Državna Matura Biology case studies
Državna Matura Biology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Državna matura – Biologija is the biology subject exam of Croatia's State Matura (državna matura), the national external examination taken at the end of gymnasium and four-year secondary schooling and used for admission to university programmes. It matters most to candidates applying to biology, medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, food technology, kinesiology and teacher-education programmes, where the biology result is often a weighted admission component, but any candidate who took biology at the higher level can sit it. The Državna Matura Biology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,088 words.
1Nitrate runoff and duckweed: a confounded bench experiment
Ana is investigating whether nitrate runoff from farmland increases the growth of duckweed (Lemna minor). She collects pond water from a single site, fills 30 identical 500 mL glass jars with 400 mL, and adds potassium nitrate to make three treatments: 0, 0.5 and 5.0 mg NO3− per litre, with 10 jars per treatment.
635 words, about 3 min2Copper sulfate and salivary amylase: inhibition or denaturation?
Marko is studying salivary amylase. He mixes 1.0 mL of diluted saliva with 5.0 mL of starch solution (10 g/L) at pH 7.0 and 37 °C and measures the time taken for starch to disappear using iodine drops.
610 words, about 3 min3Two affected brothers and a negative carrier test
Two brothers, Luka (7) and Ivan (4), have haemophilia A, an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder. Their mother, Petra, is healthy.
622 words, about 3 min4Collapse at the finish line: exercise-associated hyponatraemia
During a 5-hour trail race at 28 °C, a 62 kg runner drinks 6.0 L of plain water and eats only two salty crackers. Her sweat rate is estimated at 0.8 L/h.
594 words, about 3 min5Upstream and downstream of a sewage outflow: reading the macroinvertebrates
Students survey macroinvertebrates at two sites on a river. Site A is 200 m upstream of a sewage treatment outflow; site B is 500 m downstream.
627 words, about 3 min