Introduction
“Wah you taking H2 Bio and Chem? Good luck sia, you confirm memorize until die one.” – Friend from my JC days who took H2 Physics. Joke’s on her, I survived and did well enough to continue pursuing biological research as my career. She wasn’t entirely wrong about A-Level Biology and Chemistry being the killer combo though.
I remember comparing my JC-provided notes with her’s, her year’s worth of physics notes came to be the same thickness as a term’s worth of biology notes for me. Perhaps it was at that moment I realised what kind of a monster I was facing when I decided I was going to specialise in Biology.
However, nearly a decade later, I would like to tell my younger self (and you who are reading this post) that A-Levels Biochem really isn’t that bad, as long as you have a strong foundation, exam tricks and most importantly, common sense.
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If you’re reading this post (and other posts that were uploaded on this blog), then I’d guess you are taking A-Level Biology and most probably A-Level Chemistry. These two topics usually come as a package deal, as their contents play off each other. For example, understanding intermolecular bonds such as hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds and covalent bonds is key to grasping protein structure, folding and interactions.
This is just one of many ways science subjects connect and intertwine with each other. In fact, all branches of science (no matter which branch you choose to subscribe to) are linked in their shared goal of understanding the structure and behaviour of the natural world.
I’m not going to lie, neither is it my intention to scare you off this path, but the A-Level curriculum only scratches the surface of a vast scientific world. Even though it is just a blip in the grander scheme of things, that’s still a lot of information to be crammed within 2 years! Because of this, many students end up focusing too much on trying to memorize content that they miss the bigger picture, and fail to make connections between topics and subjects that they are concurrently studying.
This results in overloading of information, and also A-Level biology’s harsh reputation for being the “just memorise” subject. In this article, I hope to show you that it doesn’t have to be all hardcore memorisation and regurgitation of answers.
How to survive the content-heavy A-Level curriculum
The A-Level curriculum aims to prepare students for university-level curriculum, and also bridge the gap between O-Level and university. I guess that’s why JCs and Polytechnics are referred to as Pre-U on our concession cards. That’s a pretty big jump, and a lot of content has to be crammed into you during your 2-3 years in JC.
With that being said, it’s no wonder I look back on my JC years and remember nothing much other than lecturers continuously pouring information without any breaks. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t help ourselves to make life easier!
Learn to connect the dots instead of memorizing answers
Remember, many things in science are connected, and you don’t always need to have someone dictate to you what those connections are. Once you have a strong foundation of basic concepts, you can exercise your rational thought to draw connections between topics on your own.
Being able to reason your way towards your answer is always much more efficient than trying to cram model answers in your head. For example, here is an example of how you can reason your way towards a logical answer:
Question: What are the consequences of genetic mutations?
Me: A genetic mutation means there is a change in the sequence coding for a protein. A change in sequence would result in a change in mRNA sequence transcribed, and hence a difference in codon.
There are several tRNAs that can code for the same amino acid, so this mutation may not result in any change in amino acid sequence, and the protein would still fold normally and maintain its function. (Silent mutation) If the change in codon results in a change in amino acid sequence, such a change could either encode a different amino acid, or encode the stop codon itself.
If a different amino acid is coded for, the protein’s folding and function may be affected. (Missense mutation) If the codon encoded is the stop codon, the translation of the protein stops and the protein is truncated and likely non-functional.
A little more about the Science of Studying Tuition
The Science of Studying provides live online tuition via Zoom classes for Combined Chemistry, Combined Biology, Pure Chemistry, Pure Biology, JC Chemistry and JC Biology. To date, we have taught more than 800 students over 12 years.
In case you are wondering, yes – there is a science behind studying! At Science of Studying, we use our SOS System™️ to teach our classes so that even last-minute students can see remarkable improvements in their grades – without mind-numbing memorisation of textbooks and without the drudgery of doing numerous assessment books.
The SOS system™️ guides students through an effective process of:
– Understanding key concepts
– Applying the concepts through smart, targeted practice.
– Learning to avoid common ‘traps’ set by examiners
– Learning exam-smart answering techniques for each topic
– Overcoming tricky exam questions
All these conducted in a fun, interactive, stress-free online environment.
If you need help with your Chemistry and Biology subjects, do reach out to us and we will see what we can do to help.
Website: https://thescienceofstudying.com/
Admin number: +65 88082348
A thought process that connects the dots will save you not only if you blank out during an exam, it also saves you some effort in memorising the model answer since you’d be able to arrive at the same answer yourself.
Make your notes compact
Since you don’t have to memorise every single detail, that brings me to the second point – note-taking. It’s essential for all students, and your school’s notes already contain everything you need to ace your exams. This is especially true for biology, where almost every sentence in your textbook seems like it could turn into a surprise exam question! But, do you really need to know every line in your notes? Instead of spending hours searching through endless notes for the perfect answer, it’s far more efficient to focus on understanding basic concepts and using logic to work your way to the answer. However, to do this successfully, you need a strong grasp of the fundamentals.
An exercise I did during JC and university was to compress an entire topic’s worth of notes into a single A4 sheet of paper. My tiny handwriting helped, but this exercise forced me to evaluate which pieces of information were truly important. If I felt like I would be able to figure it out on the fly, then I wouldn’t write it down. At the end of the day, I was left with a small stack of A4 papers that succinctly summarized the entire syllabus. I couldn’t bring these notes into the exam hall, but memorizing this small stack of papers surely beats trawling through the mountains of notes that the school provides.
If you need help with notes, check out our Science of Studying A-Level Notes:
Learn to use your resources well
“Let me teach you guys how to cheat.” – My JC chemistry teacher said during a lesson on redox. By then, we could balance redox reactions based on oxidation numbers, but it was tedious. My teacher’s trick was to simply refer to the data booklet which had the standard electrode potential and redox potentials. Almost every half reaction you could ever need was already there, just balance the elections, and you’re done!
I remember wondering why other chemistry teachers never emphasized how useful the data booklet was beyond calculating electrochemical potentials. Upon closer inspection, I realised that the data booklet was a treasure trove of information, and can aid in understanding trends. The periodic table, bond energies and electrode potentials in the data booklet provide insights into chemical reactivity, stability and periodic trends at a glance. So, I encourage you to explore your official data booklet, it’s way more than just a reference tool. You might just come across more shortcuts to make your life easier!
Use your logical mind to break questions down
“Science is actually just a lot of common sense.” – My Primary 3 Science teacher who was tasked with teaching a (then) foreign and complicated concept to us. It’s very true, especially back then when we were trying to figure out the natural world for the first time. In previous pointers, we’ve already discussed ways to minimize memorization and the importance of connecting concepts. However, none of these would work without common sense.
The long structured questions in paper 3 would require creative usage and application of your knowledge. We have emphasized the importance of having reasoning skills to bridge the logical gap between your syllabus and the answer. During this process of reasoning, it is important to stay calm and take baby steps at a time, using common sense to slowly jump from one concept to another related one to eventually arrive at your answer.
Paper 4 is a complete wildcard, as there would be no way any syllabus would be able to predict what kind of experiment you will be tasked with. Here, scientific inquiry is key, as you will have to apply theoretical knowledge to tangible experimental results. This might seem daunting, especially if it is your first time faced with a new experiment. However, always remember that experiments are simply science in action IRL, a reflection of theories that you have already learned. Hence, have some common sense and observe your experimental results. What is this change? How is it related to theory? The reaction between this enzyme and substrate seems to be producing bubbles, does this enzyme catalyse the formation of a gaseous product? It is crucial to use some common sense to bridge the gap between your experimental results and theory.
How to study over the year
First and foremost, your JC years mark the beginning of your youth! You’re 17-18 years old, have plenty of energy, yet you are doomed to cram for your A-Levels? Not necessarily. We’ve already discussed how connecting key concepts across topics leads to a deeper, more holistic understanding of the syllabus. Hence, it’s crucial to stay humbly curious and open-minded throughout your school year, constantly linking new ideas to what you’ve already learned. Over the year, take some time out everyday (even 10 minutes is better than nothing!) to review what you’ve learned and think about how this is related to your existing knowledge. As the exams approach, focus on extrapolating your knowledge, and think about how the various topics interconnect and reinforce each other. This approach not only makes studying more effective but also helps you to truly understand rather than simply memorize. But in the meantime, remember to enjoy your youth! Go hang out with your friends, take part in extracurricular activities, just don’t spend all your time blindly memorizing content for the sake of acing your exams.
What to do in the exam hall
When in the exam hall, it’s time to show the examiners your understanding of the syllabus! However, for the examiners to truly appreciate your intellect, you will need to know how to
communicate with your examiners and make sure that they understand what you are trying to say. For biology, this may be difficult due to the more “open-ended” nature of answers. Everyone also has a different way of describing something, and your way of writing may not translate to the correct answer to your examiners. Hence, the syllabus writers expect the usage of proper terminology, or “keywords and phrases” that when used correctly, demonstrate your understanding of the question and thus award you your marks. Let’s use the previous question as an example. This question would likely be an essay question in paper 3.
Question: What are the consequences of genetic mutations?
My Answer: A genetic mutation results in a change of the DNA sequence encoding a protein. This change would result in a change in mRNA sequence transcribed, and hence a difference in codon, which would cause difference during translation of mRNA. During translation, there are several tRNAs that can code for the same amino acid, and the change in codon may not result in any change in amino acid sequence. Hence, the protein would still fold normally and maintain its function. This mutation would be known as a silent mutation. If the change in codon results in a change in amino acid sequence, such a change could either encode a different amino acid, or encode the stop codon itself. If a different amino acid is coded for, the protein’s folding and function may be affected, resulting in a missense mutation. If the codon encoded is the stop codon, a nonsense mutation has occurred, the translation of the protein stops and the protein is truncated and likely non-functional.
I have highlighted the key phrases in bold. These phrases would be sufficient to convey your understanding of the question to the examiner. You can think of key words/phrases as “official” words that are used to convey ideas across people from various backgrounds. How would you know what and when to use your keywords/phrases? That’s what we hope to teach you over the coming articles, and as your understanding of the concepts deepen, you would be able to use these keywords to express yourself.
Thankfully, chemistry is a lot more lenient on the open-endedness of your answer. Most chemistry questions involve calculations which have one answer, so your answer would not be easily misunderstood by the examiners. Even though the open-ended answers in chemistry may still be short compared to biology, do remember to use proper terminology and your keywords.
Most importantly, stay calm in the exam hall. The answers to your questions are closer than you think, and if you’ve studied well, the answers can be extrapolated from the basic skills that you have (hopefully) mastered. Just remember your connections and reference materials, and find your way towards the answer.
A level biology and chemistry in the grander scheme of things
As previously mentioned, A-Level biology and chemistry only offer a tiny glimpse into a vast world of scientific inquiry. If you do choose to pursue biology or chemistry in university, you’d realise that the content you learn over your A-Levels remains highly relevant and will set you up for your first few foundational courses in university. Apart from the “death memorization” aspect of A-Level Biology and Chemistry combination, students are expected to become critical and efficient thinkers, skills that will guide them for the rest of their life. But in the meantime, we’re here to make your A-Levels journey a little bit more enjoyable, and wish you all the best surviving these two years.
