Hi, would appreciate if someone could post me a link/tell me which topics are going to be covered in JC1 H2 biology.
Tried google, only managed to get a rough idea (microbiology, cellular functions w/e) and marking schemes, but it isn't good enough for me to start reading up on my own.
Thanks in advance
You taking H2 Biology? My (sincere, not sarcastic) condolences.
Print out the syllabus :
http://www.seab.gov.sg/SEAB/aLevel/syllabus/school/2011_GCE_A.html
Buy the H2 Bio textbook "Biology" by Campbell from Popular Bookstore about $80.00, and start reading the topics specified by the syllabus.
ok...i shall help u since i havent posted in forum for a long time...
for my sch when i was j1 we covered...
in chronological order, carbo, fats, proteins, enzymes, microscopy, cellular functions, cell membrane, dna and genomics, mitosis, meiosis, org of eukarotic genome, control of eukaryotic genome, gene mutations, cancer, genetics of bact and genetics of viruses..
i sure hope i didnt left out any... :)
Originally posted by UltimaOnline:You taking H2 Biology? My (sincere, not sarcastic) condolences.
Print out the syllabus :
http://www.seab.gov.sg/SEAB/aLevel/syllabus/school/2011_GCE_A.html
Buy the H2 Bio textbook "Biology" by Campbell from Popular Bookstore about $80.00, and start reading the topics specified by the syllabus.
hi...but i dont know why u discourage ppl from taking bio. anyway, for me bio was fun. and for my jc...bio distinction rate was 10% higher than phy. and my junior batch the bio classes swarm the phy classes...
I've read somewhere that biology in JC does not carry over much to Uni - but I chose it because I absolutely hated physics in secondary school. Not much of a choice there, heh.
What about the nature of biology in JC? The only lasting impression I current have is that biology is
1) lots of memory work
2) requires a certain level of understanding
3) questions require keywords (chemistry does as well - bleh)
Originally posted by franz mavrick:hi...but i dont know why u discourage ppl from taking bio. anyway, for me bio was fun. and for my jc...bio distinction rate was 10 higher than phy. and my junior batch the bio classes swarm the phy classes...
10x more distinctions? That's probably an exaggeration. Nonetheless, that's good to hear, for the sake of the H2 Bio students in your JC.
As for why I discourage pple from taking H2 Bio (perhaps to look at it more constructively, I encourage pple to take H2 Chem 1st, then H2 Physics 2, then H2 Bio last).
It's nothing personal, no hard feelings really. I'm personally more of a Chem and Bio person more than a Physics person. I do like Bio, and have nothing against it as a subject.
What I feel sorry for (the students), is the H2 syllabus in particular, as well as how JCs go about teaching it. True, one can argue the limitations/flaws of how JCs teach, applies to Physics and Chemistry as well. But the damage (to the student), imo, is less severe than for Bio.
I don't want to go into a detailed critique of the H2 Bio syllabus, and/or why the way JCs teach it is less than ideal. Anyone interested can google it out. I'm far from the only one who feels this way about.
Now, to the most important point (as to why I encourage Chem and Physics over Bio, specifically at 'A' levels), which is essentially about the sake of the student. It is a fact, that in terms of prerequisites for number of University Science courses, H2 Chem and H2 Physics ranks far above H2 Biology, in terms of relevance or importance.
Of course, to be fair, there are a few (a minority, to be sure) of Uni courses that favour H2 Bio over H2 Physics, such as Medicine (at least according to a current medical student who posted here a couple weeks ago).
"Then, isn't your advice harmful to those students who want to take a course in the Uni which requires H2 Biology, or at least favours it (over H2 Chem or H2 Physics)?"
Firstly, such courses are a definite minority. More to the point though, I expect students to be cognitive enough, to know what he/she/you want for yourself, in terms of a future career/profession, and therefore what the relevant Uni course is. If you're dead sure you want to study a Uni course which favors Bio over Phys or Chem, then by all means go ahead.
My advice is targeted at the vast majority of students, who will find H2 Chem and H2 Physics far more useful than H2 Bio, when applying for University. Students exempt from this category, should be cognitive enough to know my advice doesn't directly apply to them.
After all that's said and done, congrats to those who did/do well in H2 Biology, including for the 2009 'A' level batch (results will be out soon next month).
Originally posted by donkhead333:I've read somewhere that biology in JC does not carry over much to Uni - but I chose it because I absolutely hated physics in secondary school. Not much of a choice there, heh.
What about the nature of biology in JC? The only lasting impression I current have is that biology is
1) lots of memory work
2) requires a certain level of understanding
3) questions require keywords (chemistry does as well - bleh)
very true. for my jc... memory, understanding, keywords are very impt and the phrasing... many a times i memorise the exact phrasing of the ans... cos my teachers are pretty fussy...
Originally posted by UltimaOnline:
10x more distinctions? That's probably an exaggeration. Nonetheless, that's good to hear, for the sake of the H2 Bio students in your JC.
As for why I discourage pple from taking H2 Bio (perhaps to look at it more constructively, I encourage pple to take H2 Chem 1st, then H2 Physics 2, then H2 Bio last).
It's nothing personal, no hard feelings really. I'm personally more of a Chem and Bio person more than a Physics person. I do like Bio, and have nothing against it as a subject.
What I feel sorry for (the students), is the H2 syllabus in particular, as well as how JCs go about teaching it. True, one can argue the limitations/flaws of how JCs teach, applies to Physics and Chemistry as well. But the damage (to the student), imo, is less severe than for Bio.
I don't want to go into a detailed critique of the H2 Bio syllabus, and/or why the way JCs teach it is less than ideal. Anyone interested can google it out. I'm far from the only one who feels this way about.
Now, to the most important point (as to why I encourage Chem and Physics over Bio, specifically at 'A' levels), which is essentially about the sake of the student. It is a fact, that in terms of prerequisites for number of University Science courses, H2 Chem and H2 Physics ranks far above H2 Biology, in terms of relevance or importance.
Of course, to be fair, there are a few (a minority, to be sure) of Uni courses that favour H2 Bio over H2 Physics, such as Medicine (at least according to a current medical student who posted here a couple weeks ago).
"Then, isn't your advice harmful to those students who want to take a course in the Uni which requires H2 Biology, or at least favours it (over H2 Chem or H2 Physics)?"
Firstly, such courses are a definite minority. More to the point though, I expect students to be cognitive enough, to know what he/she/you want for yourself, in terms of a future career/profession, and therefore what the relevant Uni course is. If you're dead sure you want to study a Uni course which favors Bio over Phys or Chem, then by all means go ahead.
My advice is targeted at the vast majority of students, who will find H2 Chem and H2 Physics far more useful than H2 Bio, when applying for University. Students exempt from this category, should be cognitive enough to know my advice doesn't directly apply to them.
After all that's said and done, congrats to those who did/do well in H2 Biology, including for the 2009 'A' level batch (results will be out soon next month).
opps...my percent sign is missing. it is like bio dist rate is 90% while physics is like 80%...