Sat Biology Sample Paper

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Roland Barthes' untimely death at age 64 marked the loss of an intellectual, philosophical and literary icon whose writings continue to have a significant international influence on the fields of philosophy, literary criticism, architecture, design, photography and fashion. A complex, enigmatic and intensely private figure, Barthes reveled in the idea of language and, above all else, was a writer who loved to write: his extensive oeuvre ranging from journalistic pieces on such diverse subjects as toys, wrestling, fashion, the French novel, wine, film, cinema and French culture - to complex critiques of the meaning of 'signs', the nature of 'authorship' and the interpretation of text. Barthes' passion and sense of aesthetic style no doubt also extended to the objects that he most loved to write with: his collection of fountain pens that used in writing the first drafts of many of his most famous works.

In one of his curious and rather more flamboyant interviews published in Le Monde in 1973, entitled - An Almost Obsessive Relation to Writing Instruments - as translated by Linda Coverdale and published posthumously by University of California Press in The Grain of The Voice, Roland Barthes speaks of his love of writing with fountain pens and the pleasure they bring to his writing that is so implicit in his work.

Smitten with the feel and pleasure of writing with a fountain pen, Barthes reflects in the interview conducted by Jean-Louis de Rambures, "In the end, I always return to fine fountain pens. The essential thing is that they can produce that soft, smooth writing I absolutely require." Indeed, Barthes goes on to confess that he felt "no affinity" with the ubiquitous ballpoint pen, unflatteringly associating it with the notion of a "Bic style" or a style of writing implying that the writer had 'dashed off the copy rather than taken the time to approach the work in a more studied way that he believed the writers' use of a fountain pen would imply. As Barthes remarks to de Rambures, "... I would say, a bit nastily, that there is a "Bic style" which is really just for churning out copy, writing that merely transcribes thought."

Writing with fountain pens also appears to have given Barthes a sense of connectedness with the page that other forms of writing instruments simply weren't able to achieve. Like many exemplary writers, Barthes was drawn to the notion that writing by hand with a fountain pen brings with it many unique qualities of style and control that can't be replicated through more impersonal, less intimate technological means. His penchant for collecting pens also became an obsessional quest, regaling himself and confessing to his interviewer the fact that he had "...far too many pens..." and that "... as soon as I see a new one, I start craving it..."

For Barthes, writing with fountain pens also accords with his philosophy of writing as a tactile art form. As a sensualist, the tactile nature of the fountain pen also suited Barthes' whole idea of what he felt writing was about: an act of creating text through the physical act of writing by hand and its intimate connection with the page.

While Roland Barthes wrote of the 'bodily connection' of writing by hand, the pleasures of creating text with fountain pens is one that continues to be prevalent amongst a number of contemporary writers. Daniel Chandler of the University of Wales in his study of 'the phenomenology of writing by hand' refers to a number of contemporary writers who place great importance on writing by hand and the physical connection with the page. Chandler cites prolific American novelist John Barth as one who particularly favours the use of the fountain pen and "the muscular movement of putting down script on paper..." (Barth in an interview with Blair Mahoney for literary website The Modern Word speaks of "...draw[ing] out my sentences in longhand with an immortal British Parker 51..."). Chandler also cites William Gass, Fay Weldon and Tom Robbins - amongst many other writers - as examples of contemporary writers who are deeply attached to the act of writing by hand.

The sample paper below has been compressed into the left-hand column on the pages below. In the right-hand column we have included notes explaining how and why the paper is written as it is.

The title should describe the study. In other words, the title should give the reader a good idea of the purpose of the experiment. Both the common and scientific names of the research organism must be included in the title.

The zebra finch (Poephila guttata) is a sexually dimorphic, social estrildid native to the grasslands of Australia. They are opportunistic, year-round breeders which nest in colonies of variable size. Zebra finches form permanent pair bonds and both sexes share the responsibilities of nest building, incubation and rearing of young (Walter, 1973). Morris (1954), however, reported that although both sexes pick up and nibble on fragments of material, males collect most of the nesting material.

The scientific name of the research organism must be stated the first time the organism is mentioned in any of the sections. Thereafter, within each section, either the common name or the abbreviated scientific name can be used.

Studies on the effects of colored plastic leg bands on pair formation show that male zebra finches spend more time sitting next to females wearing black or pink leg bands than females wearing light blue leg bands. The same studies indicate that females spend more time sitting next to males wearing red leg bands than males wearing light green bands. In both male and female, orange leg bands (which are similar to natural leg color) proved to be of intermediate preference (Burley, 1981 and 1982).

The first paragraphs of the introduction provide background information from preliminary or other published studies. This is used to develop the hypothesis or purpose of the experiment and to provide the rationale or reason for conducting the experiment.

The purpose of this study was to test whether or not this preference for certain colors of leg bands generalizes to preference for certain colors of nesting material. It was hypothesized that zebra finches would collect more red or black material than light green, with collection of orange being intermediate.

The zebra finches used in this study were in three colonies in the lab of Dr. J.R. Baylis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Each colony contained between thirty and forty individual birds of both sexes, a variety of ages and several plumage types. All animals wore colored leg bands for individual identification and all had been exposed to grass, green embroidery floss and white dog fur as nesting material previous to this study. The colonies were housed in separate rooms, each approximately 17m3 and each contained eight artificial nest boxes. All behavioral observations were made from outside the colony rooms through one-way mirrors.

Previous exposure to colored nest material is described. How organisms were housed, including specific dimensions of cages, etc. and the physical conditions of light and temperature, is also included.

Red, black, orange and light green DMC four-ply cotton embroidery floss was cut into 2.5 cm pieces. During each trial, twenty-five pieces of each color were separated and spread out over the floor of the colony. After the birds had been exposed to the material for a total of two hours, any remaining strands of floss on the floor were collected. The number of strands of each color was counted. It was assumed all other strands (not on the floor) had been used in nest construction. Data from the three colonies were pooled and an X2 goodness-of-fit test was used to determine whether the number of strands of each color used in nest construction different from an expected ratio of 1:1:1:1 (which would indicate no preference).

The author interprets the data for the reader in text form. The author does not expect the reader to interpret the results from a table of data, but instead provides his/her interpretation for the reader.

It is possible that zebra finches prefer green material to red, black and orange because green is more similar to the color of the grasses commonly used as nesting material in their natural environment. This interpretation, however, does not explain the preference for red and black materials over orange.

Alternatively, it is possible that the strong preference shown for green material may be a result of imprinting on the color of the nests they grew up in. It has been shown, for example, that parental plumage color has a strong effect on mate selection in male (but not female) zebra finches (Walter, 1973). All of the birds used in this study have been exposed to grass, green embroidery floss and white dog fur in nests. If as suggested by Morris (1954) males collect most of the nesting material, imprinting could have a strong effect on the numbers of colored strands collected in this study. This hypothesis could be tested by raising zebra finches in nests containing different colors of nesting materials and testing them in adulthood for preference in nest material color. When setting up this experiment, it was noted that zebra finches seem particularly apprehensive about new objects placed in the colony. It is also possible, therefore, that the preference for green nest material was simply due to its familiarity.

CBSE Biology Class 12 Sample Paper 2024: CBSE Class 12 Biology board exam is on March 19, 2024. Find the sample paper of 12th Class CBSE Biology here along with its solution/marking scheme. Download the CBSE Class 12 Biology Additional Practice Questions PDFs of the question paper and marking scheme as well.

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