Bio Hl syllabus self study?

[IBsurvivor98]

Hey guys!
 

So the bio department in my school is basically a joke and I'm taking HL. My exams are in 2016 may and we haven't started the bio hl syllabus. You can see the predicament I'm in, I'd really appreciate some study tips. Any previous bio HL students that managed to get good? What do you recommend me to do to get that 7?

 

I look forward to hearing your input!

[anthropo]

Honestly, most of biology HL is pure memorization. As long as you go through the textbook and make very detailed notes on each topic and do as many practice questions as possible. The syllabus is absolutely crucial and make sure you know it inside out. A 7 is totally in your reach.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Aurelia

[beth-]

Just like aurelia said, Biology HL is essentially memorization. Do a lot of past papers and use the book, make detailed notes and do practice questions. If the teacher won't teach you, teach yourself. I know people who have done so in TOK, because it's basically treated as a joke at our school, who got an A. It's not ideal, but it's definitely doable. 

Know the syllabus inside out, know what you're supposed to know. You can totally do this.

[ToRevOrNot]

I have a good teacher and I still prefer to teach myself. I found this guy near the end of last year
 

https://www.youtube.com/user/misterleescience/playlists?sort=dd&view=1
 

and ever since, I've been getting 6's and 7's on tests. Choose the unit you want to study, makes notes on his videos, and study off of them. 

Edited October 15, 2015 by ToRevOrNot

[Guest]

Biology is not just memorizing. Memorizing might get you a 5/6 but a 7 needs in depth understanding. I think studying biology HL on your own is achievable, might make sure you can link different topics together. You will know what I am talking about when you study biology. They are all linked !!!!! And in past paper they really ask you some questions that you have never seen before and you have to link your knowledge together to give reasonable evaluations.

 

You will see, bio is not that east to get a 7.   To my knowledge, it is actually the hardest to get a 7 in natural sciences. (From IBO statistic ) 

[Joe109]

I have a good teacher and I still prefer to teach myself. I found this guy near the end of last year

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/misterleescience/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

 

and ever since, I've been getting 6's and 7's on tests. Choose the unit you want to study, makes notes on his videos, and study off of them. 

 

He is great, helped me a lot for my last test. I also recommend videos from Dan Rott. As for chemistry, I recommend videos from Richard Thornley.

 

Good luck!

[Daksh Saksena]

Honestly, most of biology HL is pure memorization. As long as you go through the textbook and make very detailed notes on each topic and do as many practice questions as possible (I have practice questions topic by topic straight from the IB questionbank if you need). The syllabus is absolutely crucial and make sure you know it inside out. A 7 is totally in your reach.

Hey Aurelia

Desperately need these practice questions.

Thanks!

[batool]

 

Honestly, most of biology HL is pure memorization. As long as you go through the textbook and make very detailed notes on each topic and do as many practice questions as possible (I have practice questions topic by topic straight from the IB questionbank if you need). The syllabus is absolutely crucial and make sure you know it inside out. A 7 is totally in your reach.

Hey Aurelia

Desperately need these practice questions.

Thanks!

 

Same here pretty pretty please :)

[allergictoalliteration]

I hear you. Until we got a new teacher this year, our bio class was pretty much struggling on its own.

 

There's a plethora of internet resources. They've helped me keep my grade in a 6-7 range.

Our new teacher uses resources from BioNinja and i-Biology.

I personally subscribe to youtube channels like Bozeman Science, Alex Lee (I see he's pretty popular on this forum too) and Stephanie Castle.

I find MIT OpenCourseWare and khanacademy useful too.

CrashCourse is helpful for, um, a crash course. 

 

But as you might have guessed, too much information is just as daunting as no information. I tend to keep the syllabus points next to me when I'm studying, so that I don't lose track.

I also do past practise papers like the others suggested. And when I'm marking my papers, I look for a pattern of mistakes. If it's related to a particular sub-topic, I revise that topic.

Oh, and gather a study group. A lot of my friends and I united last year over the panic and the complaining about the teacher.   We sometimes have many TOK-style debates about the Nature of Science portions. And we help each other out with the studying, especially the Applications and Skills.

 

Hope this helps!