3/4 Biology or 3/4 Health

[jesseprior]

Looking for opinions...

Really can't decide.

I'm more interested in people who take both and which subject they actually enjoy more and look forward too more... I am doing Biology 1/2 but not Health 1/2 and I can tell you, at certain topics it gets quite boring and I don't look forward to it.

Biology doesn't scale down but Health definetely does...

[sweetiepi]

Looking for opinions...

Really can't decide.

I'm more interested in people who take both and which subject they actually enjoy more and look forward too more... I am doing Biology 1/2 but not Health 1/2 and I can tell you, at certain topics it gets quite boring and I don't look forward to it.

Biology doesn't scale down but Health definetely does...

I've done neither subject at VCE level however you mentioned scaling. This shouldn't really be a deciding factor, in all honesty.
You should go for the subjects that you enjoy, and not just ones that "scale up"

[Sine]

I definitely agree with insanipi.

I did biology in VCE (not H&HD) - Scaling is there for a reason to make all subjects equal. Biology scales up 1 and H&HD scales down up to 4 points depending on your raw score. This is because biology is a much more competitive subject, as such it's much harder to score in the harder percentiles than health.

[Maya24]

I'm currently doing biology 34 and I did health 34 last year. I  loved health a lot more than biology. Health has that aspect of the humanities side, unlike biology.  I also liked how health was more English based. With biology, I found the content really boring and at times really difficult. Health has a lot more understanding of it while Biology is more about memorising.  If you are looking to study in the medical or science field I would pick biology over health as it kind of gives you an idea. Health does scale a lot but I find that if you are passionate about the subject the scaling won't really matter. At the end of the day pick the subject you are most likely to enjoy.

[AngelWings]

-snip-

Adding on to the opinions here. I did neither... but I know from experience that scaling doesn't mean good marks. (A reason I dropped out of Economics.) Heck, we have a bunch of people here who did subjects that scale down and still did ridiculously well (think 95+ ATARs). What you should really be doing is asking yourself these questions:
1. What do you enjoy?
2. What do you need for beyond VCE (e.g. prerequisites for uni)?
3. What are you good at?
The first two are important and the third is usually a secondary decider when things get real tough. First two will depend on your personal preferences. Although both Biology and HHD are not prerequisites for any courses AFAIK, one may become more relevant in the context of your intentions for the future. Want to do marine biology? HHD isn't so helpful. Want to do health science? Biology might be less helpful than HHD. Check out VTAC Course Search, the U3/4 study designs of these subjects and have a think about what suits you best.   

[jesseprior]

1. What do you enjoy?

I don't really know what I am going to enjoy, as I haven't sat in one clas of HHD yet, hence why I am asking other peoples opinion on it. I don't mind Biology, it just gets very boring and dry at parts of the year.

2. What do you need for beyond VCE (e.g. prerequisites for uni)?

I don't necessarly need either for beyond VCE, I am looking into studying Law.

3. What are you good at?

I have averaged B's and C's in Biology this year in Unit 1 & 2, however I have heard how everybody does so well in HHD which leads me to believe that I can do much better in that subject, however with scaling it may bring my score down alot.

[sdfg]

I don't really know what I am going to enjoy, as I haven't sat in one clas of HHD yet, hence why I am asking other peoples opinion on it. I don't mind Biology, it just gets very boring and dry at parts of the year.I don't necessarly need either for beyond VCE, I am looking into studying Law.I have averaged B's and C's in Biology this year in Unit 1 & 2, however I have heard how everybody does so well in HHD which leads me to believe that I can do much better in that subject, however with scaling it may bring my score down alot.

Hey jesseprior,

Seeing that you want to do law, maybe give HHD a shot? HHD requires a more humanities-based skill set (at least from my experience doing it, albeit under the previous study design last year) so maybe it'll be more enjoyable and easier than bio for you since (I assume) that kind of stuff is up your alley? Aside from that, maybe check out the study design and sample exam, and see if any of the stuff there interests you?

Link for study design: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/hhd/HealthHumDevSD-2018.pdf
Link for current study design's sample exam: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/exams/hhd/health-samp-w.pdf

[galaxy21]

Hi...its been a few days since you posted but I just thought I'd throw in my opinion.
I'm doing biology 3/4 this year, and health 3/4 next year. I'm not sure about next year but tbh this year, I definitely prefer biology over health. The content in biology that you will cover next year is as follows (you can also look at the study design)
Unit 3 AOS 1
Basically cells, how they function, and how they stay alive. Some of this is really just a continuation of Unit 1 - you will learn about plasma membranes and their components, DNA, genes and gene regulation, enzymes, and (what I dread most) cellular respiration and photosynthesis). It goes quite a lot deeper into how it all works compared to unit 1, however I found it a lot more interesting, however, this AOS, in my opinion, is the most draining.
Unit 3 AOS 2
This is all about immunity, and signalling molecules in the body. You will look at different pathogens (e.g. virus's, bacteria, etc.), and what they do in the body, and how the body responds to these. You also look at types of immunity (e.g. exposure to pathogens, vaccination, antibody injections, etc.), and malfunctions of the immune system like autoimmune diseases (e.g. multiple sclerosis), immune defficiency diseases (e.g. HIV) and allergic reactions.
I found this topic quite challenging at times, however absolutely fascinating to learn about.
Unit 4 AOS 1
This one is about evolution and biological changes in a population (basically how things change over time). There is a genetic component (relating a little to Unit 2), but then it goes a lot deeper into environmental factors that contribute to these changes (via natural selection), and you'll look at fossils and how they can be used to determine how long ago a species lived. The course also covers relatedness between species - so what defines a species, and looking at dfferent ways that species evolve. And finally (another favourite of mine) human evolution and how humans have changed over time.
While some of these topics were a little less interesting, a lot of the rest of it was completely amazing to learn and something that I really enjoyed.
Unit 4 AOS 2
This AOS is basically about how we can read and understand DNA and different technologies that help us to do this, as ewll as applying this to society more broadly, such as drug development, dealing with diseases, and the ethical, social and biological implications of this.
I found some bits of this really interesting, particularly the later parts of this unit.

Deciding between the two subjects needs to focus on your interests, and how this could benefit you in the future (in regards to the skills you build up, not just with study skills that may differ between the two subjects, but also (at least at my school) different classroom settings). I personally find biology to be a much more interesting and enjoyable subject (I found Units 1/2 a little boring at times, as well), but your choice must be around you, not the scaling or any of that.
Good luck