book

b Select a suitable axis for each set of data.

c Use the x-axis to denote the conditions (independent variable), e.g. light
intensity, and use the y-axis to illustrate the experimental results
(dependent variable), e.g. the rate of photosynthesis.
d Choose a suitable scale which is easy to use and make full use of the
graph paper.
e Label each axis clearly and show the units.
f Plot each point with a sharp pencil as a small cross or a dot surrounded
by a small circle.
g Join the points. In most cases, the points should be joined by short
straight lines to show that you are not biased in the presentation of data.
In some cases, the points may be joined by the best fit smooth curve or
straight line. These include a gradual variation of one quantity with the
other obtained by many repeated experiments; or the graph is used to
predict an unknown value.

Effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis

rate of photosynthesis (cm3 / min)

0 light intensity (arbitrary unit)

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 Skills in writing laboratory reports

h If two or more lines are to be drawn on the same graph, you should
distinguish the two sets of data by using different symbols and label the
lines clearly.
i Give a correct title to the graph.

7 Discussion
In this part, you are required to evaluate how valid the experiment is. You should
be able to recognize trends and patterns in the data and compare them with the
expected results. Note the following when writing the discussion:

a Show an awareness of the limitations of the methods used, sources of

errors and their influence on the accuracy of the results obtained. DO
NOT just give a long list of possible sources of errors without discussing
their possible effects on the results.
b Consider any unusual observations and assess their significance.
Compare your results with standard sources or even those obtained by
your classmates if necessary.
c Suggest possible explanations if unexpected results are obtained.
d Give suggestions for improvement in technique and for further
investigations where appropriate. Write down new hypotheses and ways
of carrying out further investigations, if any.

8 Conclusion
This part may be included if there is a clear-cut verification of the stated aim or
hypothesis. You should not give further explanations, which are not tested by the
experiment.

Example

Light does not affect the growth of bread mould.

If the results contradict with the prediction and no conclusion can be drawn, or
the results are so inaccurate or unreliable that drawing conclusion seems to be
inappropriate, just state so.

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Practical Skills Book

The following is the laboratory report written by Peter about the effect of light on
the growth of bread mould on bread. Suppose you are the teacher, point out the
mistakes as far as possible.

Name: Peter Chan Class: 4A

Date: 27-2-2009 Class no.: 1

Title
Investigation on the growth of bread mould on bread under different
conditions Only the effect
of light was
studied in this
Objective experiment.

To study the growth of bread mould on bread under different conditions.

Hypothesis This hypothesis is too general. As only bread mould was

studied, the hypothesis should not apply to all fungi. The
Light is harmful to fungi. meaning of the word ‘harmful’ is unclear too.
1) Steps should be
numbered.
2) Reported speech
Procedure
should be used.
I put a piece of bread into two different boxes. One of the boxes is a light-
proof box and the other is a transparent box. I put the set-ups under
light. After some time, I recorded the growth of bread mould on the two
pieces of bread.

3) T he duration of the experiment was not clearly stated.

4) No precautions and assumptions are mentioned.

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 Skills in writing laboratory reports

Results 1) A title should be given to

the drawings.
The following are the results of the experiment: 2) Labels should be used
instead of shading.

The units should be put in

A title should be the heading of the column,
given to the table. not in the boxes.

Condition Size of bread mould

The units are
Without light 20 cm incorrect.

With light 1 cm

The unit is missing. A title should be

given to the graph.

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Size of bread mould

A bar chart should be used instead of a

line graph. In fact, the function of a graph
is not obvious in this experiment.

10

Without light With light

x-axis should be labelled.

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Practical Skills Book

3) The reason for the judgment of the accuracy

1) ‘the ultra-violet light in the light can kill the spores
of the bread mould’ is a new hypothesis, not a fact.
2) Possible further tests should be suggested to test
this hypothesis, e.g. designing ways to block the
ultra-violet light in the light and carry out a similar
investigation again.
and reliability of the experimental result is
incorrect. As the method of measuring the
area is not explained, we cannot judge how
accurate the measurement is.
4) Similarly, as only one measurement is taken,
we cannot say that the results are reliable.
Thus, this report lacks a critical analysis of the
data obtained.

Discussion
Much less bread mould grew on the piece of bread under light, showing
that light can inhibit the growth of bread mould. This is because the
ultra-violet light in the light can kill the spores of the bread mould.
As the difference in areas in the two set-up is large, the results are
accurate and reliable.

Conclusion
Light can prevent the growth of fungi because the ultra-violet light can kill
the spores of the fungi.

The conclusion is over generalized (applying the finding

to all fungi) and contains irrelevant explanation (the role
of ultra-violet light is a new hypothesis).

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