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VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Biology => Topic started by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 21, 2019, 09:33:15 am

Title: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 21, 2019, 09:33:15 am

✩ Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11 ✩

Here's my guide to conquering VCE Biology! I got a 50 in year 11 (2019) and I want to help other future biology students achieve their best! Includes study techniques as well as tips on how to approach this content heavy yet beautiful subject (that I promise will be worth it in the end).
Click HERE for more answers to your questions

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Hi everyone,
I loved reading all these guides over the holidays before I began 3/4 biology and I genuinely thought that they helped me find the way I study best as well as inspire me to put my all into biology. So I thought that it’s about time I contribute to the large pile of guides with another one! I also know that a lot of people accelerate biology and are unsure how to approach their first year 12 subject, so I’d love to offer some advice and also answer any questions you have. Getting a 50 in biology this year (my accelerated subject in year 11) was always a goal for me, but with dedication it (surprisingly) became a reality. I endeavour to excite some of you fellow VCE bio students and help you achieve your goals too. So sit back and enjoy my guide, I hope you find at least one useful thing to keep you biology smart (and biology passionate!) next year and beyond.


✩ SUMMER HOLIDAYS ✩

Getting ahead in the summer holidays is definitely not something you have to do, but I strongly recommend gaining a good understanding of the content you have already begun in class. Personally, I covered the first four chunks of dot points in the study design (Plasma membranes, Nucleic Acids and Proteins, Gene structure and Regulation & Structure and Regulation of Biochemical pathways). But don't freak out if you don't get that far. In my experience, there is no use trying to squeeze the entire 3/4 content into the summer holidays, it’s just not worth it. Instead, focus on fully grasping and understanding the first few concepts, work thoroughly (but not rushingly) through each topic on the study design. Furthermore, it is not only biological knowledge you should gain in the holidays but also some excitement and passion for the subject. I believe that this, along with some goals helped me to study consistently throughout the year, which is ultimately what leads to success!


✩ HOW TO STUDY CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ✩

Key resources
At the start of year 11 I was freaking out a little about which resources to purchase as it's difficult to know what will work and what won't. Obviously a lot of this depends on personal preference and what resources your school requires you to have. Here’s a list of some of the resources I utilised and how each one aided me in gaining a deeper understanding of biology.

- THE STUDY DESIGN: This is literally your number one resource for the year. Yes, this is a little obvious, but I was surprised by how many students at my school neglected to utilise the study design until the week before the exam. My tip is to use the study design throughout the entire year. This ensures you are gaining a specific understanding of the key concepts which VCAA wants you to understand. Furthermore, during the exam, knowing the study design can help shape your answer, ultimately leading to more fluent expression.

- Edrolo and Douchy’s podcasts (find them on any podcast site): Absolutely fantastic. Our school required us to have Edrolo, but the podcasts are free and hence an incredibly useful resource for all biology students. I listened to all of Edrolo once through and the podcasts twice through. Not only because Douchy is hilarious but also because I could use them on the bus, when walking to work, etc (literally the best way to surround yourself with biology).

- Textbooks: Our school used the Nelson textbook, which was okay but over-detailed in some areas and under-detailed in others. I also purchased the Nature of Biology book (which was beautiful to read but also goes into extreme detail in some areas). So the big question, how much do you use the textbook? In my opinion, they can be fantastic for the beginning of the year, particularly in the school holidays, for some light reading of select topics. However, there is no way I would waste precious time during the year completing chapter questions or reading the entire book. Instead, use it lightly (and I stress LIGHTLY) to review topics that you are having difficulty with.

- Atarnotes + other notes: I found the Atarnotes biology summary helpful. It is certainly not perfect, and I would definitely not substitute it for all the other resources I have suggested, but it is certainly a great complementary resource. These notes are particularly good at summarising topics or helping you work ahead of your class (although I wouldn't say they are essential). I also downloaded some free notes from past students, not only for the content, but to help me see the way others set out their notes or how they understood or memorised concepts. This was also good as it provided a perspective on topics that differed from my teacher.

Taking notes
I took handwritten notes which I think was my main version of consistent study throughout the year, using power points (given by our teachers), Edrolo, Douchy's podcasts, the Atarnotes summary book and more. I think creating combined notes from a variety of resources really forced me to understand the content fully, as well as give me a broad scope of the course. Essentially, I went through each dot point in the study design and ticked the point off once I’d covered it in my notes. If I didn’t understand any part of it, I researched and read all different resources until I was satisfied with my understanding. This way of writing notes really minimised the time I spent memorising content later on, giving me more time to do practice exams and questions. 

Working a little ahead
I always worked a little bit ahead of my class, depending on how much free time I had during the week. Usually I just read ahead, did Edrolo and watched some podcasts. However, I didn’t begin writing my notes until after covering the content in class. While it isn’t essential to work ahead, it certainly helps you understand the concepts better, as it means that you can use class time to consolidate knowledge and consult your teacher with any questions you may have.

Ask questions and question everything
An obvious one but I thought I would reiterate it all the same. There is no disadvantage to asking questions, so question everything! Anything I didn’t understand, even if it was the tiniest thought, I wrote down in a little notebook (essentially a book full of questions). It’s great to consult your teachers, friends and of course the Atarnotes forum about these questions. However, I definitely encourage you, before reaching out to anyone, to research your own question and see if you can find some information surrounding it. This helps you to gain a better understanding of the content, just make sure you don’t stray too far away from the course! After doing this, then you can consult someone to see how close you were to answering your own question.

Do practice questions when you can
We were lucky that our teachers provided us with a condensed version of VCAA questions for each topic. I found these useful, at first I was scared to ‘use’ all the VCAA questions up, but it is honestly such great exposure to VCAA style questions, especially since the end of year exam arises relatively fast. If your teachers don’t provide practice questions, you could use the Atarnotes topic tests or Checkpoints (although I didn’t use these so I am unable to review them).


✩ HOW TO APPROACH YOUR SACS ✩

When to start studying
I tended to start around 2-3 weeks before each SAC. I have a fairly decent memory, so writing notes was mostly enough for me in terms of memorisation. Thus, I tended to study for SACs by making sure I was including key words in my responses, etc (and also memorising a few key phrases for questions that you might expect - such as the three steps in PCR (actually came up on the 2019 exam!)). This saves time during the SAC (especially since in some of our SACs you had to write incredibly fast - a lot faster than the exam - although obviously this will depend on the school).

The steps to being prepared
I subconsciously followed these steps when studying for SACs…

1.  Test yourself, and be honest: Find out what you do and don’t know, using the study techniques that work best for you. Basically, just test yourself, using the study design (of course), your notes and any other techniques. If you truly know you are unsure about something, don’t move on until you are happy with your understanding. Don’t ever think “that probably won’t be on the SAC” as you will be kicking yourself if it is. Instead, be honest with yourself about what you don’t know, as then you can take steps to ensure that you know it for the test.

2.  Practice: Do practice questions and practice SACs. If you have trouble working under pressure, it’s best to do a few of these practices under test conditions. During the practice, if you are having trouble answering a question, mark it with a highlighter but still try your best to put down a decent answer within the allocated time frame. When you are marking your practice SAC, you can come back to the highlighted questions and clarify your answers with the solutions or your teacher. That way you can figure out why you found it challenging (did you simply not know the topic, was it the way the question was phrased, etc).

3.  Summary document: Mark your practice SACs and make a document containing your mistakes or any key notes. I usually created digital summary notes for each SAC, which contained only the key KEY points that I would be likely to forget, as well as answers to questions that were likely to appear on the SAC.


✩ HOW TO STUDY THE MOST EFFECTIVELY FOR THE EXAM ✩

Annotating the study design
This was one of the my favourite ways to study in the last couple of weeks leading up to the exam. I actually ended up annotating the whole study design twice. Basically I just sat on my floor with my notes and tonnes of resources and went through, with a fine tooth comb, every single dot point on the design. Any key information that I thought I might forget, I annotated (for example, you might forget that prokaryotes do not undergo post-transcriptional modification, so annotate the design with this point).

Practice Exams
I began doing practice exams during the holidays before exams started. I got through 20 practice exams, around 6-7 which were done under exam conditions. Remember, it is not the amount of practice exams you do but the time and effort you put into each one of them. Every time I did a practice exam, I made sure my answers were to a quality I would be happy with on the end of year exam. There is no use half-heartedly doing 50 practice exams, it won’t get you anywhere. Also, make sure you give yourself 15 minutes reading time at the beginning of each practice exam.

Which Practice Exams to use
I did the 2013-2018 VCAA ones as well as company exams (NEAP, Aced, Insight, etc) that our school provided. I also did the multiple choice questions from the earlier exams. I dated all my exams, the first one being the 20th of September and the last being one three days before the actual exam. If you don’t have time to do as many as I did, don’t stress I promise you can still ace the exam! Just make sure you prioritise the most recent VCAA exams as they will be closest in structure and style to the questions on your exam. If you know that you do have time to do a lot of exams, then do these ones last.

Marking Practice Exams
I tended to mark any practice exam a day or two after I completed it. Marking practice exams is equally as important as doing the practice exam for you cannot learn from your mistakes without knowing them! Even if I got full marks, I would highlight the key words or phrases that got me those marks.

Marking them yourself is also a formidable way to gain insight on the method which a VCAA examiner utilises to decide whether to give you marks or not (especially when you are using the past examination reports). I also created a mistakes document, where I put mistakes that I would make (in my practice exams) even though I understood the question (eg. missing key words, etc). This document can then be used as another revision tool to prepare for the exam.

Examiners' reports
Make sure you read through the recent examiners' reports. They can give you insight on how VCAA examiners like you to answer questions and can help you avoid common mistakes that students have made in the past.


✩ HOW TO STAY CALM AND DO YOUR BEST IN THE EXAM ✩

Enter the exam with a plan
If you know exactly how you are going to approach the exam, it’s going to be less stressful and less likely you won’t finish on time. I aimed to smash out the multiple choice in 30 minutes and then chronologically work through the second half of the exam. Obviously everyone will have a different plan that suits them best. It’s good to aim to have 10 or 15 minutes to read through your exam and check your answers at the end, but don't stress if you run out of time for this.

Use reading time
Your exam plan should include how you want to utilise reading time. This is a golden 15 minutes, which you can use to alleviate stress within the exam as well as decrease the amount of time it takes for you to respond to questions. Don’t waste it! I personally spent the first 12 minutes reading through the short answer section, particularly focusing on questions I knew I would find challenging. Then I spent the last 3 minutes doing as many of the multiple choice questions as I could.

Multiple Choice Section
Be quick but precise with your multiple choice questions. If I was a little unsure of a question, I would answer it but note it down and then come back to it at the end. A lot of the time people are correct in the first answer and then change it to the incorrect answer. So if you have limited time left at the end, don’t change the answer unless you are 100% sure that it is incorrect. If you look at a question and have no idea, use the process of elimination to the select the best choice and move on. There is no use wasting precious exam time on worrying whether it is correct or not. Your best chance now is to move forward and smash the rest of the exam.

Short Answer Section
I used dot points for most of my questions. This helps you remain concise and also makes sure you are directly answering the question. It goes without saying that you need to check how much each question is worth to decide the amount of points and detail your answer will contain. If you freak out about a question or are unsure how to answer, write something down, move on and come back to it at the end. Don’t leave it blank as there is a possibility you will run out of time to return to the question.

Here are some things you should keep in mind when completing your short answer section (make sure you practice all these in your practice exams so that you are in the habit of doing them for the real thing!)

1. Use the data given: If VCAA provides data in a question (as a graph or worded), make sure you use it in your response rather than just providing a generic answer to the question. For instance, imagine the question asked you to describe allopatric speciation and gave you a specific example, which told you that there was a flood, causing a river to separate a population. In your answer, make sure you state that “the river acted as a geographic barrier” rather than simply stating that “there was a geographic barrier”. This ability to refer and utilise data is what truly separates the top-end students from the others. 

2. Don’t forget comparative statements: In a question that requires you to compare two different entities, make sure you use a comparative statement to essentially prove to the examiners you are comparing the two things.

3. Use key words: Before you hurriedly write down an answer, ask yourself what key terms you should be including (for example, if the question concerns an enzyme denaturing, it is likely that you will have to discuss a change in its tertiary structure which thereby changes the shape of the active site).

4. Plan your response in your head: Doing a quick plan of your response can really help you achieve the best expression. There is no use writing 3 lines of useless information that doesn’t answer the question. It wastes your previous exam time and proves to the examiner that you didn't understand the question. In the 2019 exam, there was only one 4 mark question, and I made sure I did a quick plan (four 1 word dot points) of how I was going to answer this larger question before writing it, enabling me to gain full marks. I suggest you do the same with questions you find difficult (but watch the clock, you don’t want to run out of time).

Familiarise yourself with the structure and types of questions
For the current study design, there tends to be 40 multiple choice questions and 11 short answer questions. Question 10 will probably provide you with about half a page of writing, which you are required to read through and interpret to answer the questions. On the other hand, question 11 is the experimental design question. Knowing that these types of questions will most likely appear on future exams can aid you in answering the best you can, while relieving some pressure as you know what to expect!


✩ SOME MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT MY BIOLOGY APPROACH ✩
(Remember, everyone has a different approach, there is not just one formula to success!)

When did you finish learning the entire course?
By the beginning of September.

Did you have a tutor?
No I didn’t. It definitely isn’t necessary to have a tutor to do well, although I suppose it depends on personal preference and how you learn best.

Did you attend any lectures?
I attended Andrew Douch’s lecture which I found very insightful both in how to approach the exam as well as providing key points to remember. You definitely don’t have to attend lectures and I wouldn’t go if you have a lot of other subjects to focus on. But if it is your accelerated subject and/or you have some free time in the holidays, it is worth going to one or two.

What did you do the day before the exam?
I did some light reading over my notes, mistakes document and read over some of the more important practice exams (the most recent VCAA ones). The evening before the exam I went to training for 3.5 hours which was a fantastic way to clear my mind. I suggest you also do something to help you get into a meditative mindset (but it’s okay to be nervous, I was too!).

What did you do after the exam?
It was really hot after my bio exam. I remember I went to get Mexican with my friends and practically borrowed out the whole library for the long weekend. Then I walked home and tried hard not to think about the exam.

Did you talk about the answers following the exam?
My friends and I decided we didn’t want to stress ourselves out by discussing the exam afterwards. Although I did look at the suggested multiple choice solutions on Atarnotes to check I’d gotten them all right.


✩ TO CONCLUDE, FIVE QUICK AND IMPORTANT SUMMARY TIPS ✩

1. Don’t forget your best friends (well, best resources): Use the study design and your teacher (they are your best friends).

2. Mistakes aren’t the end, I promise: Don’t stress about mistakes, everyone makes them, even those getting that 99.95. If you make a mistake, in class, a SAC or even the exam, take note, learn from it and move on.

3. Know the course inside out and a little bit more: Gain a specific understanding of the course (understand every dot point thoroughly) and don’t stray too far from the study deign. However, there is no disadvantage to delving a little deeper into some concepts and broadening your knowledge a little outside the course (on topics that are still relevant). It's super interesting and can be useful, even for the end of year exam!

4. Remember the study design (again): Annotate the study design to prepare for the big exam.

5. Love and appreciate biology: Try your best while loving and enjoying biology. It is a beautiful subject, so even if you don’t get the score you want, appreciate that you put in the hard work and because of this, had your eyes opened to just a few secrets of the biological world.

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So there’s my guide, I hope it proves useful to some aspiring bio students out there, can’t wait to hear about your journeys. Remember, these tips are given in good faith, but every VCE journey is different, and thereby, everyone studies, learns and achieves differently.

Please feel free to ask tonnes of questions below (or point out any mistakes), I’d love to help some of you 2020 bio students out just as the forums helped me!

✩ ChocolateMilkshake ✩

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Ionic Doc on December 21, 2019, 11:16:31 am

Wow thanks for this thread Chocolatemilkshake, great tips and advice.

I particularly like how you mentioned annotating the study design, that seems like a great idea and technique to refresh and consolidate everything. Whilst I referred to the study design a fair bit this year, I don't think it was quite enough, so I'll be sure to do that next year.

Thnx again and congrats on that 50  :)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: brothanathan on December 21, 2019, 11:52:41 am

Again, congratulations on the 50 Chocolatemilkshake! What did you do on the weekends for Biology during the school term? What was your go to revision routine for the weeks just before SACs and how did you mentally prepare yourself on the night before the final exam?

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: kasthury610 on December 21, 2019, 12:07:10 pm

Thank you soo much for your advice about how to do well biology in Yr11.Thank you again and also congrats on getting a study score of 50. :) :)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 21, 2019, 12:09:26 pm

Quote from: Ionic Doc on December 21, 2019, 11:16:31 am

Wow thanks for this thread Chocolatemilkshake, great tips and advice.

I particularly like how you mentioned annotating the study design, that seems like a great idea and technique to refresh and consolidate everything. Whilst I referred to the study design a fair bit this year, I don't think it was quite enough, so I'll be sure to do that next year.

Thnx again and congrats on that 50  :)

Quote from: kasthury610 on December 21, 2019, 12:07:10 pm

Thank you soo much for your advice about how to do well biology in Yr11.Thank you again and also congrats on getting a study score of 50. :) :)

Glad it‘s helpful, thanks Ionic Doc and kasthury610!!

Quote from: brothanathan on December 21, 2019, 11:52:41 am

Again, congratulations on the 50 Chocolatemilkshake! What did you do on the weekends for Biology during the school term? What was your go to revision routine for the weeks just before SACs and how did you mentally prepare yourself the night before the final exam?

Weekends for biology
I tended to write notes and do practice questions for the current topics we were doing in class. I also worked ahead using Edrolo + podcasts and took separate notes for the key information here (this is not necessary for everyone but personally it motivated me to fully understand what I was learning). Although this really depended on how much free time I had on the weekend, as I still had my five other year 11 subjects to focus on  and often was working or training (sometimes worked 9-1 and trained 1-5 on a Saturday).

Revision routine for SACs
Most of this I’ve already written in the guide. My favourite way to study was to work chronologically through my notes and other resources around 2 weeks before the SAC, as well as doing practice questions and consulting my teacher with any questions. The day before the SAC I went through my summary notes and mistakes. My main tip is do everything you can to feel confident so that you leave the SAC happy that you did your best  :)

Preparing for the exam the night before
Obviously there’s not much you can do the night before the exam, so I treated it like a normal day to keep me calm (the way to stay calm will be different for everyone). Like I said in the guide, I went to sport training 6-9:30pm the night before, which helped me gain perspective and remain calm for the exam. The next morning, I got up when I usually do (6am) and lightly read over my notes and mistakes document.

Hope this helps

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Mudasser.abb on December 21, 2019, 08:55:06 pm

Did handwriting notes take longer or would you say typing would help in the long run

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 22, 2019, 08:00:34 am

Quote from: Mudasser.abb on December 21, 2019, 08:55:06 pm

Did handwriting notes take longer or would you say typing would help in the long run

I think whether you want to handwrite or type your notes is a personal decision. For me, I decided to handwrite them, as it forced me to understand what I was writing down and decreased the amount of time I spent memorising later. However, if you have limited time, typing is significantly faster and can save you time.

Honestly, it really depends on what suits you best and what you prefer.

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: SS1314 on December 22, 2019, 10:33:15 am

Hi,

I am currently working on my notes and I am very confused on what information I have to includes in them. I use the NOB textbook, 2 company notes, class PowerPoints and Douchy's podcast to compile my notes. However, I am finding that some sources are lacking information that other sources contain. I  have looked through the Bio Study Design multiple times however it was no help as the dot points seem bit too broad and do not state the extent to which something has to be learned. Have you ever came across this issue? If so, how did you tackle it?

BTW The guide is amazing :)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 22, 2019, 01:33:33 pm

Quote from: jaysmith1133 on December 22, 2019, 10:33:15 am

Hi,

I am currently working on my notes and I am very confused on what information I have to includes in them. I use the NOB textbook, 2 company notes, class PowerPoints and Douchy's podcast to compile my notes. However, I am finding that some sources are lacking information that other sources contain. I  have looked through the Bio Study Design multiple times however it was no help as the dot points seem bit too broad and do not state the extent to which something has to be learned. Have you ever came across this issue? If so, how did you tackle it?

BTW The guide is amazing :)

Yes, this definitely is one of the more difficult things when creating notes. First of all, don't stress if your notes aren't perfect, the bio exam is about your knowledge and ability to interpret and answer questions, not how good your notes are!

When writing your notes, my tip is to use your instinct, ask yourself whether this is something you think you will need to know for your SACs and exams. If you don't think it's important, don't write it down. Also, remember, just because you didn't write it in your notes doesn't mean you won't remember it! Once I'd done the first few dot points, I got into my own rhythm and found it easier (the first few pages of writing notes are the most difficult). Furthermore, I used sticky notes to write extra points I may have forgotten and stuck them in their relevant places.

You say that the VCAA dot points seem broad, however, I believe that most of them are actually quite specific once you know what they are looking for. Something that helped me in understanding what each point required was using other people's notes. I'm selling mine for $20, but there are free ones you are able to download from Atarnotes (PhoenixxFire's are great and there are some others). Perhaps this would help?

Also, if you find that handwriting is taking too long and you are always worried about whether you are including the right things, then you could type your notes. This will save time and also allow you to add things later on or take things away you have realised are irrelevant.

Overall, just remember that by looking at all your resources and compiling notes you are learning. Your notes don't have to be perfect for this learning to continue  :D

Glad that the guide was useful!

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Coolgalbornin03Lo on December 28, 2019, 07:30:09 pm

Congratualations on your great score!
I was wondering if you could please share a photo of your annotated study design, I don’t really understand (stupid I know).
Also if you don’t mind me asking:
1. What sport do you train for?
2. And are you gonna work in year 12? You worked in year 11 and still got a fantastic score



Also you should totally make a VCE journal. Your writing is very interesting to read lol

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 29, 2019, 06:53:53 am

Quote from: Coolgalbornin03Lo on December 28, 2019, 07:30:09 pm

Congratualations on your great score!
I was wondering if you could please share a photo of your annotated study design, I don’t really understand (stupid I know).
Also if you don’t mind me asking:
1. What sport do you train for?
2. And are you gonna work in year 12? You worked in year 11 and still got a fantastic score

Also you should totally make a VCE journal. Your writing is very interesting to read lol

Hey, it's totally not stupid and I have attached my annotated study design below, hope it helps  ;) Annnnd the answers to your questions...

1. I do gymnastics, not super competitively (only train 8 hours a week) but because it's fun and I love it and I couldn't imagine my life without it.
2. Yep, I'm going to work in year 12 (I tend to only get 2 shifts a week so hopefully it's not too much to handle). I also am in multiple bands and go to youth group regularly  :).

I'm glad you find my writing interesting that makes me really happy  ;D. I've often contemplated making a VCE journal but was never sure whether people would actually enjoy reading it (and I'm not too sure what I would say in it?) but I suppose I could try it if people wanted me to.
Thanks for the congratulations!

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Coolgalbornin03Lo on December 31, 2019, 03:50:27 pm

Quote from: Chocolatemilkshake on December 29, 2019, 06:53:53 am

Hey, it's totally not stupid and I have attached my annotated study design below, hope it helps  ;) Annnnd the answers to your questions...

1. I do gymnastics, not super competitively (only train 8 hours a week) but because it's fun and I love it and I couldn't imagine my life without it.
2. Yep, I'm going to work in year 12 (I tend to only get 2 shifts a week so hopefully it's not too much to handle). I also am in multiple bands and go to youth group regularly  :).

I'm glad you find my writing interesting that makes me really happy  ;D. I've often contemplated making a VCE journal but was never sure whether people would actually enjoy reading it (and I'm not too sure what I would say in it?) but I suppose I could try it if people wanted me to.
Thanks for the congratulations!

Wow you really did deserve that 50! Maybe I might annotate as we learn stuff. I was wondering do you have many copies of the study design or do you write on the ones which you keep to look back at?

And *only* 8 hours training! I’m wayyy to lazy for that. I really want to keep my job as well which will be one 3-5 hour shift a week (sometimes fortnight). I hope I can manage as well.

I wish my church had a youth group! (You meant youth group as in church? If you didn’t I didn’t mean any offence by it :))

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on December 31, 2019, 04:02:53 pm

Quote from: Coolgalbornin03Lo on December 31, 2019, 03:50:27 pm

Wow you really did deserve that 50! Maybe I might annotate as we learn stuff. I was wondering do you have many copies of the study design or do you write on the ones which you keep to look back at?

And *only* 8 hours training! I’m wayyy to lazy for that. I really want to keep my job as well which will be one 3-5 hour shift a week (sometimes fortnight). I hope I can manage as well.

I wish my church had a youth group! (You meant youth group as in church? If you didn’t I didn’t mean any offence by it :))

Thanks so much! I had one copy of the study design throughout the year and then I printed off a few more copies to annotate when I was nearing the exam. Also, when writing my notes, I stuck the relevant part of the study design at the top of the page and ticked each point off as I covered it in my notes (see sample attached below  ;)).

I'm sure you'll be able to manage (good luck to both of us!). One shift a week is a pretty good amount in year 12  8)

Yep, I meant youth group as in church  ;D ;D

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: SmartWorker on January 19, 2020, 09:09:05 pm

Hey Chocolatemilkshake love your guide 🙃,

What was your first SAC for U3 about?

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on January 20, 2020, 06:18:37 am

Quote from: SmartWorker on January 19, 2020, 09:09:05 pm

Hey Chocolatemilkshake love your guide 🙃,
What was your first SAC for U3 about?

Thank you SmartWorker! My first unit 3 SAC was a practical report (but in a test-like style) focusing mostly on enzymes but also covering gene structure & regulation as well as a little bit of nucleic acids. We completed our first SAC before covering photosynthesis or cellular respiration in class.  ;)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: J_Rho on March 27, 2020, 05:44:05 pm

Hey CM! I just noticed you attached your annotated study design! How did you make the pages(before annotation)? Are they on A3?

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on March 27, 2020, 05:47:09 pm

Hey J_Rho  :)
They are actually on A4 (I just took a screen shot of the study design and pasted them into a doc, giving me room to write around it). But using A3 is a great idea as it will give you more space to annotate (and make it easier to actually read what the study design is haha)!

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: hbhangu_31 on May 05, 2020, 06:49:16 pm

For the summary error document, how did you write it out? Did you write questions your struggled within the textbook and practice exams or questions just from the SACs I am thinking to use this technique. :)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on May 05, 2020, 07:01:44 pm

Quote from: hbhangu_31 on May 05, 2020, 06:49:16 pm

For the summary error document, how did you write it out?

Hi! I set mine out using headers from the study design (eg. PLASMA MEMBRANES). Underneath this heading, I would write KEY information that I thought would be useful in the exam. Below this, I would have any errors I made surrounding this topic in practice exams and questions throughout the years. These errors were separated into GENERAL mistakes and SPECIFIC mistakes.

Quote from: hbhangu_31 on May 05, 2020, 06:49:16 pm

Did you write questions your struggled within the textbook and practice exams or questions just from the SACs I am thinking to use this technique. :)

Honestly, I only lost a few marks on SACs throughout the year and most of them were menial mistakes (forgetting to include a single word or being too repetitive in the conclusion for my practical), so I didn't really include SAC mistakes. Although, I definitely would recommend it, especially if you think you might struggle with the same questions later on or forget your mistakes! I also didn't do textbook questions, but if you have difficulty with these, definitely put them in.

Ultimately, find the way that works best for you! I suggest being concise and not letting it get too large though.

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: eloisegrace on May 06, 2020, 08:37:37 pm

Hi CM!

I was wondering if you found VCE Bio (especially 3/4) more interesting than biology in previous years in school. When entering year 7 (many years ago haha) I thought I would be very interested in biology, however y7-10 biology kind of turned me off it ahha.

Also, how similar is bio to chem. I am loving chem at the moment and I was wondering if this love would transfer into bio and how helpful doing the studies concurrently would be to each other :)

I'm sorry for the rather silly questions but I am considering picking up bio next year and would love your advice (congrats on the premier's award... my dream)

Thanks!
Eloise

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on May 06, 2020, 09:52:28 pm

Quote from: eloisegrace on May 06, 2020, 08:37:37 pm

Hi CM!
I was wondering if you found VCE Bio (especially 3/4) more interesting than biology in previous years in school. When entering year 7 (many years ago haha) I thought I would be very interested in biology, however y7-10 biology kind of turned me off it ahha.

Also, how similar is bio to chem. I am loving chem at the moment and I was wondering if this love would transfer into bio and how helpful doing the studies concurrently would be to each other :)

I'm sorry for the rather silly questions but I am considering picking up bio next year and would love your advice (congrats on the premier's award... my dream)

Hi Eloise,
They're not silly questions at all (and thanks for the congratulations!). I'll try my best to answer, but definitely get lots of other opinions too as you don't want to end up studying a subject you dislike.

I definitely found 3/4 more interesting than previous years simply because of the depth of the content. I think the only topics I'd vaguely covered in previous years were DNA/cell organelles. It was nice to be able to understand these topics in a little bit more depth (obviously still high school standard though) and be introduced to many new concepts too. Personally, I LOVED unit 3, especially immunology. I also enjoyed gene technologies from unit 4 but didn't really like the evolution topic.

It's a little difficult to compare yr 7-10 science to VCE science, as every school will do junior level science differently and the enjoyment factor can be more dependent on teaching style. Overall, I would say yes, the content is definitely more interesting in 3/4 (like most things are as they begin to get more complex), however, whether you will enjoy it more really comes down to personal preferences and what type of learning/content you like. Maybe ask yourself what you didn't like about biology in the earlier years, was it the teaching style? The content too easy?

In terms of similarities to 1/2 chemistry, I'd say there is very little overlap in content. However, what I do find is that the way I study for and learn chemistry is similar to biology (part of what makes them my favourite subjects). Loving chemistry does NOT directly transfer to loving biology, although the similarities in the style of class and the fact they are both sciences mean often people enjoy them side by side. What exactly do you like so much about chemistry? If you let me know I could tell you how applicable it is in biology :)

I'd recommend (if you have time) to check out some of the 3/4 content to see whether it looks interesting to you. Perhaps check out the study design or listen to 10-20 minutes of a Douchy's podcast. This is probably the best way to find out whether you will enjoy the content.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck with subject selection!

Spoiler

Really though, biology is the superior VCE subject and nothing will change this - no I'm not bias at all

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on May 07, 2020, 06:28:08 am

Quote from: Bsaini on May 06, 2020, 11:16:31 pm

Hey CM
I was wondering how your grades were in units 1/2(if you don't mind sharing them)?
Also, how did you set out your notes for each topic and any tips for setting your notes out?
Congrats on the premiers award  8)

Thank you Bsaini! In 1/2 I averaged high 90s (had to have a look back at my report  ???), however, grades for 1/2 really have little importance and are not necessarily a reflection on how well you will do in 3/4. I wouldn't worry about them too much, instead, just try to get into good study habits!

For 1/2, I just took notes off the powerpoints, as it isn't really too necessary in 1/2 to get extra resources or anything, especially since the exam is usually written by your teachers. In 3/4, I used the study design to set out handwritten notes, ticking off each dot point as I covered it in my notes. If you look back at this thread, you will see that I have included a sample in one of my previous responses, so feel free to check that out.

EDIT: typo

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: saraoc on May 07, 2020, 10:15:54 am

Hi,
Hopefully it isnt rude to ask but what kind of marks did you get to get a 50 and a prems! (CONGRATS that's so amazing btw)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on May 07, 2020, 01:30:01 pm

Quote from: saraoc on May 07, 2020, 10:15:54 am

Hi,
Hopefully it isnt rude to ask but what kind of marks did you get to get a 50 and a prems! (CONGRATS that's so amazing btw)

Hi Sara,

First of all, I'm happy to give you my scores but be wary of worrying too much about your results or trying to predict what your end of year score will be. Just try and develop a strong understanding of the subject and do the best that you can  8)

Scores

U3 = 48/50, U4=86/90 - These were scaled to full after exams. Also, it's not really your score that matters but your ranking, so the same SAC score will correlate to different levels of ability for different schools.

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Snow Leopard on May 17, 2020, 01:42:38 pm

Quote from: Chocolatemilkshake on December 21, 2019, 09:33:15 am

Did you attend any lectures?
I attended Andrew Douch’s lecture which I found very insightful both in how to approach the exam as well as providing key points to remember. You definitely don’t have to attend lectures and I wouldn’t go if you have a lot of other subjects to focus on. But if it is your accelerated subject and/or you have some free time in the holidays, it is worth going to one or two.

Hi Chocolatemilkshake,
Did you attend any of the AN lectures run during the holidays? If so, did you find them useful and would you recommend them?

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on May 17, 2020, 02:47:06 pm

Quote from: Snow Leopard on May 17, 2020, 01:42:38 pm

Hi Chocolatemilkshake,
Did you attend any of the AN lectures run during the holidays? If so, did you find them useful and would you recommend them?

Hi Snow Leopard!
I didn't feel the need to attend any of the bio ones so I can't directly give feedback on them, but I had friends that went and found them really useful! I think that if you have the time, there's really no downside, especially since they are free. If you don't have time or live too far away from the city to travel (although they may be online again anyway  ;)) then you can use the lecture notes they upload. I used them as one resource to help create my notes and and ensure that I hadn't missed any important concepts.
Hope this helps  8)

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: rohanghosh on October 23, 2020, 04:18:45 pm

Good thread. I agree with pretty much all of your advice sans the textbook. It is saturated with useless bs and is more or less an utter waste of time. Luckily, I had no need to isolate the relevant information as my teacher had already done that for me in his powerpoints. Once the knowledge base is there, it comes down to paying attention to technicalities in wording (eg. intact skin vs skin) and utilising key words in responses. Good luck everyone.

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on October 23, 2020, 07:30:33 pm

Quote from: rohanghosh on October 23, 2020, 04:18:45 pm

Good thread. I agree with pretty much all of your advice sans the textbook. It is saturated with useless bs and is more or less an utter waste of time. Luckily, I had no need to isolate the relevant information as my teacher had already done that for me in his powerpoints. Once the knowledge base is there, it comes down to paying attention to technicalities in wording (eg. intact skin vs skin) and utilising key words in responses. Good luck everyone.

Thank you! Yes I agree that using the textbook is certainly not necessary to do well and definitely has a lot of useless information for biology. I think it depends on what kind of learner you are as I personally enjoyed reading the textbook for a basic overview before actually studying the content. Although as I said in my guide doing textbook questions is relatively pointless.
And yes good luck to all those sitting the bio exam this year!

Title: Re: Conquering VCE Biology - getting a 50 in year 11
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on January 05, 2021, 07:28:05 am

✩ Answering your Questions ✩

Hi guys,
Throughout 2020 I had a number of people come to me with biology questions (which I was absolutely honoured to receive, so if you did come to me for help, thank you)! For anyone new reading this I got a Premier’s award in 2019 for biology and I really do love answering your questions; whether they concern the content or study techniques. Anyway, I’ve collated all the questions I was asked throughout the year and used the advice I gave to create a general questions document. Many of the questions are common ones and hence I figured that my answers could be of some help to future bio students out there. If you are one of those students, all the best with your studies and I hope you enjoy delving deep into this subject. I'm always happy to answer more questions - just send a PM or respond to this thread. (NOTE** I can be repetitive with my advice, especially if you've read my guide, so for best use of this post scroll down to the questions that interest you)

I did average in 1/2, do you think I can still do well in 3/4 or get high 40s?
40+ is definitely possible! Unit 1/2 marks are really only one indication of how well you can do in year 12. In fact, some people do really well in 1/2 and then not so well in the following units or vice versa. I’d say set a goal at the start of the year and work towards that throughout 2021.

I made a lot of silly errors in 1/2, can I still do well in 3/4?
Definitely. My most simple advice - do a tonne of practice questions and find the study technique that works for you! Also, consider, why did you get a lowish score on your Units 1/2? Was it a combination of small, silly errors, did you fail to properly read the question? Or did you lack a deeper understanding in some aspects? Reviewing WHY you didn’t seem to succeed will certainly help you reduce these errors in units 3/4.

I have a teacher that doesn’t suit my style (or teaches beyond the course), what should I do?
I also had a teacher which didn’t suit my style, that said, I was quite ahead of the class. I would teach myself the content and then use class as “revision” of that content.  If you do get a teacher who doesn’t suit you, I recommend working ahead of the class (if possible, it might not be if you are focusing on other subjects). That way, YOU’VE already studied the study design and the relevant information you’ll need to know for the exam, so you can distinguish between the pertinent/not pertinent information your teacher is giving (just be mindful, although they shouldn’t do this sometimes schools test parts of biology which are not directly related to the course in SACs).

How do I reduce unnecessary bits of information in my notes?
This is an easy trap to fall into so don’t worry (even my notes are too in depth and a bit too detailed). If you are the type of person who is inclined to write unnecessary notes, you MUST learn to be as concise as possible. Perhaps typing your notes would be a better option? This would allow you to delete the unnecessary stuff as you go along. Otherwise, if you do want to handwrite them, utilise the study design. Do NOT base your notes off one textbook structure instead, check the study design and then check you’ve written down only the things which are relevant to it. This will be easier for some dot points on the study design than it is for others. I enjoyed reading the Nature of Biology although I definitely wouldn’t say it is necessary for success. Given that you’re likely to write extra notes, perhaps read it after you’ve taken them? This textbook contains a lot of extra information that you will not need to know for the exam, so it’s important that you can distinguish between the two.

How do you determine what’s necessary to write down in my notes?
I wrote my notes based off the study design, taking the info or nicely phrased examples out of a variety of resources, including rewording where I could. I figured out what was most important simply by using the study design. Obviously it’s not, however, I definitely trained myself to omit unnecessary information. Before writing something down, ask yourself, will this be useful? Is this something that will come up on the exam? I’d say, examples tend to not be that important (unless directly stated on the study design), so if you are putting them in, try to be concise about it. Use sticky notes (if handwriting) where you can (eg, with questions, key info that you forgot to add before). Ultimately, you don’t want to spend too long writing notes as practice application questions are much MUCH more important to do throughout the year.

Also, I want to stress that just because you don’t write it down in your notes doesn’t mean you aren’t learning from it! I used writing notes as an active way to help my brain remember stuff (as after I finished writing my notes I didn’t do too much study on the content and just started practice questions). It was a way I could recall what I’d learnt in class with a goal-focused process (eg. I will have finished bio study once I have finished x y section of notes). This worked really well for me, however, this study technique does not work for everyone. In fact, many people do amazing in biology without writing notes, or perhaps using cue cards or other study techniques. So, don’t feel pressure to HAVE to take notes to do well. If it isn’t working for you perhaps you can find another way that will work better? In general, if writing notes isn’t helping you to remember the content (because you are not distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary information) then it’s not a good use of your time.
tl;dr; In my opinion it’s not worth writing notes unless you are learning in the process of writing notes.

How do I improve my expression in Biology?
1. Make a mistakes book (definitely do this for practice VCAA questions (once you have finished learning all the content around September), but you can also do it for other questions throughout the year and use it to revise for SACs.
2. Spend some of your time studying by going over common questions that you are likely to have to encounter and remember some KEY words that you will have to include. I'm definitely not saying you should rote memorise (please don't, biology is all about understanding) but having some key words you can pull out when answering questions is definitely helpful in preventing you from losing silly marks. For instance, a common question that was in practice exams, was in my SAC AND the exam was the steps in PCR. Prior to the exam, I ensured I had memorised the key words in each step (see below for an example)
1. Denaturation of strands (95 degrees)
2. Anneal DNA (55 degrees)
3. Extension of DNA (72 degrees)
This helped me to recall information quickly and triggered my memory for the other key points that I should have included in the question. I know you can't really do this with unique questions, but as you practice I promise you will improve and get better at understanding the key points that examiners will want you to include!

3. Look at the marking! I'm not sure if you are doing practice SAC questions or just questions in general, but later in the year when you start doing practice exams ALWAYS look at how many marks a question is worth. It will generally tell you the amount of key points to include.

How do I use my reading time?
In my exam for reading time: I read over all the short answer questions and got familiar with them and then in the last 5 minutes I answered as many of the MC as I could (around 7-10 Qs I think as the MC for my year were pretty standard).  I ended up taking about 25 minutes to complete the MC (not including reading time) and spent the rest on SA. If doing the MC in reading works for you go ahead although for me personally my short term memory is not that good and I found it better to read the whole exam and feel more comfortable with the SA questions. This is especially handy if there are a few tricky questions and you want to just think through them for a bit. I never even double checked the MC but full marked it so I think the trick here is to be super confident in this section to give yourself lots of time with SA (to be honest usually with MC you either know it or don't. Obviously there's always the chance of making a dumb error, believe me I made plenty of those in practice, so just make sure you mark the ones you are unsure of and come back to them at the end).

With multiple-choice questions, how did you generally do in trial exams compared to VCAA exams and what did you do when you found weird multiple choices in trials?
 I did the company papers first and then worked my way up to VCAA and saw linear improvement. At first I was probably losing 6-7 marks and at the end of the practice exams I did 1-2. When I found weird multiple choice Qs, I just tried my best using my knowledge of the content and when I got questions wrong I would go back and review them.

How do you go about answering multiple-choice questions? Usually, I use the elimination method but sometimes I end up with 2 answers that are very similar, how do you determine which option is 'the most correct'? Or do you have an entirely different method to answer MCs?
Yeah I used elimination method unless I was super sure of the answer (even if I was, I still crossed off the other answers to make sure). Honestly, there's no magic method that will suddenly make you good at MC, you just need to feel really confident with the content and expect to get a few wrong. Then always learn from your mistakes  Obviously, the more you practice under timed conditions, the easier they will come to you. Sometimes, it will just come down to having a bit of luck on the exam day too (eg. how well the questions suit you). Generally in biology the elimination method is rather quick but if it is taking too long you're better off just picking one and moving on.

How should I go about marking my practice exams?
1. I mostly just used the recommended VCAA responses, ensuring I had all the key things in each question. Sure they might not be the "exemplary" answers but generally if you include all the points, explain them well (and understand them) you're doing pretty good job and will get full marks.
2. When I marked my practice exams I highlighted each key expression that would get me marks. This was really helpful when I was going back over practice exams as I could really see what I was missing, or what was key in my answers. Rereading and understanding your mistakes on previous exams is vital in the last week or two before the exam.
3. Remember it's not english! As long as you are clear with your responses examiners will give you marks.
4. If you go over the lines that's okay (I did it in my exam) but generally try and aim for the amount of lines as this gives you a good guide for what you need to write.
5. Marking your own practice exams is a great way to learn (I marked all of mine) and then maybe if you are having trouble with expression for specific questions you could ask (on the forums perhaps)

Would you mind sending me an example of an answer you would write for a short answer question from a past exam? I am trying to evaluate how much detail is required above the examiner's report and how to structure them.
Okay, I just grabbed a question off one of my practice papers. I'm sure you'll find your own style eventually that suits you. Don't be too stressed about structure, it's not an english essay (thank goodness!), just get the main key ideas down. VCAA won't be expecting long, over complicated answers, in fact this makes it harder for them to mark. However, that doesn't mean putting extra detail in is a bad thing, just make sure it directly relates to the question.

2018 VCAA Exam - Question 1
Tryptase is an enzyme that is released, along with histamine and other chemicals, from human mast cells. Nucleic acids encode instructions for the synthesis of tryptase in a mast cell
Outline the steps of translation in the synthesis of tryptase (3 marks)
- mRNA carrying genetic code producing tryptase arrives at ribosome
- Two ribosomal subunits bind around mRNA creating protein-synthesising complex
- tRNA molecules carrying specific amino acids bind to codons on mRNA via complementary anticodons. Amino acids join together via condensation polymerisation.
- Polypeptide soon to be folded into tyrptase produced.

As you can see, I probably provide a little bit more detail than required, but still succinct and on paper, I have just filled the required amount of lines.

Experimental design! One of the parts of the exam that people find trickiest and I’ve had quite a few questions about it…so, how can I improve my questions in the experimental design section?
The best way to improve is practice! I'm sorry that I don't have one quick trick to fix it but exposing yourself to as many experimental design questions as you can is really the best way forward. When doing these questions I'd suggest...
1. REFER TO DATA: Always refer to the SPECIFIC data given in the question. The examiners want to know you have considered all the information they've given you and used this to come to a conclusion. So support your conclusions with evidence given from the question!
2. REVISE COMMON QUESTIONS: Maybe put together a list of "common" experimental design questions and brainstorm/note down the suggested responses you have seen before. For example, often you'll be asked for a limitation of the experiment or about errors. If you've been exposed to these questions and strong answers to these questions before, it will be much easier to come up with something specific to the experiment you've been given in the actual exam.
3. REVISE TERMS: Revise all your experimental design terminology (check the study design to see what you have to know) including all the obvious things such as dependent, independent and controlled variables, different types of errors, reproducibility, repeatability, validity, etc. Also, you can check here on the VCAA website for good definitions of these terms VCAA measurement terms
4. TIMING: Leave enough time! There tends to be an experimental design question last on the exam and if you find such questions difficult, it's likely that it will take a bit longer. Make sure you are thoroughly reading the question too (especially in reading time).
5. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS: For these questions I'd suggest closely looking at the suggested solutions and make sure you've exposed yourself to a number of strong, full-mark responses. I feel like this can really help you form your own conclusions when looking at a foreign experiment.

My mistakes are quite repetitive and frustrating, how should I go about reducing them?
If your mistakes are repetitive and involve problems with wording I'd recommend starting to record the patterns in your mistakes and memorising key words/phrases that commonly appear within such patterns. Obviously I can't stress enough the importance of application in VCAA exam questions. However, sometimes and unfortunately it is necessary to memorise a few key phrases or key steps to answering a question so you're not losing dumb marks for not including a phrase like "genetic variation exists" or "the tertiary structure is altered," etc. Another thing: don't rush a practice exam for the sake of doing a practice exam, of course this will lead to more errors. Quality over quantity - you'll find that this will automatically help you reduce your errors.

What was your revision routine close to the exam?
For my revision routine, around 10-20 days before the exam I went through all my past practice exams and annotated the study design with all of my mistakes (although this is just one way to do it so you might find a way that suits you better). I'd recommend against doing tonnes of practice exams for the sake of it close to the exam, especially if you're at a pretty confident level (doing topic tests that you find repetitive and easy will probably just make you lose motivation). I think it's great to smash out practice exams at the start of revision but closer to the exam I'd concentration on actual revising.

So, I shouldn't be absolutely smashing out practice exams close to the exam?
The reason I suggest that you shouldn't do too many practice exams is because I don't want you to burn out (or waste time).  Doing too many might lesson the quality time you spend on actual revision and reviewing mistakes. (That said, it does work for some people, so take my advice lightly). Another thing you can do is mark down the questions you've got wrong and then in a weeks time try redoing the questions, that way you're not wasting time answering the easier questions that you know you are going to get right.

What did you do between practice exams close to the exam?
In terms of what I did in between exams (other than marking them), really I just did revision (mostly verbal revision with others as well as redoing tricky questions, going through mistakes document, etc) as that's how I learnt best. Honestly, just try to find what works for you :)

And that's that. Have an awesome 2021 and best of luck in biology!