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Cambridge International AS and A Level Biology 9700 syllabus Practical assessment
• Include a simple risk assessment of their plan, identifying the areas where an accident or injury is most
likely to happen and the areas where it would be most serious
• Describe the precautions that would need to be taken to minimise risks where possible. These
precautions should be specifically related to the risks they have identified, for example soda lime used to
absorb carbon dioxide is corrosive and poses a particular risk if it comes in to contact with the skin and
cornea, so wearing gloves and eye protection would be an appropriate precaution.
Analysis, conclusions and evaluation
Analysis, conclusions and evaluation tests the ability of candidates to process given data in a variety of
ways.
These marks are awarded for three strands of skills:
• Dealing with data
• Evaluation
• Conclusions.
Dealing with data
Knowledge of the Mathematical requirements in Section 5.1 of the syllabus is expected.
From provided data, candidates should be able to:
• Decide which calculations are necessary in order to draw conclusions, including considering the use of:
– error levels
– confidence limits
– statistical tests
• Use tables and graphs to identify the key points in quantitative data, including the variability of data
• Sketch or draw suitable graphs displaying the independent variable on the x-axis and the dependent
variable on the y-axis, including confidence limit error bars, calculated using standard error
• Choose appropriate calculations to simplify or explain data
• Carry out calculations in order to simplify or compare data
These calculations may include:
– percentage and percentage gain or loss
– rate of change
– species diversity index
– estimation of population size
• Use values of standard deviation or standard error, or graphs with standard error bars, to determine
whether differences in mean values are likely to be statistically significant
• Choose statistical tests appropriate to the type of data collected and justify use of these tests
• State a null hypothesis for a statistical test
• Apply statistical methods in order to assess variability in data. These methods may include:
– Use of descriptive statistics statistical tests to assess the variability of data or the statistical
differences between samples, including t-test, chi-squared test, Pearson’s linear correlation and
Spearman’s rank correlation
– Calculate the degrees of freedom for a statistical test
– Use a probability table to determine the significance of a calculated value for the t-test and the
chi-squared test
• Recognise the different types of variable and the different types of data presented.
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