Biology is a science of living beings where we come to know about the world around us from the giant organism to the microscopic organisms which we fail to see with our naked eyes. It is also known as “natural science” where you learn to know about all the living organisms including their structure, function, their habitat, taxonomy and many other things.
In order to learn biology, first you have to learn to love the world around you. The best way to make your learning easy is to fall in love with nature, try to explore it more and more until you reach the depth and get the desired result that you want. Learning Biology is not so tough if you understand the basics of life because you can see different kinds of living beings from the morning till the time you retired yourself to bed.
To learn a biological process, it is most important to prepare for certain questions like what is that process. Why is it important? How can it be implemented in one’s life? If it can’t be implemented in real life then what is the reason behind it? What are the conditions require for this process and many more similar questions? So if you want to excel in Biology exam, you have to give attention to all the detail and the hidden facts behind it.
Although, Biology is not an easy subject, but you can reduce its complexities by focusing on certain techniques that will make your learning easier.
Here, I am going to discuss 10 most unique techniques to learn biology for your exams that will make you learn them within shortest possible time.
10 unique ways to learn biology
- Friendship with terminology-
The subject Biology is full of terms which are the basics of the subject so unless you make these terms clearly settled down in your brain, Biology will keep sounding difficult to you. So, the quickest way to learn biology is to learn the terminology by heart. Make notes of each and every term that you face while going through a chapter, finds its definition and read it loudly to understand each and every word of that definition. For instance, you are going through the chapter cell so you must be clear with cell theory, chromatin, cytoplasm, cytosol, cytoskeleton etc.
- Move to secondary concepts followed by supporting details-
Once you have mastered the basic terminology, move to secondary concepts slowly and gradually and finally towards supporting details because the secondary concepts are closely linked to supporting details. Let me explain you in detail: suppose you are going through the chapter “Inheritance” that might sound difficult, if you don’t understand its basic concepts so for that you have to learn the secondary concepts like genes and chromosome before going through the term Mitosis and Meiosis.
- Love the Laboratory-
Science can best be learned with practical more than theories. This rule is even followed by Biology. It is difficult to learn biology if you fail to create curiosity in your mind. In order to learn biology effectively, you have to confirm your theories using your hypothesis. Like other science, biology too believes in vision. Scientist proved that the things that we visualize with our eyesight retained in our memory for longer time compared to other things that we just memorize for the sake of learning.
- Drawings speak the words-
Biology gets better if you learn with drawing. As I have already mentioned in my previous point that Science believes in vision so worthless to explain again in details. Biology, the more you study with drawing, the more you understand better. For instance, if you are learning cell structure make sure that the diagram is in front of your eyes so that you can relate those unidentified terms into identified structures.
- The planned study-
It is better to study everything in a planned way. Always try to devote at least 2 hours for Biology everyday instead of loading your brains with scientific terms of living organisms and their anatomy just before exams. Slow and steady will makes you win the race. This is a thumb rule for the planned study.
- Flashcards make things faster-
Flashcards have been proved to be one of the greatest memorization tools across the globe. So, if you can’t memorize the terms in biology from the study notes available to you, it is better to use flashcards while learning the scientific terms in Biology. You might be thinking how to use flashcards in biology? Don’t worry I am there to tell you. Just take some blank cards of the same size. The next step is to write the term on one side and its definition on another side. Now just go through the cards and check your ability if you can memorize the exact definition of the scientific term.
- Review the lessons that you learned yesterday-
You do lots of activities through the day, have to read so many subjects at a time, therefore it becomes difficult to remember everything that you read but you have to memorize if you want to excel in the exam. It is better to review every lesson that you read yesterday and try to pen down your concepts in the paper. Repeat this practice every day to go along with the proverb “Practice makes a man perfect.”
- Group study makes you perform better-
Always try to speak biology with friends. Discuss your learning with your friends to exchange your information with each other. Try to explain things to others and learn from others. In case you don’t have friends to study together, you can read yourself speaking loud to fix all the concepts permanently in your brain.
- Test yourself-
Before going to exams go through quizzes and test yourself. Your textbook must be having lots of practice questions at the end of the chapter. Try to solve the entire question paper without taking your instructors help and if possible you should go through critical questions and solve it. Be honest to solve these questions all alone without the help of any resources. Grade yourself and find your weakness where you have to improve before the final countdown starts.
- Make use of your resources-
Make use of all your class notes and resources available to you. Try to make your own study guide combining all the resources available to you. There are many websites having an access to online quizzes in Biology, so you can practice it repeatedly to make your concepts clear for proper understanding.
Some important DO’s and DON’T to study Biology
Do’s
- Do ask questions to your instructors if you are not clear about your concepts.
- Try to spend more time in your Biology lab apart from theoretical classes and try to relate all the terminologies with the experiments that you perform.
- Just go through the chapter before your educator teaches you. It is better to know the elementary concepts before you dive deep into the chapter.
- Read textbook thoroughly and regularly at least 2-3 hours per day.
- A detailed eye to your syllabus and repeatedly check if any topic left uncovered.
Don’ts
- Never forget to mention the name of the scientist or the source from where the definition has been taken.
- In Biology, many terms are there which sounds quite similar like Mitosis and Meiosis. Try to understand the difference long before exam or else you might misunderstand the terms if you read just before exams.
- Never copy from your friend’s notes book blindly. Try to rely on reliable sources before you start your preparation.
- Never think Biology an easy subject compare to Physics or any other science. It is as complex as other science if you fail to understand its basics concepts.
- Don’t highlight too much on your books with colors as it makes you more confusing before exams.
What you should read before exams
- Go through all your class notes along with your books.
- Focus on all the assignments that your teacher assigned you before exams.
- In Biology “differences” are very important, so you should be aware of this and prepare yourself.
- Concentrate on all the diagrams along with the labels.
The night before exam
So you are all ready with your preparation and now it’s time to give your best. As you have already learned the important characteristics of mammals where you are aware of the fact they need proper food and rest to function. It’s time to implement your learning to practice.
On a final note
Biology is not a subject like History or literature. It is a science which is based purely on concepts, so you do not need to write words after words to fill the blank paper. What you have to do is to write down the key words and phrases that are most important in Biology. Therefore, the length of your answer will not give you marks but the word that you have clearly explained.