Higher BiologyEssay Writing

ExamSection C of the examTwo essays are required both worth 10 marks each

Select one essay from each pair of choices

One will be structured, the other will be unstructured

Essay tips - 1Read the essay question carefullySTOP and THINK about what the essay question is actually asking

Biggest mistake is to write a fabulous essay that doesn’t actually answer the question set

Essay tips - 2Write an ESSAY PLANThis is especially important for the

unstructured essay questionWrite down paragraph headings and then

put these in order before starting the essayThis gives you the basic structureDon’t score out your plan as it may be

marked and get you some marks if you run out of time

Essay tips - 3Your writing STYLE is importantTake care not to ramble as irrelevant

information will cost you a markRambling also wastes valuable timeUse a brief, impersonal writing style,

not conversational!!Short sentences help reduce waffle

and are less likely to include errors

Essay tips - 4Diagrams can be useful in an essay – ‘A

picture paints a thousand words’!!These help to show your understanding

of finer points and illustrate relationships

However, do not include diagrams that are irrelevant to the essay question

All diagrams should be fully annotated to collect additional marks

Essay tips - 5Overall a completed essay should contain

no irrelevancies – 2 or more irrelevancies will cost you a mark!!

The essay should be arranged in paragraphs

It should fit onto one A4 pageEssay should take no more than 15

minutes (including 3 minutes for the plan) – Don’t worry this will come with practice!!

Essay 1 – Structured Must be written under the headings given

Pay attention to the mark allocation for each heading

Don’t write ‘bad’ biology otherwise it will negate otherwise correct answers

If you don’t know something well don’t write it down

Essay 2 - UnstructuredThere are no headings given for you to write

under with this question

You must provide the structure by writing in paragraphs or under headings and sub headings

Group relevant information together – Coherence

Only include information relevant to the question - Relevance

Group EssayGive an account of respiration under

the following headings:(i) glycolysis 5 marks(ii) the Krebs (Citric acid) cycle 5 marks

Total 10 marks

From 2007 Past Paper

Essay Marking Scheme(i) Glycolysis – any 5 from:1 – occurs in cytoplasm2 – glucose broken down to/converted to/reduced

to/oxidised to (2 molecules of) pyruvic acid3 – C6 compound broken down to 2 x C34 – step by step breakdown by enzymes OR series of

enzyme controlled reactions5 – net gain/production of ATP/explanation of net gain

of ATP6 – NAD accepts hydrogen/NADH produced and

transferred to cytochrome system/cristae/electron transfer system NOT stage 3

7 – oxygen not required/anaerobic Occurs in aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Marking scheme continued(ii) Krebs Cycle – any 5 from:1 – occurs in the mitochondrion matrix2 – requires oxygen OR aerobic phase3 – C2 acetyl group produced from pyruvic acid4 – acetyl group joins with CoA5 – acetyl CoA reacts/combines with a C4 compound to form

C6 compound/citric acid6 – cyclical series of reactions back to the C4 compound7 – carbon dioxide produced/given off/released8 – NAD accepts hydrogen/NADH produced and transferred

to cytochrome system9 – Krebs cycle needs/requires/is controlled by enzymes