Studying biology

LC2010HIS

Hey
Guys- do you think i should learn stuff im familar with eg the reliable questions.
I dont get photosynthesis.
SHould i focus on what I get instead of starting new stuff????

Learn all of Unit 1 and Unit 2 and then as much as you can from Unit 3, concentrating on what you like.

Make sure you know respiration and photosynthesis well because one or both of them always comes up.

Mwah

i feel your pain, unit one is grand but photosynthesis and respiration just go in one ear and out the other

IrishKnight

Hey guys. If you need some help with biology feel free to drop me a PM. I'm a third year genetics student in UCD so I should know a thing or two and I am always willing to help out budding scientists!

Victoria.

Just make sure you do a good mix of stuff from the course, as in don't start at the front of the book and work back chapter by chapter because there will be an equal amount of qs from each! If you only get through 1 + 2 you will be able to answer the amt of qs required but you have no choice, not something you want because if one of the long qs is on photosynthesis and you cant answer it you wont be very happy.

Look over the experiments because you get a good return for your work as there is the experiment section and they can come up in short and long qs too.

Try to write out the details of photosynthesis like a map with the different substances going around and you'll be able to visualise it!

zam

You CAN leave out photosynthesis and respiration and get away with it, but it would mean you'd have to know everything else pretty well - genetics etc.
Also you have a whole 3 weeks until the biology exam. Key points can easily be learned, you have ages. The most useful things for the exam are the balanced equation (the same equation for both, but the arrow in a different direction!) and the 'elodea' experiment. There are numerous videos on youtube which explain the topics simply and clearly which I find really useful, for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_WKgnL6MI
Sure you can leave it out but I don't understand why you would leave something out that is pretty much guaranteed to be on the paper.

Mwah

Just found this haha, if you're stuck on photosynthesis its a song.
But i think the call the Krebs Cycle the Calvin Cycle???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrQzEw9xY5k&feature=related

lc2010

Really the big emphasis should be put on unit one and 2 as you can do up to 80% of the paper if you have these known inside out. Also know your experiments inside out, the're the handiest 60 marks on the paper.
The most important study resource at this time has to be your exam papers!

zam

Mwah wrote: »

Just found this haha, if you're stuck on photosynthesis its a song.
But i think the call the Krebs Cycle the Calvin Cycle???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrQzEw9xY5k&feature=related

The Krebs Cycle is stage 2 of respiration, the Calvin Cycle refers to the dark stage in photosynthesis

If you can have a look on iTunes U for some videos. I found some very helpful ones one DNA replication & protein synthesis.

aine92

They say the worst thing you could do is start something new now, It'd be much more in your line to perfect what you already half know.:)

aine92

aine92 wrote: »

They say the worst thing you could do is start something new now, It'd be much more in your line to perfect what you already half know.:)

Fair enough, but DNA, respiration and photosynthesis are a huge part of unit 2 and always come up, you'd be mad not to know it. Same for ecology (even though I hate it, I will learn it).

Conor108

Prefer photosynthsis and Respiration to ecology and study of an ecosystem! HATE ecology

Conor108

Conor108 wrote: »

Prefer photosynthsis and Respiration to ecology and study of an ecosystem! HATE ecology

Saaame. So boring and I feel so patronised when studying it!

zam

I know, ecology is so awful. But at least a lot of it is common sense, not much studying involved
"name a habitat. name 5 plants."...

DancingQueen:)

I think ecology is dead easy, a tad boring though. I don't like some questions in genetics all that profiling/transciption stuff goes over my head. Having said that i'm going to answer the question anyway.

Piste

There's a lot you can leave out, it really depends what grade you're looking for. What sort of grade are you hoping to get?

ldxo15wus6fpgm

IMO once you've learned one of either respiration or photosynthesis you nearly have the other one too, I find them quite similar.
Am I the only person writing out a condensed version of the biology book? None of my friends are doing anything like that... I'm not so sure it was a good idea now, I've finished unit 1 and 2 but I still have 90% of unit 3 to do...

Victoria.

Santino Mealy Sun wrote: »

Am I the only person writing out a condensed version of the biology book? None of my friends are doing anything like that... I'm not so sure it was a good idea now, I've finished unit 1 and 2 but I still have 90% of unit 3 to do...

Nope you're not :pac:
I did that in 5th year but I'm so happy I did it now because I learn things by writing them out a couple of times so I got more out of it than staring at the book! Used to write notes of the notes then to refresh before summer, christmas and mocks and did well in biology so it should work out for you! Biology isn't for ages anyway! Good luck

LutherBlissett

With regard to photosynthesis and respiration, there is a question on them every year. You would be seriously reckless to just eliminate a banker topic like that and count on being able to replace it with a random (especially if you are planning to skimp on Unit 3 - I wouldn't, more on this below).

People seem to have trouble with psynth and resp every year. The only thing I can suggest to remedy this is to keep going over the topic. Good old fashioned study by steps! Break it down, look at each component of things like Krebs separately. Then amalgamate your pieces of knowledge. You should then be able to cobble something together. The rest of genetics is not incredibly information heavy - know how to do genetic crosses, and the mechanisms of DNA and RNA. These are small bits of the course, but they will go a surprisingly long way in the exam.

Unit 1. Ecology. Prevent nasty shocks on the day from counting on topics "tipped to come up". Just do it.

Unit 3. I would strongly advise against "picking your favourite topic" in this element of the syllabus. Learn reproduction. I cannot remember a year in which this didn't come up. As regards the rest of it, a good working knowledge of plant biology is going to be to your advantage. In 2008, it was notable for its absence, but this is widely viewed as a freak year - in general, you can count on it being there in some shape or form. With the remainder of human biology, certain topics stand out - I would for instance rank something like the circulatory system ahead of the ear and eye, and I would definitely have a look over digestion and excretion. Lymph and the nervous system have also arisen occasionally. If neither has come up in the last year or 2 (nervous was on 2008), keep an eye out for them.

Essentially, if you want an A, you can cut corners in Biology. It can be done. But if you cut too many corners, you might regret it.

yourmother

Piste wrote: »

There's a lot you can leave out, it really depends what grade you're looking for. What sort of grade are you hoping to get?

Any advice on trying to get a B3? Not exactly a fan of bio...:o

Piste

Ok a B3...that's 75% right? If there are any topics you enjoy, learn them inside out. Know your experiments. If you're just looking for a B3 then leaving out either Photosynthesis or respiration should be ok, you can usually predict what will come up. For stuff you don't enjoy, try to understand key points and general concepts, no need to learn a whole load of detail.

Hope that helps!

Behind you Joey

A1?:o

zam

Thankfully biology can all be crammed into your short term memory.
There's so little of it that I remember past 2 weeks.
Which his handy given how close the exam is :P

I keep looking at it everyday, skim over the revision book in it's entirety daily to reinforce all the information. This week I'm going to do an entire paper (I've left 2004 untouched for the purpose!) and then see how I get on/where I go wrong etc. Or else it'll just make me tired...

Seloth

I failed my pre by 6% but I'm aiming for atleast 65%.

My plan is to do mostly unit 1 and 2 and Sex Rep((Human+Plant)),circalatory system,Breathing,Plant transport,Monerea,Homeostais,Exretion and Lymph(Might ad in more though)).

Photo I'm grand,but resp I have no bloody clue about,I'm completly blank on the subject.Not to great with Gentic crosses but can manage them.

lc2010

Seloth wrote: »

I failed my pre by 6% but I'm aiming for atleast 65%.

My plan is to do mostly unit 1 and 2 and Sex Rep((Human+Plant)),circalatory system,Breathing,Plant transport,Monerea,Homeostais,Exretion and Lymph(Might ad in more though)).

Photo I'm grand,but resp I have no bloody clue about,I'm completly blank on the subject.Not to great with Gentic crosses but can manage them.

I much prefer photo too! it's way easier, good thing that resp came up last year!

It might doing viruses properly as swine flu was big in the news when the papers were set.

Piste

Behind you Joey wrote: »

A1?:o

Know everything. That's pretty much all you can do! Do all the past papers and try to answer questions without your book. Apart from that I can't really give any more advice, sorry. I was lucky because I really enjoy biology so because I liked it and was interested in it I remembered most of it. The boring bits (plants) I was able to cram into my short-term memory. I wish I could advise you on how to remember large chunks of information, but I'm still trying to figure that out for myself

ceol18

avoiding genetics AT ALL COSTS. HAAATE it with a passion, it's too much like maths. everything else is pretty hunky dory though =D got my head around respiration after an intense study sesh about 2 weeks ago

ldxo15wus6fpgm

ceol18 wrote: »

avoiding genetics AT ALL COSTS. HAAATE it with a passion, it's too much like maths. everything else is pretty hunky dory though =D got my head around respiration after an intense study sesh about 2 weeks ago

Ah man genetics is simple once you know what you're doing. And it's pretty likely to come up. Just stick to the easier practice questions and don't try anything harder till you've got the easy ones sorted out in your head
All you're basically doing is putting letters together.

littlebsci

Folks, for those among you tying yourselves up in knots over respiration break it down into short, simple points:

Aerobic Respiration (HL):
2 stage process

· Stage 1 – anaerobic, doesn’t use oxygen
- Glycolysis
- Takes place in the cytosol
- Glucose spilt into 2 molecules of pyruvate (pyruvic acid)
- Each pyruvate has 3 carbons so the glucose has not been fully broken down – most of the energy from original molecule still in the pyruvates
- Small amount of ATP and NADH released

· Stage 2 – aerobic, uses oxygen
- Takes place in mitochondria
- Pyruvate loses a carbon in the form of carbon dioxide
- Forms an acetyl group
- Acetyl group joins with co-enzyme A forming acetyl coA
- Acetyl coA enters Kreb’s cycle
- Broken down into carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions in a series of reactions & NADH formed
- Electrons from NADH enter an electron transport chain
- Moving through the electron transport chain the electrons lose energy
- Energy used to make ATP
- Electrons join with hydrogen ions and oxygen at the end of the chain forming water
- NB if oxygen not present electrons cannot escape so process cannot continue

Anaerobic Respiration (HL):
Stage 1 but not stage 2
· Lactic acid fermentation
- Occurs in animal muscle when not enough oxygen present – causes cramps
- LA fermentation by bacteria is the basis of yoghurt & cheese production

Glucose (6C) --> 2 lactic acid (3C) + 2 ATP + Heat

· Alcohol fermentation
- Occurs in the cells of plants, fungi and some bacteria
- Alcohol fermentation is basis of brewing and baking

Glucose (6C) --> 2 ethanol + 2 CO2 + 2 ATP + Heat

Use your text books for diagrams if they help!

Behind you Joey

Piste wrote: »

Know everything. That's pretty much all you can do! Do all the past papers and try to answer questions without your book. Apart from that I can't really give any more advice, sorry. I was lucky because I really enjoy biology so because I liked it and was interested in it I remembered most of it. The boring bits (plants) I was able to cram into my short-term memory. I wish I could advise you on how to remember large chunks of information, but I'm still trying to figure that out for myself

Thanks well got a B1 in the mocks, lets hope to shove it up!!:pac:

Mwah

Could someone help me and tell me if this is enough to write when explaining the light and dark stages. I dunno, cause its the one in Less stress more success but the one in the text book is much longer. ive learned this of.... sorry if anything is wrong in it!!

Light Stage One - Cyclic and light dependent. This occurs in the grana of the chloroplast. Light energy is trapped by the chlorophyll and passed to an electron. It is then passed to an electron carrier and then through a number of carries. Energy is released at each stage and used to form ATP. The electron is then passed back to the chlorophyll.

Light stage two - No Cyclic and light dependent. This occurs in the grana of the chloroplast. Light energy is trapped by the chlorophyll and passed to two electrons. Both electrons join with NADP. The NADP-- the causes the h20 to split and oxygen is released along with two electrons and 2 H+ ions. The electrons are then passed through carries, releasing energy to form ATP. The oxygen can be used in respiration or released as waste. Hydrogen atoms split when water is released reduce NADP to NADPH.

Dark Stage - light independent and occurs in stroma of chloroplast. The NADPH and ATP and used to reduce CO2 to glucose and starch. the ADP and NADP produced and reused in the light stage.

zam

Mwah wrote: »

Could someone help me and tell me if this is enough to write when explaining the light and dark stages. I dunno, cause its the one in Less stress more success but the one in the text book is much longer. ive learned this of.... sorry if anything is wrong in it!!

Light Stage One - Cyclic and light dependent. This occurs in the grana of the chloroplast. Light energy is trapped by the chlorophyll and passed to an electron. It is then passed to an electron carrier and then through a number of carries. Energy is released at each stage and used to form ATP. The electron is then passed back to the chlorophyll.

Light stage two - No Cyclic and light dependent. This occurs in the grana of the chloroplast. Light energy is trapped by the chlorophyll and passed to two electrons. Both electrons join with NADP. The NADP-- the causes the h20 to split and oxygen is released along with two electrons and 2 H+ ions. The electrons are then passed through carries, releasing energy to form ATP. The oxygen can be used in respiration or released as waste. Hydrogen atoms split when water is released reduce NADP to NADPH.

Dark Stage - light independent and occurs in stroma of chloroplast. The NADPH and ATP and used to reduce CO2 to glucose and starch. the ADP and NADP produced and reused in the light stage.

Go to the marking scheme for a question which asks about them and see what points they mention/how many they require!

RocketFalls

zam wrote: »

The Krebs Cycle is stage 2 of respiration, the Calvin Cycle refers to the dark stage in photosynthesis

Calvin-Benson Cycle, to be fair..
I'm stuck on genetic crosses mainly.. Not that I'll get any courses what with failing maths and most likely English. But biology is as close as any subject will get to being my forte..

muffinz

my grinds teacher reccomends knowing unit 1 and 2 like the back of your hand. if you know 1 & 2 and all your experiments, you can get 85%!! im studying them, a few tipped experiments and then the ear,human reproduction, and one or 2 things more!