“AIMS

The syllabus aims to:
1. provide students with an experience that develops their interest in biology and builds the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for further studies in related fields
2. enable students to become scientifically literate citizens who are well prepared for the challenges of the 21st century
3. develop in students the understanding, skills, ethics and attitudes relevant to the Practices of Science, including the following:
3.1 understanding the nature of scientific knowledge
3.2 demonstrating science inquiry skills
3.3 relating science and society
4. address the broader questions of what life is and how life is sustained, including:
4.1 understanding life at the cellular and molecular levels, and making connections to how these micro-systems interact at the physiological and organismal levels
4.2 recognising the evolving nature of biological knowledge
4.3 stimulating interest in and demonstrating care for the local and global environment.

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
The Assessment Objectives listed below reflect those parts of the Aims and Practices of Science that will be assessed.
A Knowledge with understanding
Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge with understanding in relation to:
1. scientific phenomena, facts, laws, definitions, concepts and theories
2. scientific vocabulary, terminology and conventions (including symbols, quantities and units)
3. scientific instruments and apparatus, including techniques of operation and aspects of safety
4. scientific quantities and their determination
5. scientific and technological applications with their social, economic and environmental implications.
The syllabus content defines the factual materials that candidates need to recall and explain. Questions testing the objectives above will often begin with one of the following words: define, state, name, describe, explain or outline.

B Handling, applying and evaluating information
Candidates should be able (in words or by using symbolic, graphical and numerical forms of presentation) to:
1. locate, select, organise, interpret and present information from a variety of sources
2. handle information, distinguishing the relevant from the extraneous
3. manipulate numerical and other data and translate information from one form to another
4. present reasoned explanations for phenomena, patterns, trends and relationships
5. make comparisons that may include the identification of similarities and differences
6. analyse and evaluate information to identify patterns, report trends, draw inferences, report conclusions and construct arguments
7. justify decisions, make predictions and propose hypotheses
8. apply knowledge, including principles, to novel situations
9. use skills, knowledge and understanding from different areas of Biology to solve problems
10. organise and present information, ideas and arguments clearly and coherently, using appropriate language.

These Assessment Objectives above cannot be precisely specified in the syllabus content because questions testing such skills are often based on information which is unfamiliar to the candidate.

In answering such questions, candidates are required to use principles and concepts that are within the syllabus and apply them in a logical, reasoned or deductive manner to a novel situation.

Questions testing these objectives may begin with one of the following words: discuss, predict, suggest, calculate or determine 

C Experimental skills and investigations
Candidates should be able to:
1. follow a detailed sequence of instructions or apply standard techniques
2. devise and plan investigations which may include constructing and/or testing a hypothesis and select techniques, apparatus and materials
3. use techniques, apparatus and materials safely and effectively
4. make and record observations, measurements and estimates
5. interpret and evaluate observations and experimental data
6. evaluate methods and techniques, and suggest possible improvements.

SCHEME OF ASSESSMENT
All candidates are required to enter for Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Paper 1 (1 h, 30 marks)
This paper will consist of 30 compulsory multiple choice questions. All questions will be of the direct choice type with 4 options.

Paper 2 (2 h, 100 marks)
This paper will consist of a variable number of structured questions, all compulsory, including data-based or comprehension-type questions. These include questions which require candidates to integrate knowledge and understanding from different areas of the syllabus.

Paper 3 (2 h, 75 marks)
This paper will consist of a variable number of long structured questions, all compulsory, including data-based or comprehension-type questions and one free-response question of 25 marks. These include questions that assess the higher-order skills of analysing, making conclusions and evaluating information and require candidates to integrate knowledge and understanding from different areas of the syllabus.
Section A (50 marks) will comprise two or more compulsory long structured questions.
There will be one or more stimulus materials that may be taken or adapted from a source such as a scientific journal or book. This material may not necessarily relate directly to the content of the syllabus. Questions may require candidates to explain terms used in the passage, analyse data, justify decisions, perform calculations and draw conclusions based on information in the stimulus material.
Section B (25 marks) will comprise two free-response questions, from which candidates will choose one.
The quality of scientific argumentation and written communication will be given a percentage of the marks available.

Paper 4 (2 h 30 min, 55 marks)
This paper will assess appropriate aspects of Assessment Objectives C1 to C6 in the following skill areas:
• Planning (P)
• Manipulation, measurement and observation (MMO)
• Presentation of data and observations (PDO)
• Analysis, conclusions and evaluation (ACE).

The assessment of skill area P will have a weighting of 5%, and the skill areas MMO, PDO and ACE will have a weighting of 15%. Candidates will require access to apparatus, as stated in the Confidential Instructions. For some questions, candidates may be allocated a specific time for access to the apparatus. Paper 4 may also include data handling/interpretation questions that do not require apparatus, in order to test the skill areas of PDO and ACE.

Candidates are NOT allowed to refer to notebooks, textbooks or any other information in the Practical Examination.”