Best way to learn 3/4 VCE Biology/Chemistry curriculums on your own?

[hobbitle]

Hi guys,

I'm a mature age first year B-Science student and I never really had much exposure to the sciences before this degree.

I feel like there are gaps in my knowledge and I'd like to self-teach myself the 3/4 Biology and Chemistry curriculums as well as revising the 3/4 Physics.

I didn't do VCE in Victoria so I have no idea how it works or what the degree of standardisation is.  Are there fixed textbooks with question sets/practise exams for all 3/4 subject curriculums?  How would I get a hold of such a thing?  I already watch Khan Academy and use Coursera sometimes but it would be good especially to have problems/sample SACs to work on?

Thanks for any insight.

[spectroscopy]

there are fixed textbooks. just go to academic and general in the city and buy the 3/4 chem and 3/4 bio textbook, and then you could buy the atarnotes study guides

[alondouek]

For biology, I strongly recommend Nature of a Biology for its in-depth explanations, strong diagrams and good presentation.

For chemistry, I recommend Heinemann Chemistry, as it explores all the concepts quite well. Not as good a chemistry textbook as NoB is a biology textbook though.

You can definitely self-teach from these. It should be even easier to do so, because you're not being assessed, which means you can go through the book in greater detail than a VCE student might.

Good luck!