Another "Suggest" AQA exam question walk through

Here is another example of a “Suggest” question from a past paper.

Find the main “Suggest” article and first example question here

Example 2: Q3 Paper 2 2023

This next question is more complex, and there are two ‘suggest’ questions.

But first - I always recommend you don’t read the actual questions until you’ve looked at the background information, graph etc. Doing this will help you avoid getting overwhelmed and jumping to mistaken conclusions (which is very common in exam situations!).

So let’s keep the questions for later. First make sense of this:

1. Don’t panic!

This question is going to challenge your working memory by throwing lots of information at you all at once. Tackle it bit by bit to make sense of what’s going on.

2. Use your knowledge to make sense of the background information:

There are tomatoes, a “mycorrhizal species’, and different water conditions.

• You know that mycorrhizae are fungi (3.5.4)

• You know that plants need the correct amount of water in order to grow (GCSE)

• You can understand the experiment – including identifying the independent, dependent, and controlled variables. (8.3)

• You can understand the data – what is the graph is showing? (6.4)

Top tip: Write “IV” and “DV” on the paper to identify the Independent and Dependent variables.

Water availability = IV
Whether mycorrhizae were added to the soil = IV
The mean mass of tomatoes = DV

…. What is the graph showing? 

·       The pair of bars on the left of the graph compare the yield of tomatoes from plants grown in conditions of water shortage.

o   The bar on the far left is for plants grown in soil that did not have mycorrhize added. The other is for plants in soil that did have mycorrhizae added.

o   The results show a significant difference between the yield of tomatoes for these two groups of plants. The plants with mycorrhizae yielded more tomatos.

·       The pair of bars on the right compare plants that did not experience water shortage.

o   Again, the bar on the left is without mycorrhizae, and that on the right is with mycorrhizae.

o   The results show no significant difference between the yield of tomatoes from these two groups of plants.

Got that? Ok now you’re ready to look at the questions. How would you approach these?

3. Answer questions in order:

The first part of the question (not shown) is about phosphorous cycles, so you will already be thinking about content from 3.5.4 (Nutrient Cycles).

4. Check the Command Word:

‘Suggest’.

5. Understand the question:

These questions are quite straightforward.

6. Think about relevant information from the spec

• You know that mycorrhizae facilitate the uptake of water and inorganic ions by plants. (3.5.4)

• You know that there are a variety of living organisms in soil, and that these are in competition (3.7.4)

• ou have identified the fertiliser concentration as a controlled variable (8.3)

7. How many marks are there available?

Each question has two reasons for two marks; one mark per reason. Make them good ones!

8. So, what are your answers?

There are a variety of different ways to get the marks, allowing you to play to your strengths. Give it a go before looking at the makr scheme below.

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Q3 Paper 2 2023 Q3.3 – mark scheme

Did you get the marks?

Paper 2 2023 Q3.3 – example answers

Good answer examples, which would win marks:

✅ to ensure that there are no other fungi growing in the soil

✅ to remove any seeds in the soil so that other plants don’t grow and consume the nutrients and water

✅ to ensure that there are no pathogens in the soil that can infect the tomato plants

Poor answers that would not get the mark – can you identify where they’ve gone wrong?

❌ To remove harmful bacteria

❌ To kill everything living in the soil so it doesn’t interfere with the experiment

❌ to make sure that conditions are ideal for growing tomato plants

 

Q3 Paper 2 2023 Q3.4 - markscheme

Paper 2 2023 Q3.4 – example answers

Good answer examples, which would win marks:

✅ The investigation is on the effect of water shortage so the concentration of fertiliser should be a control variable

✅  The concentration of fertiliser will affect the growth of the plant so the recommended amount should be used to get the best crop

✅  Fertilisers can affect the water potential of the soil which may impact how water is absorbed by the roots

Poor answers that would not get the mark – can you identify where they’ve gone wrong?

❌ Without fertiliser the tomatoes won’t grow

❌ So that the soil doesn’t affect the size of the tomatoes

❌ So that the tomatoes can be compare

Article by Natalie Vlachakis (an ex-teacher who also worked for AQA) & Jenny Shipway

DNA structure and replication - Resources, guides and exam questions

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Protein Synthesis - Resources, Questions and a Quiz

Videos, powerpoints, animation and notes for understanding protein synthesis in A level Biology. A pack of questions and an automarked quiz.

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Tips for Understanding Protein Synthesis

DO

• Distinguish between Triplet, Codon, Anticodon

• Know what RNA polymerase does

• Understand how tRNA achieves translation

• Mention ATP and what it is used for

• remember that rRNA is made in the nucleolus

• Refer to START and STOP codons

DONT

• Say DNA is turned into mRNA

• Say Thymine becomes Uracil

• Say Amino acids are “joined together”

Here are lots of other excellent resources to help you improve

You could join other motivated U6th students in the group tutor sessions - twice a month

If you found this resource useful then please like and share with others.

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Kidney Disease Questions

• Haemodialysis animation

• Peritoneal Dialysis animation

• Kidney Transplant Animation

OCR A/OCR B, Eduqas - excellent application questions on Kidney Diseases, Dialysis and Transplants

IIf you found this useful then please like and share.

Weekly group tutoring is on Tuesdays at 7.10pm

The Kidney from Stephen Taylor

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Watch the video - and then - try these questions - from OCR A and B spec - but relevant to all UK boards.

Enzymes and Proteins PowerPoint from BiologyIB

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stunning animations - (needs flash - if you use iOS then puffin browser is excellent) Glycolysis, Krebs, ETC

Terrific ATP powerpoint from Biological Science Review Extra

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BioKnowledgy 2.8 Cell respiration from Chris Paine

Multiple Choice Questions to make you think - A-level Biology

The OCR spec is now partly examined through some terrific multiple choice questions. This is a assessment format that is unusual to many students. Here are 9 questions from an Old paper that will stimulate some thought.

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Here is a pdf of the questions - and here is the markscheme