How to approach and answer A-level Biology Questions that need you to Analyse Figures, Tables and Images - lots of example past paper questions

DO NOT LOOK at the question and then look at the data to answer the question.

  • ALWAYS LOOK AT THE DATA FIRST

  • Look closely at the graph or table

  • Graph look very carefully at the axes - have they plotted rate or time, mass/volume or concentration ? Often students assume enzyme graphs have rate on the y axis - sometimes they don’t !

  • Table - is the IV in the first column ? What are the units of the DV ? Has a mean been calculated ? Is the data in each row consistent ?

  • are there range/SD bars on the graph ? remember this indicates the variation in the data that was used to calculate the mean

  • do the range bars or standard deviation bars overlap ?

  • In a table what range is in the replicates when you compare to the mean ?

  • what trends can you observe ? then think about what principle of biology is being shown by the the trends.

  • How would you explain the highest value, the lowest value, the point at which the line crosses the x axis, how would you explain the largest range, how would you change the method to reduce the spread in the data ?

Once  you have a coherent understanding of the trends  - only then look at the question.

try this - about 20 questions with data and analysis

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Tuesday night group tutoring topics and Y13 & Y12 OCR A and AQA small group weekly class information