Help on Self Studying Biology in Year 9

[trql.tea]

Hi guys,

My school has a pretty weak science department at school and they barely prepare us well for VCE Sciences which is horrible for me since I'm planning to take both Bio and Chem, having almost no background info on either. I know it seems a bit early to be worrying about this but I'm taking precautions on the possibility of doing an accelerate of bio next year. Do you have any suggestions on resources (like books I could borrow besides the textbook) or websites that have helpful information for someone beginning to learn Biology?

I would appreciate any type of response or advice !

[vceme]

Hi guys,

My school has a pretty weak science department at school and they barely prepare us well for VCE Sciences which is horrible for me since I'm planning to take both Bio and Chem, having almost no background info on either. I know it seems a bit early to be worrying about this but I'm taking precautions on the possibility of doing an accelerate of bio next year. Do you have any suggestions on resources (like books I could borrow besides the textbook) or websites that have helpful information for someone beginning to learn Biology?

I would appreciate any type of response or advice !

Hey,
I've had personal experience with this and I'm pretty sure I self-taught myself all four units of Biology. 
Things that I used were:
-Edrolo
-Bozeman Science on YT
-Khan Academy articles
-I would watch college lectures on biology....
-Looking at VCAA examiner reports
-IB Biology resources
-Exampro !!!!
TBH, I quite like the textbook.

Whenever your studying a topic, just google/ youtube it! Theres so much good resources for biology. The biggest challenge is just getting yourself to learn it.

[galaxy21]

Hey!
I wouldn't stress too much about how well you're school prepares you. Generally, you will go through everything you need to know during the course, and units 1/2 will give you a good framework to get ready for 3/4 too.
I would definitely check out the bio study design to get a good idea as to what you need to know. From what I have this year, as well as what I have heard, I would say the best resources are (and some of these will be available for 3/4 only):
- Biozone - heaps of great worksheets that you can do about basically every topic in the study design. My school did a few selected worksheets from the book, but I have heard of people who will do it from cover to cover to prep for exams.
- ATAR Notes course notes - I found these really good to quickly go through before SAC's to get a good overview of the topics. Some sections can be a little brief though, but it is definitely a great resource
- Connect notes - these are a little like the ATAR Notes book and it can be used in a similar way. Definitely great for 3/4 (not sure if they have it for 1/2 though...)
- Checkpoints - pretty sure that they do a 1/2 version for bio as well. Realy useful to get an idea of exam question structure to prepare for 3/4.
- Edrolo - I found this was super useful to get a good idea of the whole course, and its so easy to do. The questions that are integrated are realy useful too.
- Douchy's podcasts - pretty sure its just for 3/4 but you've got to listen to these when you get there. Like the edrolo, its so easy to do and you can do it anywhere!
- And of course, the ATAR Notes bio question thread is your absolute lifeline!

Theres probably lots more stuff but I can't think of it right now.
Good luck with it all and let me know if you have any more questions!

[PhoenixxFire]

Hey,
Given you’re in year 9, it’s probably best to learn the basics of biology first, rather than trying to learn VCE bio early if that makes sense.

I don’t know of any books that are really aimed at a pre-VCE level, but I do know of a few YouTube channels.
-Ameoba sisters. They address it in a way that you don’t need any pre-knowledge to learn it, but they also cover topics that you learn in VCE so it can be a useful base.
-ASAPscience. Obviously not specific to biology, but again they cover things in a way that you don’t have to have preknowledge.

If you want to learn things more specifically for VCE, I’d recommend looking at the study design (just google VCE bio study design and it’ll pop up) and then search on YouTube for videos about the topics you’ll be learning about (e.g photosynthesis, cellular respiration, mitosis, meiosis, etc).

You can also listen to Douchy’s bio podcast, I think he mostly explains things in a way that should make sense to you, but that’s specific to 3/4 bio so it’s not really something you need to know much about just yet.

[ssillyssnakes]

I'm only doing 1/2 currently, so I don't have much experience with the more advanced aspects of biology that are covered in 3/4 and beyond, but what I have done for biology (and most my subjects as I go to a Very low ranking school and the teaching isn't the best haha) is go through the textbook (you can find copies online for free, it doesn't necessarily have to be the latest versions) and whenever I find areas that I don't understand, or have some kind of required knowledge, I research them A TON and usually fall into a Khan Academy rabbit hole.

Other resources like Bozeman Science, AK Lectures, Douchy's Biology Podcast, Biozone, the ATARNotes powerpoints which you can find in the notes section are all really good too. You want to develop a solid understanding, and really have a strong understanding of more basic concepts because they are vital to being able to fully understand other concepts later.

A passion for biology is the most important thing to learning the content, what specific resources you use is less important. If you love this subject, you'll learn it regardless of the department your school has

Have fun!

[geek123456]

Amazing advice has already been given above and all I can do is thrown in some links that I found useful throughout the year

Douchey's biology podcasts(simply amazing):
https://biologyoracle.podomatic.com/?p=1

Free practice exam links(if you are very keen to bag that 50)
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=132863.0

Everything that you need for biology summarised in this very useful article(don't forget to click on the links)
https://atarnotes.com/vce-biology-34-2018-resource-megaguide/

AtarNotes free notes(too good to be true)
https://atarnotes.com/notes/?pag=1&state=3720&subject=4732&unit=3727&key=&sort=date

AtarNotes free lectures throughout the year(if you are on the forum, you will receive an email before them,free+extremely helpful= amazing combo)

The official VCAA biology website(all the study designs/practice exams and tips and tricks are found here)
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/biology/exams.aspx

Best of luck 

P.s some notes might be outdated as the study design recently changed so you might've to sift though them

[vox nihili]

Hi guys,

My school has a pretty weak science department at school and they barely prepare us well for VCE Sciences which is horrible for me since I'm planning to take both Bio and Chem, having almost no background info on either. I know it seems a bit early to be worrying about this but I'm taking precautions on the possibility of doing an accelerate of bio next year. Do you have any suggestions on resources (like books I could borrow besides the textbook) or websites that have helpful information for someone beginning to learn Biology?

I would appreciate any type of response or advice !

I really think you're taking the wrong approach to this. YOu shouldn't be trying to study biology nor indeed learn biology at this point. If you find it interesting, read a bit about it. That could literally be anything from a wikipedia article to a book. The best thing you can do now is slowly develop your love for this subject and get your head around some the basics whilst you do. Using the resources above for the purposes of directed study is probably unnecessary.