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Taking up Biology for Leaving Certificate 2014

  • 17-07-2013 10:00am
    #1
    Mizzstefan
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭Mizzstefan


    Hello i am going into 6th year in a couple of weeks and i have recently decided that i would like to take up ordinary level biology as there was no room in 5th year and I've always wanted to do nursing and in most universities you need at least an OD3 in it i was wondering if i studied from now till June would i be able to achieve an OD3 in biology and i was wondering what topics to cover first and what questions usually come up and also what sections in the exam i could leave out in the exam to achieve the 40 percent and what questions usually come up :)
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Comments

  • #2
    thegreatescape
    Registered Users Posts: 420 ✭✭thegreatescape


    It's definitely achievable if you only want an OD3! Unfortunately though, the topics that are repeated every year in the papers are perhaps the trickiest. These would be the likes of Photosynthesis, Respiration, DNA&RNA and Ecology. If you look at the papers these come up every single year and topics to do with plants appear regularly also. If you have any questions in particular about the biology course please message me as I'd be very happy to answer anything :)


  • #3
    kingcobra
    Registered Users Posts: 835 ✭✭✭kingcobra


    An OD3 in Biology will be fairly simple for you to get, even if you wanted a HD3 I reckon you could achieve it with just a little bit more work. If you were good at Science up to Junior Cert you'd probably be able to get the OD3 now! Biology is a really long tedious course, albeit interesting, compared to other courses but once you get through the course material you'll be grand.

    In terms of chapters to start off with, it's pretty difficult to pinpoint which ones. You don't want to start with something too hard as that'll quickly slow down your momentum. I reckon you should probably get a grind or two from someone just to get you up and running and how to plan your study for it. After that, I don't think there's no need to get anymore grinds.

    The key chapters for me would have to be DNA & RNA, Ecology and Food and it is possible you can avoid quite a few chapters in Biology. Just make sure you know which chapters you can avoid and which chapters you can't. You don't want any nasty surprises in the exam itself. The Ecology section is very reminiscent of Junior Cert Ecology so that could be a comfortable, yet important chapter to start off with.

    You should get exam papers and start working through them from day one, even covering the questions you don't know whilst finding the information required. I'm always here to answer questions if you have some! :D


  • #4
    aimzLc2
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭aimzLc2


    I would never , ever advise anyone to take up biology in 6th year simply due to the sheer quantity of theory involved.I started the summer before 5th year and did continuous study throughout the 2 years and still found it tricky enough , it takes up so much time! On the other hand you are doing ordinary and you say you only need a d3 so it would probably be manageable. You really need to decide if you would put nursing first. If you need biology ,do it but be prepared to spend plenty of time on it even for od3 . If you are not sure about nursing i would pick a different subject. It may sound like i'm discouraging you , i really liked the subject! its just very difficult to do in one year.


  • #5
    Mizzstefan
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭Mizzstefan


    hey i was wondering what you think about my timetable from September till October

    Monday-business (5-6.30),art(6.30-7.30),biology(7.30-9)
    tuesday-maths(5-6),history6.15-7.30),home-ec(7.45-9.00)
    wednesday-L.c.vp(5-6),biology(6.20-7.50),business (9.20)
    Thursday-Maths(5-6),art(6.15-7.15),Home-ec (7.25-8.25)
    Friday-0
    Saturday-Business(2hrs),Biology(2hrs) ,Art(1hr)
    sunday-Maths(1 ,1/2),Home-ec (1 ,1/2),L.c.v.p(1 hr)


  • #6
    11Charlie11
    Registered Users Posts: 941 ✭✭✭11Charlie11


    Mizzstefan wrote: »
    hey i was wondering what you think about my timetable from September till October

    Monday-business (5-6.30),art(6.30-7.30),biology(7.30-9)
    tuesday-maths(5-6),history6.15-7.30),home-ec(7.45-9.00)
    wednesday-L.c.vp(5-6),biology(6.20-7.50),business (9.20)
    Thursday-Maths(5-6),art(6.15-7.15),Home-ec (7.25-8.25)
    Friday-0
    Saturday-Business(2hrs),Biology(2hrs) ,Art(1hr)
    sunday-Maths(1 ,1/2),Home-ec (1 ,1/2),L.c.v.p(1 hr)

    Are you a fifth year? :confused: are u not doing the main subjects like English Irish and a language? Also I don't think lcvp needs 2 hours a week so long as you do your work in class and make sure you keep up to date with your portfolio


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  • #7
    Mizzstefan
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭Mizzstefan


    I don't do irish but I do foundation german but overall what do you think I could put in english for the L.c.v.p ?? What do you think about it what would you change


  • #8
    Andy Ambitious Backside
    Posts: 0 ✭ Andy Ambitious Backside


    Mizzstefan wrote: »
    I don't do irish but I do foundation german but overall what do you think I could put in english for the L.c.v.p ?? What do you think about it what would you change

    Take out LCVP and study English :) There is so much overlap with the LCVP and Business courses so there's no need to devote too much time to it :)


  • #9
    jackrk95
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭jackrk95


    DO IT its piss handy never studied once for a bio test and i get As most the time and i do higher also my cuz was telling me how easy ordinary is (he just did the lc) and how everyone that did ord bio found it easy too. Lot to learn but easy to grasp


  • #10
    aimzLc2
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭aimzLc2


    jackrk95 wrote: »
    DO IT its piss handy never studied once for a bio test and i get As most the time and i do higher also my cuz was telling me how easy ordinary is (he just did the lc) and how everyone that did ord bio found it easy too. Lot to learn but easy to grasp

    I do not mean to be rude but you must have some serious natural ability for the sciences if you 'get As most the time' and you 'never studied once', that would not happen for the majority of people, that is rare.


  • #11
    ahmdoda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 185 ✭✭ahmdoda


    jackrk95 wrote: »
    DO IT its piss handy never studied once for a bio test and i get As most the time and i do higher also my cuz was telling me how easy ordinary is (he just did the lc) and how everyone that did ord bio found it easy too. Lot to learn but easy to grasp
    Man does your ass ever get jealous of the amount of **** the comes though your mouth? hahahaha your telling me you can get As especially in biology without studying ****? haha keep dreaming and don't spread false hope


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  • #12
    Mizzstefan
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭Mizzstefan


    I was wondering which chapter /topic takes the longest and is the hardest and how long i should spend on it


  • #13
    aimzLc2
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭aimzLc2


    Mizzstefan wrote: »
    I was wondering which chapter /topic takes the longest and is the hardest and how long i should spend on it

    Spend alot of time on the main ones ,ecology, respiration + photosynthesis , DNA/Genetics ,human reproduction and the plant chapters which come up almost every year. You will need to spend as long as it takes until you can answer all exam questions on it and then keep going over them.Next i would move onto all the human systems


  • #14
    kingcobra
    Registered Users Posts: 835 ✭✭✭kingcobra


    In my opinion respiration and photosynthesis would be the hardest chapters, while ecology and genetics would be the longest ones. That being said, you are not obliged to do respiration and photosynthesis, as with some chapters. I could never understand respiration and photosynthesis so in the end I only had a rough knowledge of it, and either way there's a choice in the exam itself so it isn't necessary to know each chapter.


  • #15
    Mizzstefan
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭Mizzstefan


    Could i just prcatice the exam papers for the year only do you think i would be fine if i just did that


  • #16
    thegreatescape
    Registered Users Posts: 420 ✭✭thegreatescape


    Mizzstefan wrote: »
    Could i just prcatice the exam papers for the year only do you think i would be fine if i just did that

    Well you need to learn the theory before you can attempt exam papers, otherwise none of it will make sense?


  • #17
    aimzLc2
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭aimzLc2


    Mizzstefan wrote: »
    Could i just prcatice the exam papers for the year only do you think i would be fine if i just did that

    no... you need to learn theory first. If you just open up papers and start questions ,i don't see much going in. Thats why biology takes so long , you need to learn a chapter , then answer questions , then repeat..


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