Transcript National 4 and National 5 Biology

National 4 and National 5
Biology
Assessment Arrangements
The Biology course consists of 3 units:
•
Life On Earth
•
Cell Biology
•
Multicellular Organisms
Requirements for achieving National 5
• All three unit tests passed at National 5.(Life On Earth, Cell Biology
and Multicellular organisms)
• Learning Outcome 1 - Experimental report
• Learning Outcome 2.2/2.3 - Short research report on an aspect of
Biology
• Course Assignment (which counts for 20% of final grade) – It is in
the form of an extended research project which is externally marked
by the SQA.(Exam board)
• Final external exam in May
Requirements for achieving National 4
• All three unit tests passed at National 4.(Life On Earth, Cell Biology,
Multicellular Organisms)
• Learning Outcome 1 – Experimental report
• Learning Outcome 2.2/2.3 - Short research report on an aspect of
Biology
• Added Value Unit – which is in the form of an Internally assessed
research project.
• National 4 is assessed as Pass or Fail.
Unit Assessments
• These are tests which are completed in class under exam
conditions.
• Pupils will be asked a set of questions for each of the three units
testing ‘Key Areas’(their knowledge) and ‘Problem Solving’.
• At least half the responses to ‘Key Areas’ questions must be correct
in order to achieve a pass.
• There are 4 different types of ‘Problem Solving’ questions –
1. Selecting information,
2. Processing information
3. Analysing information
4. Predicting information
Learning Outcome 1
Experimental Report
• Pupils given multiple opportunities throughout
the course to complete this learning outcome.
• A ‘candidates guide’ which is in your pack is
issued to help pupils structure their report.
• Each subsection of the report must be passed,
however this can be achieved over the multiple
opportunities provided.
• This will be subjected to external verification by
the SQA.
Short research report LO (2.2 / 2.3)
 Pupils have to research a key area of Biology and
produce a short report
 They will be given multiple opportunities to
complete this through the course.
 ‘Candidate Guide’ provided
 The report is subject to external verification by the SQA.
Course Assignment (N5)
Added Value Unit (N4)
• Topic chosen from given list
• Estimated 6 hours research
• National 5 final report
– 20% of the final grade.
– Produced under exam conditions
– Report is sent away to SQA
• National 4 final report
– internally marked
– external verification
• ‘Candidate Guide’ provided ( to help pupils structure report)
Assignment information:
http://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/GAInfoNational5Biology.pdf
National 5 External Exam
• 2 hour exam paper worth 100 marks.
•
Section A 20 marks multiple-choice
•
Section B 80 marks extended questions
•
Final mark
20% course assignment
80% final exam
•
Graded A to D
Specimen paper:
http://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/BiologySQPN5.pdf
How can you help??
• Short research task (LO2.2/2.3) – Biology issue and
effects on environment
• Course Assignment N5 and Added Value Unit N4
• Research assistance
• Preparation for writing the final report
Work steadily throughout the year
and you won’t need luck in the final
exam.