pandabear Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I'm a bit lost when it comes to approaching my science subjects. Both of my teachers in Chemistry and Biology are ones that expect you to learn independently. This is especially hard in Chemistry since I'm almost completely new to it. Up to this point I've only barely been passing and I need to do something about it. Just need alot of recommendations in terms of a systematic process that'll help me learn the material properly that I can use for the next three terms of Ib. How to take/structure notes, how to practice etc. Be specific and Thanks! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I would suggest that your notes be titled by sections from the book, or sections you make up to better organize it in your head. don't just write facts, write how each one is important. If you write out a definition, write reasons, examples, draw pictures etc. For mathematical based question, practice practice practice is all I can say. Get a whole bunch of similar questions and go through them frequently... Make sure your notes are very tidy and systematic, you want to be as concentrated as possible and have them as organized as possible. Also, before you begin doing mathematical based problems, make sure you know the theories/definitions by heart, but also understand what it is you know my heart. Than move on to the mathematical based questions, it will make more sense when solving them because you will understand why it is you are doing the steps you are doing. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 As you will notice there is no specific book that is made just for IB. Most are just suitable for IB. Therefore to actually narrow done your studies I advice you to go according to the syllabus. Make your notes according to the syllabus. Reason why? well examiner's aren't going to test you on anything outside the syllabus, plan simple By the way in most subjects its advisable to ready further to grasp the concept and for completeness. SO after making notes take time to read other books to go into a little more detail 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 ^^ What the user above said Work through the syllabus point by point and invest in the Course Companion books which are designed exactly for the syllabus. Absolutely everything you need to know and nothing more or less is in those. Once you've worked through them, you should be all set for the exams -- especially in Biology. For Chemistry you might want to practice on some past papers as well, because calculations and applying your knowledge is tricky! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I am not taking Bio so I can't comment much on that.I don't really agree with 2nd poster because I never write notes (in any class) unless it's not in the textbooks, study guides, nor in the handouts that my teachers gave. I do only if my teachers write something on the board.When your teacher is going through your textbook/study guide/handout, please highlight the important points and the definitions. This makes it easier when you study for tests/exams. If you don't understand anything, just ask or you'll regret this when test/exam comes and you don't understand anything. I would like to remind you that asking teachers is much better than asking friends. Sooo yeah...And yes Chemistry is hard. I hate Chem, too. Haha. If your basic is not that strong, I recommend you reading some IGCSE Chemistry books. I took IGCSE last year and it's quite helpful indeed in terms of the background, regardless of the quite huge jump. I can recommend some books if you are interested or practise with past IGCSE questions -- they are available on the net with the marking schemes. If you can do those, you should be more confident now.That happens. Everybody but 1 student in my Chem class took IGCSE Chemistry. That one student never passed and never understood anything. Then my teacher gave him extra tuition -- teaching him the IGCSE stuffs and now he is doing much better once he passed a test and we all were very happy Oh anyway, and I never tried studying the syllabus but I heard that's a good method, too. Many people do that.When it's a semester more to your real exams, I really suggest doing past IB papers so you will know the type of questions that usually come up How to study: read up your textbooks AND study guides AND handoutsHow to practise: just practise lah? do textbook questions or something Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat123 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am not taking Bio so I can't comment much on that.I don't really agree with 2nd poster because I never write notes (in any class) unless it's not in the textbooks, study guides, nor in the handouts that my teachers gave. I do only if my teachers write something on the board.When your teacher is going through your textbook/study guide/handout, please highlight the important points and the definitions. This makes it easier when you study for tests/exams. If you don't understand anything, just ask or you'll regret this when test/exam comes and you don't understand anything. I would like to remind you that asking teachers is much better than asking friends. Sooo yeah...And yes Chemistry is hard. I hate Chem, too. Haha. If your basic is not that strong, I recommend you reading some IGCSE Chemistry books. I took IGCSE last year and it's quite helpful indeed in terms of the background, regardless of the quite huge jump. I can recommend some books if you are interested or practise with past IGCSE questions -- they are available on the net with the marking schemes. If you can do those, you should be more confident now.That happens. Everybody but 1 student in my Chem class took IGCSE Chemistry. That one student never passed and never understood anything. Then my teacher gave him extra tuition -- teaching him the IGCSE stuffs and now he is doing much better once he passed a test and we all were very happy Oh anyway, and I never tried studying the syllabus but I heard that's a good method, too. Many people do that.When it's a semester more to your real exams, I really suggest doing past IB papers so you will know the type of questions that usually come up How to study: read up your textbooks AND study guides AND handoutsHow to practise: just practise lah? do textbook questions or somethingCould you please recommend some books =)? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahuta ♥ Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 For biology:AA study guideCourse CompanionThose two are the best you could get for biology. In fact the study guide a lot was enough to help me understand every point of the syllabus..amazing book.For chemistry:Course companionStudy guide Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 If you want to learn the chemistry basics,Chemistry for IGCSENelson ThornesChemistry MattersMarshall Cavendish EducationIf you want IB books,ChemistryJohn Green & Sadru DamjiIBIDIB Study GuidesChemistryGeoffrey NeussOxford Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumps Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 I have that last book. It's a ****ing lifesaver- it's got this chart for naming organic compounds, ****ing boss. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahuta ♥ Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 I personally do not recommend the third book. We had that in the beginning, but the teacher didn't find it that good, so she asked the school to change them and we got the two I mentioned above.Grumps:Yup that study guide was extremely helpful especially for organic! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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