Any advice for biology 3/4

[PopcornTime]

Hi,

Was hoping to get some tips/advice from past bio students. Below are some questions that can hopefully benefit other bio students as well.

Should I aim to cover both units over the holidays?

Should I base my notes on exam paper?

What should I do to prepare for SACs?

How should I prepare for analysis task based SACs (for example data interpretation and analysis questions for enzymes or immunity)?

Thank you.

[gainster]

Enjoy your holidays. If you’re particularly keen just revise over experimental design and brush over the content in area of study 1.

[vox nihili]

Enjoy your holidays. If you’re particularly keen just revise over experimental design and brush over the content in area of study 1.

I agree with this.
Enjoy your holidays and worry about biology when you get back to school.

[PopcornTime]

I agree with this.
Enjoy your holidays and worry about biology when you get back to school.

It's just that we are starting bio 3/4 tomorrow (4-5 week head start).

[Sine]

I was pretty keen for 3/4 bio which was my first vce subject (did it in year 11/2015). Throughout the holidays I read through the textbook and made notes for the relevant sections and sometimes watching videos (I learn best from this i think) about anything I was unsure of. I think I covered all of unit 3 and maybe half of unit 4. I might've slowed down/stopped for unit 4 since I wasn't particularly keen on evolution and human evolution.

Pre-learning helps a lot imo (not necessarily score wise but workload wise) it kinda gives you a buffer in the year where you can actually take off nights/multiple days when you don't feel like doing any work. Just do as much as you are comfortable and happy with that may just been one area of study, a whole unit or even the whole course. I more detailed understanding of less content is definitely a lot better than superficial understanding of a lot.

I wouldn't base notes of the exam paper since you ideally don't want to be seeing those until you are actually ready/revising content.

For SACs I just did relevant VCAA questions and company exam questions whilst also doing the norm i.e. memorising content.

Hope this helps if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

[PhoenixxFire]

Given you have head start, towards the end of the holidays go over everything you go learn at school to make sure you haven't forgotten it.

[PopcornTime]

Given you have head start, towards the end of the holidays go over everything you go learn at school to make sure you haven't forgotten it.

Yep will do

[PopcornTime]

I was pretty keen for 3/4 bio which was my first vce subject (did it in year 11/2015). Throughout the holidays I read through the textbook and made notes for the relevant sections and sometimes watching videos (I learn best from this i think) about anything I was unsure of. I think I covered all of unit 3 and maybe half of unit 4. I might've slowed down/stopped for unit 4 since I wasn't particularly keen on evolution and human evolution.

Pre-learning helps a lot imo (not necessarily score wise but workload wise) it kinda gives you a buffer in the year where you can actually take off nights/multiple days when you don't feel like doing any work. Just do as much as you are comfortable and happy with that may just been one area of study, a whole unit or even the whole course. I more detailed understanding of less content is definitely a lot better than superficial understanding of a lot.

I wouldn't base notes of the exam paper since you ideally don't want to be seeing those until you are actually ready/revising content.

For SACs I just did relevant VCAA questions and company exam questions whilst also doing the norm i.e. memorising content.

Hope this helps if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

Thanks sine! Do u recommend checkpoints or any other question related books?

[Sine]

Thanks sine! Do u recommend checkpoints or any other question related books?

I don't really like checkpoints since they contain some mistakes e.g. copying vcaa questions wrong. Just try to get your hands on some commerical papers i.e. Neap, STAV, Insight and do the questions as revision throughout the year. So you don't really need to do the whole exam just relevant questions for your sac.

You can also write your own questions which is quite helpful because there is only so much they can ask you on a sac albeit can be worded in a way to confuse you. So as sac prep I would predict what questions would come up which really boosts confidence going into the sac. I was also fortunate to get my hands on old sacs for various schools which was also helpful in undertstanding the extent to whih some teachers will stretch the course.

[TheAspiringDoc]

From my perspective, I think it is important to look at one of the exam papers - maybe the 2016 VCAA paper in depth, early in the year. This lets you understand some of the formatting (although it is now a different study design) and the style of questions and how VCAA likes responses to be set out. Also look at the examiners report to see what the state cohort struggles with.
Other than that, I think for bio it's important to get onto your summaries early, and write them and complete them at least a week or two before your sac. I would recommend Connect notes as they are highly detailed and very well written. Always always pester your teacher (only with things that you need them for, don't be a real pest!). Get your teacher to review your answers to practise tests.
In biology, the content isnt that hard. Most people understand most content. I think what separates top students is the knowledge of the technical and minor parts of the content (like a solid depth of knowledge about plant defences to pathogens) and the ability to word your answers (I.e. Specific to the question and with the right number of dot points etc). Learn how to explain processes. Start strengthening your hand for writing early in the year. I didn't, and when I started doing practise papers before the exam, I got a wrist injury, and as a result I only got to do 5 practise exams LOL.
Best of luck with biology.

[Bri MT]

I found it really useful to do practice questions by topic throughout the entire year as soon as I have covered it.
Over the holidays I would make sure you have a solid foundation on biomacromolecules, diffusion & the plasma membrane.
You certainly don't need to cover the entire course, although prelearning tends to be useful


The only books I had were both on my school's booklist - Nature of Biology & StudyOn
When you use any resources it's important to refer back to the study design and VCAAs requirements

[PopcornTime]

I found it really useful to do practice questions by topic throughout the entire year as soon as I have covered it.
Over the holidays I would make sure you have a solid foundation on biomacromolecules, diffusion & the plasma membrane.
You certainly don't need to cover the entire course, although prelearning tends to be useful


The only books I had were both on my school's booklist - Nature of Biology & StudyOn
When you use any resources it's important to refer back to the study design and VCAAs requirements

Thank you!

I don't really like checkpoints since they contain some mistakes e.g. copying vcaa questions wrong. Just try to get your hands on some commerical papers i.e. Neap, STAV, Insight and do the questions as revision throughout the year. So you don't really need to do the whole exam just relevant questions for your sac.

You can also write your own questions which is quite helpful because there is only so much they can ask you on a sac albeit can be worded in a way to confuse you. So as sac prep I would predict what questions would come up which really boosts confidence going into the sac. I was also fortunate to get my hands on old sacs for various schools which was also helpful in undertstanding the extent to whih some teachers will stretch the course.

Thanks heaps!

From my perspective, I think it is important to look at one of the exam papers - maybe the 2016 VCAA paper in depth, early in the year. This lets you understand some of the formatting (although it is now a different study design) and the style of questions and how VCAA likes responses to be set out. Also look at the examiners report to see what the state cohort struggles with.
Other than that, I think for bio it's important to get onto your summaries early, and write them and complete them at least a week or two before your sac. I would recommend Connect notes as they are highly detailed and very well written. Always always pester your teacher (only with things that you need them for, don't be a real pest!). Get your teacher to review your answers to practise tests.
In biology, the content isnt that hard. Most people understand most content. I think what separates top students is the knowledge of the technical and minor parts of the content (like a solid depth of knowledge about plant defences to pathogens) and the ability to word your answers (I.e. Specific to the question and with the right number of dot points etc). Learn how to explain processes. Start strengthening your hand for writing early in the year. I didn't, and when I started doing practise papers before the exam, I got a wrist injury, and as a result I only got to do 5 practise exams LOL.
Best of luck with biology.

Thanks for the advice

MOD EDIT: merged triple post

[vox nihili]

Thank you!

Thanks heaps!

Thanks for the advice

MOD EDIT: merged triple post

Hey there!

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[PhoenixxFire]

-although it seems rude, it’s not always necessary to thank everyone. It’s a bit frustrating to follow a post only to see that the new thing popping up is a stream of thank yous. Maybe leave them until you have something else you want to ask? (This is something I find frustrating sometimes because I feel rude!)

A +1 works as a thank you too

[mtDNA]

Should I aim to cover both units over the holidays?
Should I base my notes on exam paper?
What should I do to prepare for SACs?
How should I prepare for analysis task based SACs (for example data interpretation and analysis questions for enzymes or immunity)?

1) No, I can assure you that you won’t even have the time to go through the entire course (and if you do, then you probably haven’t learnt U3 properly). Just go through AoS1 of U3, which will cover your basis in term 1. That way, you can focus on questions in term 1 instead of doing notes, and then each holiday you continue to do notes for the subsequent Area of Studies.

2) Base your notes on your textbook and other resources, worry about exam papers later in the year. You can refine your expression throughout the year when you encounter practise questions, and make notes of these later. For now, just make sure you know the content.

3) Do practise questions! I recommend things like checkpoints, but I know there are other resources which you can get questions from (for instance, Atar Notes offer a similar resource, but I haven’t seen/used this so I’m not sure what it’s like).

4) Worry about SACs in the year; your teachers will explain it. For now, just ensure you know the content for AoS1 for U3.

Apart from that - ENJOY YOUR BREAK! The last thing you want to do is burn out, so make sure you keep the study to a minimum, because it’s super important to rest up before the new year begins!

Hope this helps