should I continue doing BIOLOGY

I just did the 3/4 last year... without the 1/2 - and I found it ok..... It's not 'extremely difficult' - but can be challenging at times. Lots of memorisation is involved - and developing formulaic responses (with key words) to questions is the only way to do well.

Make sure you do lots of 'exam type questions', mark your own work - and make sure to 'tick all the boxes'. (We used the edrolo textbook in y12 - which helped a lot with this). You will also need to get your head around 'key science skills' - including knowing the definitions of 'accuracy/precision/etc...' off by heart - and being able to find the IV/DV/Controlled Variables etc... as well as ways to improve experiments.

My number 1 tip for all subjects (in y12); is Never - ever - take notes directly from the teacher's slides. Always take if from the textbook first - and then add anything extra they may have included. Teachers tend to either leave stuff out, or make mistakes.... So the best way to learn the content is to use the textbook.

Make sure to work ahead - and practice under timed conditions. This is where a lot of people struggle....

I suggest flashcards - and printing off diagrams/etc... and sticking them around your room. I also would highly recommend getting ahead during the holidays... and throughout the year. (Try and finish the course early)

Douchy's Biology podcast can be great too! I think he's just uploaded a new one for the current study design! Highly recommend his work.

Ummmm.... Yeah! Good luck with what you choose Hope nxt year goes well 4 u!

Personally, Biology has 3 main cons, and 1 (BIG but conditional) pro.

Ok, so the cons:

1. The marking rubrics of assessment tasks are painstakingly pedantic, they are not forgiving and pretty soon every SAC will feel like treading through a mine field. To give you an example: In a recent past VCAA exam students lost a whole mark if they said "skin" instead of "intact skin". You have to be methodical, as God mentioned.

2. Biology is highly competitive. It is a popular subject to accelerate. Year 11s doing 3/4 Biology will have much more time to allocate to the subject and are quite competitive. In my experience they generally outperform their Year 12 counterparts in the subject.

3. The subject's scaling is actually pretty poor compared to the work you must put into the subject. Mainly because there are many concepts to learn and memorise, and the (generally) good performance of Year 11s.

Biology's only and biggest pro (again, in my opinion), is the actual content!

The subject is very enjoyable if you truly have a passion/interest in the field. Many things you learn can be applicable for your entire life, regardless of your profession, these are generally things relating to the human body (e.g. Immune System, Vaccines, Metabolic Processes...etc.). Here I am wishing that VCAA had kept Cellular Signals in the course but alas, it was not meant to be !

This is why it is a conditional pro, there is a big IF involved. So here are my final two cents for everyone considering 3/4 Biology:

• IF you do not have a passion/interest in Biology, Units 3/4 will likely be a rough experience.
• IF you do have a passion/interest in Biology, I highly recommend it!