Biology 1/2 - Questions?

[geminii]

Hey everyone,
I'm going to start Biology 1/2 next year (year 10) as one of my first two VCE subjects. I have some questions on the overall subject as well as strategies to do well in the class.
So here are my questions:
1. What are the subjects in Biology? (Not what Unit 1, 2, 3, and 4 are, I mean what are the subjects being learnt in each of the four units)
2. What is the workload like? How often are SAC's, tests, etc.?
3. Is it basically just memorisation or do you have to understand one topic to understand the next?
4. Are there any ways to become rank 1 in your cohort?
And any other helpful tips would be amazing! This is one of my first VCE subjects and I'm very new to it so any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks 

[dankfrank420]

1. Unit 1 is somewhat helpful for year 12 Bio, unit 2 is completely useless. When I say "somewhat useful", I mean mainly the first area of study. The only concepts you'll need to remember are membranes, diffusion/osmosis, enzymes, neurones and homeostasis. Rest is just fluff.
2. Workload isn't too hard. My school does a few tests, but if you study it isn't too challenging.
3. There aren't many conceptually difficult topics, just a bit of memory is required.
4. Get the top marks in your cohort. Usually helps.

[cesaro]

I can add on to the answer of Q1 a bit: in 1/2 you'll learn about the respiratory/circulatory/urinary/digestive systems, the heart, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, transport systems in plants, enzymes, parts of a cell, diffusion, osmosis, living communities/ecosystems, mitosis, adaptations to survive, behaviours, reproduction, bio accumulation, flows of energy and foodwebs. That's basically all of the stuff I've done so far for bio this year. Its not really in order but hopefully it helps you!

[shadows]

In order to do you need to really understand the underlying concepts. If you ROTE learn, you will do poorly, since biol  exam is 90% application.

VCE units 1/2 does not contribute to 3/4 score. You basically just get an S/N (pass or fail) . So I wouldn't bother worrying about ranking first in the cohort.

Just enjoy the subject. Don't bust your guts over it. I know heaps of people who did amazing in 3/4 biol without even doing 1/2.

[geminii]

Thanks so much for all the help so far, guys! It's been a great help and I'll definitely use all your tips 
If anyone else has anything please feel free to reply!!