A-Level Science

Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 2012 6BI05 Article Help

I've been very busy with school, but I have made some important modifications to this blog. An update will be posted later. For now, I think that it is important to offer help with the January 2012 6BI05 scientific article.

Watch this space for an update that will include possible questions.

Friday, January 7, 2011

AS Biology - Carbohydrates!

3 Distinguish between monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides (glycogen and starch — amylose and amylopectin) and relate their structures to their roles in providing and storing energy (β-glucose and cellulose are not required in this topic).

6BI05 Article Help!

I've been very busy lately and my ability to update regularly has been hindered. I will still try to post content for AS Biology and AS Chemistry by the May/June examinations but I am not making any promises.

I have decided to offer some help on the 6BI05 article because it can get difficult to study for the unit content AND work with the article. Here are some possible questions to get your brain ticking :)

Answers (and more questions) will be posted soon! Click HERE to download the PDF file.

UPDATE: Answers to first set of questions can be downloaded after clicking HERE.

Monday, November 1, 2010

6BI01 Introduction and Water!

The 6BI01 unit, like all other main units, it worth 120 UMS points. The raw score, like all other main units, is 80 marks. Units 3(B) and 6(B) are worth 60 UMS. Unit 3B's raw score is 40 and 6B's is 50.

In AS, 6BI01 is worth 40% of the total grade earned! In the full A Level, this unit is worth 20%. So, it it clear that this unit is heavily weighted in the AS year so you should try you best to perform well. This is a fairly simple and straightforward unit. If you learn the concepts and familiarise yourself with previous questions and how they are answered you should earn yourself a nice, solid A. I scored 101/120 in this unit, but I had the potential to score 120/120. I underestimated the time factor and omitted lots of raw marks because time ran out. I knew the answers to to the questions I left out! I sat this unit in June 2009 and the time for this paper was 1 hour 15 minutes. The examiners realised that we were pressed for time so they increase the time for this paper to 1 hour 30 minutes. The raw marks remain unchanged.

I will update this space with a list of recommended books and small book reviews of these books.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How Science Works

The specifications for the new Edexcel science subjects state that How Science Works (HSW) is a newly introduced section of the GCE Science criteria, that builds on from the Key Stage 4 Programme of Study for science. The concept of HSW isn't quite new however, it's just that HSW now plays a major role in testing students' scientific knowledge.

I have found quite a nifty definition of what HSW means from this article. Here is the meaning:

So what does "how science works" actually mean? In addition to teaching the "facts" of science, teachers are now required to teach students things like "there are some questions that science cannot currently answer, and some that science cannot address", and that scientific and technological developments have their "benefits, drawbacks and risks".

Written Alternative Papers

As mentioned quite a few times before, two out of the six units you take in A Level sciences will involve practical work. Practical knowledge will be assessed in all six units. So, you can be asked about experiments and procedures in your Unit 1, 2, 4 and 5 tests. Unit 3 and 6 are specifically focused on practical skills and knowledge. International students will not be able to take the actual practical assessments and so the alternative is the practical written paper which replaces practical units (Unit 3 and 6).

The written alternative to internal practical assessment have the unit codes:
Unit 3B: 6BI07 + 6CH07
Unit 6B: 6BI08 + 6CH08

Grades!

Right-o! This post will address marks/grades and UMS.

Marks/Grades

Your AS grades count for 50% of your total A Level grade. The same holds true for your A2 grades. For the science subjects (and maybe most other subjects), you will be graded out of 600 UMS marks. UMS marks are the marks you obtain AFTER your paper has been marked. Your raw score is converted to a corresponding UMS score. Your grade depends on what UMS score you get.

You will always need the follow percentage UMS scores to get the matching grade:

80% - A

70% - B

60% - C

50% - D

40% - E

Course structure for Edexcel Biology and Chemistry - Part Two

In my previous post, I explained the units tested in the Biology specification. I have yet to explain: the units tested in the Chemistry specification, grades/marks/UMS and the written alternative to practicals/coursework. After these introductory posts, I plan to start posting resources for each subject. I will occasionally post updates for Physics and Mathematics (w/ Mechanics) so keep an eye out for those posts as well.

Details about a particular unit will be posted when I begin to post content on a given unit. Such details include: number of questions in the paper, the time allotted for the paper, number of sections in the paper and the synoptic factor of each paper (at the A2 level).

Course structure for Edexcel Biology and Chemistry - Part One

If you're from the UK and you are taking Edexcel Biology and Chemistry at the Advanced Level, you will have to take four written examinations. If you're an international student, you will have to take two additional exams which serve as the written alternative to practicals/coursework.

EDEXCEL BIOLOGY

The official specification can be downloaded here.

The international extension to this specification is here.

The specification code for AS Biology is: 8BI01

The specification code for A2 Biology is: 9BI01

You will have to take a total of six units in the entire course. Units 1, 2, 4 and 5 include the actual content which you must learn. Units 3, 3B, 6 and 6B examine practical aspects to the course. I will focus more on Units 3B and 6B since these are the written alternatives to coursework and they often test content taken directly from the specification. The codes for Unit 3 and 6 are: 6BI03 & 6BI06. The codes for 3B and 6B are: 6BI07 & 6BI08.

Each of the 'main' units is divided into two topics.