biology carol i always watch this video before any biology essay exam, its so so so helpful. i have my paper 3 bio a level tomorrow and want to say thank you! even 5 years later this video is helping students
Thank you for that - that's really helpful. I find them more difficult to make half decently and therefore are more time consuming, but that's really useful to hear and it will definitely be part of my decision process 😊
Like if you are here from unjaded jade! BTW loving this video really insightful into the structure of the essay!!👌🏾 Hoping to make some more videos of Alevel biology on my own channel! Good luck to all GCSE /alevel students
Thank you so much!! The essays don't seem as daunting after this. Watching your videos boosts my confidence to no end, it's so well-explained that you make it sound easy.
Hi Lily, Being realistic, I may have simplified the strategies but that might not make it easy 😬. However, my aim is to make these essays accessible so that you do the best you can do in them XX.
Hello, I have a question. For the extra specification knowledge, if you linked it properly to the title, would detailed animal-related facts/information get the extra marks? Or is this not ‘A-Level standard’ enough? I have an offer for zoology at Exeter and really need the A in biology 😄 For example, I know a lot about the 37 species of wildcat/big cats, I could go into detail about their classification and taxonomy, some of their binomial names, anatomy and behaviour, or talk about melanism in leopards/jaguars etc linking to genetics.
Hi! It seems possible that your knowledge is at A level standard but you need to be careful not to 'shoe horn' this into an essay. it must be made relevant to the title. it is also important to realise that the rest of your essay has to be up to 22 or 23/25 standard in order for the extra spec stuff to take you up to 24 or 25/25. Personally i think there are far safer/easier ways to get 2 extra marks!
biology carol thank you for the reply :) I was told you could only get 20 or above with extra knowledge. But if it is possible to go to 23 without it then I might leave it out.
@@mooninthemist3825 No - that's not true. You can only get the top 2 marks (23 or 24/25) with extra knowledge. I agree - its not worth banking on unless everything about biology is comfortably in place :) !
another really helpful comment - thank you! Because of the emphasis I put on things or because it feels more like 'normal' teaching... or any other reason?!
For the easy question that you used in the video could you in one paragraph talk about proteins and then in another paragraph talk about haemoglobin or would you suggest talking about both in one paragraph? I’m not sure whether they would be seen as separate topics or the same ?
Hi Bethany, For the 'N-containing substances' essay title, you could easily do a paragraph on 'proteins' (amino acid structure - showing where the N is) , the 4 levels of structure and how their tertiary/quaternary structure determines their function. You could then do another paragraph on haemoglobin; its a specific protein that you've learnt about, its from another part of the syllabus and there's a good amount of terminology that you could use to describe its structure and function. Hope that helps.
biology carol thank you this has helped a lot I wasn’t sure whether I could or not . Would you be able to do a video on maths skills question and meiosis ??
Do you mean 'Exampro'? That's only available to teachers when their school subscribes... You can obviously get whole past papers easily off each exam board's website and the website 'Maths made easy' does exam questions by topic.
Nice video, you shared some things I hadn't thought about before. Just for clarification, though, as it wasn't made clear, indole-3-acetic acid is NOT a protein. It is a small molecule hormone derived from the amino acid tryptophan, so though it conveniently contains nitrogen, it is not like insulin and glucagon, which fall into the category of peptide hormones.
Hi Gayle, Thanks you for your comment - you are absolutely right about IAA of course and am grateful you pointed it out. Not quite sure how i missed that one... I will put a correction in the video description and when i can, edit the video appropriately. Fortunately, i think that AQA would be very forgiving of any A level student making that mistake as they would not be expected to know that IAA is NOT a protein because they learn that it is a hormone, and as far as their knowledge to A level standard is concerned, hormones are proteins. But, absolutely point taken and thank you!
Do feel free to have a quick look at my website www.biologycarol.co.uk for my FULL complement of videos. You can subscribe to for a year, for a ridiculously small amount of money (£50 for both year's work, £25 for AS only) AND an opportunity to earn 10% commission from friends purchases AND a freebie! This is me truly trying to make A level biology accessible to all, regardless of family income. Worth having a look at least..
Hi, would this be a good example of 'importance'? After talking about ATP production in photosynthesis/respiration, for importance you could say something along the lines of: without ATP being produced or less of it, there will be less energy provided for growth processes such as protein synthesis. Thus less proteins/enzymes would be produced like DNA helicase & DNA polymerase for DNA replication and rubisco for light independent reaction. Also, what would you say about importance of nitrogen/phosphorous cycle?
Sounds good. Could also talk about muscle contraction and atps role in that being the detachment of the myosin head from the actin. Importance of n cycle- you could talk about the synthesis of any n containing compound eg dna replication, protein synthesis (n required for mRNA and tRNA production as well as amino acids!)
I know you mentioned that for importance, you need to think about 'what would/wouldn't happen without this...' But could you also mention what would happen when something is damaged or not working properly. For example, to explain the importance of muscle contraction, i was thinking of mentioning what i know from my own knowledge about sarin gas & its effect on acetylcholinesterase. Do you think this would be okay?
If you were talking about the importance of an action potential in an essay, for example the importance of cycles. How would you link an action potential to the importance of? Also, if I was to write an essay on the importance of cycles, and my paragraphs were: cell cycle and mitosis, muscle contraction, the Krebs cycle and the Calvin cycle would that be okay? Or are the Calvin cycle and Krebs too similar ?
Personally I would sub in cardiac or breathing cycle for either Calvin or krebs. Re importance of APs- I would link to receptor - response pathway. Could drop in terminology about pacinian corpuscles or muscle contraction or even heart rate regulation (sym and parasympathetic neurones). A bit of an abbreviated answer but does that make sense and is it enough for you to go on?
@@biologycarol Yes thank you. Instead of cardiac cycle, would writing about the contraction of the heart in terms of AVN and SAN be suitable for a cycle ?
No. Because a cycle is something where the ‘end’ is the beginning of the next cycle. I know impulses down the purkyne fibres precede san initiation but they don’t cause it. Hope that makes sense.
@@biologycarol Thank you so much!! And sorry for asking so many questions. If a potential essay come up on cycles, would it be okay to write about: cell cycle, muscle contraction, Calvin cycle and phosphorus cycle? Are the phosphorus and Calvin cycle too similar ? I am worried that if I write about the cardiac cycle, it may pass as GCSE standard
Dear Carol, I have a question - in GCSE Sociology, we used the PEEL method in essays - Point, Evidence, Example, Link (to the question). Can I structure my paragraphs in the synoptic essay in this way? You are a blessing. I only finished college with 3 GCSEs and I want to continue studying, so I had no other option but to buy my own A-level books and start on my own. I choose Biology in order to have more career options, but I'm absolutely terrified of the synoptic essay as I know nothing about it. Please keep making videos, it's so precious for students who have to do it alone, as we have nobody to ask.
Hi! Yes you can use the PEEL technique - naming a specific example is always good. However I do wonder if this might be over complicating the biology synoptic essay. To start and until you get confident I would stick to ‘simply’ describing 4-5 relevant examples of content (if you can nail a very specific example great) and then use the last few sentences of the paragraph to link/apply to the focus of the essay title you’re good! Just in case you’re interested I do online tutoring, if you want concerted help on any topics. Not trying to sell myself but seeing as you don’t have any formal teaching.
I had a couple of questions: -Will the theme of the essay always be about importance? -How would you suggest to start each paragraph for the description of the content and explanation of the importance (like any possible sentence starters)? -How are haemoglobin, amino acids & antibodies, etc. considered N-containing substances?
Since the new spec started all the essays have been 'The importance of...' - this is clearly a focus but I can't guarantee they'll all be that. No particular sentence starters for content description. To keep you focused re 'importance..' how about: 'This (content you've just described) is important because if this did not happen xxxx would not occur' xxxx should be a VERY brief description of another A level syllabus process, using a couple of bits of A level terminology (this would make it 'A level standard'). They are ALL proteins /amino acids and ALL amino acids have nitrogen in them. IF these videos have helped you please gossip this channel to your friends on any social media as well as face-to-face(!) as I am serious about making A level biology accessible to all students. For this, I need subscribers because raises my RUclips profile. Thank you!!
Thank you this is so helpful! Which textbook is it that has the extra information? Also, it would be fab if you could do a video on where the different topics link, as I know all the content but never know how it links together for the essay! :)
Hi Emily, Delighted you've found it useful. The textbook is the Oxford University Press one (predominantly blue cover with curly haired chap looking at a test tube on the front). I'm guessing you mean how you can link one A level topic to another to get the 'importance' (AO2) marks. Great idea - let me think on that...!
Hi Taylor - the textbook I'm referring to is the Oxford University Press one by Glenn & Susan Toole (basically a blueish front cover with curly haired guy on the front measuring a test tube!)
thank you for this, i wanted to ask- exactly how much extra knowledge do we need to include? What happens if we just include 2-3 lines of extra knowledge throughout the whole essay? Does it make it less likely to top marks or can we still get at least 23 marks for example?. Im just a bit unsure of how many marks the extra knowledge is needed throughout the whole essay.
2-3 lines of A-LEVEL STANDARD extra-to-spec knowledge is likely to be enough. The MOST IMPORTANT thing though, is that you understand that every other aspect of your essay has to be at the 22/25 level FOR YOU TO GET THOSE FINAL MARKS. No student will jump to 23+/25 marks just because they add a few extra lines if info. Sorry if this is obvious to you, but it is SUCH a common misconception. THAT'S why I emphasise how to maximise your marks, rather than focussing on that 'extra detail' bit. Hope that makes sense
Thanks this is very useful! You said we needed to do 4+ separate topics, should they all be from different units for synopticity? For example in a mark scheme I saw synapses, nerves and neuromuscular junctions were all separate bullet points. But if the nervous system/response unit made up 3/4 of my essay would it still be synoptic ? hope that makes sense.
I'm really sorry, Rumaisa, I somehow missed this comment. The bottom line is that as long it is 4 separate topics from the mark scheme you're fine. However, given that the synoptic essay is about the most subjective thing examiners have to mark, it's possible that you might lose a mark or two if your content came from one big 'block' of the syllabus. Its your applying of the content to the theme of the essay which will make BY FAR the greater difference in marks. Nail 'the importance of' bit and you will have done the best you can. Hope that helps even if its a bit late xx
Hi, The course is split up into 4 sections: 'biology and disease', 'variety of organisms', 'population and environment', 'control in cells and organism'. Would the 4 different topics have to come from one from each or can two of them come from the same section eg writing 1 topic on nervous coordination and 1 on homeostasis, which both come from 'control in cells and organism' ???? Thank you very much, an amazing video btw really helped.
Most will have but the Oxford university press one (with curly haired boy measuring something in a test tube against blueish background) has got boxes of info marked with a purple + sign which indicates the info is extra to spec. Please note to get these 1 to 2 extra marks everything else about your essay has to be ‘perfect’.
Yes. BUT that paragraph has to be of A level standard (not just man-on-the-street general knowledge) AND all 4 paragraphs must have nailed the content by using loads of A level terminology correctly AND applied each paragraph of content to the theme of the question(generally 'importance of...') in order to reach the heights of 24/25 out of 25. IF your 4th 'off-spec' paragraph is not deemed to be of A level standard you are at best left with 3 relevant paragraphs which will bring the essay mark right down (10-15 max). In summary, a very risky strategy in my view. Always make the 'off-spec' paragraph the 5th paragraph. Personally I would put my effort into improving my content and application of the content, NOT on putting in an off spec paragraph. If you happen to get a title that you feel you can do that with, fantastic, but make it a bonus, not your basic essay strategy. Hope that makes sense.
biology carol, i understand - thank you. Would i gain anything if i just dropped 1 or 2 examples within my 4 a level paragraphs? E.g - an enzyme and its action which isn’t on the spec , within an enzyme paragraph?
@@ps0116 The 'off spec' content needs to be "several lines" not just a few words, so no. Please remember you only get the credit for the off spec stuff IF everything else about the essay is marvellous. In other words you gain 1 or 2 extra marks if you're already brilliant! That's why I'd concentrate on writing a decent essay as per my tips and NOT focus on getting those 1 or 2 elusive marks
@@ps0116 The 'off spec' content needs to be "several lines" not just a few words, so no. Please remember you only get the credit for the off spec stuff IF everything else about the essay is marvellous. In other words you gain 1 or 2 extra marks if you're already brilliant! That's why I'd concentrate on writing a decent essay as per my tips and NOT focus on getting those 1 or 2 elusive marks
Then, if you realise you can write something to explain the IMPORTANCE (THEmost common type of essay title) you can add it afterwards. A decent description on its own can get you up to 15/25. So if you’re really not great at essays (your words not mine😂) concentrate on the easy marks but literally leave yourself room to earn the harder marks if inspired.
@@hanawana I feel SO bad. I just thought noone was interested anymore. Early christmas present for me but a pain in the backside for my lovely students!
Hi Carol, (me again), I’ve just had a bit of a panic because my teachers have always told me to do 4 paragraphs, and the examiners mark the best 3 - not 4. I’m also with AQA. Is this a confusion on my teacher’s part? Many thanks x
This was in last year's AQA Examiners' Report: "The levels mark scheme makes references to ‘several topics’ being covered in order to qualify for the top two levels. The ‘commentary’ on the levels scheme defines ‘several’ as at least four topic areas. It was pleasing to see that there were few essays in which students wrote at length about only one or two topic areas, which would have limited them to a maximum of 10 marks. Students might be well advised to write about five (or even six) topic areas, as a form of insurance. The best topic area accounts are what decide the mark awarded." From this I have concluded that 4 is the minimum to access the higher marks ("top two levels") i.e. 20+ marks. From a timing point of view, I believe that 5 topics seems appropriate for the majority of students to aim for (too many students will write lower quality AO2 content if pushed to write 6). Hope this seems logical!
Yes. Your aim is to use at least 4 examples from across the two years of syllabus. If it ends up being a 3:1 split that’s fine. Just aim for as wide a range as possible.
biology carol so an example of if non cyclic phosphorylation didnt happen - no reduced NADP or ATP produced so no GP converted to TP. Hence, no TP converted into glucose and so no glucose for respiration. This means no energy released in respiration for processes such as mitosis and protein synthesis. Would that be okay? Do you need to say at the end the survival of the plant is threatened or just leave it there?
Thank you so much for this. My biology teachers are always banging on about linking paragraphs and I'm losing marks because I'm not doing it very well. I'm a little nervous because they are the ones that are going to be marking my essay to give me a final grade this coming year and its in my mini exam. Is there something on the spec that I can show them that says that linking of paragraphs is not required?
Looking at the MS for Paper 3's essay (2018 available on public area of AQA) filestore.aqa.org.uk/sample-papers-and-mark-schemes/2018/june/AQA-74023-W-MS-JUN18.PDF Page 15 has the 'Commentary on terms and statements in the MS'. "This commentary defines the meanings of these words and statements in the context of marking the essay. Many words and statements are used in the descriptions of more than one level of response. The definitions of these remain the same throughout." And then, when dealing with the term 'interrelated', which I strongly suspect is where the issue is, this is what the commentary says: The descriptor in the mark scheme (for 11-15 mark level)= "Response mostly deals with suitable topics but they are not interrelated and links are not made to the theme of the question." Their definition = "Not addressing the biological theme of the essay (eg importance) at A-level standard." Because this definition is the same throughout the commentary, the descriptors that reference 'interrelated topics' for the higher mark bands MUST mean that they are related to the topic and do not have to be related between themselves. I know that some teachers would understandably define interrelated as related BETWEEN topics but THIS is what is written in the AQA Essay training document: filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/biology/AQA-BIOLOGY-TRAIN-SCHEDULE.PDF Page 1: "7. Choose an essay title. Divide five or six topics from the indicative content list up between the teachers. Each teacher writes a paragraph on each of their topics, relating it to the essay title. They should spend no more than five minutes on each paragraph. What the teachers will have produced is a series of separate paragraphs, each on a topic related to the title. Putting these together would form a rudimentary essay. Although the biology is (likely to be) correct, the individual paragraphs do not form an “interrelated” whole that relates to the theme/concept of the essay title, which would limit the marks available. 8. Teachers should then spend some time considering how they would link each paragraph/topic to the essay title. " This makes it clear to me that interrelated is related BETWEEN THE TOPIC AND THE TITLE, not between the topics themselves. This is the written guideance - I am sure that I have also had this explained verbally at AQAtraining sessions. but I've quoted the written as I obvs cant quote the verbal.
There isn't a requirement for this in the mark scheme. But 4 topics from different parts (different chapters would be a useful guideline) of the syllabus is a must, and it would be reasonably unusual for all 4 to come from 1 year. I would particularly avoid them all coming from Yr12. Hope that helps.
For which essay title? The N containing compounds? Then yes as all DNA, recombinant or otherwise, contains N. Think any other bit about DNA is more obvious to discuss because recombinant DNA only really benefits humans. but with respect to importance you could talk about medical importance of human insulin production or importance if cloning DNA for other processes such as DNA fingerprinting. Hope that helps. Come back to me if not.
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biology carol i always watch this video before any biology essay exam, its so so so helpful. i have my paper 3 bio a level tomorrow and want to say thank you! even 5 years later this video is helping students
im cooked
Just found a new national treasure, you're a god send, thank you so much for making this video x
😂😂😂. Now there's an overstatement!! Though seriously delighted I have helped.
Unjaded Jade sent me! And thank you! Those tips are valuable and the video very insightful.
The lovely Jade - I'll have to take her out for another turmeric latte to say thank you 😂. Thank you too - that's very encouraging.
pro tip: watch movies at Flixzone. Been using them for watching loads of movies lately.
@Julius Jaxxon Definitely, have been watching on flixzone} for since december myself :)
This is exactly what I need! Forever searching for modern biology essay advice so thank you for coming through for us! ✨
Delighted to help - thank you!
This has made me feel so much happier about the thought of the essay! Thanks for such a great video! :)
Fantastic - delighted I could help!
I find I learn more this way, I mean when you are up presenting on the board like classroom style. Love these videos, so helpful!
Thank you for that - that's really helpful. I find them more difficult to make half decently and therefore are more time consuming, but that's really useful to hear and it will definitely be part of my decision process 😊
Avery clear, concise and useful video for anyone doing the synoptic essay - or even teaching it! Thanks Carol.
Thank you Adam, I appreciate that.
Like if you are here from unjaded jade! BTW loving this video really insightful into the structure of the essay!!👌🏾 Hoping to make some more videos of Alevel biology on my own channel! Good luck to all GCSE /alevel students
Thank you so much!! The essays don't seem as daunting after this. Watching your videos boosts my confidence to no end, it's so well-explained that you make it sound easy.
Hi Lily,
Being realistic, I may have simplified the strategies but that might not make it easy 😬. However, my aim is to make these essays accessible so that you do the best you can do in them XX.
Hi, I was wondering if you could do a video in glucose control and linking knowledge to AQA exam questions? Great video by the way !
Thank you for the encouragement. Blood glucose regulation is going on the list!
Thank you so much for this video! Fantastic help for essays and very insightful.
Thank you, Rob
Hello, I have a question. For the extra specification knowledge, if you linked it properly to the title, would detailed animal-related facts/information get the extra marks? Or is this not ‘A-Level standard’ enough? I have an offer for zoology at Exeter and really need the A in biology 😄
For example, I know a lot about the 37 species of wildcat/big cats, I could go into detail about their classification and taxonomy, some of their binomial names, anatomy and behaviour, or talk about melanism in leopards/jaguars etc linking to genetics.
Hi! It seems possible that your knowledge is at A level standard but you need to be careful not to 'shoe horn' this into an essay. it must be made relevant to the title. it is also important to realise that the rest of your essay has to be up to 22 or 23/25 standard in order for the extra spec stuff to take you up to 24 or 25/25. Personally i think there are far safer/easier ways to get 2 extra marks!
biology carol thank you for the reply :) I was told you could only get 20 or above with extra knowledge. But if it is possible to go to 23 without it then I might leave it out.
@@mooninthemist3825 No - that's not true. You can only get the top 2 marks (23 or 24/25) with extra knowledge. I agree - its not worth banking on unless everything about biology is comfortably in place :) !
Thank you so much! Such a useful video, definitely helped with stress levels.
Fantastic -I'm glad!
This method of presentation is better 😊😊
Great tips!
another really helpful comment - thank you! Because of the emphasis I put on things or because it feels more like 'normal' teaching... or any other reason?!
For the easy question that you used in the video could you in one paragraph talk about proteins and then in another paragraph talk about haemoglobin or would you suggest talking about both in one paragraph? I’m not sure whether they would be seen as separate topics or the same ?
Hi Bethany, For the 'N-containing substances' essay title, you could easily do a paragraph on 'proteins' (amino acid structure - showing where the N is) , the 4 levels of structure and how their tertiary/quaternary structure determines their function. You could then do another paragraph on haemoglobin; its a specific protein that you've learnt about, its from another part of the syllabus and there's a good amount of terminology that you could use to describe its structure and function. Hope that helps.
biology carol thank you this has helped a lot I wasn’t sure whether I could or not . Would you be able to do a video on maths skills question and meiosis ??
@@bethanywebster9190 Both in the same video might be a challenge! But 2 great ideas - thank you. Will add them to the list!
Thank you for this Ms Carol!
A very great pleasure!
Your An Amazing Biology teacher
Do you know any way I can have access to example to get past paper questions
Do you mean 'Exampro'? That's only available to teachers when their school subscribes...
You can obviously get whole past papers easily off each exam board's website and the website 'Maths made easy' does exam questions by topic.
Ok thx
Nice video, you shared some things I hadn't thought about before. Just for clarification, though, as it wasn't made clear, indole-3-acetic acid is NOT a protein. It is a small molecule hormone derived from the amino acid tryptophan, so though it conveniently contains nitrogen, it is not like insulin and glucagon, which fall into the category of peptide hormones.
Hi Gayle, Thanks you for your comment - you are absolutely right about IAA of course and am grateful you pointed it out. Not quite sure how i missed that one... I will put a correction in the video description and when i can, edit the video appropriately. Fortunately, i think that AQA would be very forgiving of any A level student making that mistake as they would not be expected to know that IAA is NOT a protein because they learn that it is a hormone, and as far as their knowledge to A level standard is concerned, hormones are proteins. But, absolutely point taken and thank you!
This is Amazingly presented, I LOVE IT!!
Thank you SO much - that's hugely appreciated 😊
Hii. Some of the videos on your channel are private i wanted to watch them.
Do feel free to have a quick look at my website www.biologycarol.co.uk for my FULL complement of videos. You can subscribe to for a year, for a ridiculously small amount of money (£50 for both year's work, £25 for AS only) AND an opportunity to earn 10% commission from friends purchases AND a freebie! This is me truly trying to make A level biology accessible to all, regardless of family income. Worth having a look at least..
Hi, would this be a good example of 'importance'?
After talking about ATP production in photosynthesis/respiration, for importance you could say something along the lines of: without ATP being produced or less of it, there will be less energy provided for growth processes such as protein synthesis. Thus less proteins/enzymes would be produced like DNA helicase & DNA polymerase for DNA replication and rubisco for light independent reaction.
Also, what would you say about importance of nitrogen/phosphorous cycle?
Sounds good. Could also talk about muscle contraction and atps role in that being the detachment of the myosin head from the actin.
Importance of n cycle- you could talk about the synthesis of any n containing compound eg dna replication, protein synthesis (n required for mRNA and tRNA production as well as amino acids!)
I know you mentioned that for importance, you need to think about 'what would/wouldn't happen without this...' But could you also mention what would happen when something is damaged or not working properly.
For example, to explain the importance of muscle contraction, i was thinking of mentioning what i know from my own knowledge about sarin gas & its effect on acetylcholinesterase. Do you think this would be okay?
That would be fine. But you are in effect talking about what doesn’t happen when the process is impAired. That’s fine.
Thank you very much Carol, these tips are very helpful 😊
Delighted 😊!
If you were talking about the importance of an action potential in an essay, for example the importance of cycles. How would you link an action potential to the importance of? Also, if I was to write an essay on the importance of cycles, and my paragraphs were: cell cycle and mitosis, muscle contraction, the Krebs cycle and the Calvin cycle would that be okay? Or are the Calvin cycle and Krebs too similar ?
Personally I would sub in cardiac or breathing cycle for either Calvin or krebs. Re importance of APs- I would link to receptor - response pathway. Could drop in terminology about pacinian corpuscles or muscle contraction or even heart rate regulation (sym and parasympathetic neurones). A bit of an abbreviated answer but does that make sense and is it enough for you to go on?
@@biologycarol Yes thank you. Instead of cardiac cycle, would writing about the contraction of the heart in terms of AVN and SAN be suitable for a cycle ?
No. Because a cycle is something where the ‘end’ is the beginning of the next cycle. I know impulses down the purkyne fibres precede san initiation but they don’t cause it. Hope that makes sense.
@@biologycarol Thank you so much!! And sorry for asking so many questions. If a potential essay come up on cycles, would it be okay to write about: cell cycle, muscle contraction, Calvin cycle and phosphorus cycle? Are the phosphorus and Calvin cycle too similar ? I am worried that if I write about the cardiac cycle, it may pass as GCSE standard
Those voices are totally fine. Calvin/krebs would be seem as biochemical whereas phosphorus would be seen as ecological/ environmental.
Dear Carol,
I have a question - in GCSE Sociology, we used the PEEL method in essays - Point, Evidence, Example, Link (to the question). Can I structure my paragraphs in the synoptic essay in this way?
You are a blessing. I only finished college with 3 GCSEs and I want to continue studying, so I had no other option but to buy my own A-level books and start on my own. I choose Biology in order to have more career options, but I'm absolutely terrified of the synoptic essay as I know nothing about it. Please keep making videos, it's so precious for students who have to do it alone, as we have nobody to ask.
Hi! Yes you can use the PEEL technique - naming a specific example is always good. However I do wonder if this might be over complicating the biology synoptic essay. To start and until you get confident I would stick to ‘simply’ describing 4-5 relevant examples of content (if you can nail a very specific example great) and then use the last few sentences of the paragraph to link/apply to the focus of the essay title you’re good!
Just in case you’re interested I do online tutoring, if you want concerted help on any topics. Not trying to sell myself but seeing as you don’t have any formal teaching.
I had a couple of questions:
-Will the theme of the essay always be about importance?
-How would you suggest to start each paragraph for the description of the content and explanation of the importance (like any possible sentence starters)?
-How are haemoglobin, amino acids & antibodies, etc. considered N-containing substances?
Since the new spec started all the essays have been 'The importance of...' - this is clearly a focus but I can't guarantee they'll all be that.
No particular sentence starters for content description. To keep you focused re 'importance..' how about: 'This (content you've just described) is important because if this did not happen xxxx would not occur' xxxx should be a VERY brief description of another A level syllabus process, using a couple of bits of A level terminology (this would make it 'A level standard').
They are ALL proteins /amino acids and ALL amino acids have nitrogen in them.
IF these videos have helped you please gossip this channel to your friends on any social media as well as face-to-face(!) as I am serious about making A level biology accessible to all students. For this, I need subscribers because raises my RUclips profile. Thank you!!
Thank you this is so helpful! Which textbook is it that has the extra information? Also, it would be fab if you could do a video on where the different topics link, as I know all the content but never know how it links together for the essay! :)
Hi Emily, Delighted you've found it useful. The textbook is the Oxford University Press one (predominantly blue cover with curly haired chap looking at a test tube on the front). I'm guessing you mean how you can link one A level topic to another to get the 'importance' (AO2) marks. Great idea - let me think on that...!
What textbooks do you use, containing the extra content additions mentioned?
Hi Taylor - the textbook I'm referring to is the Oxford University Press one by Glenn & Susan Toole (basically a blueish front cover with curly haired guy on the front measuring a test tube!)
Now I know why I failed but next exam I will bring A. I never knew what is exactly Synoptic thank you for the information
Does DNA replication count as a cycle? since the new dna will go on to be replicated again.
no
No. Cell cycle is a cycle but dna rep is lineAr.
@@biologycarol thank you your video was really helpful during. I watched it the night before my exam.
thank you for this, i wanted to ask- exactly how much extra knowledge do we need to include? What happens if we just include 2-3 lines of extra knowledge throughout the whole essay? Does it make it less likely to top marks or can we still get at least 23 marks for example?. Im just a bit unsure of how many marks the extra knowledge is needed throughout the whole essay.
2-3 lines of A-LEVEL STANDARD extra-to-spec knowledge is likely to be enough.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing though, is that you understand that every other aspect of your essay has to be at the 22/25 level FOR YOU TO GET THOSE FINAL MARKS. No student will jump to 23+/25 marks just because they add a few extra lines if info.
Sorry if this is obvious to you, but it is SUCH a common misconception. THAT'S why I emphasise how to maximise your marks, rather than focussing on that 'extra detail' bit. Hope that makes sense
@@biologycarol Thank you very much
Thanks this is very useful! You said we needed to do 4+ separate topics, should they all be from different units for synopticity? For example in a mark scheme I saw synapses, nerves and neuromuscular junctions were all separate bullet points. But if the nervous system/response unit made up 3/4 of my essay would it still be synoptic ? hope that makes sense.
I'm really sorry, Rumaisa, I somehow missed this comment. The bottom line is that as long it is 4 separate topics from the mark scheme you're fine. However, given that the synoptic essay is about the most subjective thing examiners have to mark, it's possible that you might lose a mark or two if your content came from one big 'block' of the syllabus. Its your applying of the content to the theme of the essay which will make BY FAR the greater difference in marks. Nail 'the importance of' bit and you will have done the best you can. Hope that helps even if its a bit late xx
Thank you!! And no worries, it wasn’t urgent.
Hi,
The course is split up into 4 sections: 'biology and disease', 'variety of organisms', 'population and environment', 'control in cells and organism'. Would the 4 different topics have to come from one from each or can two of them come from the same section eg writing 1 topic on nervous coordination and 1 on homeostasis, which both come from 'control in cells and organism' ????
Thank you very much, an amazing video btw really helped.
Each topic does not have to come from each of the four sections. Just go fir as wide a range as possible.
We dont do these for OCR A right?
Definitely not!!
@@biologycarol ah ok, thought so..
Thanks Carol :)
excellent
Hi! Which textbook did you mention has extra spec knowledge?
Most will have but the Oxford university press one (with curly haired boy measuring something in a test tube against blueish background) has got boxes of info marked with a purple + sign which indicates the info is extra to spec. Please note to get these 1 to 2 extra marks everything else about your essay has to be ‘perfect’.
2:47
Can I help at all?
It’s there to show others in the comments when you actually start explaining the stages and so saves time
wait so could u do 3 a level topic paragraphs and then 1 off-spec paragraph?
Yes. BUT that paragraph has to be of A level standard (not just man-on-the-street general knowledge) AND all 4 paragraphs must have nailed the content by using loads of A level terminology correctly AND applied each paragraph of content to the theme of the question(generally 'importance of...') in order to reach the heights of 24/25 out of 25. IF your 4th 'off-spec' paragraph is not deemed to be of A level standard you are at best left with 3 relevant paragraphs which will bring the essay mark right down (10-15 max). In summary, a very risky strategy in my view. Always make the 'off-spec' paragraph the 5th paragraph. Personally I would put my effort into improving my content and application of the content, NOT on putting in an off spec paragraph. If you happen to get a title that you feel you can do that with, fantastic, but make it a bonus, not your basic essay strategy. Hope that makes sense.
biology carol, i understand - thank you. Would i gain anything if i just dropped 1 or 2 examples within my 4 a level paragraphs? E.g - an enzyme and its action which isn’t on the spec , within an enzyme paragraph?
@@ps0116 The 'off spec' content needs to be "several lines" not just a few words, so no. Please remember you only get the credit for the off spec stuff IF everything else about the essay is marvellous. In other words you gain 1 or 2 extra marks if you're already brilliant! That's why I'd concentrate on writing a decent essay as per my tips and NOT focus on getting those 1 or 2 elusive marks
@@ps0116 The 'off spec' content needs to be "several lines" not just a few words, so no. Please remember you only get the credit for the off spec stuff IF everything else about the essay is marvellous. In other words you gain 1 or 2 extra marks if you're already brilliant! That's why I'd concentrate on writing a decent essay as per my tips and NOT focus on getting those 1 or 2 elusive marks
biology carol , perfect - cheers carol
I’m so bad at writing essays
I always seem limited in my answers and have no clue
In the exam: Concentrate on writing a half decent description of 4-5 examples of the essay title. Leave a few lines between each paragraph.
Then, if you realise you can write something to explain the IMPORTANCE (THEmost common type of essay title) you can add it afterwards. A decent description on its own can get you up to 15/25. So if you’re really not great at essays (your words not mine😂) concentrate on the easy marks but literally leave yourself room to earn the harder marks if inspired.
Cheers Carol !
So sorry, RUclips has not notified me of any comments hence this very late response 😬
thank you!
biology carol that’s alright love x
@@hanawana I feel SO bad. I just thought noone was interested anymore. Early christmas present for me but a pain in the backside for my lovely students!
How many detail paragraphs do you recommend writing, plsss?
As per the video - 4 is the absolute minimum, though i would recommend 5. the best 4 get you your essay mark.
thanks!
Hi Carol, (me again), I’ve just had a bit of a panic because my teachers have always told me to do 4 paragraphs, and the examiners mark the best 3 - not 4. I’m also with AQA. Is this a confusion on my teacher’s part? Many thanks x
This was in last year's AQA Examiners' Report: "The levels mark scheme makes references to ‘several topics’ being covered in order to qualify for the top two levels. The ‘commentary’ on the levels scheme defines ‘several’ as at least four topic areas. It was pleasing to see that there were few essays in which students wrote at length about
only one or two topic areas, which would have limited them to a maximum of 10 marks. Students might be well advised to write about five (or even six) topic areas, as a form of insurance. The best topic area accounts are what decide the mark awarded." From this I have concluded that 4 is the minimum to access the higher marks ("top two levels") i.e. 20+ marks. From a timing point of view, I believe that 5 topics seems appropriate for the majority of students to aim for (too many students will write lower quality AO2 content if pushed to write 6). Hope this seems logical!
Do you need an introduction
No! Nor a conclusion!
Thanks
And thanks for this video
Thank you for the thank you!
If you were to write 4 paragraphs for the essay could you write 3 paragraphs on A2 topics and 1 on an AS topic? Or do you have to write two of each?
Yes. Your aim is to use at least 4 examples from across the two years of syllabus. If it ends up being a 3:1 split that’s fine. Just aim for as wide a range as possible.
biology carol thank you so much👍
biology carol so an example of if non cyclic phosphorylation didnt happen - no reduced NADP or ATP produced so no GP converted to TP. Hence, no TP converted into glucose and so no glucose for respiration. This means no energy released in respiration for processes such as mitosis and protein synthesis. Would that be okay? Do you need to say at the end the survival of the plant is threatened or just leave it there?
Leave it there. You’ve totally nailed describing another a level syllabus process that would be affected 👏
biology carol thank you💫
Thank you so much for this. My biology teachers are always banging on about linking paragraphs and I'm losing marks because I'm not doing it very well. I'm a little nervous because they are the ones that are going to be marking my essay to give me a final grade this coming year and its in my mini exam. Is there something on the spec that I can show them that says that linking of paragraphs is not required?
Looking at the MS for Paper 3's essay (2018 available on public area of AQA) filestore.aqa.org.uk/sample-papers-and-mark-schemes/2018/june/AQA-74023-W-MS-JUN18.PDF Page 15 has the 'Commentary on terms and statements in the MS'.
"This commentary defines the meanings of these words and statements in
the context of marking the essay. Many words and statements are used in the descriptions of more
than one level of response. The definitions of these remain the same throughout."
And then, when dealing with the term 'interrelated', which I strongly suspect is where the issue is, this is what the commentary says:
The descriptor in the mark scheme (for 11-15 mark level)=
"Response mostly deals with suitable topics but
they are not interrelated and links are not made
to the theme of the question."
Their definition =
"Not addressing the biological theme of the
essay (eg importance) at A-level standard."
Because this definition is the same throughout the commentary, the descriptors that reference 'interrelated topics' for the higher mark bands MUST mean that they are related to the topic and do not have to be related between themselves. I know that some teachers would understandably define interrelated as related BETWEEN topics but THIS is what is written in the AQA Essay training document:
filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/biology/AQA-BIOLOGY-TRAIN-SCHEDULE.PDF Page 1:
"7. Choose an essay title. Divide five or six topics from the indicative content list up between the
teachers. Each teacher writes a paragraph on each of their topics, relating it to the essay title.
They should spend no more than five minutes on each paragraph.
What the teachers will have produced is a series of separate paragraphs, each on a topic
related to the title. Putting these together would form a rudimentary essay. Although the biology
is (likely to be) correct, the individual paragraphs do not form an “interrelated” whole that
relates to the theme/concept of the essay title, which would limit the marks available.
8. Teachers should then spend some time considering how they would link each paragraph/topic
to the essay title. "
This makes it clear to me that interrelated is related BETWEEN THE TOPIC AND THE TITLE, not between the topics themselves.
This is the written guideance - I am sure that I have also had this explained verbally at AQAtraining sessions. but I've quoted the written as I obvs cant quote the verbal.
Thank you for this video, it was really helpful. To gain full marks do you have to use topics from year 1 and year 2 ?
There isn't a requirement for this in the mark scheme. But 4 topics from different parts (different chapters would be a useful guideline) of the syllabus is a must, and it would be reasonably unusual for all 4 to come from 1 year. I would particularly avoid them all coming from Yr12. Hope that helps.
biology carol ok, thanks very much for your help .
Hi, for the essay (AQA) can you talk about recombinant DNA - if so how is it best to link this to the 'importance'? Thank you
For which essay title? The N containing compounds? Then yes as all DNA, recombinant or otherwise, contains N. Think any other bit about DNA is more obvious to discuss because recombinant DNA only really benefits humans. but with respect to importance you could talk about medical importance of human insulin production or importance if cloning DNA for other processes such as DNA fingerprinting. Hope that helps. Come back to me if not.