VCE Vault

VCE Environmental Science past exams 2023–2025

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

2025 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 53%): The usual cause of past mass extinctions. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 65%): Why species diversify quickly after a mass extinction. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 40%): What testing several samples under the same conditions measures. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 4 (1 mark, class average 74%): The difference between pollination and seed dispersal. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 75%): Compare natural and human-caused rates of extinction. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 37%): A factor that shapes ecosystem diversity. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 81%): The thinking behind a container deposit scheme. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 76%): Which principle charging manufacturers for waste costs shows. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 42%): What led to a federal ban on the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Pollution — Air, Water, Land
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 75%): The focus of conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 55%): Effect of shrinking Antarctic sea ice on albedo. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 81%): Why modelling melting sea ice's effect on the carbon cycle is hard. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 78%): Classify climate information from growth bands in fossil coral. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 91%): How shifting flowering times could affect the regent honeyeater. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 56%): Why planting nectar trees for the honeyeater is an adaptation option. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • MC 16 (1 mark): The value system behind a pest management project in north-west Victoria. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 68%): The principle behind protecting dingoes in north-west Victoria. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 84%): The list made up only of renewable energy sources. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 94%): Compare pie charts of Australia's energy use in 1973 and 2022. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 46%): Compare energy use per person in 1973 and 2022. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 74%): Why a wind turbine doesn't pass all the wind's energy to the grid. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 22 (1 mark, class average 72%): Why wind turbines can't supply reliable energy on their own. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 74%): A biological method for rehabilitating an open-cut mine. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 93%): Match three open-cut mining impacts to Earth systems. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 80%): An example of short-term carbon sequestration. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 64%): How atmospheric gases regulate Earth's energy balance. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 71%): A correct statement about two groups' turbidity data. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 61%): The standard unit used to measure turbidity. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 63%): Why one group measured turbidity five times at each site. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 87%): A valid conclusion about the lake's water quality from the turbidity table. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q1a (2 marks, class average 60%): Calculate Simpson's Index of Diversity for a quadrat of grasses and insects. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1b (3 marks, class average 33%): Explain species richness and relative abundance using the quadrat data. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1c (3 marks, class average 40%): Evaluate a suggestion to protect the park under the CITES treaty. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1d (3 marks, class average 53%): Discuss whether mark-recapture on endangered native animals is ethical. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q2a (1 mark, class average 26%): The perch's likely conservation category before recovery efforts. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q2b (2 marks, class average 80%): Why competition from an invasive fish threatens the perch. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • Q2c (4 marks, class average 60%): Describe one action for habitat restoration and one for captive breeding. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q2d (2 marks, class average 65%): How more perch provide a regulating service, defining the term. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q2e.i (2 marks, class average 70%): Why record the genetic diversity of the original perch population. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q2e.ii (3 marks, class average 57%): Why measure genetic diversity after the reintroduction. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q3a (4 marks, class average 57%): Does converting cattle land to an organic market garden meet two sustainability principles. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3b (2 marks, class average 60%): Values and priorities behind the family's decisions about their market garden. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q3c (4 marks, class average 57%): Environmental and economic costs and benefits of the change of land use. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3d (3 marks, class average 67%): Evaluate a claim that the organic garden shows an anthropocentric focus. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q4a (2 marks, class average 55%): How the Cape Grim sampling method makes its data valid, defining validity. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4b (2 marks, class average 55%): Percentage increase in Cape Grim CO₂ from 329 ppm to 421 ppm. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4c.i (2 marks, class average 80%): Describe the change in nitrous oxide levels since 1800 from a graph. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4c.ii (2 marks, class average 65%): Causes of nitrous oxide changes before and after 1800. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q4d (2 marks, class average 40%): What a global warming potential of 273 means for nitrous oxide. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q4e (4 marks, class average 38%): Explain the natural greenhouse effect using each form of radiation involved. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5a (2 marks, class average 40%): Meaning of uncertainty in an optimal growing temperature of 28 ± 2 °C. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q5b (2 marks, class average 50%): Two future climate risks to the cotton industry from the trend data. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q5c (2 marks, class average 75%): Why Aboriginal perspectives matter in deciding on cotton trials in the NT. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q5d (2 marks, class average 40%): What the IPCC's high confidence rating means for cotton growers. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q6a (2 marks, class average 60%): Energy forms from biomass to the electricity grid. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6b (2 marks, class average 50%): Calculate the efficiency of a biofuel power plant. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6c (3 marks, class average 40%): Compare biomass and coal energy in terms of the carbon cycle. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q6d (2 marks, class average 60%): One risk of growing energy crops and its local environmental impact. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • Q6e (2 marks, class average 35%): Evaluate biomass as base load supply for a region of 300 000 people. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7a (1 mark, class average 58%): Classify nuclear energy by source and renewability. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7b (4 marks, class average 35%): Implications of nuclear power for greenhouse emissions and reliability. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7c.i (2 marks, class average 40%): Compare the 80-year costs of a nuclear reactor and a wind farm. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7c.ii (1 mark, class average 10%): Another factor when weighing nuclear against wind power. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q8a (2 marks, class average 65%): A hypothesis for the insulation and cooling water experiment. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8b (1 mark, class average 53%): The dependent variable in the insulation experiment. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8c (2 marks, class average 75%): Predict which box loses most heat, and justify. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q8d (2 marks, class average 65%): A systematic error with a temperature probe and how to prevent it. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8e (2 marks, class average 70%): Why higher R value insulation cuts household energy use. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q8f (2 marks, class average 40%): How a builder could get the most from a home's insulation. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation

2024 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 59%): What similar fossils in different regions suggest. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 74%): Classify carbon sequestration as an ecosystem service. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 70%): Why genetic diversity helps a species survive. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services, Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • MC 4 (1 mark, class average 91%): A likely long-term effect of repeated El Niño events. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 62%): What tree ring widths reveal about a region's climate. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 60%): Classify using tree rings to study climate thousands of years ago. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 83%): What decides how much a gas adds to the greenhouse effect. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 61%): Name the type of climate effect on bees and flowering plants. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 83%): The relationship between reef-building coral and its algae. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 61%): The term for pollutants passing up the food chain to coral. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Pollution — Air, Water, Land
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 12%): Classify ongoing air monitoring for PAH exposure at work. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Pollution — Air, Water, Land
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 74%): Average of ten annual maximum temperatures read from a bar graph. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 29%): What one site's ten-year temperature rise says about global warming. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 54%): Read a stacked area chart of Australian renewable energy. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 49%): Wind's share of renewable energy in 2021 from a stacked chart. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 16 (1 mark, class average 58%): The best description of base load. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 85%): The first law of thermodynamics. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 54%): Which change makes home heating more energy efficient. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 69%): The principle shown by a factory reusing its waste heat. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 72%): How the factory shows circular economy thinking. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 69%): Classify biomass as an energy source. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 22 (1 mark, class average 90%): The council's aim in installing renewable-powered EV chargers. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 60%): Explain one huge phosphorus reading taken only once. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 86%): Which month had a high rainfall event, using nutrient data. Lesson: Pollution — Air, Water, Land, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 33%): Why two groups used the same equipment and techniques. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 63%): The method used to collect the stream nutrient data. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 95%): Name the students' prediction that warm sea water will expand. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 74%): Classify the change in water level in the flask experiment. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 89%): Name an evaluation that looks for likely problems before opening. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 91%): Classify the benefits of a community garden for residents. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q1a (3 marks, class average 30%): Why grid sampling suits comparing insect diversity, and when a transect is better. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1b (2 marks, class average 65%): Calculate Simpson's Index for native insects on the golf course. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1c (2 marks, class average 80%): Compare golf course and urban park insect diversity using SID. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1d (2 marks, class average 60%): Two reasons ground-nesting native bees survive on golf courses but not in parks. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q1e (2 marks, class average 70%): Two reasons insect populations matter in ecosystems. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q1f (2 marks, class average 55%): How CO₂ traps missing small insects reduces the study's validity. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1g (2 marks, class average 65%): Evaluate whether the insect trapping study followed ethical guidelines. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q2a (2 marks, class average 45%): How the sea lion's shrinking range contributed to its endangered status. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q2b (2 marks, class average 75%): Would managers aim for vulnerable or critically endangered, and why. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q2c (2 marks, class average 70%): Why sea lions are especially at risk from a new disease. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q2d (2 marks, class average 70%): Pick one threat to sea lions and explain a strategy to counter it. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q2e (3 marks, class average 43%): Limitations of a PFAS study on sea lion pups and their effect on conclusions. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Pollution — Air, Water, Land
  • Q2f (2 marks, class average 65%): Why protect the sea lion in terms of cultural services. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • Q3a (4 marks, class average 45%): Evaluate the tailings mining and restoration proposal against two sustainability principles. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3b (2 marks, class average 75%): Did gold mining before the 1920s show intergenerational equity. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3c (2 marks, class average 65%): How an environmental effects statement supports responsible decision-making. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3d (3 marks, class average 27%): Apply the precautionary principle to the tailings mining proposal. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3e (2 marks, class average 65%): One benefit to the lithosphere and one harm to the hydrosphere. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q4a (3 marks, class average 63%): Explain the albedo effect and how it relates to urban heat islands. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q4b (2 marks, class average 50%): What an IPCC confidence rating means and what it's based on. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4c (3 marks, class average 50%): Why green roofs and walls count as new technology for greenhouse gas levels. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q4d (3 marks, class average 53%): Explain why Melbourne's green roofs and walls are adaptation not mitigation. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q5a (3 marks, class average 50%): The role of carbon dioxide in the enhanced greenhouse effect. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5b (1 mark, class average 54%): Two major greenhouse gases other than water vapour and CO₂. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5c (2 marks, class average 55%): One environmental advantage and one disadvantage of hempcrete over concrete. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q5d (2 marks, class average 75%): One reason CO₂ from cement production rose over the period on the graph. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q6a (2 marks, class average 75%): Why solar power is classified as renewable. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6b (2 marks, class average 75%): One stakeholder in the virtual power plant and the knowledge they bring. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q6c (2 marks, class average 40%): How remote control of appliances and solar could make the grid more reliable. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6d (2 marks, class average 60%): How a more efficient grid supports intragenerational equity. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7a (2 marks, class average 65%): Calculate the efficiency of a coal-fired power station. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7b (1 mark, class average 64%): The form of energy stored in coal. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7c (2 marks, class average 45%): How burning coal affects the carbon cycle. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q7d (2 marks, class average 75%): One mechanical and one biological rehabilitation strategy at the coal mine. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q7e (3 marks, class average 43%): How the mine rehabilitation shows ecocentrism. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q8a (2 marks, class average 70%): Two aims of the students' wind speed investigation. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q8b (2 marks, class average 70%): Patterns in the monthly average wind speeds. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8c (1 mark, class average 48%): Energy the farm needs in a year. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q8d (3 marks, class average 27%): Decide if wind could meet the farm's annual electricity needs, using graph data. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8e (2 marks, class average 30%): Whether agreement with Bureau wind data shows repeatability. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8f (2 marks, class average 75%): One environmental argument for and one against wind turbines on the farm. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk

2023 Exam

  • MC 1 (1 mark, class average 73%): The difference between bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Pollution — Air, Water, Land
  • MC 2 (1 mark, class average 86%): A biological process used to rehabilitate a mine site. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 3 (1 mark, class average 68%): Meaning of the background extinction rate. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • MC 4 (1 mark, class average 80%): What World Heritage listing of the Budj Bim landscape means. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • MC 5 (1 mark, class average 91%): Match a cultural service and a provisioning service to the Budj Bim landscape. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 6 (1 mark, class average 67%): What the near threatened category tells you about the short-finned eel. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • MC 7 (1 mark, class average 95%): Why keeping population numbers up matters for a near threatened species. Lesson: Biodiversity as a Resource — Values and Ecosystem Services
  • MC 8 (1 mark, class average 62%): Explain the jump in cement emissions after 1945 on a graph. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 9 (1 mark, class average 87%): Pick a pair of human-caused greenhouse gas sources. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 10 (1 mark, class average 73%): Why carbon dioxide's warming potential is set at 1. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 11 (1 mark, class average 74%): What ice core analysis uses to work out past air temperatures. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 12 (1 mark, class average 38%): Draw a conclusion from a graph of tree ring width and rainfall in the 1980s. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 13 (1 mark, class average 65%): What happens to visible light in the natural greenhouse effect. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 14 (1 mark, class average 69%): A true statement about albedo scores. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • MC 15 (1 mark, class average 31%): A genuine limitation of climate models. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • MC 16 (1 mark, class average 90%): Which Earth systems a tailings dam collapse into a river harmed. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 17 (1 mark, class average 77%): The reasoning behind tighter fishing laws when information was poor. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • MC 18 (1 mark, class average 47%): The best statement of the conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity principle. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • MC 19 (1 mark, class average 67%): Estimate a skink population from mark-recapture numbers. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • MC 20 (1 mark, class average 97%): The list made up only of renewable energy sources. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 21 (1 mark, class average 61%): Work out the energy input to coal power stations from a table and an efficiency. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 22 (1 mark, class average 71%): How rooftop solar can replace energy from fossil fuels. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 23 (1 mark, class average 59%): Link wind power to the first law of thermodynamics. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 24 (1 mark, class average 84%): Why insulation reduces household energy use. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 25 (1 mark, class average 81%): The meaning of peak oil. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • MC 26 (1 mark, class average 79%): Compare the accuracy of student water test results with standard equipment. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 27 (1 mark, class average 75%): Why the students' repeated results show precision. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 28 (1 mark, class average 62%): Why a measurement is reported with a ± value. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 29 (1 mark, class average 93%): The reason students wore life jackets in the boat. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • MC 30 (1 mark, class average 66%): Classify the data the students collected. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q1a (2 marks, class average 75%): The two measurements needed from quadrats to calculate Simpson's Index. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1b (1 mark, class average 39%): What N stands for in Simpson's Index of Diversity. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1c (1 mark, class average 55%): Effect of one dominant species on the value of Simpson's Index. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1d (4 marks, class average 43%): Explain how edge effects reduce the accuracy of quadrat sampling and how to manage them. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices, Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q1e (2 marks, class average 50%): Percentage increase in native vegetation cover from 19 ha to 27 ha. Lesson: Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q1f (2 marks, class average 75%): Explain one plant restoration strategy for the former plantation. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q2a (3 marks, class average 60%): Why fragmentation is a particular risk to the pebble-mound mouse, given how females behave. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • Q2b (2 marks, class average 40%): One qualitative indicator of conservation status for the mouse. Lesson: Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk, Measuring Biodiversity — Sampling and Diversity Indices
  • Q2c (4 marks, class average 63%): Two strategies, other than captive breeding, to lower the mouse's extinction risk. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q3a (3 marks, class average 50%): Apply efficiency of resource use and intergenerational equity to environmental watering. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3b (3 marks, class average 57%): How the plan links ecological and sociocultural sides of sustainable development. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3c (4 marks, class average 48%): Two economic costs and two economic benefits of watering the billabong. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q3d (2 marks, class average 65%): Why the traditional owners' knowledge and priorities are valued in managing the site. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q4a (2 marks, class average 80%): Explain how climate change raises sea levels. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4b (2 marks, class average 70%): How regularly collected sea level data helps the council manage the coast. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q4c (2 marks, class average 55%): Describe how climate projections are produced. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q4d (2 marks, class average 85%): One priority each for the council and the environmental group on rising seas. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q5a (1 mark, class average 63%): Why the natural greenhouse effect matters for life. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5b.i (4 marks, class average 70%): How water vapour and carbon dioxide levels have changed, and why. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q5b.ii (2 marks, class average 50%): Explain how more carbon dioxide raises the average global temperature. Lesson: Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5c (3 marks, class average 50%): Choose afforestation or protecting old forest to reach net zero, using the carbon cycle. Lesson: Climate Change Science and Evidence, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q5d (2 marks, class average 60%): Two technologies other than forests that reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Climate Change Science and Evidence
  • Q6a (2 marks, class average 85%): Classify biofuel and petrol as fossil or non-fossil and renewable or not. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6b (3 marks, class average 33%): Describe how producing and using bioethanol affects the carbon cycle. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation, Earth's Energy Balance and the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
  • Q6c (2 marks, class average 50%): Explain bioethanol from sugarcane waste as circular economy thinking. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6d (3 marks, class average 47%): Compare the environmental impacts of extracting diesel with producing biodiesel from sawmill waste. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q6e (2 marks, class average 60%): Explain how investing in biofuels fits technocentrism. Lesson: Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
  • Q7a (2 marks, class average 65%): Name the form of energy at four stages of geothermal electricity production. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7b (2 marks, class average 40%): Why less energy reaches homes than leaves the power plant. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7c (2 marks, class average 35%): Why geothermal energy suits base load supply. Lesson: Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7d (2 marks, class average 50%): How a new geothermal plant could affect intragenerational equity. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies, Energy Sources, Emissions and Mitigation
  • Q7e (2 marks, class average 90%): One stakeholder group to consult about a geothermal plant, and why. Lesson: Environmental Management Case Studies
  • Q8a (2 marks, class average 85%): Write a hypothesis for the salinity and eucalypt growth investigation. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8b (3 marks, class average 77%): Identify the dependent, independent and one controlled variable. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8c (1 mark, class average 64%): Name the type of error from a wrongly calibrated ruler. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8d (2 marks, class average 45%): Decide whether the ruler error makes the results invalid, defining validity. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy
  • Q8e (3 marks, class average 73%): Recommend a eucalypt species for salty soil using data from the graph. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy, Threats to Biodiversity and Extinction Risk
  • Q8f (4 marks, class average 30%): Two ways to check the reproducibility of the farmer's soil salinity readings. Lesson: Environmental Science Exam Strategy