S142 Topics in science
Contents S142 End-of-module assessment 2 Introduction 2 Question 1 3 Question 2 5 Question 3 6 Question 4 8 Appendix: Article 1 11 S142 End-of-module assessment 2 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 S142 End-of-module assessment Covering: ‘Human genetics and health issues’, ‘Empire of the microbes’ and either ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs’ or ‘The frozen planet’ Cut-off date: Wednesday 6 September 2017 Your EMA must be submitted using the eTMA system by 12 midday (UK local time) on Wednesday 6 September 2017. This allows a 12-hour grace period in case you experience technical problems with your submission, and allows you time to talk to the Computing helpdesk in order to resolve this and still submit your EMA successfully by midnight. However, if you leave it until very late to submit your work and experience a technical problem so that work is not submitted until after midnight, you will be considered to have submitted late and the rules in the following paragraph will apply. Examinable work submitted up to 24 hours late (00.00 to 23.59) will be accepted for marking. As a penalty, the task score will be reduced by 10 points, or to bare pass level, whichever gives the higher score. As an example, where the pass level is 40, a score of 59 would become 49, 45 would become 40, and a score of 35 would remain unchanged. If you have submitted late, you may submit Special Circumstances. In some cases your result may need to be pended or delayed whilst your late submission and/or special circumstances information is received and considered. Examinable work received after the 24-hour penalty period will not be accepted for marking, and you will be considered not to have submitted. You should refer to the booklet: Information for Students Submitting Examinable Work electronically for further details. Introduction This is your end-of-module assessment (EMA) for S142. This EMA contributes 100% towards your overall examinable score. How well you demonstrate the learning outcomes for this EMA will determine the overall grade for your studies of S142 (assuming you have achieved the threshold in the three TMAs). The EMA contains four questions – Question 1 is based on ‘Human genetics and health issues’ (HGHI), Question 2 is based on ‘Empire of the microbes’ (EM), Question 3 is based on ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs’ (MMD) and Question 4 is based on ‘The frozen planet’ (FP). You are expected to answer Question 1 and Question 2, along with either Question 3 (if you studied MMD) or Question 4 (if you studied FP). Under no circumstances should you answer both Questions 3 and 4. You should make use of the feedback you received on TMAs 01, 02 and 03 in completing this EMA. You should show your working in all calculations, explaining each step and using appropriate units throughout the calculation. As with the TMAs, you are recommended to make use of the resources available to help you prepare for this assessment. Information is available in the Assessment resources area of the S142 module website. This includes a link to the Assessment Handbook. S142 End-of-module assessment 3 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 Your answers should be written in your own words and style. One way to achieve this is to prepare notes using keywords, taking care to avoid copying sentences or parts of sentences straight from the S142 materials. These notes can then be used to prepare a unique answer which uses your own words. Some EMA questions give a word limit for guidance only, and although you will not be penalised for exceeding the word limit you should attempt to stay close to the limit in order to demonstrate the relevant learning outcomes and develop your writing skills. When the word limit for an EMA question is mandatory, the learning outcome(s) for that question (or subpart) will be adjusted to account for you not meeting the mandatory answer length. When this is the case, it will be clearly indicated in the question. The word limit does not include words in tables, figures or diagrams and their captions, or words in reference lists. You should indicate the word count at the end of your answer when asked to do so. To check students are working in a fair and academically appropriate manner, S142 uses text-comparison software to detect potential cases of collusion and plagiarism in work that is submitted for assessment. You can find useful information about how to avoid collusion and plagiarism, as well as how to reference properly, on the ‘ Developing good academic practices’ website. Question 1 This question relates to your study of the ‘Human genetics and health issues’ topic and carries one-third of the marks for this assessment. It will be assessed according to how well you demonstrate the following learning outcomes in your answer: Kn1 Demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of some of the basic facts, language, concepts and principles relating to human genetics, including the relevant health issues and human biology. C2 Apply knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts to address familiar and unfamiliar situations. C3 Identify the different perspectives of issues arising from the research on human genes. Article 1 Woman, 25, becomes FIFTH person in her family to be diagnosed with incurable Huntington’s disease’ provides a detailed account of one woman’s diagnosis with Huntington’s disease. Read the article carefully before answering the following questions: (a) (Tests C2) Using the information given in the article, draw a pedigree chart (following the style used in Figure 6.6 in section 6.3.2 in the topic text) that includes the following family members: Kirsty, Liam, Brian, Sarah (Brian’s mother), Paula (Brian’s sister), Brian’s father (unnamed) and Kirsty’s mother (unamed). You should include the names of each relative in your chart and show who is affected by HD, who is not and for who it is still unclear whether they are affected. S142 End-of-module assessment 4 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 (b) (Tests Kn1) (i) From your study of the topic materials and the article, identify the gene involved in Huntington’s disease and explain how changes in the DNA sequence are eventually converted to the phenotype described by Kirsty in the article. (Advisory word limit: 80–100 words.) (ii) From your study of the topic materials, briefly describe in a few sentences the pattern of inheritance of HD. Explain whether the disease is dominant or recessive and whether it is caused by one or multiple genes. (Advisory word limit: 50–75 words.) (iii) From the article, select two different pieces of information that support this pattern of inheritance. These can be factual statements from the text or quotations from the interviewee as to their own family experience. For each piece of information, explain why it supports your answer to part (ii). In addition, referring to the pedigree chart you drew up for part (a), explain how this supports the evidence chosen and your answer to part (b)(ii). (Advisory word limit: 200–220 words.) (c) (Tests C2) Choose appropriate letters to represent each of the two alleles, one for Huntington’s disease and one for normal, and determine the genotype of all family members included in your pedigree chart. For some relatives the exact genotype may be unknown, in these cases give all possible genotypes and the expected probability for each of these genotypes. Explain how you arrived at your answers. (Advisory word limit: 150 words.) (d) (Tests C2) What are the chances of Kirsty having a child with HD, assuming that her partner does not have the Huntington Disease phenotype? Include a mating diagram to illustrate your answer. (Advisory word limit: 150–200 words.) (e) (Tests C3) Imagine that you are a genetic counsellor faced with giving advice to Kirsty’s sister Anne and her partner, when they are thinking of starting a family. Anne still prefers not to know whether she has inherited the mutated gene from her father, so has not been tested for this. They are considering whether to carry out prenatal testing for HD. (iv) Identify three concerns related to prenatal testing that you would discuss with Anne and her partner. Your answer should cover both the personal perspective of Anne and issues that arise from the use of amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Write one or two sentences for each issue. (v) Compare this technique with the alternative: pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. – Identify one concern specifically related to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis – Identify two advantages of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis over prenatal diagnosis Write one or two sentences for each (dis)advantage listed. S142 End-of-module assessment 5 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 Question 2 This question relates to your study of the ‘Empire of the microbes’ topic and carries onethird of the marks for this assessment. It will be assessed according to how well you demonstrate the following learning outcomes in your answer: Kn2 Demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of some of the basic facts, language, concepts and principles relating to microbes and their importance for Earth and environmental sciences, medical applications and planetary science. C4 Understand the contribution that microbiology can make to informed debate on medical and environmental issues. Ky2 Communicate scientific topics clearly and concisely, using methods and scientific language appropriate to your purpose and audience. P1 Make, record and interpret observations and simple measurements using a digital microscope. A scientist is trying to identify new species of microbes that can degrade cellulose, the structural component of plant cell walls. To do this, they are analysing the microbes in the surface soil and leaf litter beneath the trees in a local woodland. Their approach is to take soil and leaf samples back to the lab, and to culture the microbes present in the samples, initially in broth cultures. (a) (Tests Kn2) (i) Explain the essential culture conditions that the scientist needs to apply in their experiment. (ii) Explain how they might isolate different microbial species from the broth cultures by using three other techniques, which you should describe briefly, including an advantage or disadvantage of each technique. (iii) What other culture technique might the scientist have used before starting a broth culture? Why might this method not be suitable in this study? (b) (Tests P1) This question uses slides D and K from the Digital Microscope, which can be found in the ‘Slides for Assessment’ folder. Each subpart has an advisory word limit of 50-75 words. You may find it useful to recall the activities on the Digital Microscope for this part of the EMA. After some weeks the scientist manages to isolate two types of microbe that show promise for further study. The microbes are shown in Assessment Slides D and K, which you can access using the Digital Microscope. (i) Study slides D and K and write a short description of the microbes you observe on each slide, highlighting any similarities or difference between the two microbes. (ii) For each of Slide D and Slide K, measure the length of the cellular structures and record your readings in a Table. (iii) What can you conclude from your results about the type of organism on each slide? Include your reasoning for that decision. S142 End-of-module assessment 6 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 (c) (Tests Ky2 and C4) You are going to join the scientist for a placement, working on this project. When you start your placement, you are asked to write a brief summary of the project, including the aim, the reason for choosing the sample site, the methods you will be using and why you did not choose an alternative method. Address the role the organisms have in the ecosystem. Speculate on the possible application of knowledge gained from this research in society. Use information from this question and the Empire of the Microbes topic only – there is no need to consult any other sources. You should write your answer in continuous prose (not bullet points) and in no more than 400 words, providing a word count at the end of your article. (Note: 400 words is the mandatory word limit. If you exceed this limit, you will be penalised.) You should provide references in the text (e.g. Cockell and Brown, 2009, Section 5.2.2., p. 102) and at the end of your answer you should list the full reference (e.g. Cockell, C. and Brown, A. (2009) Empire of the microbes, Milton Keynes, The Open University) from which you drew your information. Question 3 This question relates to the ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs’ topic. If you have studied the ‘The frozen planet’ topic you should answer Question 4 instead. The question carries one-third of the marks for this assessment. It will be assessed on how well you demonstrate the following learning outcomes in your answer: Kn3 Demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of some of the basic facts, language, concepts and principles relating to either polar science or the development of drugs and medicines. C1 Describe, analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information including textual, numerical, graphical and multimedia material. Ky1 Make sense of and use information presented in different ways, including textual, numerical, graphical and multimedia material. (a) (Tests Kn3) (i) Explain why someone who has volunteered to take part in the testing programme of a new drug might have no idea of whether or not the medicine they are taking contains the new drug. Why is this part of drug testing sometimes referred to as a ‘double blind’ experiment? (Advisory word limit: 100 words.) (ii) In your own words, give the meaning of the two terms: amino acid and peptide. Explain why once it has become denatured an enzyme can no longer catalyse the reaction that it normally catalyses. (Advisory word limit: 150 words.) (iii) If a drug is likely to be addictive, what does it need to be able to do? Describe and explain the features of the drug molecules that could lead to a drug being addictive. (Advisory word limit: 50 words.) (iv) By referring to the structure of zanamivir (structural formula 9.4 in eChapter 9), explain whether its molecular structure is likely to result in zanamivir being S142 End-of-module assessment 7 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 addictive. What features of the structure enabled you to reach your decision? (Advisory word limit: 100 words.) (b) (Tests C1) (i) Dopamine is an organic molecule, playing a major role in reward-motivated behaviour. Its molecular structure is shown in Figure 1 (below). The molecular structure of adrenalin is shown in the eBook (structure 6.9, p130). Name one functional group present in both of the two molecules (dopamine or adrenalin). Which of the two molecules is a chiral molecule and briefly give your reasoning? Figure 1 Molecular structure of dopamine. (ii) Levodopa is used to increase dopamine concentration in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Draw the molecular structure of Levodopa. (Hint: you may use a web search engine to find out the structure of levodopa) (iii) Based on the chemical structures of levodopa and dopamine and on what you are taught in the module, predict which of the two molecules you would expect to be more soluble in water and briefly explain your reasoning. (Two or three sentences.) (c) (Tests Ky1) Copy and paste Table 1 (below) into your answers and complete it to produce a comparison of some of the effects and uses of cetylpyridinium chloride, chloroxylenol, penicillin G and sulfanilamide in fighting bacterial infections. (‘Y’ for ‘yes’ or ‘N’ for ‘no’ in each box is sufficient.) Table 1 Effects of some antibacterials on bacterial cells (to be completed in Question 3 (c).) Cetylpyridinium chloride. (8.3) Chloroxylenol (8.14) Penicillin G (8.18) Sulfanilamide (8.22) Attack(s) cell membranes N Affect(s) cells only during replication N Affect(s) cells whether or not they are replicating Y Is only suitable for treating infections on rather than in the body N S142 End-of-module assessment 8 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 Question 4 This question relates to the ‘The frozen planet’ topic. If you have studied the ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs’ topic you should answer Question 3 instead. The question carries one-third of the marks for this assessment. It will be assessed according to how well you demonstrate the following learning outcomes in your answer: Kn3 Demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of some of the basic facts, language, concepts and principles relating to either polar science or the development of drugs and medicines. C1 Describe, analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information including textual, numerical, graphical and multimedia material. Ky1 Make sense of and use information presented in different ways, including textual, numerical, graphical and multimedia material. The Frozen planet topic book suggests that the climate of the Arctic can be characterised using four climatic zones. For this question you will choose meteorological stations that describe the current conditions in the Arctic in relation to the time of year and geographical locations that you select at the time of writing. You should use the data sources noted in Box 1 below and the Frozen planet topic book to complete parts (a)–(e). (a) (Tests Ky1) Use the meteorological data sources listed in Box 1 below to select four stations which you believe, based on the topic book, will represent the four climatic zones of the Arctic region. You should make your selections within the same week so that your overall observations will be consistent for the time of year. Justify your choice of meteorological sites. (Advisory word limit: 100 words.) (b) (Tests Ky1) Record the temperature data from your four locations in a table showing the climate zone, name of the station and general location, the date and temperature (as shown in Table 2 below). Table 2 Arctic temperature data Climate zone (based on Section 4.5.2 of the Frozen planet study book) Name and general location Date Temperature EUMETNET Arctic Ocean 12 January 2015 −20.4 °C (c) (Tests Kn3) State the time of year that your temperature data was recorded and describe the orbit of the Earth around the Sun in relation to how it is influencing current temperature. You should note the season, the direction that the North Pole is pointing and the expected day length in relation to the solstices and/or the equinoxes. (Advisory word limit: 150 words.) S142 End-of-module assessment 9 of 12 Thursday 17 August 2017 (d) (Tests C1) In your answer to part (b), you extracted climate data from what you assume may be representative of the climatic zones of the Arctic. Compare your temperature data with the information you could expect at the time of year that you answer this question, based on the information in Chapter 4 of the topic book. You should quote temperatures from the topic book and compare these with your data where appropriate. (Advisory word limit: 200 words.) (e) (Tests Kn3, C1) Visit the sea ice website (the web link is given in Box 1 below) and compare your observed temperatures with the current Arctic sea ice distribution. Describe whether the current sea ice distribution is in agreement with your analysis of your temperature data in parts (b) and (d), and your description in part (c). (Advisory word limit: 200 words.) Box 1 Data sources Meteorological data To access current meteorological data, download Google Earth. This is free software that can be downloaded here: https://www.google.co.uk/intl/
