Home > Subjects > Biology > Level 3 > 3.2 Biology research > Subject content
- Subject: Biology
- AS: AS90714
- Level: 3
- Credits: 3
- Internal
Biology 3.2 Research a contemporary biological issue
Subject content
Your teacher will provide guidance while you carry out the research, but the process and work must be driven by you.
The assignment is carried out in the following stages:
- Choose a topic
Your teacher may provide you with a list of suitable topics for you to choose from or direct you towards a single topic. - Research
Collect information using a wide range of sources (mainly secondary sources but some use of primary sources is acceptable), on the following:
- Biological concepts and processes relating to your topic.
- Biological, social, ethical, economic or environmental implications of your topic.
- Range of differing opinions relating to the topic.
Organise your research notes and copies of research material (for example, into a scrapbook) and at the same time construct a bibliography, clearly recording the sources of all the information you collect.
Go through the researched material and highlight or tag the key ideas (for example, colour highlighting, stickies, annotations etc). This will help you to quickly access key ideas from your researched material when you are writing your essay or speech
- Write your essay or speech
You will integrate your information from the range of referenced sources to:
- Discuss the biological concepts and processes upon which the technology is based.
- Discuss any important biological, social, ethical, economic or environmental implications relating to the technology.
- Discuss the differing opinions people hold and the reasons for each opinion.
- Evaluate and comment on the validity of sources and bias in the information relating to the technology.
- Conclude with your opinion supporting or opposing the issue. Then justify it using your understanding of the biology involved with references and/or quoted information.
- Reference your sources.
- You must reference all quotes (these should be within explanation marks in your essay), and any data, pictures, diagrams or maps. This is so that all sources that you used can be checked and authenticated.
- Your reference can be included in the text. It can also be done in the form of footnotes. This involves the use of a number in the text next to your quoted material which refers to the author, data of publication, and page numbers (or Internet site) listed at the bottom of the page in a bibliography. This is less messy and is more usual.
- It is recommended that you use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing system and this will be outlined in your assignment.
Check out this website that gives you tips on the research process. The link to the section, "Evaluate your information" is particularly useful.
