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GCE Biology 2008

Unit 3 – Preparation & Assessment

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AimsTo help teachers and students:

• identify problems then use scientific arguments and ideas as possible solutions;

• carry out safe practical activities to help answer scientific questions or solve scientific problems;

• communicate scientific information and ideas;

• consider applications and implications of science and be able to appreciate how the scientific community validates new information.

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Unit 3 encourages AS students to:

• act and think like scientists by carrying out practical work themselves;

• understand how professional scientists work.

It is an excellent preparation for the A2 individual investigation in Unit 6 where further ‘How Science Works’ skills will be used and tested.

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Scientific Method•Unit 3 contains 60% of the ‘How Science

Works’ marks for AS;

•It is essential that the students practice both their own practical and experimental skills;

•This will help them to develop an understanding of the nature of the scientific method.

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Scientific Method•Not only are the core practicals important

for the development of ‘How Science Works’ skills for A2 but these skills will also be tested in the AS written papers.

•The core practicals must be carried out!

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•Describe how the effect of caffeine on heart rate in Daphnia can be investigated practically, and discuss whether there are ethical issues in the use of invertebrates.

•Describe how to investigate the Vitamin C content of food and drink.

AS - Core Practicals

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•Describe how membrane structure can be investigated practically eg. by the effect of alcohol concentrations or temperature on membrane permeability.

•Describe how enzyme concentrations can affect the rates of reactions and how this can be investigated practically by measuring the initial rate of reaction.

AS - Core Practicals (cont)

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•Describe the stages of Mitosis and how to prepare and stain a root tip squash in order to observe them practically.

•Describe how totipotency can be demonstrated practically using plant tissue culture techniques.

•Describe how to determine the tensile strength of plant fibres practically.

AS - Core Practicals (cont)

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AS - Core Practicals (cont)•Describe how to investigate plant mineral deficiencies practically.

•Describe how to investigate the antimicrobial properties of plants.

•Visit http://www.newsnab.com/ and the secure site http://developments.edexcel.org.uk/secure/gce2008/biology/ for more support on practical work.

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• The following extracts should help both students and teachers to understand the assessment and success criteria for the practical skills component of Unit 3.

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Use apparatus skilfully and safely•Apparatus and materials are handled correctly and safely and manipulative techniques are used in an appropriate and safe manner;

•The practical work is carried out in an organised, methodical and safe manner, with due consideration of the well being of living organisms and the environment.

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Use apparatus skilfully and safely• ‘We used water fleas for this because they are invertebrates and the rules are much less strict than for a more complicated animal. We made sure that they weren’t left too long on the slide and we didn’t raise the temperature so high that it might kill them. They were then returned to the beaker to recover.’

• ‘Aseptic techniques were used to reduce excess contamination. Benches were swabbed with an antiseptic solution to avoid contamination by touching. The E. coli was allowed to grow aerobically because if there was no oxygen, other harmful pathogens may have grown as well.’

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Produce and record reliable and valid results.•Measurements and observations are made

with precision and recorded in a structured manner; variables are identified and the validity and reliability of the results are justified.

•Possible systematic errors and random errors in generating results are identified and explained.

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Produce and record reliable and valid results (cont)• ‘One variable (dependent) is the absorbance of the

light due to the beetroot dye. It is measured using a colorimeter because this is more accurate than just looking at the solutions and trying to compare their colours and look for any differences.

• Also, just looking would not produce any data that could be plotted on a graph. The independent one is temperature because this is the one I’m controlling and changing throughout the experiment.’

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Produce and record reliable and valid results (cont)•Tensile strength of plant fibres• ‘Random errors are ones that are more difficult to

control and they produce results that are more or less equally above and below the final mean result. When we did the Daphnia practical it was factors such as size, age or sex of the Daphnia but in this case it might be the thickness of the fibre being tested.

• This is hard to measure but if we had equal lengths and weighed them, this might help to eliminate any random differences.’

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Present and analyse data•Use appropriate methods to analyse results,

present data and identify trends, patterns and/or observations.

•Any apparent anomalies and inconsistencies are described, the methodology is evaluated and suggestions are made to improve or further the work of the investigation.

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Present and analyse data (cont)

•Effect of enzyme volume on the rate of reaction

• ‘In this practical, we measured the time taken for the skimmed milk to go from cloudy to clear. This was because the protease enzyme had broken down the milk protein so the cross at the bottom of the beaker could be seen. We did the experiment four times and then worked out the mean. However, measuring time is not the rate of reaction and so an easy way of calculating this is to work out 1/time. This is proportional to how fast the enzyme is working. I was also able to format the numbers so that they were to 3 places of decimals’.

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• ‘Although it looks like doubling the enzyme means doubling the rate, the rate of reaction seems to start levelling off at enzyme volumes greater than 4cm3. This can be explained by the enzyme’s active site. When there is more enzyme, there are more active sites to make the reaction happen and so it is linear. When there is even more enzyme, there are so many active sites compared to milk protein that some of them are not doing anything. However, to be sure that this conclusion is reliable, I would need to repeat the experiment but also increase the volume of enzyme further.

Present and analyse data (cont)

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• In the revised specification, there is no requirement for centres to formally assess the students’ practical work and send in any details of marks.

• Centres will have to verify in writing that students have carried out the core practicals.

• This is essential for practising the skills needed for the A2 investigation and to fully understand the work of biologists in the field.

• Candidates will also need to fully access any written questions in the examinations.

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•The Visit / Issue is 100% ‘How Science Works’

For more details of the range of topics and how to prepare for them visit the secure site http://developments.edexcel.org.uk/secure/gce2008/biology/ - you will have to register an intention to offer before gaining access.

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Professional Biologists………….• identify a biological problem,

• try to come up with a solution,

•consider the implications of their solution,

•examine the benefits and risks of this solution,

• look at some alternatives,

•critically look at and use any source material,

•attempt to communicate their ideas effectively.

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•The Visit / Issue report does is skills based and content free – it does not have to be related to the specification.

•It doesn’t matter whether the centre organises a visit or has the students write on issues of topical interest.

•What matters is that the students are able to write about and research into a topic that interests them and find out about what biologists do – ‘How Biology Works’.

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Visits so far ……….Aquatic centre, Beef Farm, Bird Garden, Blood Bank, Botanical gardens Oxford, Brewery, BRI Virology lab, Chrysanthemum breeding, Cider factory, Cotswold Wildlife park, Drug Company, Ecotron, Eden project, Eli Lilly, Environment Agency, Farm, Fish farm, Game reserve, Garden Centre, GP, Hair Salon, Horniman Museum, Horticultural Research Centre, HRI, Hospital, Hydroponics nursery, Jealotts Hill Research Centre, Kew Gardens, Living Rainforest, Market Farm, Millennium Seed Bank, Natural History Museum, Nature Reserve, Old peoples home, Orchid Farm, Organic farm, Oxford botanical gardens, Pathology lab, Plant nursery, Rothamstead research station, Rutland Water, Salmon Farm, Sangar Institute, Science Museum, Science Park, Sewage works, Supermarket, Tyler’s Farm, Universeum, VLA, Vineyard, West Lakes Science Park, Southampton University, Sparsholt College, Syngenta, Wetlands centre, Wight Salads, Wildwalk, Woburn Safari Park and Zoos.

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Issues so far ……….Acid rain, ADHD, Ageing, Alcohol, Algae, Alien species, Aloe Vera, Altitude effects, Alzheimer’s, Amazon, Anabolic Steroids, Angelman syndrome, Angina, Angioplasts, Animal testing, Antigens, Anorexia, Anthrax, Antibiotic Resistance, Arthritis, Artificial insemination, Artificial heart, Aspirin, Asthma, Atherosclerosis, Atkins diet, Back pain, Bananas, Barteres syndrome, Battery hens, Beauty Therapy, Better cattle , Binge drinking, Biofuels, Biological warfare, Biopiracy, Bioterrorism, Bird Flu, Blood, Blood doping, Blood substitutes, Blood transfusion, Brazil nuts, Breast cancer, Bronchitis, BSE, Bulimia, Burns, Butterflies, Caffeine, Cancer, Cannabis, Cataract, Cervical Cancer, Cetacean Strandings, Chameleons, CHD, Chemotherapy, Chinese foot binding, Chromosome defect, CJD, Cloning, Cocaine & gastroschism, Cod, Common cold, Conjoined twins, Conservation, Controlled environments, Coral, Coronary Heart Disease, Creatine, Creatinine supplements, Crohns disease, CVD, Cystic Fibrosis, Dairy cattle, Deforestation, Deodorants, Depression, Designer babies,

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Issues so far (cont) ……….Diabetes, Dieting, Digestion, Dinosaurs, DNA fingerprinting, Doping, Down's Syndrome, Drug trials, Ecosystems, Ecstasy, El Niño, Elephants, Epigenetics, Epilepsy, Erythropoietin, Evolution of human race, Evolution, Exercise, Extinction, Face transplants, Feline hyperthyroidism, Fire Ants, Fish, ‘Flu, Folic acid, Forensic Science, Fox gloves, Free radicals in food, Frozen Ark, Gene insertion, Gene Therapy, Genetic drift, Genetic engineering, Germ warfare, Glandular fever, Global Warming, Global warming and penguins, Glofish, GM Crops, Gorillas, Greyhounds, H5N1, Haemochromatosis, Haemophilia, Hallucinogenic drugs, Hayfever, Heart disease, Height, Herceptin, High Altitude, High heels, HIV, Hostile environments, HRT, Human / Cow embryos, Human Genome project, Human mummification, Huntingdon’s disease, Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperthyroidism, Iguanas,, Immune system , Infertility, Insomnia, Island Ecosystems, IVF, Kidney transplants, Leprosy, Leukaemia, Lung cancer, Lupus, Malaria, Manic depression, Marijuana, ME, Measles, Meningitis, Mesothelioma, Migraine, Mitochondrial DNA, MMD, MMR, Morning sickness,

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Issues so far (cont) ……….Motor neurone disease, Motorcycle safety, MRSA, MS, MSG, Multiple Births, Muscles, Musth in elephants, Myotonic dystrophy, Myxamatosis, Nandrolone, Nanotechnology, National DNA database, Natural dust, Neurofibromatosis, Neuromuscular control, Nitrogen, Obesity, Oceanography, Oncolytic virus, Orang-utans, Organ transplants, Osteoporosis, Ovarian cancer, Oysters, Pain, Pandas, Paper, Parkinson’s, Peak performance, Pesticides, Pests, PGD, Phylloxera, Plants & Medicine, Polar bears, Polio, Pollinators, Pollution, Poppies, Post traumatic stress disorder, Parasites, Premature babies, Prenatal screening, Protein deficiency, PRRS in guinea pigs, Rabbits, Rabies, Radiation, Recycling, Rennet, Respiratory distress in infants, Right handedness, SARS, Scale Insects, Schizophrenia, Scoliosis, Seahorse conservation, Sex selection, Shark antibodies, Sheep diseases, Sheep scab, Sickle Cell anaemia, Skin Cancer, Sleep, Smog, Smoking, Snake venom, Spanish ‘Flu, Sperm counts, Spina bifida, Sponges, Statins, STD's, Stem Cells, Stem cells &, MS, Steroid drugs, Stress, Strokes, Sturgeons,

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Issues so far (cont) ……….Superhumans, Suspended animation , Symbiois, Taxonomy, TB, Teeth, Telomeres, Testicular cancer, Tetracycline & Gum disease, Thalassaemia, Thalidomide, Tigers, Tobacco plants, Tooth Enamel, Tourettes, Transplants, Trisomy 18, Turner's Syndrome, Turtles, Twins, Vertebrae, Viagra & Hypertension, Viagra in pregnancy, War, Water , Wegeners Syndrome, White blood cells, Witch hazel, Wolves and Xenotransplantation.

In fact, the number and variety of both Visits and Issues has increased gradually throughout the pilot years of Salter’s Nuffield Advanced Biology as teachers have become more and more confident.

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Preparation for the Visit• Do a preliminary visit or make some sort

of contact. This will help to confirm that the visit addresses all the research skills requirements of the specification.

• For example, if there is no obvious problem being solved then it may not be suitable

• Students should make prior contact by looking at the website of the organisation and comparing it with other similar ones. They will then have a better idea of what to expect.

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Preparation for the Visit (cont)•Get the students to write some sort of

questionnaire based on this research. It will help focus their minds on the research skills involved and will ensure that their report is original.

•Extremely important is the ‘talk’ that is sometimes part of the visit. Valuable as this may be, all the students have the same talk and will naturally take notes and then produce reports that are very similar indeed. That is why their questionnaire is so important. It helps to create an original piece of work that is distinctly theirs.

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Preparation for the Visit (cont)

• A ‘talk’ is not necessarily from the scientists themselves ie. it is second hand experience. For example, a talk at the Natural History Museum definitely needs to be followed up by further research or questions.

• A talk from an education officer at a zoo will be useful but so much better to have questions ready to ask the keepers themselves who will have first hand experience of the animals.

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Preparation for an Issue report

• Some of the most interesting and motivating reports have been on topics that were of current interest but not in the syllabus as such.

• It is the biologists’ research skills themselves that matter, not the topic itself. It could be absolutely anything with a sound biological basis, although there is nothing wrong with a topic arising from the specification content.

• If the students are interested, then it is worth pursuing.

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Preparation for an Issue report (cont)• Biology is almost always in the news with

topics such as environmental issues, medical breakthroughs and yet another discovery of a risk factor or something that we ought to eat or do in order to live longer!

• There could be a weekly discussion of ‘biology news’ items that could prove useful for an Issue report.

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Preparation for an Issue report (cont)• The students could be encouraged to read

quality newspapers, watch the news on television or regularly scan the internet for current items.

• These ideas could be put on a notice board, school website or intranet and shared for discussion. This then builds up into an impressive array of topics and if the discussion is always structured around the assessment criteria then this would be an excellent preparation for writing the report.

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Marking the Visit / Issue• Now look at the assessment criteria

supplied.

• These will be used by the examiners and moderators in deciding where exactly the marks should go.

• Once you have looked at these and discussed them, try to apply them to the report on ‘Capybara’.

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• 1. Biological methods and processes used.

• The problems of maintaining the capybara habitat and captive breeding are identified (1.1a=2) and discussed in some detail (1.1b=2).

• There is only a brief discussion of the methods involved in habitat maintenance but a little more on the regulation of hunting (1.2a=1 and 1.2b=1).

• The appropriateness of captive breeding is described well and there is some data on the genetics associated with this and intensive breeding trials (1.3a=2, 1.3b=2).

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• 2. Applications and implications of the biology encountered

• There is a good discussion of the socio-economic and ethical issues associated with capybara conservation (2.1a=2 and 2.1b=2).

• The advantages of breeding the capybara as a meat source are discussed fully as a means of conserving the species and also providing an alternative protein source during Lent (2.2a=2).

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• 2. Applications and implications of the biology encountered (cont)

• The disadvantage of conserving the habitat is discussed fully since farmers regard the capybara as pests and do not want them near their crops (2.2b=2).

• There is an excellent discussion of the possibility of captive breeding with the difficulty that high population densities tend to destroy their food source (2.3a=2). The idea of selective breeding to produce a higher meat yield is also discussed (2.3b=2).

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• 3. Evaluation of source material

• There is an excellent range of both web based and non web based sources (3.1a=1, 3.1b=1 and 3.1c=1).

• Quotes are used very well within the report as part of the discussion (3.1d=1). All the sources are described fully in the bibliography (3.2a=2 and 3.2b=2).

• At least three sources are commented on for reliability or validity (3.3a=2) and evidence is given (3.3b=2). This is a very good discussion.

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• 4. Communicate clearly, concisely and logically

• The report is well set out and spelling, punctuation and grammar are good (4.1b=2).

• There are ‘visuals’ that are referred to and the technical language is good (4.2b=2).

• NB. Some ‘visuals’ and graphs are not included because of copyright reasons.

• Total mark = 38 / 40

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• Now look at the ‘Gorillas’ report

• See if you can agree with a mark of 32 / 40.

• This is another good example of a report where the evidence has been given when evaluating source material.

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For any queries on Unit 3 in particular, contact:

Dr John Dunkerton (Chief Examiner) on:johndunkerton@yahoo.co.uk.