GAMSAT Biology – Importance of Enzymes
Logical Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences constitute the entire of section III in GAMSAT. Though all the questions in this section are aptitude based, still possessing a basic understanding in the concerned topics will be a wise decision. One such important topic in GAMSAT biology is – “Enzymes and its use in bioassays”. A GAMSAT aspirant may wonder why we need to concentrate on individual topics like this for GAMSAT preparation. Well, the factor working behind this is Time-management. Since GAMSAT is a time-bound examination, so we need to spend as much minimum amount of time as possible for answering a single question, without sacrificing accuracy. Sound background knowledge in a particular topic surely helps in this context, as the candidate can get into the questions and answer them faster.
Enzymes are biological catalysts, because they are protein molecules secreted by living cells and they play active role in catalysing the metabolic reactions within all organisms. If we look into the past few years of GAMSAT section III questionnaires or the ACER practice booklets, we will find numerous questions on linked with enzymatic action, either directly or indirectly. Let us consider a representative example to understand the importance.
Question: Mechanism of allosteric inhibition is explained in the following example.
The allosteric inhibitor J, can’t affect the synthesis of the product –
(A) H
(B) G
(C) C
(D) I
Now, without any background idea on allosteric inhibition mechanism in enzymes, a GAMSAT candidate has to spend considerable amount of time to relate the mechanism and grasp the situation properly. But, the time allotted for answering a single question of GAMSAT section III is less than 2 mins. So, if one spends more than that in a particular question then he has to pay the price by shortage of time in hand for other questions. Similarly, other enzyme-related questions are also frequent in the GAMSAT section III, like –
Question: Given below are two statements, one is Assertion and the other is Reason. Choose the correct option out of the four alternatives.
Statement I: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) is a key analytical technique for detection and measurement of specific biomolecules such as protein hormones.
Statement II: This technique use antibodies and are highly sensitive to the target biomolecule.
(A) Statement I is assertion and Statement II is reason.
(B) Statement I is reason and Statement II is assertion.
(C) Both the Statements are assertion.
(D) Both the Statements are reason.
Here also, a basic concept on ELISA would prove more than a handful while answering the question.
Thus, it cannot be denied that important topics in Biology like “Enzymes and their use in Bioassays” forms an integral part of GAMSAT Biology. Hence, each and every prospective GAMSAT candidate should get a basic understanding in the topic, at least.
Periodic Table – A Core Chemistry Concept In Relevance With GAMSAT Section III
GAMSAT Section III is about the logical reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences. ACER has designed this section to test the aptitude ability of a GAMSAT aspirant with respect to his understanding in Basic Sciences. However, the format for the questionnaires of this section is reasoning based multiple choice questions (MCQs) following a background passage. This is mainly due to the ACER’s viewpoint in screening away pure-concept based questions from the section. Still, a basic understanding in Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences is required to answer the questions in minimum amount of time, as GAMSAT is a time-bound test. One such key topic in GAMSAT-related chemistry is periodic table.
Periodic table of the chemical elements (H, O, N, P, C, etc) is a tabular display of the chemical elements. It is an indispensible tool within the academic discipline of chemistry, providing an extremely useful framework to classify, systematise, and compare all of the many different forms of chemical behaviour. The table has found wide application in chemistry, physics, and even biology. An important and sizable portion of Biology is constituted with Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, whose domain couldn’t be justified, properly, without the involvement of Periodic table. Let us take a detailed view of the periodic table.
Now, many GAMSAT candidates may wonder why one has to learn this amount of chemistry while sitting for GAMSAT. Well, let me point out a few example questions to clear their doubt. The ACER practise booklets contain questions based on electro negativity, atomicity, inert gases and chemical transition among various elements. All of these properties of a chemical entity are directly linked with the periodic table. Even a few attributes like valency, electrochemistry and radioactivity could be justified in details with the help of periodic table. In Biological sciences, there are certain topics like membrane potential and protein structures, which need the helping hand of periodic table for proper understanding.
By now, most of us are convinced with the utility of periodic table for GAMSAT Section III. It’s not totally impossible to answer a related question without proper understanding of the periodic table, because GAMSAT is a logical reasoning test where candidates can find out the answer hidden in the background passage using aptitude. But, that will consume enormous amount of time for a single question which a GAMSAT aspirant can’t afford at all. Hence, basic background knowledge will be a wise decision in favour of the candidate. Always remember, “knowledge never goes wasted in life”.
GAMSAT 2010 – Pressing the Panic Button?
Are you watching the clock all the time? Going through everything and anything? Still struggling with science? Taking Codapane? Or Ridalin maybe? Or anything like that? Basically pressing the panic button?
GAMSAT is a dream. There are another few more days to go. Precisely, 5 days. You must have worked so hard for the past few months. You must have taken pains going through every GAMSAT preparation material, every GAMSAT question paper. You must have even juggled work with the whole GAMSAT preparation for all these months and decided you should give the last push to your GAMSAT rehearsal because the G-Day arrives in a week from today. It is but natural to be scared. It is quite natural to try all that you can in the last five days. But you will have to pause for a little while and think what you are doing. Are you becoming the slave to last-few-days-panic-attacks? If yes, then you will have to stop being there. Don’t do the mistake that will take you nowhere. There are times when you fail in something and you wonder where you went wrong. You don’t realize it, but this last minute madness can be a very good reason for the “having studied hard but failed” scenario.
The thing you should do now is, first, calm down! Take deep breaths. Then you have to stop studying anything new. You will ruin everything that you have already studied. In fact stop doing anything new. What new can you imbibe in the last few days? There will be no new formula, no new equations, nor would there be any new concept that will give you some sunshine. If you do this, you will find that you cannot see the difference while solving a question in the GAMSAT exam. These last moment morsels which you believe will save you from GAMSAT failure that you are most certainly scared of will not help you. In fact it will decrease your chances. Last minute morsels are highly dangerous. Try staying away from them.
It is time for you go back to those things that you have already done. Go back to those notes that you have already prepared during your GAMSAT notes preparation time. Go back to those questions that you have already answered. Chances are you will find something that you did not notice when you were reading previously. This will give you confidence in knowing exactly what you are up for. Your confidence will be key to your GAMSAT success.
Summing up, all we want to say from here is All the Best to you. May you have Faith in your endeavours. You have struggled for this very day and you must believe that you will succeed. Because you will. You have worked for it.
God Bless Your Hard Work and give fruit to your sincere efforts.
GAMSAT Preparation – Significance of Charts and Tables
GAMSAT 2010 is right at your door step and you are getting the chills. You want every help that you can get so that you can succeed in the GAMSAT exam. You have practised mock GAMSAT question papers, you read science books, newspapers, other readings materials to understand everything and anything that is even remotely related to GAMSAT study. But still you don’t remember much and your anxiety metre is increasing every second as the calender moves closer to the G-Day. That is what is called “information overload” my friend. What you really need now is to relax your mind, tell yourself you have done more than enough to ace GAMSAT and you have to now tabulate all information that you had overloaded your brain with. Tabulating helps you remember the general structure of all that you have studied for the last many GAMSAT preparing months.
So, what is tabulating the information? It is simply simplifying the difficult and rigourous concepts and theories that you have already studied for GAMSAT humanities and science. This can be in the form of charts, flowcharts, tables and even flashcards. These are small stuff that helps you recall and revise all subjects that you crammed during your extensive GAMSAT preparation days. The best thing about tabulation is that a 4000 page book can be shortened to a 40 page note that will help you remember almost everything. But beware, the 40 page note will only help you if you have already read through and understood the 4000 page book.
Let me give you an example of how tabulation looks like. For example, you need to learn the fate of erythrocytes after its 120 days of life in the circulatory system. If you pick up a biochemistry book to read this part it might take up around 2 to 4 hours of your time, depending upon your reading and comprehending skills to understand the concept etc. You can shorten this time to only 10 to 15 mins and still understand as much. Here is how you do it.
Since you don’t have much time to go through the book, google (or use any search-engine) for your requirement. These are the 2 results I would like to share with you which will give you an idea of an easy and an advanced flowchart for the fate of the red blood cells.
Here’s the easy one -
(a) Erythrocytes die after about 120 day and are the removed in the liver
(b) The Kupffer cells( phagocytic cells) found within the lumen of the sinusoid engulf the erythrocytes and release the haemoglobin to the hepatocytes.
(c) Haemoglobin is broken down in the Kupffer cell to form haem and globin groups.
(d) The protein globin group is hydrolysed by peptidases in the kupffer cell to amino acids which are either used in protein synthesis or they are metabolised.
(e) The haem group is broken down to remove the inorganic group, Iron which is then stored in the liver.
Bilirubin the other by-product of haem breakdown has no functional role and is modified by the hepatocytes before being secreted as part of Bile.
(f) Bilirubin is stored in the gall bladder. After secretion into the duodenum it is modified by bacteria to form Sterobilin that colours faeces.
(g)Iron is sent to the major bones for the process of haemopoiesis (blood cell formation).
The above figure and notes will help you remember the basic fate of the breakdown of the RBC into haem and globin part. You need to, although, study a little more than this.
Here’s the advanced one -
This figure shows you both the intravascular and extravascular haemolysis. It also gives you the detailed procedure of breakdown of haemoglobin and yet in less than half a page.
In the similar way you can find compressed information in the table form and you can search for every topic that you have studied. You will find everything that you need. All you need now is to have belief in yourself.
Enjoy the wonders of study in the last few days. Cheers!
References:
http://click4biology.info/c4b/H/H4.htm
http://atlas.arabslab.com/
GAMSAT Section III – “Microbial Growth Curves”
ACER has designed GAMSAT Section III to test the logical reasoning ability of a candidate, with respect to Basic Sciences. As per the domain of Basic Sciences, Biology constitutes a key area of study for every medical practitioner. Keeping that in mind, ACER has engineered innovative aptitude questions in GAMSAT Biology which totally surpass the traditional concept-based approach. They have included background passages dealing with charts, graphs, diagrams and even tabular data on specific topics, which need to be collated and linked with the following multiple choice questions (MCQs). One such important topic for GAMSAT Section III questions is Microbial Growth curve.
Generally, Human body gets infected with microbial invasions through various routes; via – air, water and food. Once inside our body, the microbial cells multiply or replicate at an amazing rate. For example, typical bacteria can double in number in minutes. Their growth cycle or growth phase is so interesting to study that ACER has often included the Bacterial Growth Curve in multiple occasions of GAMSAT. Let us try to understand the uniqueness of Bacterial Growth Curves along with a GAMSAT standard question.
Qs: From a study done on the effect of pH on pathogen growth and commensal growth in drinking water, we get the following graph-
Human Stomach has a higher concentration of commensal microorganisms than pathogens. What could be the most probable pH of gastric (stomach) juices?
The Multiple alternatives are:
(A) 3.0-5.0
(B) 6.0-8.0
(C) 4.0-6.0
(D) 7.0-9.0
Now, to answer the question, we have to refer to the graph. In the graph, the growth of commensals is maximum at the pH range of 3-5. Again, the optimum pH for the growth of pathogens is in between 6-8. But, in the pH ranges of 4-6 and 7-9, the percentage of growth rate for any of the two classes of microorganisms is not high enough. Therefore, option C and D gets discarded from the consideration. Since the stomach environment strongly favours the commensals against the pathogens, hence, gastric juices will have a similar pH to that of the optimum growth pH for commensals. This makes option A the correct alternative for the question.
We have seen how a bacterial growth curve could act as an excellent background passage for GAMSAT Section III questions. Similarly, more questions could be formulated on Bacterial Growth curves, as Bacterial growth is influenced by multiple parameters like temperatures, substrate concentration and others. GAMSAT aspirants should look into this topic and practice requisite exercise questions to develop fluid understanding and problem solving skills for Microbial Growth. Remember, this practice could enhance your GAMSAT preparation for the coming GAMSAT 2010.
Books for GAMSAT that can help in preparing for Section I & II
To worry about textbooks to study for GAMSAT is a part of every aspirant this is the first thing that comes to their mind. So don’t panic, you are not the only one. I suggest don’t panic, maybe what I will tell you now will help you to certain extent. The first thing you must do it refer to the GAMSAT material given in ACER’s books. When you are specifically dealing with Section I on humanities and social sciences and section II on written communication you might need some information.
Before going too far to find relevant books and reading material, just start with the daily newspaper. Whichever you are habitual to read every morning, and if you are not start picking up the Sydney Morning Herald or the Australian both are good newspapers you can find loads of information which you may need to surf for hours together you can also see the New York times which has loads of information on it. Reading articles on these newspapers will help you in making sense out of the cartoons and illustrations that might be a part of GAMSAT section I. So look beyond just the text books and reading material. Look around you for information and not just the GAMSAT text books to improve your knowledge. If there is something you are not able to understand like a word or a phrase don’t leave it there because its not a part of a text book. Look for it in the dictionary or thesaurus.
Very specifically GAMSAT books, which can help you, prepare for the test; you can refer to the books below. For writing skills and reasoning these books can prove to be very helpful.
1. Ayn Rand books
2. Gary Provost’s 100 Ways To Improve Your Writing
3. Richard Popkin’s, Philosophy Made Simple
4. Brendan Wilson’s, Simply Philosophy
5. A C Grayling’s The meaning of Things.
A book with comic sketches written by Gary Larson will help you understanding cartoons, sense of humor it’s a good practice book for comic related and illustration related questions. Also read books that have content related to the history of Australia and politics of the world. Practice different types of topics and themes when you are preparing your essay. Do your preparation with a critical point of view. GAMSAT books will defiantly give you a lot of input but a larger portion of information will come for sources and information floating around you which one usually tends to ignore. So ya to be doctors!! Get! Set! And go!!!
GAMSAT, Medicine & Biochemistry: A Perfect Show Of ‘Interdependence’
Ever wondered why you have to deal with questions from chemistry in GAMSAT Section III? Why do GAMSAT questions often deal with interdisciplinary subjects like biochemistry? As if chemistry and biology by themselves were just not enough to wrack our brains!!! Well, read this article so that you may have a better idea of what you are dealing with, the next time you face a biochemistry question while preparing for your GAMSAT test.
To begin with let us briefly discuss about the relationship between biology and chemistry and the evolution of biochemistry. Biology is the study of life or living beings. Chemistry is the study of processes or all chemical reactions in our day to day life. When these chemical reactions are specifically studied in biological systems or between biological molecules, it forms a totally new field of scientific study referred to as ‘Biochemistry’.
Biochemistry is at the core of many areas of biology and is responsible for a large number of scientific breakthroughs in medicine and pharmacy. This is why aspirants with expertise in biochemistry perform increasingly well in GAMSAT exams. Through this subject you get to study an entire range of organisms from bacteria to humans. You also learn about the molecular basis of the structure and processes of life. It plays a vital role in the field of pathology, as the knowledge of biochemistry is very essential in analysing blood and urine samples taken from patients suffering from a wide range of diseases. Biochemistry along with immunology forms an exciting combination in science that provides the medical students with new ways to fight against a range of diseases from arthritis to HIV and cancer.
While preparing for GAMSAT Section III make sure you start with acquiring the fundamental knowledge of structures and functions of different types of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Going through an assortment of GAMSAT preparation courses and GAMSAT sample papers will help to build up your ability to clarify the link between biochemistry & the molecular basis of health and disease and help you to answer GAMSAT questions with ease.
Now that you have got a better idea of where to start, hope that your journey with biochemistry along the route of GAMSAT preparations seems satisfying and fruitful. Always remember… mugging up a subject in order to overcome its fear is not a solution. Instead, try and understand it or make friends with it and experience a pleasing voyage.
GAMSAT BIOLOGY: No given syllabus…where do you begin?
One of the most frequent questions asked in any GAMSAT forum is about the closest possible syllabus for GAMSAT Biology preparation. Now, the BIG question is why are we speaking about the term “closest possible” instead of a clear syllabus. Things may become too confusing for a GAMSAT aspirant if he does not know the validated facts. ACER has not outlined any predefined syllabus for GAMSAT Section III. However, if we look deeply into the last few GAMSAT question papers, a prominent pattern is visible. ACER never designs mere Q&A questions that ask you to define a theory or scientific term. Rather, GAMSAT questions are based on conceptual understanding. Section III passages usually contain a case-study with diagrams, graphs or a flow chart. The answers to the MCQs are well hidden and fragmented in varies clues which could only be collated with proper logical reasoning. Nevertheless, a basic understanding of the basic Sciences will help you in deducing the correct answer fast and save precious minutes. A candidate with some basic understanding of core concepts in Biology, Chemistry and Physics will spend much less time with a particular question, than a candidate who is familiar with just the terms and phenomena dealt with in the given GAMSAT passage.
After going through a couple of GAMSAT test papers, I found these topics from Biology to be most-frequently involved with the questions that usually come in GAMSAT Section III:
1. Cell Biology and Cell Division – Basic structure of the cell, Cell membrane and Membrane transport, Mitosis and Meiosis, Techniques for organic molecule analysis (Chromatography and ELISA).
2. Enzymes – Mechanism of action, enzyme kinetics and enzyme inhibition.
3. Macromolecules and Cellular Metabolism – Structure and Metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.
4. Musculoskeletal system – Integument, skeleton, locomotion and movement.
5. Gastrointestinal system – Digestion and absorption.
6. Circulatory system – Body Fluids and circulation.
7. Respiratory system – Breathing, gaseous exchange.
8. Excretory system – Structure of nephron, excretory products and mechanism or removal.
9. Neuromuscular physiology and nervous system – Neural control, coordination and sensory reception
10. Homeostasis, Water, Electrolytes and Acid-Base balance
11. Reproductive system – Structure and function of male and female reproductive organs.
12. Embryology – Foetus development and pregnancy, Foetal circulation.
13. Immunology – Immune system components and mode of function, hygiene.
14. Microbes and communicable diseases – Microbial growth, antimicrobial agents.
15. Genetics – Mendelian inheritance, monohybrid and dihybrid cross, Chromosome structure and components, chromosomal inheritance.
16. Endocrinology and hormonal pathways.
Many of my friends may ask as to why an important topic like ‘organic chemistry’ has not been included in the above formulated Biology syllabus for GAMSAT. Well, Organic chemistry deals with the chemical features of organic molecules, i.e. its approach is mostly dependent on chemical sciences rather than biological perspectives. Hence, a topic like organic chemistry belongs to the domain of Chemistry rather than Biology.
Disclaimer: GAMSAT candidates should never have the perception that everything from GAMSAT Biology questions will come from only the above mentioned topics, as ACER may include other topics as and when they like in GAMSAT test papers in the future. However, these are the most popular and frequently questioned upon topics for GAMSAT Biology till date. Hence, a good background and a clear understanding of these topics will prepare the candidate well enough to withstand the most difficult Biology questions.
Tips for Improving Your General Knowledge in Preparation for GAMSAT
General knowledge is something everyone has, right? It’s kind of like common sense? Well, no. Just as common sense is not all that common, general knowledge is not something that is held by the general public at large. But you need not worry if you feel that your general knowledge is not up to standard – for there as some sure-fire ways to quickly bring your knowledge up to snuff.
Your first port of call should be the newspapers. Luckily, we now live in an era where newspapers are freely and easily available online. Now, in selecting which newspapers to read don’t be too snobby. More respectable newspapers are often, not as in touch with popular culture or the subject’s du-jour as more popular and widely read newspapers. This does not mean you should take a dive into the nearest tabloid, as you are unlikely to find much worth in most of them, but instead select a popularly read national newspaper. The most useful parts for you to read in preparation for the GAMSAT will be the headline stories and the opinion pieces/editorials. It is important to be familiar with the thoughts and opinions of notable commentators along with the major stories. It is advisable that you read these sections of the newspaper daily for at least three months before you sit your GAMSAT.
Watching popular news and current affairs shows will also be helpful. Many of the stories and opinions will mirror what you have read in the newspaper, but the information will be presented in a more concise and dynamic way. Your skills of communication can certainly benefit from acquainting yourself with the way people debate.
Talk to people! And preferably not just people you know well or are friends with, as they are likely to already share your thoughts and opinions on most topics. If you want to broaden your general knowledge it is better to talk to strangers. Thankfully, we live in the Internet-age, in which this can be done safely. So strike up a discussion by leaving comments on someone’s blog, join a news group or an online community or use your MSN Messenger to search for people keen to discuss topics that are currently in the news.
When speaking about general knowledge topics it is always good to have something specific to say. The United Nations website (www.un.org) is an excellent searchable resource for highly specific information on a wide range of topics and issues currently pertinent to our world.
Finally, you do not want to be perceived by a GAMSAT marker as having the same generic opinions on popular topics as everybody else. We all agree that Global Warming is a concern and that governments ought to do more to combat the problem, but such a belief is so common that it is neither impressive nor inspiring to a GAMSAT marker. Have something original and specific to say about the world. Lastly, be sure to run some of your thoughts among the people that you speak to, so that you already have a number of clearly formulated and interesting ideas on a variety of topics before you walk into the GAMSAT test hall.
GAMSAT and multiple choice tests.
We know that GAMSAT is completely based on multiple choice questions barring 1 section. In multiple choice questions they are usually not marking you on your knowledge which they can do in a personal interview and that this test can be marked by a machine, that’s the reason why you use a soft, graphite pencil and remove all smudges from the paper. If you have done studied in Australia or if you have attempted other tests which have been marked on multiple choice, you will know what I am talking about. Previous experience about writing these tests helps a lot.
Interestingly GAMSAT does not ask you the reason for arriving to an answer, you just need to circle the correct answer, however you arrive at it. This means if you can guess well, you can score upto 25% easily. Therefore, if you are not really sure about an answer, you can use guesswork. So a good lesson to learn here is do not leave any questions unanswered. While you are writing GAMSAT leave a few minutes at the end for yourself to go back to the questions you had left and guess them.
Often you will be able to narrow down your options even further. In the science section, is one of the answers the wrong order of magnitude? In the humanities section, is one of the answers nonsensical given the stimulus paragraph? I like to mark an option I have decided is not correct by crossing out the letter. This means that when I’m reviewing my answer, I can more quickly see why I made the choice I did.
Sometimes you feel that in high school tests, there was a bias for B and C in multiple choice answers, or at least somebody had suggested that to you at least once. Don’t feel the same is true for GAMSAT as well, its not because GAMSAT test is highly randomized. I would rather suggest that you rule out these options in some of the questions as you may feel tempted to mark a C or a B. But even then, do not leave any questions blank its good to fill all the left out questions and if you feel you may change some answers here and there.
Even while you are taking you chance on guess work. Watch for answers that seem decisive. Like, X happens under all circumstances or all of the above kind of answers, unless you are absolutely sure about them. Again, if the question has two answers that are similar it may turn out to be one of these two. Also, an answer which looks completely different from the rest may be the correct answer. These tips may help you guess answers effectively or even check the correctness of an answer. Making smart guesses will help you get maximum correct answers even if you are guessing them than just leaving the questions blank.