Public Assessment of the HKDSE Biology Examination

1.PublicAssessmentThe public assessment of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Biology Exam consists of a public examination component and a school-based assessment component.

A. PublicExaminationcomponentIn Biology, the mark of the public examination component contributes 80% of the final subject mark.

Paper Section Question types Weighing Duration Curriculum

Paper 1Section A Multiple-choice Questions 18%

2 hours 30 minutes Compulsory Part

Section B Short Questions and Structured / Essay-type Questions 42%

Paper 2 – Structured Questions 20% 1 hour Elective Part (2 out of 4)

B. School-basedAssessmentcomponentIn Biology, students are assessed by their teachers on their performance of a wide range of skills involved in practical related task throughout S.5 and S.6. The mark of the school-based assessment component contributes 20% of the final subject mark.

Year of examination Assessment types WeighingStarting from 2012 Practical related component 20%

2.Standards-referencedReportingThe HKDSE makes use of standards-referenced reporting, which means candidates’ levels of performance will be reported with reference to a set of standards as defined by cut scores on the variable or scale for a given subject. The following diagram represents the set of standards for a given subject:

Cut scores

U 1 2 3 4 5

Variable/scale

Within the context of the HKDSE there will be five cut scores, which will be used to distinguish five levels of performance (1–5), with 5 being the highest. The Level 5 candidates with the best performance will have their results annotated with the symbols ∗∗ and the next top group with the symbol ∗. A performance below the threshold cut score for Level 1 will be labelled as ‘Unclassified’ (U).

– II –

Exam StrategiesA. TimeAllocation

Paper1(CompulsoryPart)——2hours30minutes

Section Suggested Time Allocation Approximate Time per Question

A 35 minutes 1 – 1.5 minutes

B 105 minutes 5 – 10 minutes

– Allow 5 minutes for final checking.

Paper2(ElectivePart)——1hour

Time Allowed Approximate Time per Question

60 minutes (answering 2 out of 4 questions) 25 – 30 minutes

– Allow 5 minutes for final checking.

B. AnsweringSkills

Paper1A Multiple-choiceQuestions

• Mark only ONE answer for each question.

• DO NOT leave any questions unanswered even if you do not know the answer. Eliminate the incorrect options to choose the answer or even use wild guessing, if and only if you have no idea about the answer.

• DO NOT spend too much time in reading the options but pay attention to any key terms when you first read it. One or two incorrect terms make the whole concept incorrect.

• Pay attention to words like ‘all’, ‘always’, ‘every’, ‘never’,and ‘none’. Because there are no exceptions to the statement when these words are used the statement has higher chance to be incorrect.

• Circle questions that you are not sure about the answers so that you can identify and review the questions quickly in the final checking.

Paper1BandPaper2ShortQuestionsandStructured/Essay-typeQuestions

• Skip the questions that you do not have confidence on. Go back to those questions after you have finished the others.

• Remember to write down both steps and answers for questions involving calculation. You can obtain marks for the steps even your answer is incorrect. Remember to write down a unit for your answer. Sometimes, you can copy the unit from the question.

– III –

2012 and 2013 HKDSE Exam and Mock Exam Questions DistributionPaper1(CompulsoryPart)

Paper 1A consists of 36 MC questions and Paper 1B consists of 84 marks.

Distribution of Exam Questions:

Topics2013 HKDSE 2012 HKDSE Mock 1 Mock 2 Mock 3 Mock 4 Mock 5

Section A Section B Section A Section B Section A Section B Section A Section B Section A Section B Section A Section B Section A Section BI. Molecules of life 4 10 10 3II. Cellular organization 1, 2, 3 1 1, 2, 3 2 17, 18 6III. Movement of substances

across membrane5, 23, 24, 25 18, 19, 20 3, 6 26, 27 1 23, 24, 25 1

IV. Cell cycle and division 18 11 6 16, 34 2V. Cellular energetics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 2, 23 9 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 1 21, 23, 24, 25,

34, 35, 3611 4, 6, 7, 8, 15,

16, 1712 12, 19 4, 12 3, 4, 5, 13, 16

VI. Basic genetics 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19

4 15 8 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 35

9 19 5 19 8 8, 26, 27 8 6 5

VII. Molecular genetics 11, 12 18, 19 9 3 20 20 1VIII. Biodiversity and evolution 20, 21, 22 4 17, 15, 25,

26, 3411, 26 4 18 11 11 26, 30 11

IX. Essential life processes in plants

6 3, 10, 11, 12 3, 5 11 5, 12 7 7 22, 31, 32 7 20, 21, 24, 27, 35, 36

7

X. Essential life processes in animals

26, 30, 31 3 20, 21, 22, 31, 32, 33,

34, 36

1, 10 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36

4, 7, 13, 30, 32, 33

12 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

21, 22, 24

3, 4 7, 11, 15, 33 3 8, 14, 15, 19, 22, 31, 32, 34

4

XI. Reproduction, growth and development

35, 36 13, 14, 24, 25, 26, 27,

28, 29

29 4 16, 17, 18 10 30, 31, 32, 35, 36

9 14, 17, 18, 28 9 12 1, 8

XII. Coordination and response 27, 28, 29 1, 2, 7 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 30

21, 22, 23 2, 5, 7, 10 2, 3, 8, 9, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29,

31

8 14 5 1, 5, 6, 13, 20, 29, 30

5 23, 25, 28, 33 2, 9

XIII. Homeostasis 33, 34 7 6 9 6 11XIV. Ecosystems 5, 8 16, 17 6 15, 17 6, 8 1 23, 33, 34 10 2, 4, 10, 21,

35, 3610 7, 9 10

XV. Personal health 22 28, 29 29XVI. Diseases 32 2 24 1 2 2 12XVII. Body defence mechanisms 9 35 35 9 25 3

About 70% of the questions are set at the former HKCE Examination level. The rest (30% of the questions) are set at the former HKAL Examination level.

Paper2(ElectivePart)

Paper 2 consists of four questions (20 marks each). Candidates should answer two questions.– VI –

Common Mistake Analysis1. Titleandlabelsarenotgivenwhendrawingalabelleddiagram.

E.g.: Draw a labelled diagram of a plant cell.

Wrong answer: Correct answer:Drawing of a plant cell

cell membranecell wall

nucleuscytoplasm

(Note: Draw simple 2-D line diagrams. Unless specified in the question, there is usually no need to draw 3-D diagrams. The labelling line for a label should touch the named part.)

2. Forquestionsinvolvingcalculations,theunitoftheanswerisnotgiven.E.g.: 5 cm3 of water is loss by a plant in 30 minutes. Calculate the rate of water loss of the plant.

Wrong answer:

530

= 0.167

Correct answer:

530

= 0.167 cm3/minute

3. Nokeyorlabelsaregiventoagraphwithtwoindependentvariables.E.g.: Plot a graph to show the yield of wheat when different amounts of inorganic fertilizers are added in

the presence and in the absence of fungicides.

Wrong answer:

Mass of inorganicfertilizers added (kg)

Yie

ld o

f whe

at(a

rbitr

ary

unit)

Correct answer:

Mass of inorganicfertilizers added (kg)

With the addition of fungicides

Without the addition of fungicides

Yie

ld o

f whe

at(a

rbitr

ary

unit)

– VIII –

– 50 – © 2013 Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co.

There are 36 questions in this section.

The diagrams in this section are NOT necessarily drawn to scale.

1. Which of the following processes in the nitrogen cycle is facilitated when the soil is waterlogged for a certain period of time during the rainy season?

A. decomposition

B. nitrification

C. nitrogen fixation

D. denitrification

Directions: Questions 2 and 3 refer to the photograph below, which shows part of the human skeleton.

1

2

43

5

2. Which of the following joints are movable joints?

A. 1 and 3 only

B. 2 and 3 only

C. 1, 3 and 5 only

D. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

3. Which of the following statements about structure 4 is correct?

A. It has a rich source of calcium phosphate.

B. It protects the upper legs.

C. It breaks down old white blood cells.

D. It stores fatty acids.

MOCK 2 PAPER 1A-2

– 20 –

Answers written in the margins will not be marked.

Ans

wer

s w

ritte

n in

the

mar

gins

will

not

be

mar

ked.

Ans

wer

s w

ritte

n in

the

mar

gins

will

not

be

mar

ked.

Page total© 2013 Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co.MOCK 1 PAPER 1B-4

4. The photographs 1 and 2 below show a kind of red flower and its fruit respectively.

Photograph 1

Photograph 2

(a) Name structures A and B. (2 marks)

(b) According to photograph 1, state the type of pollination that the flower carries out. Give one piece of evidence to support your answer. (3 marks)

(c) Seeds can be seen after breaking open structure C. Suggest one possible reason why the space provided for holding seeds inside structure C sometimes is empty. (1 mark)

Structure AStructure B

Structure C

– 38 – © 2013 Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co.

Section A Human Physiology: Regulation and Control

Answer ALL parts of the question.

1. (a) The diagram below shows two mechanical devices that have been surgically implanted into the chest of the patient suffering from total heart failure. These devices were proven to help pump blood out of the patient’s heart after a series of animal trial.

(i) The device consists of durable turbines inside with two openings on the upper and lower sides respectively. The upper side of the device connects to a major blood vessel while the lower side of the device connects to a ventricle.

(1) For a patient with total heart failure, suggest why two devices were essential instead of one. (2 marks)

(2) The two devices replaced the functions of ventricles in a normal human heart. Briefly describe the pathway of blood flow returning from both ventricles to the first major organs after their contractions during a normal cardiac cycle. (2 marks)

(3) Explain how a unidirectional blood flow could be maintained in a normal ventricle. (3 marks)

MOCK 1 PAPER 2-2

Heart

Wire leadingto the power supply

Mechanicaldevice

Mock Exam 3

– 25 – © 2013 Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co.

3. (a)

Title (T) 12

Correct choice of axes (A) 12

Labelling of axes with units (L) 1Plotting (P) 1

(b) The rate of breathing = ( 26 ) × 60 = 20 breaths per minute (no unit, no mark) 1

The depth of breathing = 0.4 dm3 (no unit, no mark) 1(c)

6s

Time (s)

Lung

pre

ssur

e (m

mH

g)

2

4. (a), (b)

pH of Petri dish

Final length of egg white cylinder (cm)

Percentage change in length (%)

Rate of protease activity (cm/minute)

1 + 1

1 2 −50 0.033

3 2.5 −37.5 0.025

5 3 −25 0.017

7 4 0 0

9 4 0 0

(c) Stomach 1

The optimum pH for protease activity is pH 1. 1

(d) Repeat the above experiment with more pH values / a narrower pH range (e.g. pH 1, pH 2, pH 3, …).

Repeat the above experiment with two replicas for each pH value.

Measure the weight of the egg white cylinder instead of measuring the length.

Cut the egg white cylinder into smaller disks.

5. (a) From 8 to 12s, 1

the tension of the suspensory ligament was lowest. 1

The thickness of the lens was the highest because it was not pulled by the ligament. 1

This means that the person was watching the killer bee at the closest distance. 1

The independent variable is

normally placed on the left-

hand side of a graph while

the dependent variable is

placed on the right-hand

side.0.1

0.2

0.4

0.3

00 2 4 6

0.5Lu

ng v

olum

e (dm

3 )

Time (s)

A graph shows the change inlung volume in different time

any 2 1 × 2

The ciliary muscle contracts

to decrease the tension of

the suspensory l igament.

This increases the thickness

of the lens in order to see a

nearby object better.

– 40 – © 2013 Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co.

Biology: Mock Exam Papers Second Edition Solution Guide

12. Development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria:

Different bacteria can be found in a bacterial population. 1

Antibiotics kill the non-resistant bacteria. 1

More bacteria can be found in the population. 0

Consequences:

Some antibiotics cannot kill bacteria. 1

Other pathogens have resistance. 0

More money is used. 0

Use specific terminology to explain the variety of different genes in the bacterial population.

12. Development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria:

Genetic variation exists in the bacterial population, bacteria with antibiotic resistance and bacteria without antibiotic resistance. 1

Antibiotics kill the bacteria without resistance. 1

Bacteria with resistance survive and reproduce to produce more offspring. 1

Their proportion increases in the population and become the dominant species. 1

Consequences:

Some antibiotics cannot kill bacteria and their effectiveness decreases. 1

The antibiotic resistance of bacteria may transfer to other pathogens. 1

More financial and human resources need to be invested to develop new antibiotics. 1

Communication max. 3

Mark award for communication:

MarkClarity of expression and relevance to the question

Logical and systematic presentation

3 • Answers are easy to understand. They are fluent showing good command of language.

• There is no or little irrelevant material.

• A n s w e r s a r e w e l l s t r u c t u r e d showing coherence of thought and organisation of ideas.

2 • Language used is understandable but there is some inappropriate use of words.

• A little relevant material is included, but does not mar the overall answer.

• Answers are organised, but there is some repetition of ideas.

The candidates fail to use

specif ic terminology l ike

‘genetic variation’ to explain

the variety of different genes

exist ing in the bacter ia l

population. He/She simply

states more bacteria can be

found without explaining the

reasons behind it. It is vague

to say that ‘More money is

used’ is a consequence.

The candidates use specific

terminology l ike “genetic

var iat ion” to explain the

variety of different genes

exist ing in the bacter ia l

population. He/She clearly

states that bacteria survive

a n d r e p r o d u c e w h i c h

increases the population

of the resistant bacteria. It

is more precise to divide

resources into two different

categories, f inancial and

human resources, to explain

a consequence.