Our prediction for the 2011 A level H2 Bio Paper (2 & 3)

As promised previously, this is our prediction

(refer to: Analysis of past year papers and topics page)

Paper 2:

Cellular Functions

Areas to focus:

Too varied to predict but it is noted that 
Nuclear division (mitosis/meiosis) was not tested in 2010
Organelles (e.g. ER, GA, lysosome, etc), membrane sys & membrane not tested for some time
Biomol (e.g. collagen, triglyceride, phospholipid, starch, glycogen, cellulose) not tested for some time

Genetics of Viruses & Bacteria

Areas to focus: 

General features

Reproductive cycles of the 4 named viruses (outline / compare)

How viruses cause diseases in animals

Lac operon had been tested  but not trp operon (repressible sys)

Structural vs regulatory genes 

Binary fission 

Transduction, transformation, conjugation 

DNA & Genomics

Areas to focus: 

Outline transcription / mRNA processing / translation in euk genes 

(may overlap with control of gene expression)

Organization & Control of prok & euk genome 

Areas to focus:
Organization and struc of genomes (table of comparison) 
Control of euk gene expression (diff levels but esp transcriptional level)
Euk gene expression vs Prok gene expression
Multi-step dev of cancer with named examples (ras, p53 genes)

Genetics Basis for Variation (only STQ)

Areas to focus: 
Mendelian dihybrid crosses - 9:3:3:1
Epistasis or autosomal / sex linkage involving pedigree tree (genetic disease)
Co-dominance or multiple alleles
Describe how to determine a particular genotype of an organism throu breeding expt / crosses (refer to N08/5 and N09/4)
Chi square analysis


Physiology & Biochemistry
Areas to focus:
Explain the chemiosmotic theory
Outline or compare non-cyclic vs cyclic photophosphorylation
Diff factors affecting rate of photosyn (could also be tested as planning Q)
Chloroplast or mitochondrion - Relate struc to fn
Role of O2 / CO2 / pigments / ATP / NAD, NADP, FAD

Evolution

Areas to focus:
Forces of evolution - NS, genetic drift, mutation, gene flow (migration)
Sources of genetic variation for NS
Population - smallest unit of evolution
How genetic variation is preserved in natural pop 
Homologies that support theory of evolution by NS
Biogeography / fossil records
Outline or compare Darwin theory of NS vs Neutral theory 

Paper 3 

Isolating cloning sequencing DNA

Areas to focus 
S Blotting, RFLP analysis / application (i.e. disease detection, genome mapping, genetic fingerprint)

Stem cells / gene therapy 
Areas to focus 
Functions of named stem cells including diff potency (e.g. totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent)
Usefulness in gene therapy

Planning Question 

Not enough past yr Q to analyze
Note: Enzyme was tested in 2010

Remember - this is our prediction on the topics/areas that our students may choose to focus. Our predictions could be totally wrong and so it is your responsibility to cover ALL topics for the A level exams! 

We wish all of you the best for the A level exams! 

Bioitchy ;-)

Analysis of past year papers and topics

If you are taking the H2 A level exam this year, you need to revise every topic (duh..). However, nearer to the actual exam or the day before the paper, you may want to focus on certain topics or questions that you think have a higher chance of coming out. 

We did a detailed analysis of the past year papers and topics. If you will like to know more about our analysis, and our educated predictions in addition to your teachers', please refer to the respective page on the right hand column.

bioitchy ;-)

Removal of Question No and Year

To our pleasant surprise, more than 10% of the viewership are out of Singapore. To benefit our international readers, we have included the question for each answer.

However, we are not allowed to insert the exact A level questions (actually the year of paper and question no. too). Hence, we made the necessary changes. Singapore readers should be able to identify the exact questions from their TYS book. Easy cheesy!

bioitchy ;-)

Thanks for the Feedback!

Just want to thank my student for his valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement. In particular, I just tagged all my posts so that the reader (you) can view all my posts relating to a particular topic at one go.

He also suggested I do not 'over' abbreviate some of my terms. I guess I will have to strike a good balance so that you will not find my answer as long as those in the worked solution book. In that 5-10 min revision pockets, I want the reader to be able to focus on the most essential parts of the answer so here are some of my usual abbreviations:

adv (advantage/advantageous)

a/x (across)

b/w (between) 
conc (concentration)
cond (condition) 
cont (continuous)

dev (develop/development) 
det (determine)

disadv (disadvantage/disadvantageous)
e (electron) 
ETC (electron transport chain)
gp (group)
ind (individual)

membr (membrane) 
mitoch (mitochondrion)
no. (number)
PS (photosystem)
RE (restriction enz) 

rel (relative)
ref to (make reference to) 

ribo (ribosome)

surf (surface)
temp (temperature)
w (with)

w/n (within)

w/o (without)  

x/ref (cross reference to) 
- (absent)

+ (and)

etc... (this list will be expanded over time)

 bioitichy ;-)

JC Biology site by students

We chanced upon the above. As we scanned the blog, we found some good links but some links are broken. The answers of some schools' exam are online (we think there should be at least some changes and not wholesale copy and paste). While we are not completely impressed by the organization of the answers, we think it is an overall commendable effort by a group of (current or ex-) students. http://jc-biology.blogspot.com/

Here at Bioichiban, we are not students and we make sure the answers are accurate (even though we do not care much about the gramma, etc), organized and reader-friendly (including URLs that are not broken). This is because we want our own students and you to benefit each time you visit this blog for that 5 or 10min revision. We want to make a difference to your A level Biology revision.

If we are careless and there are some errors in terms of format or missing words, or if you do not understand some of our abbreviations or explanation, please tell us. We'll get back to you. Have a good academic journey!

                                                                                 Bioitchy ;-)

How to make use of the "Essay Answers - Main Points!"

If you find the detailed essay answers in the Worked Solution Book overwhelming, this is specially designed to 'ease the pain' :p

Our suggestion:

1) Get the overview of the answer by reading (aloud) the Key Ideas first. Memorize the highlighted parts. Visualize mentally using picture, photo, diagram, etc (it's extremely useful!)

2) Read (aloud) the main points. Visualize the main points mentally. 

3) Now, if you are at your desk, write down the key ideas and main points. If you are on the road, just verbalize (ok, you need not yell and look crazy. Just loud enough to hear yourself). In either case, if you need to refer to the answer, go ahead!

4) At home, read the detailed answer again. As you read, write down the main points. Again, if you forget some of the points, it doesn't matter. It gets better when you read through the main points in the future!

P.S. You must first understand the concepts or ideas as you read (check with your teacher/tutor/us if you don't). Don't memorize without understanding and don't memorize text mentally w/o any visual aid! Remember - visualize and verbalize. Use small pockets of time (e.g. while travelling or waiting) to view the blog. Many short 5-10min revision pockets (when added up) are more effective than an equivalent single 2-3h revision slot! From research studies, our personal experience, and observations, it works! (I'm sure you know yourself it is easier to focus for 10min at one time than a 2h stretch!)

bioitchy ;-)

Topic Cell Organelle: URL links to electron micrographs and drawings

For this topic, you should be able to identify the organelles based on their characteristic features. Since students tend to be confused over the following organelles, visit the URLs at least once and remember. 

Look out for the following in the organelles:
Nucleus - black spot(s) (nucleolus/nucleoli), (nuclear) pores may be visible at times 
rER - lots of black dots (ribosomes) on the surface of the organelle
sER- numerous tubular sacs
GA - a stack of flattened sacs with vesicles
Mitochondrion - infolding of membrane (cristae) w/n organelle
Chloroplast - stacks of membranes (grana) w/n organelle
Ribosomes - small dots suspended in the cytosol or attached to the ER (as rER)
(P.S. The above descriptions are for you to recognize and identify the organelles, and may not be suitable as exam answers. Refer to your notes for the correct descriptions of the characteristic structural features.)

Nucleus (including nucleolus and nuclear pore)

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Micrograph_of_a_cell_nucleus.png (nice electron micrograph showing at least one distinct nucleolus, you can also see a nuclear pore on the right; it is not a cell as the rER are clearly present)

2)https://www.biomedia.cellbiology.ubc.ca/cellbiol/user/scripts/qry_media_id.php?media_id=152 (electron micrograph of labelled nucleus and other organelles)

3) http://www.etap.org/demo/grade7_science/Image32.gif (a labelled diagram showing how the outer membrane of the nucleus continues to becomes the membrane of ER)

4)http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/cm1504/nucleus.htm (nice drawing; scroll down to view other organelles)

Mitochondrion

1)http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/File:Mito_pic_diagram.gif (nice electron micrograph and drawing)

(nice picture of drawing and electron micrograph)

2)http://www.bmb.leeds.ac.uk/illingworth/dance/mito.gif (nice labelled electron micrograph)

3)http://kvhs.nbed.nb.ca/gallant/biology/mitochondrion.jpg (note that circular DNA and 70S ribosomes are found in the matrix!)

Chloroplast

1)http://www.agri.huji.ac.il/~zacha/images/chloroplast.jpg (v clear and labelled electron micrograph)

2)http://media.photobucket.com/image/chloroplast+/akucic_biology/chloroplast.jpg

(close up of characteristic feature - grana linked by intergranal lamellae)

3)http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/images/ch9chloroplast.jpg (remember that chloroplasts are organelles in plant cells!)

4) http://www.biology-innovation.co.uk/pages/plant-biology-ecology/photosynthesis/

(a simple drawing but that site has a nice overview of the light and dark rx and animation)

http://year12biologyatsmc.wikispaces.com/Chloroplast

(chloroplasts in a plant specimen slide seen under a light microscope)

Rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum

1) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iii/cell-organization/membranous-cell-organelles.php#smooth-endoplasmic-reticulum

(a nice picture showing the characteristic numerous sac-like structures of sER; scroll down to view rER - note the difference!)

2) http://www.cytochemistry.net/cell-biology/ser.htm

(beautiful electron micrograph showing sER, rER and mitochondrion; by now you should be able to recognize the diff organelles!)

3)http://www.visualphotos.com/image/1x8466949/smooth_endoplasmic_reticulum_tem (a nice electron micrograph of sER beside a mitochondrion)

4) http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/cm1504/nucleus.htm

(scroll down - close up of rER and sER next to each other)

Golgi body (or apparatus)

1)http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?q=golgi+body&um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=HXxFrPH2ehvSPM:&imgrefurl=http://herricks.org/webpages/sglasser/resources.cfm%3Fsubpage%3D7140&docid=07_zhmab89m0eM&w=350&h=233&ei=zPxyTqycGc6JrAezz-2zCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=519&vpy=86&dur=2157&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=178&ty=130&page=7&tbnh=165&tbnw=220&start=48&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:48&biw=1024&bih=571

(electron micrograph of the characteristic GA; view the site once for other organelles)
2) http://www.cytochemistry.net/cell-biology/golgi.htm (drawing showing cis face of GA receiving vesicles pinched off from ER)

3)http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/cm1504/nucleus.htm (scroll down to see Golgi apparatus)

4) http://creationrevolution.com/2010/11/golgi-apparatus-steel-industry-of-the-simple-cell-%E2%80%93-part-6/ (shows the transport of a secretory protein from the rER to the Golgi body and secretion out of cell via exocytosis - good for revising the membrane system)

5) http://www.cytochemistry.net/cell-biology/golgi.htm

(nice drawing showing the fusion of vesicles to cis face and the forming of vesicles from the trans face of GA)

Lysosome

1)http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?q=Lysosome&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbm=isch&tbnid=zz5hhbHr82ntOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.stolaf.edu/people/giannini/cell/lys.htm&docid=O0i-Gy6I_gpU0M&w=500&h=479&ei=ggJzToXbFoWzrAeElO3WCg&zoom=1&biw=1024&bih=571&iact=rc&dur=328&page=4&tbnh=165&tbnw=172&start=24&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:24&tx=152&ty=75

(nice electron micrograph of a lysosome breaking down a mitochondrion)

2) http://apbio-werle.wikispaces.com/Cell+and+Cell+Transport+%28Ch+6-7%29 (scroll down to see the lysosome in action - digesting phagocytic vesicle and worn out organelle)
3) http://faculty.une.edu/com/abell/histo/Histolab4a.htm (scroll down to see lysosome; remember lysosome is made from GA)

Ribosome

1)http://bass.bio.uci.edu/~hudel/bs99a/lecture22/index.html (polyribosome / polysome; good to read the info once)

2) http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Medizin/Anatomie/workshop/EM/EMRibosomE.html (confusing? just know that ribosomes are so small they appear as dots on electron micrographs)

3)http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/cm1504/nucleus.htm (scroll down to view free and bound ribosomes)
4) http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2007/10/compositon-of-ribosomes.html?showComment=1192732380000

(shows composition of 70S and 80S ribosome; fyi only)

5)http://bass.bio.uci.edu/~hudel/bs99a/lecture21/index.html (polyribosome electron micrograph + diagram)

6)http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/ribosomes/ribosomes.html

(computer model showing the 3 binding sties of ribosome; good to use it when revising translation!)

Centriole

1) http://mvc.bioweb.dcccd.edu/weblinks/cilia.htm (scroll down to view electron micrograph)

2)http://sciencyscience.tumblr.com/post/130146054/biology-textbook-treasures (note the "centrosome" where centrioles are found; some cells do not have centrioles but spindles can still be formed)

3)http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v8/n6/fig_tab/nrm2180_F2.html (shows the duplication of centrioles during interphase)

Others

1) http://www.anatomybox.com/tag/tem/

(nice photo of myelinated neurone and node of Ranvier)

2) http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/thompsonj/Anatomy%20&%20Physiology/2010/2010%20Exam%20Reviews/Exam%201%20Review/Ch03%20Cell%20Organelles%20&%20Cytoskeleton.htm (great picture of a typical eukaryotic cell with description of various organelles but some organelles are not in the A level syllabus; refer to the syllabus).

Select some of the pictures and use them during your revision. This will help you remember the features of the organelles and processes in other topics! Remember - study smart!