Download Assessment Specifications

Assessment Specifications
General information
Domain
Biology
Level
1
Mode of Assessment
Written Examination
For Year
2011
Standards
90927, 90928, 90929
Format for the assessment for all achievement standards
All questions will provide opportunity for candidates to demonstrate all levels of performance:
Achievement, Achievement with Merit, and Achievement with Excellence.
A single grade will be awarded holistically for each question.
Candidates should attempt all questions.
Diagrams may be used to provide evidence where appropriate.
Specific information for individual external achievement standards
Standard
90927
Title
Demonstrate understanding of biological ideas relating to micro-organisms
Version
1
Number of Credits
4
Special notes
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This achievement standard assesses biological ideas that relate to micro-organisms selected from
bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Factors that affect the life processes of micro-organisms include: moisture, temperature, oxygen
availability, presence of suitable nutrients, and host species, competitors related to antibiotic action
and resistance; also, why viruses cannot be considered living (only reproduce using host cells and
do not grow, feed, produce energy or excrete).
Standard
90928
Title
Demonstrate understanding of biological ideas relating to the life cycle
of flowering plants
Version
1
Number of Credits
4
Special notes
This achievement standard requires knowledge of flowering plants (Angiosperms), with a focus on
flowers, leaves, roots, and dicotyledonous seeds and stems.
Asexual reproduction requires familiarity with different methods of asexual reproduction including but
not limited to cuttings, tubers, rhizomes, runners, bulbs.
Sexual reproduction includes:
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wind pollinated flower structure compared to insect pollinated flowers, relating structure to
function
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steps involved from pollination to fertilisation
structure of dicotyledon seeds relating each structure to its function
methods of seed dispersal.
Germination and growth includes:
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germination stages
environmental factors affecting germination
growth in meristematic tissue
primary growth in stems and roots
secondary growth
the importance of nutrients as they relate to growth and photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis includes:
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structure and function of a leaf
raw materials and products
factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis: light intensity, temperature, amount of chlorophyll,
CO2 concentration.
Candidates should be familiar with basic practical work relating to photosynthesis.
Standard
90929
Title
Demonstrate understanding of biological ideas relating to a mammal as a
consumer
Version
1
Number of Credits
3
Special notes
Structural components of the digestive system include:
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buccal cavity (mouth – including structure of a generalised tooth)
salivary glands
oesophagus
stomach
duodenum
bile duct
liver
gall bladder
pancreas
pancreatic duct
ileum
caecum
appendix
colon
rectum
anus.
Life processes related to a mammal as a consumer include:
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processing food
ingestion
digestion
peristalsis
absorption
assimilation
egestion
Transport of products of digestion is limited to the function of the circulatory system, and the basic
structures are limited to the heart (names of structures within the organ are not required), veins, arteries
and capillaries.
Use of food at the cell level is limited to aerobic respiration (including raw materials and products),
and the basic structures are limited to the lungs (names of structures within the organ are not required).
Candidates may be asked to relate processing of food, circulation and respiration to each other and to
the overall survival of the mammal.