Achieved |
Merit |
Excellence |
To get achieved you're required to show understanding in your answer, about something they ask you! |
To get merit, you are required to show an in-depth understanding of the topic you are given. Not just an understanding, but one that has a bit of depth to it - you understand the why or how about particular things! |
To get excellence you need to demonstrate (you may have the knowledge, but you need to SHOW you have it) a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Demonstrate that you can actually comprehend what the heck's going on about a topic! |
Describe Define Identify List Name State Label |
Explain Give reasons for Relate Include explanations of |
Discuss Compare and contrast Link |
At achieved level
You need to practice writing a description. This is 1-2 sentences long and gives the reader the basic idea of whatever concept you've been asked to write about.
For example, a bullet point within a question might ask me to 'describe the appearance of a wind-pollinated flower'. So I need to write 1-2 sentences to show I know what one looks like. A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery.
That answer tells you what a wind-pollinated flower looks like that's all you need. Top marks!
For example, a bullet point within a question might ask me to 'describe the appearance of a wind-pollinated flower'. So I need to write 1-2 sentences to show I know what one looks like. A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery.
That answer tells you what a wind-pollinated flower looks like that's all you need. Top marks!
At merit level
For merit, you need to build on what you've done for achieved. You need to provide reasons for something, or give detail about how something is done. This is usually about a paragraph long. You might get to a question where you explain something in (b) that you've already described in (a), but sometimes you get to a whole new question where you need to describe and explain to get M.
For example, the question might ask me to 'describe the appearance of a wind-pollinated flower and explain how these structures aid in pollination'. So what I need to demonstrate is an ability to describe the useful/important parts (A) and then give a reason (M) for how/why each one is helpful for pollination. A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery. The petals are dull and odorless because the flower can't attract the wind, the energy is better spent making lots of pollen as this method of pollination relies heavily on chance. The stamen and carpel are both long and hang outside the petals so that the pollen is exposed to the wind, allowing it to easily blow off and land on the stigma of another flower. The stigma is feathery as aids the flower in being able to catch the pollen while its in the air, and helps it stay stuck to the stigma so that fertilization can occur.
What I've done there is I've firstly described the structures of the flower. Then I went and gave a reason for each. This is merit level. It's not hard to give a reason for things!
Have some good words up your sleeve that will make it easy to relate ideas together...
Here are the words that helped make this answer more cohesive..
A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery. The petals are dull and odorless because the flower can't attract the wind, the energy is better spent making lots of pollen as this method of pollination relies heavily on chance. The stamen and carpel are both long and hang outside the petals so that the pollen is exposed to the wind, allowing it to easily blow off and land on the stigma of another flower. The stigma is feathery as this aids the flower in being able to catch the pollen while its in the air, and helps it stay stuck to the stigma so that fertilization can occur.
For example, the question might ask me to 'describe the appearance of a wind-pollinated flower and explain how these structures aid in pollination'. So what I need to demonstrate is an ability to describe the useful/important parts (A) and then give a reason (M) for how/why each one is helpful for pollination. A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery. The petals are dull and odorless because the flower can't attract the wind, the energy is better spent making lots of pollen as this method of pollination relies heavily on chance. The stamen and carpel are both long and hang outside the petals so that the pollen is exposed to the wind, allowing it to easily blow off and land on the stigma of another flower. The stigma is feathery as aids the flower in being able to catch the pollen while its in the air, and helps it stay stuck to the stigma so that fertilization can occur.
What I've done there is I've firstly described the structures of the flower. Then I went and gave a reason for each. This is merit level. It's not hard to give a reason for things!
Have some good words up your sleeve that will make it easy to relate ideas together...
Here are the words that helped make this answer more cohesive..
A wind-pollinated flower has dull, odorless petals. Both its stamen and carpel hang outside of the petals and the stigma is feathery. The petals are dull and odorless because the flower can't attract the wind, the energy is better spent making lots of pollen as this method of pollination relies heavily on chance. The stamen and carpel are both long and hang outside the petals so that the pollen is exposed to the wind, allowing it to easily blow off and land on the stigma of another flower. The stigma is feathery as this aids the flower in being able to catch the pollen while its in the air, and helps it stay stuck to the stigma so that fertilization can occur.
At excellence level
For excellence, you need to show that you've truly grasped the idea in its entirety. You need to think in and out of the box. You need to show more than one perspective or option, you need to say whether or not something works well or why it doesn't or wouldn't. You need to compare and contrast two concepts or ideas... comparing is looking at the similarities and contrasting is looking at the differences. You need to formulate a discussion that contains some descriptions, explanations (reasons why/how xyz occurs) and then link that to the big picture. An excellence answer requires more than one paragraph.
For example, the question might ask me to 'Compare the structures of a wind-pollinated flower to an animal-pollinated flower and explain how these structures aid in pollination'. So what I need to demonstrate is an ability to describe the useful/important parts (A) and then give a reason (M) for how/why each one is helpful for pollination while, at the same time, comparing (E) the two methods and their respective effectiveness. Here's my answer, and I've annotated it with where I'd find marks.
Animal-pollinated flowers require a pollinator to visit the flower and pick up / deliver pollen. Pollinators won't come to a flower unless they are attracted to the look/smell or taste of the flower (M - reason). So these flowers have large, colourful petals that often have a nice smell (A - description). They also have a nectary to lure the animal in (A). Flowers can't make themselves attractive to the wind, so the petals of wind-pollinated flowers have smaller and duller petals, and no scent or nectary (A - description and also E - comparison being made (smallER, dullER). The plant benefits from spending that 'saved' energy on making more pollen rather than making itself bright and smelly, as this wouldn't make pollination more successful (M - reason and E - comparison).
The stamen (anther, filament) and carpel (stigma, style, ovary) of animal-pollinated flowers are located within the petals, close to the nectary (A - description). This is so when pollinators visit the flower in search of nectar (food), they come into contact with the anther and pollen gets stuck on them. As they leave and visit another flower, as they head to the nectary of that one they rub past the stigma (tucked within the petals) and drops off the pollen (M - reason). If the stamen and carpel hung outside of the petals, the pollinator may not rub past them on their way to the nectary (E - comparing if structures were used in other method - links to effectiveness of pollination). On the other hand (E - comparison), wind-pollinated flowers benefit from having their carpel and stamen on the outside of their petals (A - description) - as here the wind can blow the pollen off the anther and onto the stigma (M - reason). If the carpel and stamen were on the inside of the petals, they would be sheltered from the wind and pollination would not be very successful (E - bigger picture, comparison of method).
The stigma, in particular, of wind-pollinated plants is very feathery (A - description). This is so the pollen flying in the wind can easily be caught due to the large surface area, acting like a net, and the process of fertilization can begin (M - reason). In animal-pollinated plants, the stigma is a lot stickier (A - description) - this is so the pollen on the backs of the animals can stick to the stigma as the pollinator passes by (M - reason).
Here I have 4 paragraphs that demonstrate a 'level up' compared to the explanations at merit level. What I did first is I made a plan of the structures relevant to the question and found how they differed. I then used my plan to give me an idea of how to structure my answer, and decided to go feature by feature, comparing both types of pollination as I go. This shows depth of understanding and I have demonstrated that I know the structures, how they are helpful and why they are specific for that method of pollination. I've shown that I completely understand the essence of what the question has asked.
For example, the question might ask me to 'Compare the structures of a wind-pollinated flower to an animal-pollinated flower and explain how these structures aid in pollination'. So what I need to demonstrate is an ability to describe the useful/important parts (A) and then give a reason (M) for how/why each one is helpful for pollination while, at the same time, comparing (E) the two methods and their respective effectiveness. Here's my answer, and I've annotated it with where I'd find marks.
Animal-pollinated flowers require a pollinator to visit the flower and pick up / deliver pollen. Pollinators won't come to a flower unless they are attracted to the look/smell or taste of the flower (M - reason). So these flowers have large, colourful petals that often have a nice smell (A - description). They also have a nectary to lure the animal in (A). Flowers can't make themselves attractive to the wind, so the petals of wind-pollinated flowers have smaller and duller petals, and no scent or nectary (A - description and also E - comparison being made (smallER, dullER). The plant benefits from spending that 'saved' energy on making more pollen rather than making itself bright and smelly, as this wouldn't make pollination more successful (M - reason and E - comparison).
The stamen (anther, filament) and carpel (stigma, style, ovary) of animal-pollinated flowers are located within the petals, close to the nectary (A - description). This is so when pollinators visit the flower in search of nectar (food), they come into contact with the anther and pollen gets stuck on them. As they leave and visit another flower, as they head to the nectary of that one they rub past the stigma (tucked within the petals) and drops off the pollen (M - reason). If the stamen and carpel hung outside of the petals, the pollinator may not rub past them on their way to the nectary (E - comparing if structures were used in other method - links to effectiveness of pollination). On the other hand (E - comparison), wind-pollinated flowers benefit from having their carpel and stamen on the outside of their petals (A - description) - as here the wind can blow the pollen off the anther and onto the stigma (M - reason). If the carpel and stamen were on the inside of the petals, they would be sheltered from the wind and pollination would not be very successful (E - bigger picture, comparison of method).
The stigma, in particular, of wind-pollinated plants is very feathery (A - description). This is so the pollen flying in the wind can easily be caught due to the large surface area, acting like a net, and the process of fertilization can begin (M - reason). In animal-pollinated plants, the stigma is a lot stickier (A - description) - this is so the pollen on the backs of the animals can stick to the stigma as the pollinator passes by (M - reason).
Here I have 4 paragraphs that demonstrate a 'level up' compared to the explanations at merit level. What I did first is I made a plan of the structures relevant to the question and found how they differed. I then used my plan to give me an idea of how to structure my answer, and decided to go feature by feature, comparing both types of pollination as I go. This shows depth of understanding and I have demonstrated that I know the structures, how they are helpful and why they are specific for that method of pollination. I've shown that I completely understand the essence of what the question has asked.