ATP Preparation

Candidates should be able to:

1. Follow a sequence of instructions
2. Use techniques, apparatus, measuring devices and materials effectively and safely
3. Make and record observations, measurements, calculations and estimates with due
regard to precision, accuracy and units
4. Interpret, evaluate and report upon observations and experimental data
5. Identify problems, design/plan and carry out investigations, including the selection of
techniques, apparatus, measuring devices and materials
6. Evaluate methods and suggest possible improvements.

General
• All the information provided with each question should be read thoroughly &you
should make your own rough notes along this information
1. Go as VISUAL as you can
2. Add numbers
3. Add information according to your knowledge about the topic.
This information may be necessary for answering the questions that follow. This includes
information provided with Figures, such as the magnification of a specimen etc.
• DON’T PANIC when you see a lot of information. More information is actually a
blessing in disguise.
• Understand glossary usage/Command words
• NEVER use the word DIRECTLY or INVERSLY PROPORTIONAL in Biology ATP, never
NEVER!

1. DRAWINGS
Diagram & Space Utilization
• Your drawings should be large. The more details you need to include, the larger your
drawing should be.
Use at least 60 to 70 percent of the space provided for your drawing but make sureyou leave
enough space on the left and right for labeling. The diagram should be atleast 1.5 to double the
size of the original diagram.
• Draw what you see, not a textbook diagram ornot what you know.&pay attention when
observing the detailin the diagram.
• The different parts of the specimen should be drawn in the correct proportions and with
proper orientation.
• Don’t make ruled lines.
• Make sure your diagram DOES NOT touch or extend into the printed word or the margins.
This WILL result in loss in marks
 You may, in fact you usually WILL get a diagram that you will be seeing for the first time
therefore DON’T PANIC! Do expect things beyond the syllabus that you may be expected to
draw. Realize that you only have to redraw what you see and labeling such diagrams will
require common sense. For example in the drawing of the beetle, you are expected at least to
know what is abdomen, thorax and legs etc.

2. Labelling
• The question usually starts like: “Draw and LABEL”. Students generally tend to ignore the
labeling. Make sure you DO label the diagram that you draw. REMEMBER, the marks are
divided between the drawings and labeling, if you miss out on any one of these two, you are
planning to lose marks.
• All drawings and labeling should be done in pencil. Use a clutch pencil for clear outlines.
Faint outlines would make it difficult for the examiner to assess your drawing
• Usually the labeling is of the parts of the diagram and of the entire diagram (the ‘title label’ if
you like)
• Leave sufficient space either side of your drawing for labels. Start your drawing in the centre
of the page.
• Write a title at the bottom of each drawing if required.
• If a label consists of more than one word, write in one line
• Write labels horizontally
• Labeling lines should not cross each other
• Do not make long lines that cross the drawing from one to the other end.
• One structure should be labeled singular and more as plurale.g. a line pointing to one seed
should not be labeled as 'seeds'.
• The guide line for a label must make contact with the structure intended and there should
be no gap.
• No dot or arrow sign at the end of label line.

3. Soft pencil & Drawing cautions

• Use a soft pencil…. better mechanical pencil, to draw and label your diagrams. DON’T use
COLOUR PENCILS
• Don’t press the pencil to such an extent while drawing that if you wish to rub it, you find
it difficult.
• Draw the diagram with clear and continuous lines. NOsketchy lines.NO shading.
• Do not shade with the side of your pencil.
• Draw double lines to represent cut surfaces.
4. Magnification & Measurements
• Where the measurement of a specimen is required, a line should be drawn to indicate
where the measurement has been taken
• Measurement taken should be indicated by means of 2 parallel lines in your drawing.
• Length to be measured in mm (can be measured in cm but mm is the preferred unit by the
examiner)
• FORMULA:
Magnification= length of your drawing/length of original drawing
Often you need to draw larger than the original specimen, and then have to specify. The exact
magnification. Measure the specimen, say it is 2 cm, then decide how large you want your
drawing to be, i. e., 5X the specimen, so 2X 5 = 10 cm. Take a ruler and mark out 10 cm in the
centre of the space, now start by drawing very faint lines to allow you to get basic proportions
correct. Mark out the main structures in the correct position and proportion
• Commonsense dictates that an answer of less than x1, or of the order of ‘x3205.33’ is not
realistic!
• NEVER miss the magnification value that has been given at the bottom corner of the
diagram (and if it is not given then you don’t need to worry about it) magnification value (if
given any, if it is not given then you don’t need to multiply the formula with any magnification
value)
• Magnification must be expressed accurately; it would be incorrect to express 2.36 as 3
rather than 2.4.
• Omitting the ‘X’, or ‘times’ in the answer will invalidate it.
• Giving too many decimal places will invalidate the answer. [Max up to one decimal place like
4.5] also rounding off should be up to… or attaching a unit, mm/cm, all of these will invalidate
the answers.
•The working must be shown clearly with all the stages of calculations.
5. GRAPHS:
• Use either the line of best fit, or joining the points with ruled lines, usually the examiner
specifies which line he wants and over the recent years, it has only been “joining the
points with ruled lines.
• Full use of graph almost 70% should be made of the space provided
• Candidates should realize that the independent variable forms the x axis – and is usually
written as the column on the left in the Table!
• And dependent variables need to drawn on Y axis.
• Candidates should ensure that axes are fully labelled, (including units)
• The axes are labelled outside, rather than within the grid
• Plots are best shown as small dots in a circle, or neat crosses, that is of the ‘x’ rather than
the ‘+’ variety.
• If there are two lines to draw on the same graph then make a key or label to distinguish
between the two sets of data
• NEVER forget to write the units. And write them as you see in the table. Do not
abbreviate deviate from the unit given.
• If you have been asked about any missing value or any value from the graph, DO
• NOT forget to write down the units [which are usually given in the table.
• No extrapolation, (line extended beyond given values) because we can’t predict the
• Data
• When describing relationships, write fully. For example when one value increases the
other decreases and vice versa. DON’T JUST write directly or inversely proportional.
• When DESCRIBING a result from the graph, make sure you mention the values also, for
example from this value to this value, the graph line decreases
• If working is asked for in a question then working should be shown. In this question
working could be shown on the graph itself or in the space provided
6. Line Graphs
• each axis should be scaled using multiples of 1, 2, 5, 10 for each 20 mm square on the grid
• never use multiples of 3
• do not extrapolate unless they’ve asked you to

Presenting anomalous results

Put a circle on the graph away from the line and put a key to state that the circled point(s)
represents anomalous result

How to present the curve

• straight line – e.g., effect of enzyme concentration on rate of enzyme catalysed reaction, if
obvious that points lie on a straight line
• smooth curve – only if intermediate values fall on the curve
• single results – draw straight lines between points; this indicates uncertainty about the
result for the values of independent variable

7. Making Tables
• Neatly ruled, complete and closed table/s are to be drawn.
• Column headings should have the complete and correct units and so it is not necessary to
enter unit again in each entry
• Label the unit that is given, for example if time is given in minutes then the units should be
written in minutes and NOT IN SECONDS and vice versa.
• DONOT repeat the units in columns
• Organize the data in rank order, from lowest to highest.
 • Cambridge requires only the outer ruled boundary (internal lines and dividers are not a
necessity)

8. Bar Graphs
• Bars should not be shaded
• They need to be clearly labelled
• Y-axis usually starts from 0
• All bars should be of equal thickness
• Leave equal spacing between bars (including a space between the first bar)

• If the bar chart is for two classes, make the bars of the 2 classes attached to each other but
leave even spacing between intervals

Histograms
Bars should be attached to each other, have the same thickness and the x-axis should have
intervals e.g., 12-14, 14-16 and not categories
• all columns drawn ruled and of equal width

Note: Histogram is not in our syllabus.

9. Experimental Design:
1. INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDANT VARIABLE
The first thing you need to do is that identify between which two things the relationship is
being investigated. For example Growth of seedlings (vs) Over crowding
“Independent variable: which is manipulated. Which “I” myself vary
Dependent variable: which is Directly measured
2. VARIABLES TO BE CONTROLLED
Candidates should demonstrate awareness of the need to identify and control key variables.
Variables are controlled in order to make sure that the experiment is VALID!! It is very
 important to explain that the variables that are being controlled, how should they be
measured? For example: the same light intensity, the same volume of water, or suggestion of
an appropriate value, e.g. add 50 cm3 of water added to the sample.
Writing in very general terms will not be creditworthy, e.g. using amount instead of volume.

3. USE OF PRECISE TERMINOLOGY

Candidates should use precise terminology such as mass and volume, rather than amount or
quantity when describing measurements or listing the variables to be controlled
4. RECORDING THE RESULT
The results should be recorded either as:
• a table (refer to making tables) or
• Graph
5. REPEATING EXPERIMENT
Many candidates mention repeating the investigation without referring to why this is an
improvement, namely that the mean value is more reliable/ calculating mean ensures
Reliability in the result [and NOT the ACCURACY!]

6. SAFTEY AND PRECAUTIONS

Identify an area where an accident or an injury may happen and so appropriately suggest a
safety measure like
• Wearing protective glasses
• Protective gloves etc.
• High, medium or low risk experiment

10. VMRRS [Variables, Method, recording, repeating and safety]

Types of Data in Experiment
1 Qualitative Data
Descriptive data from observations and not measurements such as colour changes
Qualitative food test errors
1) Difficult to judge colours, especially if concentrations are low resulting in light colours or
small colour changes
2) Temperature of the water bath may not remain constant throughout heating
Improvements for qualitative tests
1) Use a thermostatically controlled water bath
2) Use a colouri meter
3) Place a white card or tile behind the test tubes
2. Quantitative Data
Numerical data such as measurements
Quantitative food test errors
1) Difficulty in comparing colours
2) When determining an unknown concentration, it may be between 2 concentrations
3) Temperature not being constant for all samples
4) DCPIP test for vitamin C – drops fall on the sides of the test tubes
Improvements for quantitative tests
1) Carry out more experiments with a narrower or wider range of concentrations
2) Plot a graph with results to estimate the unknown
3) Use a colouri meter to help compare colour changes better
4) Use a white card/tile to observe the colour changes better
5) Use a thermostatically controlled water bath
Design and Investigation:
• Named the tissue or apparatus
• Set a suitable range of solutions/Temperature etc.
• Set a control experiment if required for comparison.
• Each left for the appropriate length of time
• Measurement of initial and final readings.
• Measurement of change in time/length/mass etc.
• External blotting if required
• Calculation + result compare
• Repeat for reliability / Replicate
• Take average of readings
• Repeat using narrower range of source/temp/light etc.
• Use graphs
• Refrence to low/medium/high risk
Why experiment is repeated?
• Reliability of result
• To reduce experimental error
• Need for average/mean
• So that result is doubtless
• To statistical significance
How an investigation could be improved?
• Repeat
• Find mean/average result
• Take measurements at smaller intervals
• Identify errors
• Increase reliability
 • Samples at regular intervals
• Use larger samples
• Use a water bath(if required)
• Method/idea of maintaining external conditions
• More frequent monitoring
• Recording on time
• Simultaneous readings
• Avoid time delay / save time.

11. Slide Preparation:

Microscope basics
• Method of transferring the substance
• Use of microscopic/glass slide
• Add water/mountant/stain.
• Lower the cover slip safely at 45 degree angle so as to
• Avoid formation of bubbles. If they are formed, place a blotting paper on the edge of
thecover slip
• On microscope stage view under low/high power

Food Tests
1. Reducing sugars: Benedicts test
2. Protein: Biuret test
3. Fats: ethanol
4. Starch: Iodine
• You need to know the Reagent, the color of the reagent itself, color change, and the
method [remember that heating is only required in Reducing sugar test and the safest way
to do it is by a water bath].
• In the exam you need to mention the COLOUR CHANGE! Not just the final color.
• You should be clear in the expression and method you use. For e.g how to test the presence
of starch in a potato. You don’t just write: “Add iodine and color turns blue black”. Instead a
good answer is: “You cut a piece of it with a knife, place it on a glass slide, add a drop of
iodine with a ‘dropper’, if starch is present, the surface will turn blue black, otherwise it will
remain brown [the color of Iodine]”.
 Food/ Chemical Tests
Carbohydrates

Nutrient Food Test Reagent Methods Observations Conclusion

Before After
Starch Starch Iodine -Take food Yellow Blue Black Starch present
test solution sample brown
-Add a few
drops of
Iodine Yellow brown Starch absent
solution
Reducing Benedict’s Benedict’s -Take 2 cm3 of Blue Green Traces of
sugars Test Solution sample reducing sugar
-Add 2cm3 of present
reagent
-Heat in water Yellow Moderate
bath for Orange amount of
boiling reducing sugar
solution present
Brown Large amount of
Brick red reducing sugar
present
Blue No reducing
sugars
Fats

Ethanol Ethanol -Take sample( if solid, Colourless Cloudy Fat present

emulsion crush it) Milky white
test -Add ethanol (Alcohol) emulsion
-Shake thoroughly
-Add water Clear Fat absent
-Shake vigorously
Grease -Add a drop of sample on Clear Grease patch or Fat present
spot test filter paper No spot Translucent spot
-Dry it.
-Hold up the paper to light Clear/no Fat absent
spot
Proteins
Biuret Biuret -Take 2cm3 of sample Blue Violet/ Protein present
Test solution -Add few drops of reagent puple/lilac
Blue Protein absent
Other Tests:
1. Carbon dioxide
Use Lime Water: If it turns milky from colourless, indicates CO2 is present.

2. Water
Use Cobalt chloride Paper: It will turn pink if water present otherwise will remain blue.

3. Oxygen
Use burning splint: If it rekindles fastly, shows the presence of O2