Welcome to the subject of Biology! Here you get to learn about the smallest cells to the biggest ecosystems all in one course. Exciting, I know! I hope this guide gives you some guidance on how to work your way through this course and prepare for all your internal and external assessments.
How to get a 90+ in Biology: Advice from a high-achieving student
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In this guide, Emily goes through her top tips and tricks for getting a 90+ in Biology.
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Introduction
How to prepare for your IAs
In Biology, 50% of your grade comes from internal assessments, so it is crucial for you to get every mark possible to make the external exam easier for yourself. As you know, 10% comes from your data set, 20% from your student experiment and 20% from your research assignment.
Take good notes
Taking good notes all year long is super important to be able to study for the final exam effectively. At the end of each week, I would suggest that you summarise all the notes you took that week to refresh yourself on the content. Also, don’t just rely on one source of information. Use things such as crash course on YouTube and your textbook to support what your teacher has taught you. Further resources such as Studyclix or textbook questions are another way to help cement your understanding of the topic.
Check your writing
So many times, I came to the end of an assignment just wanting to get rid of it, that I
wouldn’t take the time and care to thoroughly proofread my work, causing me to lose marks on silly, little things. The best way I found to stop this is to get as many people as possible to proofread your work. If you don’t have anyone around or don’t want to involve anyone, you can use an application that reads back your work. This allows you to hear any mistakes you may have made and will enable you to hear if your writing is flowing smoothly.
Review previous assessments
If you completed a similar assessment piece in grade 11, go back and look over it. I
recorded all my grades for each assessment and which criteria got/lost for me, then worked on this section. I found this helped as I could identify which areas, I understood the criteria and which areas I may have needed some help in getting the highest marks.
Data Test
This assessment piece is based mainly on data (no kidding) but makes preparing slightly easier. As the questions are based on data, look through the current work you have done and see which bits could have data and do questions based on these topics. Practice exams are another great way to prepare for these assessment pieces.
Student experiment
Have fun with this assessment piece, as you have some creative freedom on what you can write your assessment on. Some important things to remember are:
Your experiment doesn’t have to go to plan. I cannot count the number of times my student experiments have failed and not gone to plan, but I still managed to write a paper around my findings.
Always relate your writing to the criteria. You can’t be given marks for things that are not being assessed, so make sure you are staying on topic with your writing and to the criteria.
Research assignment
The best advice for this assignment is to ensure you are using peer-reviewed or credible sources. Google Scholar is one place where you can find some credible, peer-reviewed sources. For this assessment, I strongly suggest understanding the topic you have chosen and how you can relate this to the criteria. You may pick a great topic, but it may be hard to meet the assessment criteria if you can’t find the research to back it up.
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How to revise for exams
Use the syllabus
If I learned anything from studying for exams, it is that you need to use the syllabus
as your first point of contact. Most exam questions will be based directly on the syllabus dot points, so ensuring you can create a response based on every dot point is essential. One way to do this is to write down the dot point on a blank piece of paper and then create a mind map based on all the information you know about this topic.
Don’t stick to one study method
This may sound strange but studying all different types of ways helps you retain information. For example, a study shows that teaching others is one of the best ways to learn, so whenever you have a chance, teach the people around you what you have been learning about. They don’t even have to be listening. Tell your dog about what you are studying. When group study is executed correctly, it is an excellent place for discussion and teaching, both of which help with retention.
Practise, practise, practise
The best way to prepare for any question they throw at you is to know a large range
of questions they may throw at you. With 50% of your grade coming from one
assessment piece, you must be prepared to smash it to get the best marks possible!
I started doing practice exams quite a few weeks out from the actual one, which gave me plenty of time to revise. You can do this really easily on Studyclix through the Exam Builder tool or Questions by Topic page.
Past QCAA exams are the best way to practise as they are exactly like the exams you will be taking. As you go, take notes on what you are getting wrong, then go to your textbook and complete other questions surrounding these topics.
Complete study all year long. Studying smaller amounts over a larger space of time allows you to identify any strengths and weaknesses you have.
Try doing some exams under timed conditions to get a feel for the exam environment.
I recommend you do at least 10 practice exams starting with past QCAA papers, followed by company ones and finally other papers from VCE and WACE.
Highlight important information in the questions. This will help you see what the questions ask and get rid of all the extra information you don’t need.
After practice exams
You can’t just do the exam and not check it. You need to make sure that what you are answering is what the marking guide wants you to answer.
After each exam, I made sure to open up the corresponding marking guide, which shows you exactly what the assessors are looking for. So, if there is a definition or explanation provided, it is a good idea to make note of it.
I would also mark any exams harshly (as examiners will surely do) so please don’t say “I would’ve said that” as you’re marking, because you didn’t.
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Exam day
Pre-exam
Take a deep breath; you’re almost there! You have well prepared for this, so now it’s
time to show the examiners what you can do. Everyone knows these tips but:
Get a good night’s sleep before your exam. Cramming won’t help if you can’t concentrate during the exam.
Ensure you are properly hydrated and have the proper brainpower to keep your concentration for the entirety of the exam
How to approach the exam
Use reading time wisely! Read through all the questions and get a feel for the exam. Also, use this time to make a plan to answer the questions and set yourself time limits as to how long to spend on each section.
After 20 minutes, move on from MCQs and come back to it at the end.
Never leave multiple choice questions blank!
Check over your exam. Spend the last 10-15 minutes (or from when you finish the exam) to make sure you have answered every question.
Try not to leave an exam question blank. It is better to write something than nothing at all. You never know what you might get marks for.
If it says it’s worth 5 marks, they are looking for 5 points. This is a big help in exams to figure out how much to write. Another indicator of this is the space: they are often expecting that amount of space to be filled.
Make sure you understand what the questions are asking. Know what compare, explain and contrast are asking you to do.
Multiple choice
NEVER EVER leave multiple choice questions blank! Even if you have no idea, you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. You can rule out at least one answer in most cases, which is obviously not correct, leaving you at a 1 in 3 chance of getting the correct answer.
Short response
Markers often have a specific answer they are looking for, so make sure you read the question entirely. You never know what might get you marks, so make sure you attempt every question.Multiple choice NEVER EVER leave multiple choice questions blank! Even if you have no idea, you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. You can rule out at least one answer in most cases, which is obviously not correct, leaving you at a 1 in 3 chance of getting the correct answer.
If a question requires math working, SHOW IT. This is where you could lose easy marks that are steps you are already doing. Also, remember to include your units, as this is another area where you could lose marks. Include any formulas you may use just in case they want it for a mark. I found sometimes they would and sometimes they would not, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Ensure you understand all the experiments you have completed throughout the year, as those tend to pop up as questions. Also be able to discuss how to make the experiment reliable.
If a question requires math working, SHOW IT. This is where you could lose easy marks that are steps you are already doing. Also, remember to include your units, as this is another area where you could lose marks. Include any formulas you may use just in case they want it for a mark. I found sometimes they would and sometimes they would not, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Some final tips
Don’t be afraid to get help
If you don’t understand something, go get help from your teachers, classmates or external sources. Struggling to understand content won’t help you in the long run and will increase your stress levels. Your teachers are there to help you and are often a fountain of knowledge, so use them to your advantage.
Form study groups
By forming a study group, you are building a support system that not only can help
you (and you can help them) but a group of people who understand what you are
feeling and can provide a sense of comfort. Teaching others is one of the best ways
to learn, as you need to know what you are talking about in order to teach someone
else about it.
Important things to remember
You have already completed 50% of your grade before you get to the final exam. So use this to your advantage and try to get as many marks as possible before entering that exam room. If you have prepared adequately, you will be prepared for most things on the external exam, or will at least have the background knowledge to attempt every question.
Use your memory wisely
Biology most likely isn’t the only subject you will be sitting an external exam for, therefore, you won’t be able to spend all your time on one subject. This makes it so important to be consistently revising throughout the year and creating a study plan, which allows you to strategically distribute the time you dedicate to studying to all your subjects. If you can come up with silly acronyms or saying to help you remember information, this almost always helps in retaining information in exams. There is quite a lot of content, but most of it links together or builds on each other, so if you can get a good base of knowledge, this will help throughout the whole course.
Enjoy Biology
Biology is such an exciting course so enjoy every minute of it! There will be things
that are not so enjoyable, but it is so fascinating to learn how everything around you
is made and functions. Don’t just limit Biology to the classroom; it’s everywhere you
go, so take it with you. When you enjoy a subject, you are much more likely to want
to study it and get better marks.
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Emily graduated with a 92+ ATAR performing well in Chemistry, Biology and Math Methods. She is now studying a dual degree in Bachelor of Nursing Science and Bachelor of Midwifery at James Cook University