Aga Khan University Examination Board

Notes from E-Marking Center on HSSC I Biology Examination

May 2014

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of HSSC Part I (Class XI)
Biology. It contains comments on candidates’ responses to the 2014 Higher Secondary School
Certificate (HSSC-I) Examination, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their
relative strengths and weaknesses.

General Comments

This report includes overall comments on students’ performance on every question and some
specific examples of students’ responses which support the mentioned comments. Please note
that the descriptive comments represent an overall perception of the better and weaker responses
as gathered from the e-marking session. Whereas, the candidates’ responses shared in this
document represent some specific example(s) of the mentioned comments.

Teachers and candidates should be aware that examiners may ask questions that address the
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) in a manner that requires candidates to respond by
integrating knowledge, understanding and application skills they have developed during the
course of study. Candidates are advised to read and comprehend each question carefully before
writing the response to fulfil the demand of the question.

Candidates need to be aware that the marks allocated to the questions are related to the answer
space provided on the examination paper as a guide to the length of the required response. A
longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Candidates need to be familiar with the
command words in the Student Learning Outcomes which contain terms commonly used in
examination questions. However, candidates should also be aware that not all questions will start
with or contain one of the command words. Words such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘what?’ may also
be used.
Detailed
d Commentss:

Question
n 1a

Better responses wro

ote one pointt about each,, competitivee and non-coompetitive innhibitors.
Example:

Weaker responses
r eiither interch
hanged the description
d oof both typees of inhibittors or gave very
vague pooints. About competitivee inhibitors they
t wrote tthat their sizze and shapee will remaiin the
same/ they resist thee enzymatic reaction/ itt is for a lonnger period of time/ thhey are veryy fast.
About no on-competitiive inhibitors they wrotee that they arre loosely atttached to thhe active sitee/ it is
for a shorrter period of
o time/ slow w in action.
Example:
Question
n 1b

Better reesponses wro ote about th he compositiion of cytosskeleton thatt it consists of microtubbules,
microfilaaments and intermediate
i e filaments/ the
t main prooteins presennt are tubuliin, actin, myyosin,
tropomyo osin. They also
a stated th he function of cytoskeleeton that theey help to m maintain the sshape
of the celll and organeelles like cilia, flagella, basal
b bodiess and centriooles are derivved from it.
Example:

Weaker responses
r wrrote that cytoskeleton is made up off water/ it is a double meembrane bouunded
structure. With refereence to function, candidates wrote thhat it transfeers material ffrom organeelle to
organellee/ give protection to the cell.
c
Example:

Question
n2

Better reesponses foccused on thhe process ofo penetratioon only andd provided the key phhrases
includingg contraction
n of tail sh
heath/ releasse of lysozyyme/ degraddation of baacterial cell wall/
injection of DNA.
Example:
Weaker responses
r deescribed all the steps off lytic cycle. In doing soo, they just ttouched upoon the
step of penetration
p instead
i of writing
w aboutt it in detaill. This show
ws rote mem morization am mong
candidatees. Some of them describbed the lysog genic cycle.

Example:

Question
n3

Better reesponses folllowed the demand

d of th
he commandd word ‘asssess’. They first outlineed the
ways in which an antibiotic co ould be misused and ppertaining tto each cauuse evaluatedd the
consequeences of thee misuse. ForF instance antibiotics can be miisused by nnot followingg the
prescribeed dose reco
ommended by b the physiccian, taking self-medicaation, takingg frequently. This
would reesult in bactterial resistaance/ killing
g useful bactteria of the body and aallergic reacctions
respectiv
vely.
Example:
Weaker responses listed
l the efffects of misuse
m of anntibiotics whhich is a kknowledge bbased
approachh. Though th he effects likke discolourration of teetth/ abdominnal pain/ deaafness are coorrect
but only listing the efffects did no
ot meet the demands
d of thhe question...
Example:

Question
n4

Better reesponses pro

ovided the reequired inforrmation in a precise waay which waas the demannd of
the questtion. They wrote
w correcttly about celllularity/ shaape/ mode oof nutrition aand interactiion in
the ecosyystem of zoo
oflagellates.

Example:

Weaker responses wrote

w multicellular for cellularity.
c W
With referennce to shapee they wrotee that
they hav
ve one or more
m flagellaa/ irregular/ concave. Ab
About mode of nutritionn, such respoonses
wrote autotroph. Aboout interaction, they wro ote that zoofflagellates innteract in ecosystem witth the
same kin
nd of species/ found in aq quatic or dam
mp places.
Example:

n5
Question
Better reesponses gavve a good description
d of
o sexual reeproduction and formatiion of dikarryotic
hyphae ini basidiomy ycotes. Such
h responses included thhe key phraases such ass hyphae off two
geneticallly different but comp patible matting types come togeether/ fusionn of cytopplasm
(plasmog gamy) takes place/ the tw
wo nuclei do
o not fuse/ ttwo genetic types of happloid nuclei from
two hyph hae co-exist.
Example:

Weaker responses wrote that sexual rep production ttakes place in basidioomycota thrrough
basidiosp
pores borne on club shaped bacteria. Some caandidates wrrote about ggametophytee and
sporophyyte generatio
on/ growth off hyphae fro
om the base/ division of ccytoplasm.
Example:

Question
n 6a

Better responses showed sound understandin

u ng of the givven step of eevolution off seed habit. They
wrote thee significancce of the steep that it is needed
n to suurvive in a ccompetitive environmennt (for
space annd food) and d the outcom me i.e. only one megasppore is seleccted for furtther developpment
while thee remaining three
t are abo orted.
Example:

Weaker responses wrote

w that th
he seed must have geneetic recombiination so caan survive uunder
extreme conditions. Some
S of them wrote thaat asexual repproduction w
will not occuur and plantss will
not increase in numb
ber/ chances of fertility in
ncreases.
Example:
Question
n 6b

Better reesponses hig

ghlighted thee occurrencee of differennt morphological forms in coelenterates.
Most of them
t wrote polyp
p and medusa.
m

Example:

Weaker responses wrote

w generaal characterisstics of coe lenterates suuch as radiaally symmettrical/
diploblasstic/ no bod
dy cavity. This
T shows candidates’
c inclination towards rotte memorizaation.
Some off them wrotte that coelenterates caan form braanched hyphhae/ appear as brush stticks/
absence of central neervous systeem. A few of
o them definned polymorrphism as w when animalss live
together have same structure
s andd perform samme function..
Example:
Question
n 7a

Better reesponses corrrectly idenntified the oxidative

o phhase of glyccolysis. Morreover, theyy also
illustrated the formattion of moleccules of ADP at correct positions onn the given ddiagram.

Example:

Weaker responses id
dentified thee preparatorry phase as the oxidativve phase off the cycle. They
showed the
t formationn of moleculles of ADP ata wrong possitions.
Example:

n 7b
Question

Better reesponses wrrote specificc reactions of

o the Krebbs cycle whhere water iis used. Succh as
reaction with oxaloacetate and acetyl coA A to form ccitrate/ cis-aaconitate to form isociitrate/
fumarate to form mallate.
Example:

Weaker responses
r prrovided generalized rolee of water, ee.g. as a sollvent/ metabbolite/ to acttivate
enzymes of the Kreebs cycle/ as
a a reducing or oxidiizing agent// used in thhe hydrolyssis of
moleculees.
Example:

Question
n 8a

Better responses wro

ote about parrabronchi ass tiny thin w
walled ducts open at bothh ends. Theyy also
gave the function off parabronch
hi i.e. they ventilate
v thee air constanntly thus heelping in gasseous
exchangee.
Example:

Weaker responses
r were
w quite geeneralized an
nd vague. Suuch responsees included parabronchii help
in gaseouus exchangee / respiratio
on. Some caandidates wrrote that parrabronchi arre special orrgans/
located in
n neck regio
on.

Example:

n 8b
Question

Better responses men ntioned the possible

p form
ms in which carbon dioxxide is transpported by thee
blood i.e. in the form
m of bicarbon
nate ion (HC
CO3-)/ carboxxyhaemoglobbin.
Example:

Weaker responses
r mentioned thaat carbon dio
oxide is transsported by thhe blood in the form of ffood.
A few off them wrote HNO3 insteead of HCO3.

Example:
Question
n 9a

Better responses men ntioned that the rate of transpiration

t n will increaase with the increased raate of
evaporatiion/ diffusio
on of waterr molecules. Others deescribed thee same conccept in diffferent
wordingss like; the moving
m win
nd will takee away the water vapours quickly resulting inn the
increased
d rate of tran
nspiration.

Example:

Weaker responses
r misunderstoo
m od the stimullus and faileed to pick thhe key wordd ‘strong wiinds’.
They wro
ote about deecreased ratee of transpirration as theere would bee greater hum
midity in thhe air.
Some of them wrote that plants would
w lose sttability and ddie in strongg winds.
Example:

n 9b
Question

Better responses statted that the reason

r blue babies
b are nnamed so i.e.. due to bluiish colouratiion of
the skin. They also wrote abou ut the reason
n for this coondition thaat it results due to failuure of
interatriaal foramen to
t close or of ductus arteriosus
a too fully consttrict. This ccauses mixinng of
oxygenatted and deox xygenated bllood.
Example:

Weaker responses
r wrrote that blue babies are due to deficciency of haeemoglobin/ ppremature biirth/
combinattion of arteriies and veinss/ rabies viru
us.
Example:

Question
n 10a

Better reesponses disp played canddidates’ abiliity to compprehend the stimulus annd demand oof the
question;; to brain sto
orm and construct the annswer. Such responses nnamed some diseases (suuch as
hepatitis,, polio, AID
DS) and havee elaborated each of them m as well. T
These responnses did not stick
to one tyype of treatmment (e.g. vaaccination) only.
o They iincluded diffferent approoaches to diisease
treatmentt like use ofo antibioticcs/ radiotherapy/ chem motherapy/ ggene therapyy/ immunizaation/
transplan
ntation.
Example:
Weaker responses gave a list of diseases with w a comm mon cure. A few of theem described the
branches of biology ini detail. Som me candidattes focused oon the descriiption of diseeases like caancer,
polio, corronary heartt diseases insstead of focu
using on the treatment. MMost of the wweaker respoonses
wrote abbout preventiion of diseaases. Here, itt highlights students’ baasic understtanding abouut the
meaning of the word ds, ‘preventiion’ and ‘treeatment’. Teeachers are aadvised to ggive emphassis on
the meanning of such key terms du uring classro
oom teachingg so that canndidates do nnot lose marrks.

Example:
Question 10b

Better responses described the three types of RNA with respect to their function in detail. They
used specific terminologies like takes the genetic message/ carries the genetic information from
DNA to ribosomes, transfers amino acid molecules to the site where peptide chains are being
synthesized/ one specific tRNA for each amino acid/ mRNA and tRNA molecules interact to
translate the information from genes into a specific protein.
Example:

Weaker responses
r in
nterchanged the role of one type off RNA withh another. Soome of them m just
wrote fulll forms of th
he types of RNA.
R A feww of the canddidates mentiioned generaalized functiion of
ribosomees.
Example:
Question
n 11a

Better reesponses exp plained the life

l cycle off a floweringg plant withh almost all necessary eevents
such as formation of o pollen tubbe/ changes occurring iin the antheer/ changes occurring inn the
ovary/ feertilization of
o egg and sperm to formm zygote/ fo
formation off endosperm. They suppported
the explaanation with labelled diagram.

Example:
Weaker responses
r described thee types of pollination. S Some of theem wrote deetailed proceess of
pollinatio
on/ germinattion/ structurre of flower.. One of the responses illlustrated a ccross betweeen red
and pink flowers withh possible ou utcomes.

Example:
Question
n 11b

Better responses wro ote about thee digestion ofo proteins iin detail. Focusing on thhe demand oof the
question candidates mentioned
m that
t no digesstion takes pplace in mouuth due to aalkaline pH. They
wrote abbout acidic pH in stom mach, conveersion of peepsinogen iinto pepsin, role of peepsin,
movemen nt of partiallly digested food
f to intesstine, releasee of pancreaatic juice, tryypsin and errepsin
and convversion of pooly/dipeptidees into amino o acids.

Example:
Weaker responses
r deescribed thee functions of
o proteins/ compositionn of proteinns. Some of them
wrote about the digeestion of all the food co omponents i.e. proteins, fats and carrbohydrates. This
shows thhat they wro ote everythiing they kno ow about ddigestion of food without distinguishing
between individual food compo onents. A feew of the caandidates w wrote the dettailed proceess of
synthesiss of proteins. One of themm wrote aboout the prosthhetic group oof enzymes.

Example: