In every school, students always struggle with one class in particular, and several students accept a bad grade in that class. At Evansville Day School, AP Biology with Mrs. Swinford is known by many as a challenging class. Between rigorous AP material, daily classes, and cumulative tests, it is easy for someone to become overwhelmed. However, several easy steps can be taken to ensure some degree of success in AP Biology and other tough classes. Between work in class, work at home, and test day preparations, getting the almighty A has never been so easy. As a former student in the class, these tips have been learned both the easy and hard ways.
At School
When a new unit is started, you need to be attentive in class to fully understand the material. …show more content…
Getting the hands-on experience of building a cell or practicing for a presentation makes you inevitably learn the material. By making an animal cell on a brownie, remembering the parts of a cell was to me a “piece of brownie”. The material learned through first-hand experiences actually sticks in your brain when the test comes.
The last thing you can do at school to ensure some degree of success in AP Biology is use class time effectively. When you get homework in the class and you are given time, you may think. “Oh, I can finish it later because right now I want to play a game on my phone…” No. Get that thought out of your head because the sooner you get your work done, the happier you will be, and the better your homework grade will be. By simply staying on top of homework, I was able to fully understand the material and actually enjoy the …show more content…
Not only does this method decrease stress, it helps you learn the material better as the neurons in your brain become more aligned with the information (*do not say this on a test because it is not true*). AP Biology class many schools offer, and there are plenty of online sources to help you study. Video lessons from a man named Paul Anderson who makes THE “Bozeman videos” are the Holy Grail for biology students. Mr. Anderson lectures and explains different units of AP Biology in quick 10-minute videos. Between watching the videos and looking up practice questions, you already have a leg up when the test rolls around. No matter how much studying you do weeks or months before the test, you will end up trying to cram information the night before. I would begin studying a week before the exams, but I would also end up studying the night before until eleven o’clock. Although it is nearly impossible to memorize the citric acid cycle - a series of chemical reactions used to generate energy for organisms - the night before, it can help refresh information of small details you may have forgotten.
Test Day
At School
When a new unit is started, you need to be attentive in class to fully understand the material. …show more content…
Getting the hands-on experience of building a cell or practicing for a presentation makes you inevitably learn the material. By making an animal cell on a brownie, remembering the parts of a cell was to me a “piece of brownie”. The material learned through first-hand experiences actually sticks in your brain when the test comes.
The last thing you can do at school to ensure some degree of success in AP Biology is use class time effectively. When you get homework in the class and you are given time, you may think. “Oh, I can finish it later because right now I want to play a game on my phone…” No. Get that thought out of your head because the sooner you get your work done, the happier you will be, and the better your homework grade will be. By simply staying on top of homework, I was able to fully understand the material and actually enjoy the …show more content…
Not only does this method decrease stress, it helps you learn the material better as the neurons in your brain become more aligned with the information (*do not say this on a test because it is not true*). AP Biology class many schools offer, and there are plenty of online sources to help you study. Video lessons from a man named Paul Anderson who makes THE “Bozeman videos” are the Holy Grail for biology students. Mr. Anderson lectures and explains different units of AP Biology in quick 10-minute videos. Between watching the videos and looking up practice questions, you already have a leg up when the test rolls around. No matter how much studying you do weeks or months before the test, you will end up trying to cram information the night before. I would begin studying a week before the exams, but I would also end up studying the night before until eleven o’clock. Although it is nearly impossible to memorize the citric acid cycle - a series of chemical reactions used to generate energy for organisms - the night before, it can help refresh information of small details you may have forgotten.
Test Day