A Level Biology Drawing Skills Booklet
A LEVEL BIOLOGYDRAWING SKILLSBiological Drawingwww.ocr.org.uk/science
CONTENTSIntroduction to biological drawing 3Guidance for biological drawing 4Drawing from a microscope slide 8Teacher resource 1 – common errors activity 15We’d like to know your view on the resources we produce. By clicking on the ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ button you can help us to ensurethat our resources work for you. When the email template pops up please add additional comments if you wish and then justclick ‘Send’. Thank you.If you do not currently offer this OCR qualification but would like to do so, please complete the Expression of Interest Form whichcan be found here: www.ocr.org.uk/expression-of-interestOCR Resources: the small printOCR’s resources are provided to support the teaching of OCR specifications, but in no way constitute an endorsed teaching method that is required by the Board and the decision to use them lies with the individualteacher. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the content, OCR cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions within these resources. We update our resources on a regular basis, so please checkthe OCR website to ensure you have the most up to date version. OCR 2015 - This resource may be freely copied and distributed, as long as the OCR logo and this message remain intact and OCR is acknowledged as the originator of this work.OCR acknowledges the use of the following content: Thumbs up: alex white/Shutterstock.com, Thumbs down: alex white/Shutterstock.com Lemon tree: Vladislav Gurfinkel/Shutterstock.comPlease get in touch if you want to discuss the accessibility of resources we offer to support delivery of our qualifications: resources.feedback@ocr.org.uk
A Level BiologyBiological drawingINTRODUCTION TOBIOLOGICAL DRAWINGThis biological drawing skills handbook has been developedto support GCE Biology H021/H421. It could also support GCEHuman Biology H023/H423, and from September 2015, GCEBiology A H020/H420 and GCE Biology B H022/H422.Why bother?The ability to draw, label and annotate biological specimensis an important and useful biological skill. These days studentsmay well challenge the need for making biological drawings,particularly given the ease of using digital photography forrecord-keeping. So how can it be justified? The following pointshelp to provide a rationale for developing biological drawingskills: Accurate observation and attention to detail isencouraged. Having to draw a biological specimen notonly increases the amount of time spent examining thespecimen, which in itself will aid learning, but requires amuch greater level of accurate observation than a casualexamination. Active recording aids memory. The educationalphilosophy behind this is neatly summarised in thewell-known Chinese proverb:I hear and I forgetI see and I rememberI do and I understandConfucius The drawing provides a permanent record of whathas been observed. There is a historic tradition withinbiology of providing accurate records of specimens so thatthe images could be used for future reference purposes.Today’s taxonomists are often indebted to the illustratorsof the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly where the‘type’ (reference) specimen may only exist as an illustration.Even today, when digital photography can be used tostore images, artists are still often commissioned to recordbiological specimens of interest by drawing or painting.This is particularly true for flowering plants. This is partlybecause all the features of interest can be combined inone or several scientifically accurate, but aesthetic, imageswith great clarity (see Figure 1).Figure 1: Antique botanical illustration ofLimon vulgaris (lemon tree), including detailof flowers and fruit.3
A Level BiologyBiological drawingGUIDANCE FORBIOLOGICAL DRAWINGWhat equipment is needed? Sharp pencil - HB is generally preferred, but H, 2H or B (foremphasis) can all be used according to preference.Pencil sharpener - A nail file may also be useful to keepthe point really sharp.EraserRuler - For label lines.Plain paper General PrinciplesWhen assessing biological drawing, marks are awarded forboth quality of drawing and labelling. The latter may includeannotation. The general principles described below apply toall types of biological drawing: Make the drawing large enough. If the specimen is arelatively large structure such as a plant or a section ofan organ, it should normally occupy more than half theavailable space on the page. In microscopy, individualcells drawn at high power should be about one to severalcentimetres in diameter.Correct mistakes. If you make a mistake, use a goodquality eraser to rub out the lines completely.Include a title. Include a title stating what the specimen is.Include a scale. Include a scale if relevant (see Labellingbelow). If you are drawing from a microscope, it is usefulto state the combined magnification of the eyepiece plusobjective lenses used when making the drawing, e.g. x100(low power) or x400 (high power). Note, though, that thisis not the same as recording the scale.LabellingUse a sharp pencil only. Don’t use pens or colouredpencils.Use clear, continuous lines. A line which encloses ashape, such as a circle, should join up neatly withoutobvious overlap. Overlapping lines is a common error inhastily drawn sketches and is easily spotted and penalisedby examiners.Don’t use any form of shading. This includes stippling,cross-hatching and shading. Students find this is a hardinstruction to follow, and it is sometimes difficult to justify.Although shading may help to make the drawing lookmore realistic and/or to discriminate between areas of thespecimen, it does not represent a permanent structuralfeature. Artistic impression is certainly not what is required.Accuracy is paramount. It shows good observation.Remember that observation is assisted by understanding,so a good knowledge of theory goes alongside gooddrawing. Pay particular attention to the outlines ofstructures and to the relative proportions of different partsof the specimen. Don’t draw what you think you shouldsee, for example text book style drawings. Draw what youobserve.Guidelines can help. Faint sketching of the main areas ofthe specimen which can later be erased may help. Somestudents find a simple grid helps them.Magnification and illumination. To help in thedrawing process it is often useful to use a hand lens or amagnifying glass for larger specimens and, for microscopy,both low and high power lenses when making preliminaryobservations. Field biologists usually carry a hand lensas standard equipment. Dissection, and drawing from adissection, is greatly aided by good illumination of thespecimen by a lamp and by a tripod lens placed over thematerial where possible.When labelling biological drawings, follow the guidance below: 4Use a sharp pencil.Label all relevant structures, including all tissues in thecase of microscopy.Use a ruler for label lines and scale bars.Label lines should start exactly at the structure beinglabelled; don’t use arrowheads.Arrange label lines neatly and make sure they don’tcross over each other. It is visually attractive, though notessential, if the length of the label lines is adjusted sothat the actual labels are right or left justified, i.e. line upvertically above each other on either side of the drawing.Labels should be written horizontally, as in a textbook, notwritten at the same angle as the label line.As previously mentioned, a title, stating what thespecimen is, should be added at the top or bottom of thedrawing.Add a scale bar immediately below the drawing ifnecessary (see below).
A Level BiologyBiological drawingAnnotatingUnfamiliar specimensAnnotation adds concise notes about the structures labelledon a biological drawing. It is often used to draw attention tofeatures of particular biological interest, either structural (suchas shape, size, colour, hairiness) or functional.As stated above, the same basic principles of drawingtechnique apply to all drawings and specimens. Nevertheless,it can be daunting for a student if they are asked to drawsomething they have not seen before or in a new situation, forexample a plant growing in a field, a fungal colony growing onan agar plate or an unfamiliar slide. Assessment questions willalways be phrased so that it is clear exactly what is requiredand any relevant information the student is not expected toknow will be provided. The important thing to remember isto follow instructions carefully and to observe and draw theactual specimen and not try to guess what should be visible.For example, roots should not be drawn on a plant growing inthe field if they are not visible.See Figure 3, 4e, 4h and 5e for examples of annotation in thisbooklet.Scale and magnificationIt is useful to give an indication of the scale/magnificationof a drawing, particularly for large specimens drawn withoutthe aid of a microscope. The actual size of a plant or leaf, forexample, may be impossible to judge simply from a drawing.For drawings made using microscopes, if the actual scale ormagnification is not given, it may be useful simply to indicatewhether a low or high power lens was used, preferably theactual magnification achieved by the combined eyepiece andobjective lens, usually just below the title.Specimens should be studied carefully before any drawing isundertaken, noting particularly where the outlines of structuresare going to be delimited in the final drawing. Depending onthe subject, separate, more detailed drawings may be useful tohighlight features of particular biological interest.The following figures are good biological drawings. Figure 2shows a drawing made from a heart dissection and Figure 3shows two flowers during a fieldwork exercise.Calculating scale/magnification of a drawingScale, or magnification, is simply how much bigger or smallerthe drawing is compared with the actual specimen. Calculateas follows:1. Measure between two appropriate points of the drawing(e.g. total length or width).2. Measure between the same two points of the specimen.3. Divide measurement 1 by measurement 2.5
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 2: Drawing of the base of the aorta showing the aortic (semilunar) valve through which blood leaves the leftventricle of a mammalian heart. (Note the fibrous swelling at the middle of the cusps may not be present in somemammalian hearts.) This is a good biological drawing, fully labelled, and clearly showing detail from the dissection,although care should be taken to ensure lines do not overlap or are left incomplete. Also, a scale bar is not present.6
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 3: The difference in arrangement of the sepals in two species of buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus and R. repens.Again, this is a good biological drawing, showing specific details of the flowers and labelling them accordingly.However, care should be taken to ensure lines do not overlap or are left incomplete. Also, a scale bar is not present.7
A Level BiologyBiological drawingDRAWING FROM AMICROSCOPE SLIDELow power drawingsExamplesThe purpose of a low power drawing is usually to show thedistribution of the main tissues within an organ, for examplein a transverse section of a stem or a trachea. Students arerequired only to identify the tissues and to delimit the differenttissues with boundary lines. No individual cells should bedrawn. There should be no mysterious gaps between tissues.The temptation is to try to make the drawing look like thespecimen, hence the tendency to fill spaces with cells. The finaldrawing is basically a map – accurate details of the cells canonly be revealed at high power.Figures 4a-i show photomicrographs and low and highpower drawings of a section of mouse pancreas. Twoversions of each drawing are shown, one based on tracingthe photomicrograph and one an example of an acceptabledrawing of the same structure/cells completed by an ablestudent. Students are not expected to produce facsimilesof what they observe, but drawings should show anunderstanding, realistic proportions and recognition of keyfeatures.Figures 5a - e show photomicrographs and low and highpower drawings of transverse sections of leaves of beech(Fagus) from sunny and shaded conditions. A student wouldnot be expected to have seen sections of this leaf before andwould be given sufficient information to make the drawingsbased on knowledge of the specification content.Follow these guidelines: Identify the different tissues, using high power to help ifnecessary Draw all tissues and completely enclose each tissue bylines Don’t draw individual cells Accuracy is important – the specimen will not necessarilylook like a textbook drawing. For example, vascularbundles in a stem may vary in size and shape. A representative portion may be drawn if the structure issymmetrical, e.g. a wedge or half of a transverse sectionof root or stem, or in the case of a leaf, half a midrib and asmall portion of the adjacent lamina.High power drawingsThe purpose of high power drawings is to show as muchaccurate detail as microscopy will allow. It is important torealise that the high power and low power drawings arecomplementary – neither on its own looks like the wholespecimen being viewed, but the combination would allowsomeone to reconstruct the structure being drawn. As with lowpower drawings, students often fall into the trap of wantingthe drawing to ‘look like what they see down the microscope’and draw a lot of cells, none accurately. Draw only a few representative adjacent cells (assessmentquestions will usually give specific instructions about whatexactly is required.) If all the cells are similar, then threecells is often sufficient to show both cell structure and theway in which cells are arranged in relation to each other.In such a case, detail of only one cell may be needed, withoutlines only of adjacent cells just to show their relativepositions.Don’t shade in nuclei – just draw the outline. Similarly withnucleoli.8
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 4a: Photomicrograph of part of a section of the pancreas of a mouse taken at low power.Figure 4b: Low power plan trace of one lobule fromthe pancreas shown in Figure 4a showing an islet ofLangerhans and one acinus.Figure 4c: Low power plan of the same lobule asin Figure 4b but drawn by a student. This is a goodattempt at drawing the lobule shown in Fig 4a,although some lines are thicker than others.9
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 4d: High power photomicrograph of the pancreas shown in Figure 4a. The acinus drawn in Figures 4e and 4f is outlined.Figure 4e: High power drawing of the acinusoutlined in Figure 4d, obtained by tracing andfully labelled.Figure 4f: High power drawing of the acinus outlinedin Figure 4d, drawn from the slide by a student. This isa good attempt at drawing the acinus from Figure 4d,although there are some overlapping lines.10
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 4g: High power photomicrograph of an islet ofLangerhans from the pancreas shown in Figure 4a.The chain of four cells drawn in Figures 4h and 4i isoutlined.Figure 4h: High power drawing of the chain of four cells outlined in Figure 4g, obtained by tracing.Figure 4i: High power drawing of the chain of four cells outlined in Figure 4g, drawn from the slide by a student. Again, this is agood attempt at the drawing but this student needs to be careful they do not overlap lines.11
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 5a: Photomicrograph of a transverse section of the lamina of a shade leaf of beech (Fagus) taken at low power.Figure 5b: This is a low power plan of the beech leaf section shown in Figure 5a drawn by a student. The student has correctlydrawn and labelled the different tissues, rather than drawn individual cells.12
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 5c: Photomicrograph of a transverse section of the lamina of a sun leaf of beech taken at low power.Figure 5d: This is a low power plan of the beech leaf section shown in Figure 5c drawn by a student. Again the student hascorrectly drawn and labelled the different tissues, rather than drawing individual cells.13
A Level BiologyBiological drawingFigure 5e: This is a student drawing at high power detailing cells in a transverse section of the lamina of a shadeleaf of beech (a different part of the same leaf shown in Figure 5a). The student has correctly included a title andscale bar. The student has labelled the drawing and there is good use of annotation. The drawing itself is detailedand clear. (Note: the cell walls of all the plant cells have been drawn; this is because they were visible with themicroscope and slide used. It is not always possible to see this much detail using a classroom light microscope).14
A Level BiologyBiological drawingTEACHER RESOURCE 1 - COMMONERRORS ACTIVITYFigure 1 below shows a drawing of a transverse section of Helianthus stem at low power. The lefthand half of the drawing shows some common errors that are avoided in the right hand half. Studentscould be asked to try to spot the errors.Left-hand sideRight-hand sideFigure 1: Transverse section of a young Helianthus stem showing some common drawing errors inthe left-hand half of the drawing. The right-hand half shows examples of good technique.15
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A LEVEL BIOLOGY DRAWING SKILLS Biological Drawing. CONTENTS Introduction to biological drawing 3 Guidance for biological drawing4 Drawing from a microscope slide8 Teacher resource 1 – common errors activity 15 OCR Resources: the small print OCR’s resources are provided to support the tea
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A Level Biology and A Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) Biological drawing 7 OCR 201 9 Figure 3: The difference in arrangement of the sepals in two species of buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus and R. repens. Again, this is a good biological drawing, showing specific details of the flowers and labelling them accordingly.
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