SNABBiology:RingwoodA2CourseworkGuide

GJH Sunday,10July2011

How to do a brilliant A2 Biology

Coursework Project
2011 2012

Name _______________________________________________

Candidatenumber __________________________________

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SNABBiology:RingwoodA2CourseworkGuide

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WritingupyourA2Biologycoursework:achecklist

INTRODUCTION
Thisincludesaim,rationaleandhypothesis.Usesubheadingsifitclarifiesyourwork,butnotethat
furthersubheadingsunderIntroductionarenotaspecificrequirement&canbedecidedbyyou.
Readascientificpaper,allSNABcourseworksupportandexemplarstudentintroductions
Start by stating the AIM of your paper: include thequestion or problem you investigated
Youmayprefertoputthisatthestart(here)butitcansometimesbebetterattheendof
therationaleorhypothesis.Rationaleiswhyyouredoingthis:researchANDyourreasons.
NOWyourrationale:whydidyouchoosethisareaofstudy.Whatinterestedyou?
Developyourrationale:
Whatdidyoureadaboutyourchosenorganism,ecosystemorhabitat?Notehowin
real scientific papers, (that youve already read) everything is built upon previous
authorswork,sorelatesomewheretowhatyouveseenorheard.Quotesourcesnow
Seehelpsheet,WritingacitationinWord
A variety of sources means several books, papers & the Internet. Remember to
include at least onescientific paper or journal. The more references the better. See
FSCsiteforpapersrelevanttoDaleFort
Note that name, author(s), publisher and date of publication for everything you use
are needed here and must appear in your properly constructed bibliography.
Referenceatthepointofwriting.Again,seeWritingacitationinWord.
Show how the scientific knowledge and understanding you gained from your
referencesthrewlightonyourresearchquestion,informedthedirectionyourproject
willtake.Again,linkingwhatyouvereadtoyourownprojectisallpartoftherationale.
Include someearly relevantsite or speciesobservations in your rationale. Rationale
meansthereason(s)whyyoudidthisproject.AGAIN.yourrationaleshouldinclude
whatyouobserved(primaryinformation)orheardaswellaswhatyouveread.
Usespecialistvocabulary(seeTheartofprecisaseparatedocument)

Ca
Ca

Ra
Ra
Rb
Rb
Cc
Ra
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Cc

Hypothesis(couldcomeattheendofrationalebutasubheadingisrequired)
Make a hypothesis (H1), a biological hypothesis, that is clear, simple and testable. It I&Ea
shouldshowhowtheIVaffectstheDV.
Justifythehypothesiswithreferencetopreliminarywork(inthefield)andthesecondary Ra
source(backgroundinformation).GivesomeBIOLOGYtoexplainthehypothesis.

MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Thispartofthebookletnowconsiderstheplanningpartofthemarkschemebutthewordplanning
doesnotactuallyappearaspartofascientificpaper.Youneedaninitialplan,trialandmainplan.
YouwillbegivenaDaleFortplanningsheet.Taketwo:oneforaninitialplanandthe Pa
secondforyouramendedplan.Theyarecheckedbeforeyouproceed.
Imagineyouhaveneverdoneanyfieldwork.Foraninitialplan,howmightyouset
Pa
aboutthiswork?Proposemethod+sampling),organisms,numbersandreplicates.
Whenyouwriteitup,theinitialplanwillscarcelyfeature,sowhenreadytowriteup,
includesummarystatementaboutyourinitialplan.Writeinpasttense,preferably
impersonal,eg Theinitialplanwasto.but..(orwordstothateffect).Yourproject
Pa
mustbesubjecttochange:thisisyourfirstopportunitytosayyouvedoneso.This
reflectiononinitialplanmayfitinbetterafterthetrialorinthemainmethod

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Trial
Pc
Identifysomethingthatrequiresatrialorpilot.(1,or2max).Keepitsimple.
State the AIM of the trial (keep language tight and precise no woffle see
examples)givedetailsofapparatusandmethods.DETAILisneeded.
Although this is a mini investigation, a trial is NOT a mini run of the main
investigation. Instead, you should be trialling whether a proposed sampling
technique is correct, whether your proposed method suits the time available,
whether you have the best height or shore, whether your actual site is good,
whetherapieceofapparatusisbestsuitedforthejobetc.
Your trial strategy should have some logical link to an area of underlying Pc
scientificknowledgeandunderstandingfromASandA2.
Saywhatyoulearntfromthetrial.Howdidthetrialinformyourplnningofthenext Pc
phaseoftheinvestigation?Givefulldetailsofwhatyoucouldacceptfromthetrial
andwhatyouneededtomodify.Attentiontodetailsisimportant!

Riskassessment
BorrowDalesexcellentriskassessments.

Pb

Provide your own risk assessment. There should be two sections, one of sitespecific Pb
risks,theotherofgeneralriskscommontoallmarinefieldwork.(eghypothermiaisarisk
on all shores). Try to make the sitespecific risk personal. Eg You noted that algae
coveredsandstoneisslipperywhenwet,soworeappropriatefootwear.

RiskassessmentisbestdoneasachartinwhichyoushowHAZARD(column1),RISK Pb

(column 2 ask about this) and in detail, PRECAUTIONS you took (column 3), thus
minimisingrisk.
Showhowyouminimisedenvironmentaldamageandharmtolivingorganisms
Pb

MainMethod

In this section, ensure you refer to some references again they have to be seen to
haveinformedyourplanning,andthedirectionyourprojectistaking.
You avoided choosing purposebuilt apparatus in your initial plan because you MUST
modifyorextendmethods,materialsandprocedures.Hopefully,yourinitialplanincluded
somethingimprecise,notaVerniercalliper!
Now, list and justify your apparatus. Explain why you selected this apparatus and
procedure.Weexpectlotsofdetail(egwhatTYPEofquadrat,andwhatsizesaywhat
typeoftransect).Saywhy.
Note, for the highest marks, any modifications to an existing piece of apparatus you
made, or a piece of apparatus you subsequently chose. This is difficult and we rarely
awardmarksforthis.Dontwastetimeonit.Likewiserealingenuityisrarelyseen!
Describe how you took a suitable number and range of measurements & how you
sampled.Thisneedsdetailegwhyrandomsampling?Whysystematicsampling?(ASK!)
Why(say)20samplesor7samples?Veryimportant.
Describe what you did. Include clear, labelleddiagrams and photos). Images, make or
breakyourproject.USEphotosreferringtotheminthetext
SAY that you looked at the data as you collected it and noticed patterns.. Say you
continuedaccordingtoplanorthatyouchangedinsomewayegdidyousamplemore

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areas,samplefewermorethoroughlyortakeextrarepeats?

Ensure your method is clear and that you have used specialist vocabulary and not Cc
everyday words. Youre marked on this. Seaweeds dont have roots they have
holdfasts.Avoidgeneralwords,likesizeanddeleteamount.Avoidanthropomorphisms
suchasspongeslikethelowershore.

LinkyourmethodstounderlyingAlevelscientificknowledgeandunderstanding.

I&Eb

Saywhyyouchoseyourfinalequipment,withreferencetotheneedtoproduceprecise
andreliableevidence(checkthosedefinitionsfromAS)
Note: We have to mark you on precision, accuracy and reliability! We cant award
precisionforsimplycounting.Ifyouredoingacountingproject,makesureyougetyour
precisionmarkselsewhereeginyourtrial.

O&Ra

O&Ra

Justificationofmethod

Have you said why you decided on each aspect of your method (including number of Pa
observationsyourecorded)?

Haveyouretrievedandusedinformationfromyourtrialandsecondarysources?

Pc

Variables

Pa
Statethedependentandindependentvariables.
Identify the key factors/variables that you can control. Note that a list of controlled Pa
variables isnt enough.Sayhowyou are going to controlat least some variables to
ensureafairtest.Saywhyitsimportantegitsimportanttocontrolaspectasthis
mightaffecttemperature.Variationsintemperaturecouldaffectenzymes.
Say that there are other variables you will monitor and take account of.Sometimes Pa
youcanonlymonitorenvironmentalvariables(abioticfactors),andacknowledgethat
they may affect results (say why). Eg pH needs monitoring because it affects
enzymes&therefore.detailisneeded.
Dontforgettomeasuretheseabioticfactorsinthefield.Notdoingsopullsstudents
down.Youmustdothisinthefield:takeequipmentwithyou.
Rememberwhenyoumeasureyourperiwinkles:yourresultsmustshowdatafor(eg.)
heightACD,temperature,weatherconditions,stateofthetide,pH,salinity evenif
onlytoshowthattheydidnotchange.

RESULTS
Notethatresults,yournextheading,dontappearinthemarkscheme.Doitlikethis.
Observationsinfieldnotes

Ensureyourfieldnotesshowobservationsmadeatthetime,andthatyouhavebeen
seentoPLANforobservations.Scantheseasanimagefortheappendix.
Haveyoualsodescribed(&,ifrelevant,explained)theobservationsthatareinyour
fieldnotes?AgainnotethatyouHAVEtodothiswhileyoureout.
Haveyounotedproblemsthataroseduringmeasurementcollection?Haveyousaid
howyouadaptedprocedures?Makesureyoumeetproblems!
Doyourfieldnotesshowyouvecheckedvalues,repeated&IDanomalies?

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ResultsCharts/Spreadsheets (thisisfortheneatsection)
Haveyourecordedyourresultsinappropriateformat(tables&spreadsheets)?
Have you made & somehow recorded adequate observations (from your field
notes).Youjustifiedthenumberofrecordingsyoutookinthemethod.
Are your observations recorded systematically and accurately? Full sentences
arentneeded.Checkagaindotheycorrelatewiththerecordinyourfieldnotes?
Haveyourecordedyourobservationstothedegreeofprecisionpermittedbyyour
method or apparatus. Beware again: you have to record such results to a high
degree of precision for high marks. If youve only COUNTED organisms read
previousadvice. UseSIunits.
Doyourresultstablesshowrepeats,averagesandsensibleaccuracy?Eg dont
refertotheaverageforceneededtoremoveadogwhelkas4.2352788
Haveyouidentifiedanomaliesonthetable/spreadsheet?
Haveyouinvestigatedanomalies?Anomaliesbringmarks!Youneedthem.

O&Ra
O&Ra
O&Ra
O&Ra

O&Rb
O&Rb

Graphs
Graphs must be carefully chosen. Everyone needs one. You may need several
types(egkitediagrams&linegraphs).Choosewisely.Keeptographingrules!
Ifalinegraph,haveyoukepttotherulesyouweretoldatAS?(Joindotsetc)
Youcandrawbyhandbut willneedtoscanit whentheworkishandedin. You
couldequallygraphfromExcel.SeehelpsheetondrawingagraphinExcel.
Have you drawn error bars? If not, can you quantify error in any other way eg
percentageerror,standarderrorstandarddeviation.YoushouldbebuildingonAS
ideasofrandomandsystematicerrorhere.MentionBOTHoftheseaswell
Haveyouidentifiedanomaliesonthegraph(s)?Thatmeanscirclingthem!

I&Ea
Cb
Cb

I&Ea
Cb

O&Rb

Statisticalanalysis
Your stats test must beappropriate for thedata and the hypothesis to be tested.
Unlessyourefusetotalktostaff,youreunlikelytogetthiswrong.
RestatetheBiologicalHypothesis(H1)andNullHypothesis(Ho).Thelattershould
beneutralratherthentheoppositeofH1foryourstats.
Haveyousetoutthedataclearly?Headings,inparticular,shouldbeunambiguous.
Periwinkles is not a heading! Note that for a few projects (especially counting
projects,thiswillservetodisplayyourresultsaswell.Domakesurethatyouhave
followedalltheresultsadviceabove.
HaveyouacceptedorrejectedyourNullHypothesis?
HaveyouacceptedorrejectedyourAlternativeHypothesis?
Haveyouwrittenaclearinterpretationofyourstatstestresult?
Doesthisincludeanexplanationofcriticalvalueand5%confidencelevel?
Canyoubeclever?CanyoubemorepreciseEgcanyouacceptat1%muchore
precise? If youve had to accept your Ho, can you reject it at 10%? If there are
good reasons behind it, this can often turn out well (Salt marsh projects and
biodiversitythatbothusecorrelationcoefficientsarepronetothis!)
Dontattempttoevaluatetheresultsinthissection.Thisisstatsonly(partof I&E)
Reportonlywhatyoufoundholdalldiscussionofthesignificanceoftheresultsfor
thediscussionsectionthatfollowsnext

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I&Ea

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I&Ea
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DISCUSSION
Thisisyournonstatisticalanalysisandexplanationofresults,andevaluation.
Startwithagoodanalysisofyourresults,referringtoyourstatstest,usingbiological
principles. This is the BIOLOGICAL explanation of your results in I & E and you
needtoensurethattheresLOTSandnotmerelyarepeatoftherationale.Youmust
discussyourideaswithyourteacherhere.
Doyourresultssupportyourconclusions?
EnsureyourbiologicalprinciplesincludesomesynopticityareferencetoAStopics
orwideraspectsofBiology
Refer briefly to problems that arose during measurement collection. Have you said
howyouadaptedprocedures?
Discussthelimitations&uncertaintiesofyourresults(especiallyunavoidable ones)
Good examples are, The two shores differedin aspect as well as in exposure, or
The exposure difference between the two shores was small, a matter of two BES
values,orwhelksontheSfacingshoremaybewarmedbythesun,respirefaster&
thusholdontighter,butthetrendstillheldfor10thatwereincompleteshadeonthis
shoreSayingIneededtotakemoreresults/repeatsistooweakatAlevel.
Evaluatetheselimitationsinresults.(UseEvaluationasasubheadingifyouwant).
For each limitation, have you explained whether it would undermine the overall
conclusion?Wouldthelimitationsjustdescribedleadtorandomorsystematicerror?
You need to work out how much difference a certain error or limitation would have
made.Ifyoucanquantifythis,thatsbrilliant(fewevercan).Youcouldworkout,for
instance,percentageerrorasaresultofmissampling.
Have you discussed limitations of your procedure? You cant afford to miss
somethingthatsobvioustoanexaminer.Ifyouverecognisedlimitationsearlierand
havemodifiedprocedures,sayatthispoint.
ForhighestmarksinI&E,suggestfurthermodificationsand/orextendedworknow.
How would these modifications improve the quality of your investigation? Eg By
increasing my sample number to 60, I might have been able to reject my null
hypothesisatthe5%level,allowingmetoacceptmyalternativehypothesis
Have you discussed the credibility of sources in the wider scientific community?
(Thisisnewfor2009,andbuildsontheASvisitseeseparatehelpsheet)

I&Eb

I&Ec
I&Ec
O&Rc
I&Ec

I&Ec

I&Ec

I&Ec

I&Ec

I&Ed

GENERALPOINTS:
ReadALLofthisbookletseveraltimesbeforeyoustartanycoursework,andbeforeyouvisitDale.
Tickoffeverythingwhenyouvedoneit.Keepgoingtotheend!Discussionandbibliographycanbefinal
marklosers. Ifyouwanttolosemarksjustignoretheadvice.
Yourmentorteacherwillnotbeyourteacherassessor.TherewillbeashorttimeonreturnfromDale
whenyoucantalktousboth.Liaisewithyourmentorteachertalkoremail.Itisexpectedbytheexam
board&wellofferallfeasiblehelp.Ifyoudonttalk,wecanthelp.Rememberwehaveotherclasses
andothersommitments.Youneedtobookinanagreedtime,preferablyafterorbeforeschool.
Respectintermediatedeadlinesandmeetthefinaldeadline,soyoumaximiseyourchances.Ifyoumiss
thedeadlinesyouwontbegiventimetoimprove. Edexcelaregivenourownschooldeadlinetimes.
Remember:youneedeverymarkingpointintheboxforagivenmark,eg36,otherwiseyou
droptothelevelbelow.YouMUSTSTARTWITHLOWESTMARKSFIRST.Thereisnopointin
makinganadjustmenttomethodasyoureworkinginthefield(ahighorderskill)whenyou
haventshownevidenceoftheearlierskills.

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GeneralPointsforCommunication(C)skill
ThisdocumentcrossreferencestheskillsontheEdexcelmarkscheme(Researchand Ca
rationale etc codes shown in right hand column) with the style of scientific paper
whosemainheadingsareshownhereinredcapitals.Youmustwriteinthestyleofa
paper:usetheseheadingsandNOTthosefromthemarkscheme.Havingusedthese
(red),dousemy(black)subheadingsormakeupyourownusefulshortsubheadings.
EnsureyouvereadatleastonescientificpaperbeforeDalecrediblesources.
Cd
Makeareferenceofeverybookorpaperyouuse:youwontrememberwhenyouget Cd
back home. Remember to use papers (from Dale or off the Internet) in particular
thereslittlecreditforTheStudentGuidetotheSeashore.
Chooseastyleandsticktoit.Dontmixandmatch,&avoidfuturetense(wasteswords)
PASTtenseisadvised.
KeepALLyourrawdataandputitintheappendix.(Whichisincludedinwordcount.
Ca
Takephotographsandusethemwiselyinyourtext(asASVisit)ifyouwantfullmarks! Ca
Dontforget you can draw diagrams, maps andgraphsby hand (sharppencils orthin Cb
black pen). They can be scanned in as an image. Ensure graphs and diagrams are
appropriateforyourdata(egkitediagrams,bargraphs,linegraphs) UseSIunits
When you write the Latinnameof an organism it should be in italics when typed. Eg Fb
Callunavulgaris.(Genuswithacapitalspeciesinlowercase)
Images,charts&graphsmustbesavedinthetextandnotasseparatedocuments
Cb
TeachersmarkfinalworkinpaperformatbutthefinalversionhandedintoEdexcelmaybe
electronic.Itmustbeidenticaltothemarkedpaperversion.AWord2003proformaissetup
toensureyourname,candidatenumberandcurrentdateappearonaheaderoneverypage
ofyourcoursework,andpagenumbersinafooter.
If you dont use Microsoft Office, its your responsibility to change your file format toWord
2003atschoolandtosaveittoCDormemorystick.IfyouuseWorksorWordPerfect
getOpenOffice(itsfree).FinalsubmissionmustbeasWord2003not2007,orapdf.i
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/Introduction.htm Goodresources!
http://www.colby.edu/biology/BI17x/writing_papers.html
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWtoc.html

FrontcoverDothis,thefirstpageandtheabstractATTHEEND.
Titleofyourinvestigation
Yourname,candidatenumber,RingwoodSchoolscentrenumber(58833)&totalwordcount.

FirstPageShouldshowanindexofcontents

Abstract
Statetheaimandhypothesis
Introducethechosenspecies(ifrelevant)
Saywheretheinvestigationwascarriedout&whyexactly
Statewhichsamplingtechniquewasused
Statewhichstatisticaltestwasused
Statethemainfindings&conclusion
Writeyourabstractinthepasttense&dontwastewords.
Lookatpaststudentsabstracts.Severalareprovided.

Ca
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Referencingabook.Doexactlythis!Anexample.
RobertsM.,ReissM.andMongerG.(2000)Advancedbiology.WaltononThames:Nelson.
StryerL.(1988)Biochemistry,3rdedition.NewYork:WHFreeman&Co.

Notetheacceptedorderandformatfortheinformation:
author(s)names(surnameandtheninitials).Ifthebookhasaneditorindicatethiswith(ed.)after
theirname
yearofpublicationinbrackets
fulltitleofbookwritteninitalics,withtheeditionnumberifitisnotafirstedition
placeofpublicationandpublisher.
2. Referencingachapterinabook.Doexactlythis!Anexample.
JohnsonS.(2004)Learningscienceinabotanicgarden.In:BraundM.andReissM.(eds.)
Learningscienceoutsidetheclassroom,pp.7594.London:RoutledgeFalmer.
Notetheacceptedorderandformatfortheinformation:

author(s)names(surnameandtheninitials)
yearofpublicationinbrackets
fulltitleofthechapter
editor(s)namesifdifferentfromauthor
fulltitleofbookwritteninitalics,withtheeditionnumberifitisnotafirstedition
thepagenumber(s)fortherelevantchapter
placeofpublicationandpublisher.
3. ReferencinganarticlefromajournalorpaperAnexample
HalfordN.G.(2000)Geneticallymodifiedplants. BiologicalSciencesReview,12(3),27.
Thisreferstoanarticleonpages27involume12,issuenumber3,ofBiol.SciencesReview.

Notetheacceptedorderandformatfortheinformation:
authorofthearticle(surnameandtheninitials)
yearofpublicationinbrackets
titleofthearticle
fulltitleofthejournalinwhichthearticleappearedwritteninitalics
thevolumenumberofthejournalinwhichthearticlewaspublishedfollowedbytheissuenumberin
brackets
thepagenumber(s)forthearticle.
4. Referencingawebsite. Anexample.NotethatthisneedsMUCHmorethantheURL!
NuffieldCouncilonBioethics(2001)Ourworksection.Geneticscreening:ethicalissuesGenetic
screeningconclusions.http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/go/browsablepublications/
geneticscreening/report_226.html[Accessedon22.03.2005]

Youshouldinclude:
Websitename/articletitle(note:searchenginenamesareinadequate)
Ifpossible,thedatewhentheinformationwaspublishedonthesite
ashortdescriptionofthelocationoftheinformationwithinthewebsite
Thewebaddress(URL)andthelatestdateyouaccessedthewebsite.

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APPENDIX
Putinallyourrawdataandfieldnoteswithanythingelserelevantegtidetimetables.Youare
advisedtoSCANrawdatatoajpgasforthefirsttime,materialsintheappendixareincluded
in the word count. Give the appendix (as well as the entire project) a contents page for
clarity.Allofitmustbecopiedforelectronicsubmission

SUBMITTING
SAVINGYOURWORK.YourcourseworkmustbesavedasWord2003orapdfand
labelledasfollows:cswkcandidatenosurnameinitials.Egcswk7879BloggsJ. If
you change and resave the document, rename it as V2 or V3 etc (V for version).
CourseworkissometimeshandedinwithidenticalfilenamesEgBiologycoursework
orDale.Headinganddatingitcorrectlyisyourguaranteethatwetakeyourfinalpiece
ofwork.Holepunchitandholdittogetherwithtreasurytags(noplasticwallets).
Checkyouveusedimagestoillustratepointsandtoenhancetheclarityofthereport. Ca
Thismeansreferringtotheminthetextasmuchaspossible.Ensureyoulabelthem
Fig1,Fig2etc.Byreadingrealscientificpapers,youllgetafeelforthis.
Haveyouputawordcountatthefootofeverypage?DothisONLYattheendanduse
thefooterspace.Thisisanexamboardrequirement.
Isyourname,candidatenumber,thepagenumberanddateoneverypage?
Haveyouwritteneverythingasa3300word(max)scientificreport?Abstract(atthe Cc
start),introduction,materialsandmethods,results,discussion,references.

Astudentdemonstratesasimple
adjustmentofmethodandofapparatusfor
oneofthehigherlevelskillsandthephoto
providedevidence!

Welldone!
Youvefinishedyour
A2coursework!

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