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Biology SL - Papers [1] [2] - Discussion!


UCL14May

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I found these exams so difficult (especially paper 2)! I just could not understand the data base question about the UV rays and the plants. I felt as though I knew all the content for the exam perfectly, but that question just completely threw me off :/

Did anyone feel the same? I'm really hoping I'm not alone on this, and that the IB will adjust the grade boundaries!

Edited by thirdculturekid
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Most people in my class said they found both papers to be really difficult. Personally, I didn't find them to be too bad (no idea why my experience seemed to be so different from everyone else's). The last question in Section A of Paper 2 threw me off though! (The table with ratios, I had no idea what to do)

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Are you kidding guyss? It was so easy! I'm just kidding. Just like some people I have spoken to so far said, it was the hardest biology exam I have done in these two years.

Do you guys know if the IB adjusts the grade boundaries on a global scale, or is it different for each group of students/class?

I found these exams so difficult (especially paper 2)! I just could not understand the data base question about the UV rays and the plants.

Did anyone feel the same? I'm really hoping I'm not alone on this, and that the IB will adjust the grade boundaries!

I agree with this. I did not like the data response questions that were both on Photosynthesis! Somewhat more confusing than the practice ones I've done.

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I got a mag value of x5500 (the length of that scale bar was 11mm, so thats why). I hated that microscale picture, which I got wrong :/ It was the rER, and apparently it said so in the link of the source underneath the picture... I thought it was the Golgi apparatus

I agree, the data base question was tough. But I actually think Section B was not too bad, I did the last one on blood glucose and energy in the trophic levels

Also, on P1, the question on repolarization and sodium potassium, what was the answer? I took C (when it was in the process of going down, but I am not sure)

Edited by IXUS2000
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On paper 2, it asked to identify a certain structure and its purpose (referring to a microscopic image scan). I was not sure and said it was a cell wall. What was it actually?

There are so many questions I want to ask but don't want to spam the thread. We need a chat group you guys!

Edited by LeonieIB
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On paper 2, it asked to identify a certain structure and its purpose (referring to a microscopic image scan). I was not sure and said it was a cell wall. What was it actually?

There are so many questions I want to ask but don't want to spam the thread. We need a chat group you guys!

It was the RER (rough endoplasmic reticulum), because you could see blurry ribosomes attached on its walls.

I got a mag value of x5500 (the length of that scale bar was 11mm, so thats why). I hated that microscale picture, which I got wrong :/ It was the rER, and apparently it said so in the link of the source underneath the picture... I thought it was the Golgi apparatus

I agree, the data base question was tough. But I actually think Section B was not too bad, I did the last one on blood glucose and energy in the trophic levels

Also, on P1, the question on repolarization and sodium potassium, what was the answer? I took C (when it was in the process of going down, but I am not sure)

When the line is going up, that's depolarization, going down is repolarization. But wasn't the question asking about returning to resting potential? Oh gosh maybe I misread it D:

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Are you kidding guyss? It was so easy! I'm just kidding. Just like some people I have spoken to so far said, it was the hardest biology exam I have done in these two years.

Do you guys know if the IB adjusts the grade boundaries on a global scale, or is it different for each group of students/class?

It would be on a global scale.

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On paper 2, it asked to identify a certain structure and its purpose (referring to a microscopic image scan). I was not sure and said it was a cell wall. What was it actually?

There are so many questions I want to ask but don't want to spam the thread. We need a chat group you guys!

It was the RER (rough endoplasmic reticulum), because you could see blurry ribosomes attached on its walls.

I got a mag value of x5500 (the length of that scale bar was 11mm, so thats why). I hated that microscale picture, which I got wrong :/ It was the rER, and apparently it said so in the link of the source underneath the picture... I thought it was the Golgi apparatus

I agree, the data base question was tough. But I actually think Section B was not too bad, I did the last one on blood glucose and energy in the trophic levels

Also, on P1, the question on repolarization and sodium potassium, what was the answer? I took C (when it was in the process of going down, but I am not sure)

When the line is going up, that's depolarization, going down is repolarization. But wasn't the question asking about returning to resting potential? Oh gosh maybe I misread it D:

I got D because I think it returned to the resting potential after repolarisation

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Yeah that's what I put too. Ouf!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is it true that to get a 7 in Paper 1 we can only have 2-3 questions wrong? Does anyone know?

you can get up to 5 mistakes. If the 7 is an 81 then divide any mark you want by 30 (according to paper1) then multiply it by 100, if the outcome is more than 81 then it's a 7

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I found these exams so difficult (especially paper 2)! I just could not understand the data base question about the UV rays and the plants. I felt as though I knew all the content for the exam perfectly, but that question just completely threw me off :/

Did anyone feel the same? I'm really hoping I'm not alone on this, and that the IB will adjust the grade boundaries!

They take all of the result and make Gauss curve and then calculate so that some percetage of the population get 7, some 6 etc etc so it is very possible that if the exams are hard and a lot of students get lower results, the grade boundries will also be not that high, so no worries :)

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On paper 2, it asked to identify a certain structure and its purpose (referring to a microscopic image scan). I was not sure and said it was a cell wall. What was it actually?

There are so many questions I want to ask but don't want to spam the thread. We need a chat group you guys!

It was the RER (rough endoplasmic reticulum), because you could see blurry ribosomes attached on its walls.

I got a mag value of x5500 (the length of that scale bar was 11mm, so thats why). I hated that microscale picture, which I got wrong :/ It was the rER, and apparently it said so in the link of the source underneath the picture... I thought it was the Golgi apparatus

I agree, the data base question was tough. But I actually think Section B was not too bad, I did the last one on blood glucose and energy in the trophic levels

Also, on P1, the question on repolarization and sodium potassium, what was the answer? I took C (when it was in the process of going down, but I am not sure)

When the line is going up, that's depolarization, going down is repolarization. But wasn't the question asking about returning to resting potential? Oh gosh maybe I misread it D:

I got D because I think it returned to the resting potential after repolarisation

I took D as well (actually revised that section right before the exam, so I am 99% sure it is correct) and I said that it was an endoplasmic reticulum, but it was really confusing. Especially since rER are usually close to the nucleus, but it was next to a mitochondria in the picture.

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I agree with ib nerdcando.

The SL paper 1 and 2 for TZ1 was surprisingly easy for the bio kids in our school. The section b questions were like a gift!

What kind if questions did you get, just out of interest?

For section b there was

5: a) draw structure of membrane

b) compare eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells

c)transport of proteins by vesicles in ecoli

pretty sure majority picked number 5 in section b

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I agree with ib nerdcando.

The SL paper 1 and 2 for TZ1 was surprisingly easy for the bio kids in our school. The section b questions were like a gift!

What kind if questions did you get, just out of interest?

For section b there was

5: a) draw structure of membrane

b) compare eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells

c)transport of proteins by vesicles in ecoli

pretty sure majority picked number 5 in section b

I wish I had gotten that for Section B!

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