Biology HL Paper 3

[AnjaDe]

Hey guys, 

How did you find paper 3?

For me section A was as expected from the specimen, but I still am not satisfied with my answers... and section B had a few question I didn't expect, but managed to improvise an answer that seems ok. All in all, it was as expected.  

I did option D, I think the one about explaining the mean residence time in relation to the proportion of digestible matter was strange, as I didn't know what to write for 3 points or whatever the number of points was. I think the long answer question about liver was strange as it said outline so again i was unsure of how detailed it should be and ended up writing everything I know about liver.

In my school, most of them think it was really hard and that they did it the worst out of all three papers, so I wanted to see how others felt...

[shraddhaj]

I would say that Paper 3 was the worst of the 3 because there was a lot more theory than they have given in the past in Section A, which is unlike what it normally is. And I did Option A and it was slightly challenging but I was pretty well-versed with the subject matter so it was okay.

[inriya]

Worst of the worst. I did not expect to be so many plants related question in the core part. 

However, I did option D and not finding it to be extremely difficult, it is related somehow. I had actually studied for Liver and PKU before the exam, and I was so glad that it came on.

[Mira Michael]

I agree, paper 3 was just awful, i personally did option A which i found to be okay but for section A i don't think i have ever done so badly, all the 3 point questions that were worth the most points were the hardest, they were just so obscure and unexpected, i did not appreciate the new curriculum. Paper 1 and 2 were not so good either. I felt like IB just ignored all the core material and simply focused on the extra stuff that people usually skim over. I just hope the mark bands get adjusted.

[JustAnotherIBVictim]

For me paper 3 was probably the best out of the three, I think Paper 2 was the hardest. I did option D and found the question about oxytocin and prolactin the hardest everything else was ok, but section A was slightly unexpected. 

 

[TheReelG]

I knew everything from Option D...and forgot there was a Section A, FML.... I literally looked at Section A, saw a plant related question and thought: ''Ah, this doesn't have anything to do with Option D.'' So, with a sigh of relief, I jumped straight to Option D at the back of the booklet. I finished 30 minutes early, checked through Option D 3 times, and left with a fantastic feeling. We had talked about this ''new Section A'' in class, but I always thought it was integrated into the Options part somehow...

Just wondering, whats the lower limit for getting a 6 on paper 3... Section A is 15/45 marks, so 33 %. 

Edited May 6, 2016 by TheReelG

[Awesomeness]

40 minutes ago, JustAnotherIBVictim said:

For me paper 3 was probably the best out of the three, I think Paper 2 was the hardest. I did option D and found the question about oxytocin and prolactin the hardest everything else was ok, but section A was slightly unexpected. 

 

 

Man I was beginning to think that I was the only one !!. I did option C, It was a dream paper, everyone came out saying it was awesome. Frankly, speaking I might get nothing less than 38/45. Paper 1 was also good, possibly nothing less than 32 but paper 2 was just too much of Genetics and Evolution which is totally not my cup of tea. 

[Michael21]

What did you guys write for the aphid stylet question?? 

[David GW]

I did option D and I honestly think (including section A) it was a really easy exam, probably my best paper out of the three.

1 hour ago, Michael21 said:

What did you guys write for the aphid stylet question?? 

The aphid is an insect which injects its stylet into the phloem and sucks the sap, so if the aphid is removed from its stylet a sample containing phloem sap can be obtained and analysed. I can't remember the exact answers I wrote down, only that on the diagram you had to write xylem. 

Edited May 6, 2016 by David GW

[Earthie]

I found Paper a lot easier than Paper 1, but that being said, Section A had more theoretical questions than data based or practical application questions, which they usually do. Maybe it was just due to the change in syllabus, but if it was, the specimen paper had no indication of this type of questions. Thankfully I had read up on nature of science in detail so I was able to answer the questions. 

For option D, for the question on Human milk as an effective source of amino acids, I was confused about whether I had go to consider it relative to cow milk or not.

[AnjaDe]

4 minutes ago, Earthie said:

I found Paper a lot easier than Paper 1, but that being said, Section A had more theoretical questions than data based or practical application questions, which they usually do. Maybe it was just due to the change in syllabus, but if it was, the specimen paper had no indication of this type of questions. Thankfully I had read up on nature of science in detail so I was able to answer the questions. 

For option D, for the question on Human milk as an effective source of amino acids, I was confused about whether I had go to consider it relative to cow milk or not.

Ah yes, that question about mother's milk and amino acids was a bit strange, did you relate it to PKU at all? Because I wrote how the only source of nutrients for a new-born baby is mothers milk, so if PKU can be diagnosed only a few days after birth, then it most come from mother's milk?

[Earthie]

I actually didn't consider PKU at all when writing the answer, because it only asked how effective it was a source of amino acids in general. But I'm sure you could've done that too.

[Earthie]

Also, for the mean residence time question, I could only come up with two points, so I just linked the two and explained them in detail.

[AnjaDe]

1 minute ago, Earthie said:

Also, for the mean residence time question, I could only come up with two points, so I just linked the two and explained them in detail.

Yeah I did the same

[Michael21]

46 minutes ago, David GW said:

I did option D and I honestly think (including section A) it was a really easy exam, probably my best paper out of the three.

The aphid is an insect which injects its stylet into the phloem and sucks the sap, so if the aphid is removed from its stylet a sample containing phloem sap can be obtained and analysed. I can't remember the exact answers I wrote down, only that on the diagram you had to write xylem. 

Yes okay I put something along those lines. For that next question asking about how do you know this tissue is a phloem? Did you talk about how aphids only dig into the sieve tubules of phloem so therefore it must be phloem? Was a little confused 

[David GW]

12 minutes ago, Michael21 said:

Yes okay I put something along those lines. For that next question asking about how do you know this tissue is a phloem? Did you talk about how aphids only dig into the sieve tubules of phloem so therefore it must be phloem? Was a little confused 

 

 

Yes, I did, but if you put because the cells are smaller or because it is surrounding the xylem you would probably also get the points.

Edited May 6, 2016 by David GW

[TheNintendoChip]

Paper 3 was definitely my worst paper of the 3. I did option C, and on every question that had multiple parts (including in Section A), I had trouble answering at least one part. I hope my bs was at least a little on point, so that I can get a few more marks

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Michael21 said:

What did you guys write for the aphid stylet question?? 

I wrote so much for every single question. This is the funny thing about me, I just wrote everything i knew, even sometimes it was not relevant. (like at least 1/2 a page for each question). 

 

For that question, i wrote about C 14, and then radioactive labeling and autography to measure the movement of the solute thingy.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Guest

[Michael21]

5 hours ago, Lovelife said:

I wrote so much for every single question. This is the funny thing about me, I just wrote everything i knew, even sometimes it was not relevant. (like at least 1/2 a page for each question). 

 

For that question, i wrote about C 14, and then radioactive labeling and autography to measure the movement of the solute thingy.

I thought c 14 radioactive labeling is a different method for observing solute flow? Aphid stylets is one method which it was asking , didn't think it was relevant to mention the other? 

[ShootingStar16]

9 hours ago, Michael21 said:

What did you guys write for the aphid stylet question?? 

The tissue I labelled xylem and I just winged one of the q's on it. Also for another question, I just put that it's because aphids feed off sap  

 

Overall, I don't think I did too well on it but it could have been worse. I did recognize a lot of stuff and was able to at least somewhat answer the questions (I got the one about the coral because I did go over that and Section B for me was ok) though but thing is I did not realize the aphids thing would be on paper 3 because I thought it was paper 2 content  

 

Edited May 7, 2016 by ShootingStar16