Imagine yourself walking through a huge forest and you start to wonder how everything came to be, how YOU came to be. Welcome to the subject of biology, where one minute we are learning about evolution, the next about how those trees in the forest create energy and then about how tiny cells keep our bodies functioning. I hope this guide gives you some tips and tricks to navigate this content rich course.
Guide
How to get a 45+ study score in Biology
By Umut K. - 8 minute readIn this guide, Umut goes through his top tips and tricks for getting a 45+ in Biology.
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Introduction
How to prepare for SACs
Your SACs for biology make up 40% of your final grade. You will have around 5 SACs throughout the year which should cover much of the content you need to know. I suggest you use your SAC preparation wisely as this will put less pressure on you during the exam period.
Use the study design:
To maximise time - use the study design which tells you exactly what you need to know for the course - nothing more, nothing less. Before going through a topic, I would get out my study design and generate a list of questions based on the dot points. For example, for the first dot point one question may be, “what is the field model”. Therefore, when you’re in class or learning on your own - you have primed yourself on what to look out for and you’ll filter for only relevant information.
Make summaries:
I found that notetaking was the single best way to consolidate your learning onto a few pages and act as an easy place you can refer back to throughout the year. I used the questions I made for the study design as a guide while making notes and answered them in my own words. Using 2 or 3 resources throughout the year including: your teacher’s notes, YouTube videos (Khanacademy is great) and your textbook will stop you from being bogged down in the sea of resources out there. While creating your summary I suggest you use:
What to use to make a summary
Headings & subheadings
Heaps of colour
Detailed diagrams
Concise explanations
Flowcharts
Bolding and underlining
Do questions to increase confidence:
But how exactly do you measure confidence? I did this by answering questions. This is an ACTIVE process which really puts you on the spot and tests your ability to actively recall what you have learnt. I used the textbook questions which provides heaps of questions. Also, check out the quizzes section on Studyclix. Use a red, yellow, green colour coding system based on how you went to really identify areas that you mastered and struggled with. I would then prioritise the topics based on questions I had difficulty with and read my notes, watch a video or go through the textbook until I said “Ohhh, I get it now”. This approach will ensure you don’t keep repeating the same mistakes.
How to revise for exams
Review your notes:
I reviewed my notes and understanding regularly throughout the year. You need to constantly be ahead of the forgetting curve because, unfortunately, our brains don’t retain everything we learn for a long period of time. By this time of the year you would have realised everything in biology is related – so link everything together by making mind maps, diagrams and flowcharts.
Practice, practice, practice exams:
You’ve probably heard about practice exams a million times by now, but let me tell you, they are a godsend when you’re studying for the exam.
When to start practice for exam papers?
I started doing practice exams a month out from the actual one which gave me plenty of time to revise. You can do this really easily on Studyclix.
How many exam papers?
I recommend you do at least 10 practice exams starting with the recent VCAA papers, followed by company ones and finally older VCAA papers.
Should I use a time constraint?
Try and do them under timed conditions, so you are really simulating the exam environment. Of course, it will be hard when you get started so give yourself some leeway until you get settled into it. This is very good at allowing you to judge how long per question. If you get stuck and have spent too long on a question, move on to the next question.
I started doing practice exams a month out from the actual one which gave me plenty of time to revise. You can do this really easily on Studyclix.
Review exams with sample answers and assessor’s report:
Now, even though I suggested doing 10 or so exams before, I have to repeat the age-old mantra “Quality OVER Quantity”.
Marking your exam
Completing your exams is only part of the job! After each exam, I made sure to open up the corresponding examination report, 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 my exams harshly (as examiners will surely do) so please don’t say “I would’ve said that” as you’re marking, because you actually didn’t.
Need help marking?
There are also some awesome YouTube videos out there of people going through the exam with full working out which I found super helpful.
Completing your exams is only part of the job! After each exam, I made sure to open up the corresponding examination report, 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 my exams harshly (as examiners will surely do) so please don’t say “I would’ve said that” as you’re marking, because you actually didn’t.
Record everything:
I recorded every exam I did in a logbook. You can just create a spreadsheet or a table to fill out like the one I’ve made below. This really helped to see my progression as the exam day loomed closer and closer.
| Date | Exam | Mark | Notes |
| DD/MM/YYYY | 2015 VCAA Examination |
87/93 94% |
1. Mark scheme: This in an indication of how many significant points you need to make! 2. Misreading the question: underline key words when reading the question and don’t move on without reading the question again. 3. Silly mistake: Proof-read your exam to pick up on these slip ups. 4. Content mistake: start codon is also an amino acid, STOP codon is not. Now write this in your notes in red and review the concept. 5. Not answering the question: though it is tempting to regurgitate everything you know on a concept, you need to be specific to the question. |
I can’t stress enough how important it is to use the notes section to document your mistakes. I’ve written the common types of mistakes and how to tackle them in the table. Don’t worry, I was slapping my forehead a lot during this period too but making mistakes now will prevent you from making them during the exam!
Exam Day
How to approach the exam:
- 1
Use the reading time to get a feel for what topics are covered in the short answer. Then start answering multiple choice questions in your head.
- 2
Move on from multiple choice questions after 30 minutes.
- 3
Spend until you have 10 or 15 minutes left on the clock on the short answer.
- 4
Use the remaining time to check through your exam.
Multiple choice questions:
The chemistry exam comes with 40 multiple choice questions which cover a wide array of topics. Your best friend when it comes to MCQs is the process of elimination. Normally there are 2 distracting options that you will cross off, so you essentially go from having a 1 in 4 chance to a 1 in 2 chance of picking the correct option! Just remember while you’re staring at the question, scratching your head, the answer is staring right back at you so if worse comes to worst make an educated guess.
Short answer questions:
The short answer questions account for two thirds of your exam mark. I will go through a few of the common types of questions below:
Explanation questions
Please use dot points – I don’t know how many times I made those coloured in circles of different shapes and sizes, but they proved very useful. It keeps your answers succinct and as a general rule of thumb I matched the number of dot points to the number of available marks. Also, remember to relate your answer to the specific scenario given in the question and not fall into the trap of making a generic statement.
Comparison questions
Make sure to actually compare the two things asked about: [in concept 1 this happens] WHEREAS in [concept 2 this happens]
Experimental design
This is a section which a lot of students have trouble with. Before the exam make sure that you have a basic understanding of what makes up an experiment and how to increase reliability and validity.
Please use dot points – I don’t know how many times I made those coloured in circles of different shapes and sizes, but they proved very useful. It keeps your answers succinct and as a general rule of thumb I matched the number of dot points to the number of available marks. Also, remember to relate your answer to the specific scenario given in the question and not fall into the trap of making a generic statement.
Some Final Tips
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Use your teachers
Teachers are walking fountains of knowledge – having marked hundreds of SACs and exams, they know what they’re talking about. I’d recommend you build a strong working relationship with your teacher and ask questions when you need to – even if the questions seem a bit silly, your teachers are there to help.
1
Help and be helped by your friends
Having study buddies is equally important, whether it is making a group chat or meeting up once a week to go through concepts you are having difficulty with. I always found trying to teach a concept to someone else to be the single best revision technique because you really need to understand to make someone else understand too!
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Use your words wisely
Biology assessors are extremely pedantic when it comes to the vocab. The number of times I forgot to write the words ‘specific’ or ‘complementary’ when referring to enzymes or proteins was ridiculous, so please write these words in bold somewhere so you don’t forget.
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Try to understand
Don’t get me wrong, biology is not an easy subject, but rote learning will not do you any good. I really tried to wrap my head around all the theory so that I built a solid foundation to approach exam questions. The one tip I can give you when going through notes is to constantly question the concepts and ask “why?” at each step.
Enjoy Biology
You don’t have to be a biology nerd to enjoy this subject. Studying biology is
really a roller coaster of a ride because you truly learn so much about how everything around
us works. I would put what you learn into practice – do an experiment at home or go to a
museum – bio doesn’t have to just stay in the classroom. Having fun with this fascinating
subject will result in you appreciating what you’re learning, and this positive attitude will
allow you to excel.
Final Tips
Some final tips to help you get a 45+ in Biology!
Use your teachers
Teachers are walking fountains of knowledge – having marked hundreds of SACs and exams, they know what they’re talking about. I’d recommend you build a strong working relationship with your teacher and ask questions when you need to – even if the questions seem a bit silly, your teachers are there to help.
Help and be helped by your friends
Having study buddies is equally important, whether it is making a group chat or meeting up once a week to go through concepts you are having difficulty with. I always found trying to teach a concept to someone else to be the single best revision technique because you really need to understand to make someone else understand too!
Use your words wisely
Biology assessors are extremely pedantic when it comes to the vocab. The number of times I forgot to write the words ‘specific’ or ‘complementary’ when referring to enzymes or proteins was ridiculous, so please write these words in bold somewhere so you don’t forget.
Try to understand
Don’t get me wrong, biology is not an easy subject, but rote learning will not do you any good. I really tried to wrap my head around all the theory so that I built a solid foundation to approach exam questions. The one tip I can give you when going through notes is to constantly question the concepts and ask “why?” at each step.
Enjoy Biology
You don’t have to be a biology nerd to enjoy this subject. Studying biology is
really a roller coaster of a ride because you truly learn so much about how everything around
us works. I would put what you learn into practice – do an experiment at home or go to a
museum – bio doesn’t have to just stay in the classroom. Having fun with this fascinating
subject will result in you appreciating what you’re learning, and this positive attitude will
allow you to excel.
By Umut K.
Umut recently graduated with a 95+ ATAR and achieved high study scores in both science and maths subjects. He is currently studying a medical degree in Adelaide.