HSC Biology Year 11 practice exams and worked solutions

What the course asks of you

Cells as the basis of life

Cell structure, membrane transport, and enzymes and what alters them.

Organisation of living things

Exchange surfaces, transport systems, and the relationship between structure and function.

Biological diversity

Adaptation, selection pressures, and the evidence for evolutionary change.

Ecosystem dynamics

Past and present ecosystems, the fossil record, and interpreting strata.

Sample questions

Written for this site, in the style of the exam. Answer first, then see the model response and what the marks were for.

1. Question 1

   1 mark

   Which process requires a cell to expend energy in the form of ATP?
   A. OsmosisB. Simple diffusionC. Active transportD. Facilitated diffusion
   Check answer

2. Question 2

   5 marks

   A student investigated the effect of pH on the activity of the enzyme catalase by measuring the volume of oxygen produced in one minute at each pH. a. Identify the independent and dependent variables. b. Identify two variables that should be controlled, and explain why one of them matters.
   Show the model answer

3. Question 3

   4 marks

   Explain how the structure of the alveoli increases the efficiency of gas exchange in the lungs.
   Show the model answer

4. Question 4

   3 marks

   A layer of sedimentary rock containing fossil species X lies directly beneath a layer containing fossil species Y. Using a principle of relative dating, state which species is older and justify your answer.
   Show the model answer

What Year 11 Biology asks of you

The step from Year 10 is not the amount of content. It is that answers are now marked against a command word and expected to name a mechanism.

The verb sets the answer

Identify, describe, explain and assess want different things and carry different marks. A well-written description scores one mark where an explanation was asked for.

Depth studies are assessed differently

Part of the year is assessed through investigation rather than examination — planning, gathering, and arguing from your own data. It rewards a different skill from exam revision and is worth treating as its own task.

Data is there to be quoted

Where a graph or table is given, refer to it. An answer that could have been written without looking is marked as though it was.

Terminology is precise

The course separates terms that everyday speech blurs. Using the loose word where the exact one exists loses the mark, however sound the understanding behind it.

Where Year 11 Biology marks are lost

In stopping one step short of the mechanism. "The rate slows" is a result. Saying what is limiting it, and why, is the answer.

In writing everything known rather than the thing asked. A four-mark question wants four creditable points; the extra paragraph earns nothing and costs the next question its time.

And in answering a different command word than the one printed, which is the single most common avoidable loss in the subject.

Common questions

Does Year 11 Biology count towards the ATAR?

The Year 12 course is what is examined for the HSC, but Year 11 is where the reasoning and the terminology are built, and Year 12 assumes both from its first topic.

What is a depth study?

An assessed investigation rather than an exam — planning, gathering evidence and arguing from your own data. It rewards different skills from exam preparation, so it is worth planning for as its own task rather than revising for.

How do I write a full-mark explanation?

Name the mechanism, not the result, and use the subject's own terms. If your answer would still make sense with the topic swapped out, it is describing rather than explaining.