Life Sciences is considered to be the softer of the sciences, however, it does not mean that it is an easy way out in your senior years at high school. The volume of work that is covered increases each year, with the largest volume being in Matric. Studyclix is here to help you navigate through this subject and make your exams easier.
Life Sciences covers a range of topics in Matric from understanding the basics of life in the form of DNA and how proteins are made, to how the brain works and includes concepts such as genetics and inheritance and evolution. The assessments include termly tests and practicals, a project or assignment and exams (one midyear, two trials and two final papers).
The following are all the topics that are covered in Matric:
The Life Sciences exams are divided into two papers. Each paper is out of 150 marks and are 2,5 hour long papers.
The following topics are tested in paper one:
Reproduction in vertebrates - 8 marks (5%)
Human reproduction - 41 marks (27%)
Responding to the environment (humans) - 54 marks (36%)
Responding to the environment (plants) - 13 marks (9%)
Endocrine and homeostasis (humans) - 34 marks (23%)
The following topics are tested in paper two:
DNA code of life - 27 marks (18%)
Meiosis - 21 marks (14%)
Genetics and inheritance - 48 marks (32%)
Evolution - 54 marks (36%)
Each paper is broken down into two sections and each section has various types of questions.
Section A has these types of questions:
Section B has these types of questions:
Section A has these types of questions:
By knowing what aspects of each topic you might be tested on, you can focus on the important information and avoid wasting time on other content. To find a detailed breakdown of the content being tested in each paper, take a look at the examination guidelines here.
Words such as explain, describe, tabulate, state, etc. Know what these question words are asking you to do and then use your knowledge and source material provided in the question paper to answer the questions.
Flashcards are a great way to help you study the many subject-specific terms that you need to learn. It is important that you are able to define these terms and be able to use them correctly in your answers. You can find our flashcards here.
Once you are familiar and confident with a topic’s terminology, you can test your knowledge by doing short quizzes, consisting of multiple choice, true or false questions, and ones that require short answers. This is also good practice for the type of questions expected in Section A of your final exams!
You can take a topic-specific quiz for every Life Sciences topic on Studyclix.
The next step is to start practising questions from past papers. Although it may seem daunting at first, the memos and memo explanations will provide the help you need to learn how to accurately answer the type of questions you can expect in your examinations.
Read the instructions carefully and answer accordingly. Remember to always use the information in the question when writing your answer. Example: Learners often assume that all cells referred to in a question are human cells and will, therefore, assume that the cell in the question has 46 chromosomes. This is often not the case. Read carefully!
While it is not enough to simply memorize processes and explanations, there are certain processes that you must be able to describe verbatim. Examples of these are transcription and translation which occurs during protein synthesis.
On the day of your exam, you need to bring some tools with you to ensure you have everything you need:
Bring a calculator as some of the scientific method questions require percentage increase or decrease calculations.
Bring along a protractor for the times when a pie chart is needed to be drawn.
Bring a pencil for drawings as all drawings need to be drawn in pencil.
Bring more than one blue/black pen in case your pen runs out of ink.
Don’t be afraid to write on the question paper and highlight keywords in a question. This can be useful when figuring out pedigree diagrams or identifying the aim of an experiment. But remember that only answers written on your answer sheet will be marked.
Good luck with your exams, you've got this!