FINISHING BIO IN THE SUMMER HOLS

[tedescostudent]

Hey there, so I've decided to try to complete 3/4 biology in the summer, just to reduce workload and being a subject I enjoy, I'm hoping for it to be a bit easier. Just need some advice on doing this as I've only started getting into study habits (im going in year 12 in 2016). Also, tips on self-teaching for bio would be great! I plan on reading and completing the heinemann bio 2 used for 2016 and I've been hearing some topics are difficult or can't be learnt alone. If so, could you give me a heads up to which topics are more conceptually harder, so that I could spend extra time on them. Thank you, and if you had any resource recommendations that would be great 

[Joseph41]

Hey there, so I've decided to try to complete 3/4 biology in the summer, just to reduce workload and being a subject I enjoy, I'm hoping for it to be a bit easier. Just need some advice on doing this as I've only started getting into study habits (im going in year 12 in 2016). Also, tips on self-teaching for bio would be great! I plan on reading and completing the heinemann bio 2 used for 2016 and I've been hearing some topics are difficult or can't be learnt alone. If so, could you give me a heads up to which topics are more conceptually harder, so that I could spend extra time on them. Thank you, and if you had any resource recommendations that would be great 

Hey!

I didn't do Biology, so I feel a bit of an intruder here. But I have some points that you might like to consider:

1//. Completing an entire 3/4 subject in the holidays is a big task. I applaud your enthusiasm and endeavour, but this is next level sort of stuff, particularly for a content-heavy subject such as Bio.

2//. Holidays are to enjoy and are for relaxation. If this is how you wind down, then go right ahead. But VCE is a marathon, not a sprint, and I wouldn't want you to burn out. Year 12 can be taxing enough; essentially extending it isn't something that I wouldn't recommend.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discouraging studying as such. I just don't think that learning an entire subject is necessary or productive. Ultimately, my personal opinion is that it would be counter-productive in the long-run.

Unfortunately, I can't really help with the content side of things. However, the Engage Education Biology Wiki covers the entire course with notes, videos, cheat sheets, practice exams and 'top tip' advice. Perhaps that would be a good place to start.

Best of luck with your endeavours, regardless of what you decide to do.

[Joseph41]

One thing I'm confused about is what you mean by it being counter productive, so clarification on that would be great

No problem, thanks for the response. What I posted about may not be for everybody; I just wanted to make it clear that to do well, you don't need to start a number of months early.

By counter-productive, I mean this. I essentially did diddly squat in my Year 11/12 holidays, and I'm glad that I did. It was a nice refresher. Personally (important), that's what worked for me. I peaked at a good time. I think that if I started much earlier, I would have struggled a lot for the last month or two. As a result, I wouldn't have scored as highly on my exams, and I daresay I'd have not enjoyed Year 12 as much on the whole.

But again, that's just me, and I acknowledge that it's probably hard to judge without going through it yourself.

All the very best.

[Yacoubb]

Hey tedescostudent,

I did Bio 3/4 and your enthusiasm is awesome. However, I just want to maybe inform of you my experience with trying to complete Biology during the summer. I attempted to finish the whole course, but ended up only being able to get through U3. In fact, even though I got through unit 3, I only properly understood AOS 1, which for me was still really helpful.

My advice to you would be for you to work on finalising the first area of study and perfecting it; that way, you're not burning yourself out, you're working with quality over quantity and then you're ahead. During the school year you'll be ahead one area of study which puts you in a good position.

Good luck with your decision!

[zsteve]

Hey there, so I've decided to try to complete 3/4 biology in the summer, just to reduce workload and being a subject I enjoy, I'm hoping for it to be a bit easier. Just need some advice on doing this as I've only started getting into study habits (im going in year 12 in 2016). Also, tips on self-teaching for bio would be great! I plan on reading and completing the heinemann bio 2 used for 2016 and I've been hearing some topics are difficult or can't be learnt alone. If so, could you give me a heads up to which topics are more conceptually harder, so that I could spend extra time on them. Thank you, and if you had any resource recommendations that would be great 

A word of caution - it's always better to learn stuff PROPERLY and in DETAIL that to skim over it fast. Although I don't do bio, I did Chemistry (less theory, but similar course I guess), in the summer holidays I started studying Chem in earnest, not trying to rush through, but learning everything in complete detail. Result? I only got through analytical chem. However, my knowledge of the course was such that I didn't need to pay attention to the coursework set by school so I could move on to biochemistry and then unit 4. Finished the course in August.

Plus, you'll get bored if you finish the whole thing in the holidays

[sunshine98]

Firstly this is kinda not feasible. Actually I guess you could do it , only in a way that would mean you have a limited and inadequate understanding of the course.The bio course is quite extensive and you do require understanding and sometimes some rote learning.
Just as everyone else has said , if you are going to do it , do it properly.I was planning to do the whole unit 3 , but only ended up finishing AOS1, which kinda sucked because AOS1 is basically revision of year 11 bio.
Re :difficult concepts in bio
This is a list of things that I struggled with :
-immunity
-genetics (I kinda struggled with this initially but once i got the idea , it became pretty straight forward. )
-human evolution ( only cause I hated the topic and it entailed a lot of memorising , which made it more boring.But, as in every topic there are stuff that u need to understand in this topic.Also , the study design dot point for this topic is quite ambiguous , well in my opinion )
-immunity
-did I mention immunity ( k maybe I over exaggerated this , but it was something that took me forever to understand.And it was only after some amazing ppl on the bio thread explained it in a simple manner that I understood it )
And , I know u have probs heard this a million times but pls do have a break too.I wish I had enjoyed my holidays more.
Anyways good luck and enjoy bio( it is amazing )

[warya]

Dude, don't do it, you're meant to learn it in a year not 6 weeks

I did nothing in the summer holidays yet went well lol
enjoy your time while you have it I'd say

[TheAspiringDoc]

Hello

I just thought I'd add my perspective on this, even though it's obviously a different matter for each and every individual.

I've been reading summary notes on the 3/4 course (namely A+ notes and a few others) as well as watching a bit of bozeman and crash course, and I feel that this has really helped me see the bigger picture of VCE biology. While this method doesn't exactly provide the 'meticulous detail' needed for the exam, it means that not only can one do understand most exam questions, but it also allows you to make connections to later parts as you begin to thoroughly learn the start of the course later on.

Well that's what I think. Sorry for necro

[skybluemaniac]

Hey there, so I've decided to try to complete 3/4 biology in the summer, just to reduce workload and being a subject I enjoy, I'm hoping for it to be a bit easier. Just need some advice on doing this as I've only started getting into study habits (im going in year 12 in 2016). Also, tips on self-teaching for bio would be great! I plan on reading and completing the heinemann bio 2 used for 2016 and I've been hearing some topics are difficult or can't be learnt alone. If so, could you give me a heads up to which topics are more conceptually harder, so that I could spend extra time on them. Thank you, and if you had any resource recommendations that would be great 

I admire your enthusiasm and motivation! This is something that is important in VCE as year 12 is not a test of intelligence, but a test of attitude. Personally, learning the entire course over the summer holidays is a bit of a mouthful. Time constraints aside, you will be learning some things in January that you won't complete in class until up to 9 months later! You will most likely have a faded memory of the Unit 4 coursework you learnt in advance when your class finally gets there (which defeats the purporse of studying ahead). My suggestion is to learn Unit 3 AOS 1 in and out and also addressing areas such as photosynthesis and respiration where many people find difficult. After you've learnt the content, go to past third company exams (not VCAA) and pick questions related to U3 AOS 1 and practice your expression. Expression is key! You can know everything in the bio course inside and out but if you don't express properly and include the key terms you don't get ALL the marks! Once you've completed U3 AOS 1 you'll be weeks ahead of the class and this is when you can slowly read ahead. Being around one week ahead of the class is great as then you'll be covering materials twice! Don't get too confident about being ahead though, and treat classtime as revision and plugging up any holes in your knowledge instead of tuning out.....

As for resources, I used the heinemann textbook as well and found it quite shallow in terms of what it teaches. I suggest getting "the nature of biology" as a supplement (and I emphasise supplement, as it has quite a bit of irrelevant information not on the course) to address nitty gritty topics like photosynthesis, respiration and immunity. The A+ notes are also really good and I recommend getting them.

As for tips for self teaching, youtube is great! Hank Green does small episodes on topics in U3 AOS 1 such as enzymes and movement across membranes in his channel "crashcourse". I also recommend listening to Douchy's podcasts which are free and using Edrolo if your school provides this internet resource. Alternatively, if you would like to have a head start, I am offering tutoring services this year

Good luck studying for Bio! And I'm more than happy to answer any other questions you might have

[geminii]

As for tips for self teaching, youtube is great! Hank Green does small episodes on topics in U3 AOS 1 such as enzymes and movement across membranes in his channel "crashcourse".

I second this! I watch Crash Course a lot because Hank explains it in a way that's easy to understand, and his videos aren't dry - in fact, they're quite enjoyable! I find myself watching them in my spare time.

[_inspire45]

When people say doing the course "properly" - do they mean understanding every concept so that they are able to answer every single VCAA q, every chapter review q, and harder qs ur tutor gives? Especially for chem ^^

[geminii]

When people say doing the course "properly" - do they mean understanding every concept so that they are able to answer every single VCAA q, every chapter review q, and harder qs ur tutor gives? Especially for chem ^^

I would say so - if you've read over the notes/textbook but then in class you can't answer any questions, then you haven't understood it and you didn't learn 'properly' - or study hard enough/in the right way.
If you understand the info and you can apply it to questions, then I think you've studied 'properly'.

[heids]

I don't think you have to learn 'everything' - the deep understanding and dealing with tricky problems come later.  They mean that you have to actually learn the stuff - rather than having just read the textbook and being vaguely familiar with the whole thing, actually being able to recall and explain the decent bulk of the information.  Reading a textbook =/= knowing the content.