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        • Surface Area/Volume Lab >
          • Types of Errors - more notes.
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          • Types of Errors - more notes.
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        • Surface Tension Lab
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        • Sockosomes/Chromosocks
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        • DNA gel
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          • Sheep Heart dissection
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        • Ecology DBQ practice
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  • HL BIo Year 1 (pre-2015 exams)
    • Year 1 - Topics >
      • Cells >
        • Processing Microscope Data
        • Surface Area/Volume Lab >
          • Types of Errors - more notes.
        • Plasmolysis Lab
        • Cell Cycle Timing Lab
      • Biochemistry >
        • Surface Tension Lab
        • Molecules of Life - Modeling Activity
        • Jmol molecule visualizations
        • Playdough and Toobers!
        • Race for the Double Helix movie
        • Extraction
      • Metabolism >
        • Enzyme Lab
        • Photosynthesis/Respiration Lab
      • Genetics >
        • Sockosomes/Chromosocks
        • Corn genetics
        • Make a Face
      • Biotechnology >
        • DNA gel
        • Bacterial transformation lab
      • Ecology >
        • Ecology DBQ practice
        • Emerging Disease Webquest
        • Symbiosis in Termites
        • Population Growth Simulation
    • MSON Bioethics >
      • Ethics in Scientific Research
      • Bioethics Films
  • HL Bio Year 1
    • Year One Blog/Review Discussion SIte
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      • EvolutionHL2016
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        • Cells: Class Flip Videos
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    • SL/HL test review
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        • DNA gel_
        • Bacterial transformation lab_
        • Microarray
        • Natural Cloning
      • Physiology >
        • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Kidney Dissection
        • Sheep Brain Dissection
        • Chicken Wing Dissection
        • Sea Urchin Embryology
  • HL Bio Year 2 (pre-2015 exam)
    • Year 2 - Topics >
      • Evolution >
        • Natural Selection Web Activities
        • Paper Worm Simulation - Data Collection and Processing
        • Coacervate Lab
        • Hominid Evolution - Skull Lab
      • Phylogeny >
        • Constructing Cladograms
      • Plants >
        • Comparative look at animal developmental switches
        • Plant Microscope exercise
        • Plant Hormone Lab
        • Transpiration Lab
        • Plants and Micrographic Art
        • Plants and Human Art
      • Neurobiology >
        • Preview Topics
        • Neuron Action Potential Simulation
        • Connectome
        • Sheep Brain Dissection
        • Cow Eye Dissection
        • Invertebrate Behavior Lab
        • Altered Reality
        • Human Behavior Lab
      • Physiology >
        • Digestion Demos
        • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Blood typing
        • Kidney Dissection
        • AIDS Global Awareness
        • Virtual ELISA
        • Film - Politics, People and Science of AIDS
        • Chicken Wing Dissection
        • Sea Urchin Embryology
      • Review Project >
        • Review assignments, written by HL students
        • Web 2.0 Tools
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    • Practice Tests/Exam Dates/Review Materials >
      • Review assignments, written by HL students
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      • 2012 Science Olympiad Team in action
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        • Team Pictures - 2012
      • Peace and Ecology Committee
  • Biotechnology

Command Terms

Looking at the year-long Assessment Statement document (year one) (see this link for year two Assessment Statements), you will notice the recurring use of various command terms in these assessment statements.  These are carefully chosen verbs, with specific meanings and expectations for your responses.  Note that they are also divided into three categories of increasing depth, and questions of level 3 expect a more sophisticated response than level 2, etc.  This quizlet will help you review them (and ensure that you are actually answering the question given!)
Calculations and Units

You need to be able to calculate the following in the exams for the Core:

  • Mean & standard deviation
  • Magnification of an image
  • Actual size of part of a magnified image
For now, go through your syllabus and pick out all of the assessments statements that require a calculation or a unit. Test yourself on the correct way to write each unit and its use. Know your way around your calculator and pay attention if the question asks you to show your working.

Extended Response

In paper 2 section B, you are required to answer one (SL) or two (HL) extended response questions. These are worth 20 marks. Content makes up 18 of those marks, with ‘quality of answer’ making up the other two. The questions are normally broken into three or four parts, with the first parts just a few marks each. There will be at least one which is 8 or 9 marks.

Tips:

  • Practice. Ask for (more) example Paper 2 questions and the markschemes so you can get used to them. Complete them by yourself and check them as a group.
  • Use the 5-minutes reading time at the start of the exam to go through each option and decide which will give you the best outcome.
  • Highlight the command terms, pay attention to the number of marks available.
  • Practice.
  • Look for caveats in the question such as ‘…using a named example…‘ – without addressing these you will not get full marks.
  • Use scientific language appropriately. If you look on the markschemes, these are often underlined, meaning that you cannot be awarded a certain mark without the correct terminology.
  • Practice. You might not have written a block of text for a while, so strengthen those writing muscles!
  • Use English appropriately. It is expected that two parts of the question are answered in prose style, but do not confuse this with flowery writing. 
  • Write logically and check your work. One quality mark is simply for the completeness of the answer and the readability of the work – does the examiner need to skip backward and forward to understand your idea or can they read it once and get your meaning?
  • If you use diagrams or charts, make sure they are clearly labeled and that you refer to them in the text. You can use pencil for these, but you must NOT use colors.
  • Practice. The more you do, the more likely you are to spot patterns and go into the exam feeling confident.

Speaking of practice...

go to the practice test section under Resources, on this website.
biology4friends.org, a reference website for Upper School Biology at WIlmington Friends School, WIlmington DE, USA
  • Home
  • SL Bio/Bio 2
    • SL/HL test review
    • SL Bio Blog/Review Discussion Site
    • Name that Sound
    • SL Bio - Topics >
      • Cells >
        • Surface Area/Volume Lab >
          • Types of Errors - more notes.
        • Processing Microscope Data
        • Soap Bubble Membranes
        • Plasmolysis Lab
        • Surface Area/Volume LabHL16 >
          • Types of Errors - more notes.
        • Cell Cycle Timing Lab
      • Biochemistry >
        • Enzyme Lab
        • Photosynthesis Lab
      • Genetics
      • Evolution
      • Ecology SL/Bio2
      • Physiology >
        • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Sheep Brain Dissection
      • SL Option A Neurobiology
  • SL Bio/Bio 2 (pre-2015 exams)
    • SL Bio - Topics >
      • Evolution >
        • Natural Selection Web Activities
        • Paper Worm Simulation - Data Collection and Processing
        • Coacervate Lab
        • Hominid Evolution - Skull Lab
      • Classification
      • Biochemistry >
        • Surface Tension Lab
        • Molecules of Life - Modeling Activity
        • Jmol molecule visualizations
        • Playdough and Toobers!
        • Enzyme Lab
      • SL Genetics >
        • Sockosomes/Chromosocks
      • Biotechnology >
        • DNA gel
        • Bacterial transformation lab
      • Physiology >
        • Digestion
        • Circulation/Gas Exchange >
          • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Nervous system
        • Nutrition - Option A
        • Defense Against Disease
        • Reproduction
      • Ecology >
        • Ecology DBQ practice
        • Population Growth Simulation
        • Emerging Disease Webquest
  • HL BIo Year 1 (pre-2015 exams)
    • Year 1 - Topics >
      • Cells >
        • Processing Microscope Data
        • Surface Area/Volume Lab >
          • Types of Errors - more notes.
        • Plasmolysis Lab
        • Cell Cycle Timing Lab
      • Biochemistry >
        • Surface Tension Lab
        • Molecules of Life - Modeling Activity
        • Jmol molecule visualizations
        • Playdough and Toobers!
        • Race for the Double Helix movie
        • Extraction
      • Metabolism >
        • Enzyme Lab
        • Photosynthesis/Respiration Lab
      • Genetics >
        • Sockosomes/Chromosocks
        • Corn genetics
        • Make a Face
      • Biotechnology >
        • DNA gel
        • Bacterial transformation lab
      • Ecology >
        • Ecology DBQ practice
        • Emerging Disease Webquest
        • Symbiosis in Termites
        • Population Growth Simulation
    • MSON Bioethics >
      • Ethics in Scientific Research
      • Bioethics Films
  • HL Bio Year 1
    • Year One Blog/Review Discussion SIte
    • Year 1 - Topics >
      • EvolutionHL2016
      • CellsHL2016 >
        • Cells: Class Flip Videos
        • Processing Microscope Data HL16
  • HL Bio Year 2
    • SL/HL test review
    • Year Two Blog/Review Discussion Site
    • Ecology Summer Work
    • Year 2 - Topics >
      • Plants
      • Biotechnology_ >
        • DNA gel_
        • Bacterial transformation lab_
        • Microarray
        • Natural Cloning
      • Physiology >
        • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Kidney Dissection
        • Sheep Brain Dissection
        • Chicken Wing Dissection
        • Sea Urchin Embryology
  • HL Bio Year 2 (pre-2015 exam)
    • Year 2 - Topics >
      • Evolution >
        • Natural Selection Web Activities
        • Paper Worm Simulation - Data Collection and Processing
        • Coacervate Lab
        • Hominid Evolution - Skull Lab
      • Phylogeny >
        • Constructing Cladograms
      • Plants >
        • Comparative look at animal developmental switches
        • Plant Microscope exercise
        • Plant Hormone Lab
        • Transpiration Lab
        • Plants and Micrographic Art
        • Plants and Human Art
      • Neurobiology >
        • Preview Topics
        • Neuron Action Potential Simulation
        • Connectome
        • Sheep Brain Dissection
        • Cow Eye Dissection
        • Invertebrate Behavior Lab
        • Altered Reality
        • Human Behavior Lab
      • Physiology >
        • Digestion Demos
        • Sheep Heart dissection
        • Blood typing
        • Kidney Dissection
        • AIDS Global Awareness
        • Virtual ELISA
        • Film - Politics, People and Science of AIDS
        • Chicken Wing Dissection
        • Sea Urchin Embryology
      • Review Project >
        • Review assignments, written by HL students
        • Web 2.0 Tools
  • IB Connections
    • TOK Connections >
      • Natural Sciences - TOK
    • MYP reference site
    • Extended Essay in Biology
    • Group 4 Project
    • Internal Assessment - 1st and 2nd year >
      • Advice on Internal Assessment
      • Uncertainty in calculations
      • t test/TI 83/excel
      • tips on mac excel graphs
      • Notes from IB worldwide report
      • Lab photo album
    • Advice for IB Papers >
      • Advice on IB Examinations
    • IB Learner Profile - How does HL Bio fit in?
  • Resources
    • for our SL friends
    • BioNinja
    • iBiology
    • Click4biology
    • Biozone Weblinks
    • IB Biology video review
    • Smullen Powerpoint
    • Wapole text
    • IB Guides
    • Recommended biology tutorials (besides IB)
    • Practice Tests/Exam Dates/Review Materials >
      • Review assignments, written by HL students
      • Knowledge audits
      • Biology Narratives - Review Activity
      • Organizational review assignment
      • Year 1 Final Review
      • Quizlets and Other Shared Reviews
  • Clubs and Committees
    • Science Olympiad >
      • 2012 Science Olympiad Team in action
      • Photos from the 2013 Olympiad
    • Bioethics Bowl >
      • Villanova Bioethics Competition >
        • Team Pictures - 2012
      • Peace and Ecology Committee
  • Biotechnology