VCE Vault

VCE Biology past exams 2023–2025

Every question from the last three VCE Biology exams, matched to the lesson that teaches it, with class averages from the examiners' reports and worked solutions. VCE Biology (Year 12) lessons.

2025 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 87%): Independent variable in an experiment on temperature and DNA structure. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, DNA Structure and Replication
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 88%): Interpret a graph of haemoglobin activity against temperature. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein, Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 79%): Compare two routes proteins take from the rough ER to the plasma membrane. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 4 (1 mark): tRNA anticodon that matches a given DNA triplet. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein, Transcription — From DNA to mRNA
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 67%): The event that ends transcription. Lesson: Transcription — From DNA to mRNA
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 79%): Match four descriptions of DNA sections to types of genes. Lesson: Transcription — From DNA to mRNA, Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 90%): Purpose of the single guide RNA in CRISPR-Cas9. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 80%): Read a gel to see which CRISPR test conditions cut the DNA. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing, PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 81%): Hypothesis that fits the design of a CRISPR-Cas9 experiment. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing, Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 75%): By-product and conditions needed for yeast to make lots of ethanol. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 48%): Use a DNA profile to find a lamb's father. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 87%): What makes DNA move through a gel when current is applied. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 72%): A correct statement about the steps of PCR. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 85%): Why reducing leaf overlap speeds up photosynthesis. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 54%): A correct statement about ATP yield from cellular respiration. Lesson: Cellular Respiration
  • MC 16 (1 mark, class average 66%): Two steps in making vinegar with yeast and bacteria. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 63%): Name stages of photosynthesis and respiration from their inputs and outputs. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 70%): A correct statement about pyruvate being turned into lactic acid. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 36%): Pair a suitable investigation method with a correct photosynthesis stage. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Photosynthesis
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 67%): Which limiting factors give the same shaped graph of photosynthesis rate. Lesson: Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 34%): First effect of a competitive inhibitor of ATP synthase. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes, Cellular Respiration
  • MC 22 (1 mark): How chemicals inside mint cells protect the plant from pathogens. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 85%): Identify the anecdote in a discussion about a plant remedy. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 88%): Examples of a cellular pathogen, a non-cellular pathogen and an allergen. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 64%): What happens in swollen lymph nodes during an infection. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 94%): What happens in an inflammatory response. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 58%): Match an innate immune molecule with its feature and job. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 82%): Main job of plasma cells. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 27%): Work out the day of first exposure from an antibody graph. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 63%): A correct statement about a second exposure to the same antigen. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 31 (1 mark, class average 90%): Effect of high vaccination rates on a population. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • MC 32 (1 mark, class average 84%): A factor that leads to a new pathogen emerging in a population. Lesson: Antigenic Drift, Shift and Emerging Diseases, Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • MC 33 (1 mark, class average 79%): The kind of pathogen change that needs a brand new vaccine. Lesson: Antigenic Drift, Shift and Emerging Diseases
  • MC 34 (1 mark, class average 86%): Conclusion about relatedness from a tree of dingoes, wolves and dog breeds. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification
  • MC 35 (1 mark, class average 75%): Feature in a photo that classifies a lemur as a primate. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 36 (1 mark, class average 79%): What a fossil with both reptile and mammal features can show. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 37 (1 mark, class average 80%): Date fossils using the known ages of rock layers. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 38 (1 mark, class average 69%): Evidence that would refute the idea a turtle arrived in Australia recently. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 39 (1 mark, class average 80%): Why a lettuce watering experiment isn't valid. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 40 (1 mark, class average 81%): Pick the qualitative data from four possible measurements. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q1a (3 marks, class average 67%): Draw and label the mature mRNA made by processing a three-exon gene. Lesson: Transcription — From DNA to mRNA
  • Q1b (2 marks, class average 39%): Fill in two missing steps in making insulin with recombinant plasmids. Lesson: Biotechnology Applications
  • Q2a (2 marks, class average 40%): Explain how enzymes speed up biochemical reactions. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • Q2b (5 marks, class average 49%): Explain enzyme activity before and after tryptophan is removed using repression and attenuation. Lesson: Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • Q2c (2 marks, class average 40%): Two limitations of a computer model that doesn't match experimental data. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • Q2d (2 marks, class average 25%): Consequence for bacteria when a former stop codon starts coding for an amino acid. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q3a (3 marks, class average 62%): Where and when Rubisco is most active in C3, C4 and CAM plants. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • Q3b (2 marks, class average 58%): Why photorespiration increases with temperature in C3 plants. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q3c.i (2 marks, class average 73%): Describe how to control light and water for plants in an experiment. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q3c.ii (2 marks, class average 40%): Why glucose content is a poor dependent variable for testing photorespiration. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Cellular Respiration
  • Q4a (2 marks, class average 65%): Decide whether gene-edited rice and Bt maize are transgenic, GM or both. Lesson: Biotechnology Applications, CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • Q4b (2 marks, class average 63%): How more chlorophyll in edited rice could increase crop yield. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q5a (2 marks, class average 60%): Two roles of neutrophils during a bacterial infection. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • Q5b (4 marks, class average 37%): Contrast the adaptive response to a bacterium outside cells and a virus inside cells. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • Q6a (2 marks, class average 54%): Type of immunity a baby gets when the mother is vaccinated in pregnancy. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q6b (2 marks, class average 53%): Why a booster vaccine is advised in a later pregnancy. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q6c (2 marks, class average 74%): One economic benefit of vaccinating pregnant women against a virus. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q6d (2 marks, class average 36%): How injected monoclonal antibodies reduce severe disease in infants. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q6e (2 marks, class average 71%): Another way to reduce spread of a respiratory virus to infants. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q7a (2 marks, class average 50%): What the founder effect is and why it fits an introduced bee population. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q7b (3 marks, class average 41%): The process behind DNA changes in an expanding bee population and how it helped. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q7c (3 marks, class average 45%): Possible genetic change in native bees facing a new competitor. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q8a (2 marks, class average 75%): Two reasons tadpoles suited an experiment on light-powered oxygen supply. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q8b.i (2 marks, class average 45%): Two molecules besides enzymes needed to produce oxygen in photosynthesis. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • Q8b.ii (2 marks, class average 47%): Role of each named molecule in producing oxygen. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • Q8c (2 marks, class average 48%): Why brain activity stops after a long time without oxygen. Lesson: Cellular Respiration, Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • Q8d (2 marks, class average 47%): Explain the delay before brain activity restarts in the light. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration
  • Q8e (2 marks, class average 61%): Two events along the electron transport chain. Lesson: Cellular Respiration
  • Q8f (2 marks, class average 80%): Choose and justify an ethical view of a tadpole experiment. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q9a (2 marks, class average 54%): How molecular homology can show how closely related populations are. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification
  • Q9b (3 marks, class average 55%): Use a map to explain how a finch population on a distant island became a new species. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q10a (2 marks, class average 44%): Evidence in fossil footprints for hominins and for two different species. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • Q10b (2 marks, class average 69%): Why two studies dated interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals differently. Lesson: Human Evolution, Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q10c (2 marks, class average 57%): Explain why ancient humans had more Neanderthal DNA than people today. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • Q10d (2 marks, class average 46%): Two benefits of using mtDNA to trace hominin migration. Lesson: Human Evolution, Phylogenetic Trees and Classification

2024 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 90%): A correct statement about a two-chain protein with quaternary structure. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 84%): Match a feature of RNA with one of its roles in a eukaryotic cell. Lesson: DNA Structure and Replication, Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 56%): What attenuation of the trp operon prevents. Lesson: Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • MC 4 (1 mark, class average 61%): Choose the diagram that shows the parts of a eukaryotic gene. Lesson: Transcription — From DNA to mRNA
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 65%): A correct statement about the CRISPR system in a bacterium attacked by a virus. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 84%): The natural job of CRISPR-Cas9 in a bacterium. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 69%): Conclusion about canola modified with genes from another plant using a plasmid. Lesson: Biotechnology Applications
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 64%): Where the Krebs cycle happens in an electron micrograph of a mitochondrion. Lesson: Cellular Respiration
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 52%): Match each location in and around a mitochondrion to how much ATP it makes. Lesson: Cellular Respiration
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 85%): Valid conclusion from a high level of lactic acid in animal cells. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 77%): Outputs of the electron transport chain and the role of NADH. Lesson: Cellular Respiration
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 86%): Reasonable conclusion from a bar graph of algae growth under different light colours. Lesson: Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration, Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 84%): A variable that should be controlled in a light colour experiment on algae. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 77%): Where light energy is used to split water in a photosynthetic cell. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 68%): Effect of temperature on carbon fixation using a CO₂ solubility graph. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • MC 16 (1 mark, class average 72%): A correct statement about producing bioethanol from biomass. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 58%): What happens during the inflammation of a gout attack. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 68%): Type of study, type of data and ethics shown in a gout and alcohol survey. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 55%): A correct statement about complement proteins. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 59%): Compare the roles of neutrophils and dendritic cells. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 67%): A role of the lymphatic system. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 22 (1 mark, class average 70%): Match a type of immunity to the way it was gained. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 88%): A technique that gives quantitative primary data in an insecticide investigation. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 80%): How to check whether results are reproducible. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 77%): Identify the cell that is activated by an antigen-presenting cell in a diagram. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 65%): A correct statement about cytotoxic T cells and infected cells. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 69%): Where an antigen-presenting cell most likely meets a helper T cell. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 79%): Independent and dependent variables in a mouse breeding experiment. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 27%): Why tibia length can still change in a small group that breeds at random. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 78%): Explain the steady increase in tibia length in the cage where long-legged mice were chosen. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • MC 31 (1 mark, class average 84%): Conclusion from a diagram of fish diversity through geological time. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 32 (1 mark, class average 55%): Method likely used to date very old fossils. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 33 (1 mark, class average 68%): Consequence of antigenic drift in one influenza strain. Lesson: Antigenic Drift, Shift and Emerging Diseases
  • MC 34 (1 mark, class average 85%): What a shrinking pelvis in dolphin evolution shows. Lesson: Evidence for Evolution
  • MC 35 (1 mark, class average 69%): Classify a gibbon from its features. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 36 (1 mark, class average 89%): Conclusion from a dated phylogenetic tree of marsupials. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification
  • MC 37 (1 mark, class average 68%): Features a fossil hominin shares with modern Homo species. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 38 (1 mark): Where to place a fossil hominin with mixed features on a hominin tree. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 39 (1 mark, class average 80%): Describe repeated results that agree with each other but not with the true value. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 40 (1 mark, class average 66%): Which antibiotic a bacterium is resistant to in a disc diffusion test. Lesson: Case Study — Antibiotic Resistance as Ongoing Evolution, Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q1a.i (1 mark, class average 92%): Identify the Golgi apparatus on a diagram of a plant cell. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q1a.ii (3 marks, class average 67%): Describe what the Golgi apparatus does. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q1b (2 marks, class average 65%): Describe what tRNA does in making a protein. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q1c (2 marks, class average 55%): Explain how an enzyme speeds up the breakdown of a protein. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • Q1d (1 mark, class average 55%): Role of vesicles in exporting a protein from a cell. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q1e (2 marks, class average 35%): Name a weakness of the protein synthesis model and suggest how to deal with it. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q2 (5 marks, class average 48%): Explain how a proteome lets cells with the same genes become very different. Lesson: Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon), Transcription — From DNA to mRNA, Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q3a (2 marks, class average 25%): Two reasons glucose isn't used up completely by fermenting yeast. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • Q3b (2 marks, class average 65%): Effect of adding oxygen on ethanol production by yeast. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation, Cellular Respiration
  • Q4a (3 marks, class average 47%): Why photosynthesis counts as a biochemical pathway. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • Q4b (3 marks, class average 50%): Use carbon fixation data to show C4 plants have an advantage over C3 plants. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q4c (2 marks, class average 35%): Why carbon fixation rises with light then levels off in a C3 plant. Lesson: Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration, Photosynthesis
  • Q4d (3 marks, class average 60%): How C4 plants cut down photorespiration compared with C3 plants. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q5a.i (1 mark, class average 91%): Read chlorophyll and nitrogen values from two bar graphs. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q5a.ii (2 marks, class average 60%): How extra chlorophyll or nitrogen could affect the edited barley plant. Lesson: Photosynthesis, CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • Q5b (2 marks, class average 35%): Why some seeds aren't edited when using CRISPR-Cas9. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • Q5c (2 marks, class average 70%): Use a gel to pick out the edited plant after a restriction enzyme digest. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling, CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • Q5d (2 marks, class average 65%): How gel electrophoresis separates DNA fragments. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • Q6a (2 marks, class average 60%): Compare the variable regions of two antibodies that bind the same receptor. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments, Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • Q6b (2 marks, class average 50%): Two ways monoclonal antibodies could treat a receptor-positive cancer. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q7a (3 marks, class average 83%): An action that could explain a big fall in measles cases from 1994. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health, Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q7b (3 marks, class average 63%): Likely source of new measles cases and benefits of publishing places they visited. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q7c (4 marks, class average 35%): Two factors behind new pathogens emerging in people. Lesson: Antigenic Drift, Shift and Emerging Diseases
  • Q8a (1 mark, class average 39%): Name the investigation methodology used to sample trees in their habitat. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q8b (2 marks, class average 80%): Evidence that two groups of a tree should be separate species. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation, Evidence for Evolution
  • Q8c.i (1 mark, class average 79%): Type of speciation for two groups living close together. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q8c.ii (4 marks, class average 55%): Explain how genetic differences built up between two groups of trees. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q9a (1 mark, class average 46%): Why DNA from people of European ancestry was included in a genome study. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q9b (2 marks, class average 85%): How a genomic study showed respect for the communities involved. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q9c (4 marks, class average 50%): Back up two conclusions about genetic diversity with data and explanations. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation, Human Evolution
  • Q9d (2 marks, class average 35%): How the study advances understanding of human genomic diversity or genetic disease. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification, Human Evolution
  • Q10a (3 marks, class average 90%): Analyse a bar graph of how likely people said they were to get vaccinated. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q10b.i (1 mark, class average 89%): Strategy to raise vaccination rates based on the investigation's findings. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q10b.ii (1 mark, class average 52%): A different strategy to raise vaccination rates. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • Q10c.i (2 marks, class average 40%): Why participants should be placed into groups at random. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q10c.ii (2 marks, class average 45%): Comment on how valid the results of a vaccination survey are. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words

2023 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 86%): Match each type of nucleic acid to its job in the cell. Lesson: DNA Structure and Replication, Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 71%): Read the labelled parts of a uracil nucleotide and a thymine nucleotide. Lesson: DNA Structure and Replication
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 39%): Identify the steps and features in a diagram of gene expression and RNA processing. Lesson: Transcription — From DNA to mRNA
  • MC 4 (1 mark, class average 33%): Number of codons needed for a 100 amino acid polypeptide. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 74%): Roles of the labelled organelles as a cell makes and exports a protein. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 75%): What to expect when comparing the proteins in different human cells. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein, Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 71%): What systematic errors do to a set of measurements. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 72%): How a fungal pathogen most likely gets into a wheat plant. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 82%): Name for a plant given a resistance gene from another species. Lesson: Biotechnology Applications
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 78%): What gel electrophoresis does to DNA fragments. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 66%): Effect of a drug that fits into an enzyme's active site. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 84%): Ethical concept shown by publishing every result of a clinical study. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 69%): Where the Calvin cycle happens in an electron micrograph of a chloroplast. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 85%): A correct statement about the Calvin cycle. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 74%): Molecules used in the light-independent stage of photosynthesis. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • MC 16 (1 mark, class average 82%): Where the light-dependent stage happens in a leaf cell. Lesson: Photosynthesis
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 68%): What type of biomolecule enzymes are. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 77%): Read a graph to find the condition with the fastest lactate formation. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 61%): Why cells use glucose faster when oxygen is missing. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation, Cellular Respiration
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 91%): Why glucose use and lactate formation are equal at a high temperature. Lesson: Enzymes and Coenzymes, Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 91%): Which cells release histamine in an allergic reaction. Lesson: Immune Dysfunction — Allergies, Autoimmunity, Immunodeficiency
  • MC 22 (1 mark, class average 53%): How antigen-presenting cells show allergens to T cells. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated, Immune Dysfunction — Allergies, Autoimmunity, Immunodeficiency
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 70%): What an anti-inflammatory traditional medicine is acting on. Lesson: Pathogens and the Innate Immune Response
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 49%): Interpret nine years of prescription data for an allergy treatment. Lesson: Immune Dysfunction — Allergies, Autoimmunity, Immunodeficiency, Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 77%): What can be assumed about a study's control group. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 60%): A correct statement about producing monoclonal antibodies. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 75%): Benefit of replacing mouse parts of a therapeutic antibody with human parts. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 81%): Feature that lets an antibody bind two different targets. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments, Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 71%): An event that can happen in the lymphatic system. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 90%): What happens to allele frequencies in a selective breeding program. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • MC 31 (1 mark, class average 78%): Type of immunity from a vaccine containing an inactivated toxin. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • MC 32 (1 mark, class average 83%): Most likely reason outbreaks of a vaccine-preventable disease still occur. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • MC 33 (1 mark, class average 89%): Why an outbreak was called an epidemic rather than a pandemic. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health, Antigenic Drift, Shift and Emerging Diseases
  • MC 34 (1 mark, class average 71%): Least effective way to control a mosquito-borne virus. Lesson: Herd Immunity, Outbreaks and Public Health
  • MC 35 (1 mark, class average 55%): A change that improves the accuracy of experimental results. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • MC 36 (1 mark, class average 73%): Least useful evidence for building a phylogenetic tree of mammals. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification
  • MC 37 (1 mark, class average 89%): Pair of finches sharing the most recent common ancestor on a tree. Lesson: Phylogenetic Trees and Classification
  • MC 38 (1 mark, class average 73%): Fit mammals, primates, hominoids and hominins into a nested circle diagram. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 39 (1 mark, class average 77%): Pick out modern humans on a brain mass versus body mass graph. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • MC 40 (1 mark, class average 72%): What the carrying angle of the femur shows about bipedalism. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • Q1a (2 marks, class average 65%): Name the monomer group of a molecule from its structure and justify. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q1b (6 marks, class average 58%): Compare repression and attenuation of the trp operon. Lesson: Regulation of Gene Expression (trp Operon)
  • Q2a (3 marks, class average 67%): Decide if a mystery plant is C3, C4 or CAM from starch production data. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q2b (4 marks, class average 45%): Explain how green or blue light changes starch formation compared with white light. Lesson: Photosynthesis, Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis and Respiration
  • Q3a (3 marks, class average 47%): How specific antibodies help someone recover from a bacterial infection. Lesson: Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • Q3b (2 marks, class average 90%): Bioethics principle a deliberate infection study may break. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q3c (3 marks, class average 70%): Use immune cell and antibody data to pick the participant who got the placebo. Lesson: Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments, Adaptive Immunity — Humoral and Cell-Mediated
  • Q3d (2 marks, class average 70%): Ongoing treatment challenges caused by drug-resistant tuberculosis. Lesson: Case Study — Antibiotic Resistance as Ongoing Evolution, Vaccines and Antiviral/Antibiotic Treatments
  • Q4a (3 marks, class average 43%): Roles of coenzymes in making ATP during respiration. Lesson: Cellular Respiration, Enzymes and Coenzymes
  • Q4b (3 marks, class average 33%): Why red blood cells metabolise glucose the same way with or without oxygen. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation, Cellular Respiration
  • Q5a (4 marks, class average 43%): Use CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out a gene in a disease pathway and make citrus resistant. Lesson: CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing
  • Q5b.i (1 mark, class average 50%): Why the steam explosion was run at the highest temperature. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • Q5b.ii (1 mark, class average 52%): Why the mixture was cooled before yeast was added. Lesson: Anaerobic Respiration and Fermentation
  • Q6a (5 marks, class average 48%): Outline making human insulin with recombinant plasmids. Lesson: Biotechnology Applications
  • Q6b (3 marks, class average 77%): Use activity curves to pick the insulin that acts faster than regular insulin. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q6c.i (1 mark, class average 69%): Level of protein structure for a protein made of two chains. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q6c.ii (2 marks, class average 30%): What to consider when changing the amino acid sequence of a protein hormone. Lesson: Translation — From mRNA to Protein
  • Q7a (3 marks, class average 43%): How genetic drift could change genetic diversity in a small endangered bird population. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q7b (2 marks, class average 50%): How swapping eggs between captive and wild groups keeps genetic diversity up. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q7c (3 marks, class average 50%): Define a consequences-based approach and apply it to a captive-breeding program. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q8a (2 marks, class average 50%): Two ways people with African ancestry could carry some Neanderthal DNA. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • Q8b (2 marks, class average 50%): Why Europeans and Asians carry more Neanderthal DNA than Africans. Lesson: Human Evolution
  • Q9a (2 marks, class average 45%): Two factors in flowering data that could have led to speciation in palms. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q9b.i (1 mark, class average 84%): Read two graphs to find each palm's preferred soil pH and altitude. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q9b.ii (2 marks, class average 50%): How differences in soil pH and altitude could have driven a new species to form. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q10a (2 marks, class average 75%): Two sources of environmental DNA a platypus could leave in a river. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • Q10b (2 marks, class average 45%): Two things to consider when collecting water samples to reduce error. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q10c (2 marks, class average 70%): Why PCR was used on the water samples. Lesson: PCR, Gel Electrophoresis and DNA Profiling
  • Q10d (2 marks, class average 50%): Compare predicted and detected platypus occurrence on a map. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q11a (2 marks, class average 65%): Two variables controlled in a long-running evolution experiment. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words
  • Q11b (2 marks, class average 70%): Predict how a mutation for using a new food source affects later generations. Lesson: Natural Selection and Speciation
  • Q11c (3 marks, class average 47%): Design an experiment on glucose concentration and the citrate-using phenotype. Lesson: Biology Exam Technique and Command Words, Natural Selection and Speciation