John Lakers Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Which one is simpler to understand and will be the most helpful on my IB Biology Exam?Pearson Baccalaureate or the IB Course Companion from Oxford? Edited May 19, 2014 by Sandwich Please edit topics to add more information rather than adding multiple replies. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibcrying Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) I forget which is which, but I highly recommend the one that says "specifically designed for the ib diploma" on the front and it is completely orange. This covers every objective statement and helped me do pretty well on the exam I reckon.Actually, just remembered. The one I'm talking about is pearson. It is very well written and easy to understand for the most part. Edited May 19, 2014 by Gaby Please edit your posts instead of posting one by one Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imogen Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 I absolutely love the Pearson HL Biology Book!Straight and to the point with the learning outcome statements directly stated.It is a bit annoy that is claims it is "HL" then has the SL material in it that you don't need (one friend of mine accidentally studied an SL only option unit - ouch)I just did my exams last week for HL bio and if you can remember all the learning outcome statements given at the beginning of each unit area you'll ace the papers. Furthermore, I would suggest not just going straight through the textbook - do the chapters out of order so you aren't jumping around as much. That bothered me, it seems random but the first few chapters are SL and HL, then the middle part just SL, and finally back to HL. Group the topics up together.TL:DR Pearson Textbook FTW 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
au785 Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 As i've noted on the geography and math hl course companions, i dont mean to be rude or anything but they are not good.both have plenty of spelling mistakes, but the specially bad one is the math hl one. It explains stuff terribly and is not structured at all, and to make matters worse, it has a lot of wrong answers lol (teacher verified this)I bought the pearson one for math hl and its absolutely marvellous. I recommend those 100% Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I3lackAngel Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 You should definitely start with the Pearson one, as it covers more and explains the concepts better. The course companion is meant to be the companion of something else, which is why it is not as detailed and does not cover everything entirely. The course companion is good for revision and if you want to check that you know everything, or you could read it after having read the Pearson book. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
han24 Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 I recommend the IB Oxford Study Guide, it's so helpful and very easy to understand Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bude Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Get the Pearson one perhaps, but the Oxford IB Study Guide (revision) are really really good. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Wow surprised to see so many people recommending the Pearson book - I hated that thing! So thick and so much random content/blathering that wasn't really relevant to the syllabus. I found the structure of it a pain in the behind (not knowing which bits to try and memorise vs which bits to leave) and got fed up lugging it around. I thought the Course Companion was perfect, to be honest. Information-heavy and information-light in the places described by the syllabus, which is what you want when you're on a course with tonnes and tonnes of information - nothing extra!! It's not meant to be a companion to something else, there's nothing missing from it (it's a proper textbook - not a revision guide!) or extra that you need to get... it's the companion to the course! I think you're confusing it (above) with the Study Guide. The Oxford Study Guide isn't really intended as a textbook, more as a last minute revision kit. It doesn't really fully explain anything in there if you're looking for understanding, it's best as a memory jogger. Having said that, it is a very good condensed version of the syllabus. It's actually written by the same guy who does the Course Companion so you can think of the Course Companion as the full version and the Study Guide as the 'diet' version! Personally the Course Companion & the Study Guide are the things I would buy (if you need to buy your own textbooks). 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Player Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Agree with person above me, it's terrible, Im getting a predicted 6 without the book atm, using online guides, the pearson one is an utter waste. However the pearson chem and math book is probably the best. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BioNinja Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 I don't think the Pearson one is worth it for Biology, I used the Oxford revision guide and this website http://www.ib.bioninja.com.au/ib-home/ (also an app) - it has all the syllabus points for SL and HL (Despite the name, it's not my website or my app!) 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibsurvivor2014 Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Oxford one http://www.google.com/search?q=oxford+ib+bio&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JAB6U5nDE-X07AbYrYDwBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1279&bih=576#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=SGqVNzwrovZCgM%253A%3B-QzNTJs16lZEIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimg2.imagesbn.com%252Fp%252F9780199151455_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.barnesandnoble.com%252Fw%252Fib-biology-course-companion-allott%252F1110799576%253Fean%253D9780199151455%3B260%3B331best one in my opinion 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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