No idea about what to study for Biology? Please help!

ApeLove

I haven't been working at Biology at all through 5th and 6th year, I definitely just failed my mock, and now I'm terrified. My teacher is a joke, no idea what we're doing, I'm taking honours: what should I definitely learn in order to at least pass the paper?
I've heard it said that there's basically a whole chunk of the course you can cut out and still get a really high grade?
Please help!

Vodkat

Ecology would be a definite IMO. Photosynthesis and respiration. I have a good few tips (from the BEST biology teacher) on whats due up this year. I wouldnt only study what he says. Ill post it tomorrow for you, I dont have his notes with me.

Patriciamc93

Hey,

dont worry that much! Our teacher just takes notes straight from Revise Wise and passes them off as her own! Thinks she fooled us.....

But anyway:
The first two sections of the book is 80% of your exam (most of the time). But that has genetics, respiration and photosynthesis which are three of the hardest chapters on the course.

personally i find the human sections easier as they are things which actually concern us.

There is always a question on the following:
1. Genetics
2. Ecology
3. Photosynthesis or/and Respiration

Also if you learn all of the experiments its 15% which is a handy bit to have.

And finally.... I hate it but have decided that they are easier than genetics so i am definatley learning it : Plants

So what i am trying to say is learn :
1.Ecology
2.All the experiments
3.The human (if you don't mind that stuff) i.e. section three.
4.Plants

Thats what i would do but..... .each for their own!

Patriciamc93

Oh and also forgot....... Revise wise is a really good revision book!

mpdg

I'm freaking out a bit about Biology!
I did feck all in fifth year and have been trying to study it loads this year. Does anyone know where a good, proper explanation of respiration/photosynthesis/ATP could be found? I generally find understanding topics easy, but there's something about that whole section that baffles me.

Thanks Patriciamc!

apkbarry

leavingbio.net

has saved me so far!
Third Biology teacher, haven't even done my mocks yet either..

Chuchoter

Midterm is coming up. Take 2 days, start at the beginning of the exam papers and get to the end. Job done. Don't worry too much, biology is just a read the book and learn it subject.:)

PARARORY

Get revise wise..
All the way through 5th Year I got low Bs.. 6th Year i put more work in and got up to high Bs but could never get the A.. Got a B2 in my mocks.. Got revise wise and read it nearly every day even for 10 minutes.. Got an A2 in the Leaving then

niamhallen

Learn Unit One and Unit Two really well. The book should be divided into these. These two sections always come up, it makes up about 75 percent of the paper. Oh and learn sexual reproduction too, it always comes up.

Patriciamc93

mpdg wrote: »

I'm freaking out a bit about Biology!
I did feck all in fifth year and have been trying to study it loads this year. Does anyone know where a good, proper explanation of respiration/photosynthesis/ATP could be found? I generally find understanding topics easy, but there's something about that whole section that baffles me.

Thanks Patriciamc!

as apkbarry said leavingcertbio is a really really good website. Also look up videos on youtube ....... really helps me understand things better.

GoldRush4821

crayolastereo wrote: »

Midterm is coming up. Take 2 days, start at the beginning of the exam papers and get to the end. Job done. Don't worry too much, biology is just a read the book and learn it subject.:)

True to a certain extent but there are certain chapters which require a conceptual understanding, as evidenced by people not fully understanding respiration and photosynthesis. I find that by understanding why NADH is being used at such a stage etc, it makes it much easier to remember it because theres a logical sequence of events in your mind rather than a whole bunch of facts which need to be remembered. Just learning off these facts without understanding why certain things are happening can lead to confusion on exam day, which is when you really need to have things sorted out.

In terms of the sections, I couldn't rank one more important than the other. Unit 3 has some major ones which seem to come up a lot. I'd advise studying the human systems and the five kingdoms(and viruses) in this unit and then the other 2 sections fully. Ecology, as someone mentioned, is always a long question and can come up in more than 1 short question, so I'd advise knowing all this well.. e.g Conservation, Pollution, Waste Management ...

I personally find plants so boring and am inclined to not study them. Having said that, our teacher left them till last so we haven't actually started them yet, but I don't like them anyway. If you take it a chapter at a time, doing exam questions constantly after each chapter, you can not only pass it, but achieve a good grade. The questions are regurgitated year after year so...

Aoifey!

I failed to Mocks of Biology last year and got up to a B2 by the real thing so don't worry - it can be done, but you gott aput in the work.

Revise Wise is amazing! It was my life saver.

Do you have a problem understanding some of it or is it just that you still have to learn it off? For me I found Photosynthesis, Respiration, Genetics and DNA sort of difficult to understand. if you have this problem then get some grinds (even for just a couple of weeks to help you inderstand) and ask them to go through these chapters simply with you. I always found it easier to have someone go through it slowly - but for some people just looking at the book works.

Make sure you look at:
- Food
- Photosynthesis
- Respiration
- Sexual Reproduction
- Reproduction in plants
- Ecology
- Genetics

Look at some of the other shorter chapters too as they come up a lot in the shorter questions or parts of the longer questions (like the heart etc), but I think those ^^^ are the most important.

Good luck

whistlin_boy

niamhallen wrote: »

Learn Unit One and Unit Two really well. The book should be divided into these. These two sections always come up, it makes up about 75 percent of the paper. Oh and learn sexual reproduction too, it always comes up.

Our book is divided into those sections (Unit One, Unit two and Unit Three) but yeah I would agree if you can get a grip on those 2 units, Unit 3 (The Organism) will seem relatively easy then!

grinds

Know your experiments.. Easy to revise and get through quickly... Nice fall back to have in the exam.. Food tests, photosynthesis etc. etc.... they really aren't that hard to understand... Get a revision book or some notes that covers them well with all the questions and answers that are commonly asked. If you haven't a clue what the experiment is about type it into you tube and you should get an idea.. Good luck!