Biology: Examiner-Report Misconception Explorers

Data handling — attributing an effect only to the variable that actually changed

Membranes — the phosphate–glycerol head vs the fatty acid tails

Enzymes — lowering E_a means less energy needed to break bonds; complementary fit vs base pairing

Kinetics — initial rate is the gradient at t = 0, read before curves level off

Molecular genetics — antiparallel 3′/5′ strands and condensation reactions

Semi-conservative replication — count whole molecules, not individual nucleotides

Meiosis — non-disjunction can put an extra copy of a chromosome into gametes

Genetics — males are hemizygous for X-linked genes (one allele only)

Genetics — phenotype is any observable characteristic, by any method

Evolution — selection raises alleles that benefit individuals’ survival/reproduction, not ‘the population’

Ecology/climate — lowering atmospheric CO₂ requires net removal, not just lower emission

Data handling — overall % change must be weighted by group sizes, not a mean of percentages