Looking for advice

[MelonBar]

I didn't do Bio in year twelve and I didn't do BIOL10004 like all the other kids in the first semester.

I'm doing BIOL10005 in the coming semester though, and I want to do the other 1st year biology subject BIOL10001 as well.

Given my lack of a bio background, I'm thinking I should probably do some study in the holidays.

So my questions are:

What would you recommend I do exactly in the few weeks that we have left.
Will I struggle too hard and is this ridiculous....


Thanks!

[Sinner]

I suggest you go over the following topics in BIOL10005, haven't done 10001 myself so I can't say much about that. Just read over the following briefly, and you'll catch on much more easily in the lectures

- Genetics (DNA, Genes, Alleles, Chromosomes, Meio/mitosis, Mendelian inheritance
- Taxonomy and Classification
- The different Kingdoms and Phylum (Protists, Phylum, Plants, Animals (Sponges, Cnidarians, Platyhelminths, Arthropods, Annelids, Molluscs, Echnioderms, Chordates)
- Ecology and Evolution

This is quite a rough list but it should cover the bases. A friend of mine did BIOL10004 without doing bio in high school, and he's doing fine due to his interest.

[RalphWiggum]

I did BIOL10004 without having done VCE Biology. There is quite a lot to cover. Although I can't give you any advice about the Biology subjects you wish to do, or whether or not it is "ridiculous", from what I gather you should definitely look over the content on DNA and genetics that was covered in BIOL10004. 

Khan Academy (on YouTube) is a good place to start!

[Christafa]

Hmmm. If you haven't done any Biology before the sheer amount of content for this subject may prove difficult - it won't be impossible, of course, and if you try you should still be able to do quite well. The toughest component of the course is definitely the genetics problems (although compared to future years they are really not hard at all) so my advice would be to do a lot of pre reading on Mendelian genetics. The toughest part of this course for me at first year was linkage/chromosomal mapping so I would suggest practising these problems over and over as they constitute a fair amount of marks on the exams (you are guaranteed a question on linkage). The two other sections of the course are quite easy and pretty much rote learning (BIOL10004 will have no advantage over you) so the genetics section will really be the most problematic! If you have any questions feel free to PM me or just post on the forum - many people here have studied that subject/higher level genetics so they'll be able to help!

[VivaTequila]

Learn briefly about Mitosis, but then focus really hard on Meoisis. Learn all of the different phases. It will help you.