<p>So today I took a test in Honors Biology and I got a 73. Now, I wouldn't be upset if I truly hadn't understood the mateiral, but I prepared for like 3 hours each day for two days before and was able to correctly answer every question of the study guide she sent out. I don't have a very good teacher, but I'm not here to blame her. I just need to know what I'm doing wrong.</p>
<p>The test was on Ecology by the way.</p>
<p>I understood the concepts.</p>
<p>I memorized the necessary information (biomes, survivorship curves, etc.)</p>
<p>I new all the vocabulary.</p>
<p>Yet I'm still not doing very well. My grade went from a 91.6 to a 89.37. She rounds at 89.55 - I'm so close, so the final will probably determine it. Can you help me? Please tell me how you study so I can try and use your method!</p>
<p>Also, if I don't do well in Honors Bio, there's no way I'll get an A in AP Bio is there?</p>
<p>Umm, you say that you pretty much did everything that would get you an A+, but you fell short. You studied hard, understood the concepts, and memorized all the information and vocab. So then why did you get a C? </p>
<p>Look over your test. Obviously you did not understand some/many parts, or at least not as much as you thought you had. Focus on what you are lacking, while reviewing what you have already mastered/learned. </p>
<p>Finals usually test you on a broad range of information, so it probably won’t be as nitpicky as a chapter/section test. I’m willing to bet that the Internet has hundreds of Honors Bio or even AP Bio final review guides AND tests, which you should definitely spend some time on to see what kinds of questions you should expect on your own final. </p>
<p>I personally don’t study until the day right before a test or quiz, and spend a good 2-3 hours doing so. And just because you don’t do well in Honors Bio does not mean you won’t do well in AP Bio. You’re at the edge of a B+/A-, that’s not bad at all. AP may sometimes even be easier for some people because it covers the material more in-depth and so you understand it a lot better. That’s what happened to me with Chem. Honors Chem was hell for me, as I could not understand much of the things I was being taught. Now I’m in AP Chem and I’m breezing through the class. So don’t correlate your performance in Honors with what your performance would look like in Bio.</p>
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[quote[so youre saying that if you dont have a good memory you’ll never succeed in a bio class?
[/quote]
No, that is a large misconception. Read a little bit the night before. Then, just pay attention to lectures. But don’t passively take notes, really be active internally. Work on connecting concepts as he’s lecturing. Write this down. Skim over the textbook the night before, and you’ll be fine. Of course in certain units there will be some aspects of memorization, which is inevitable in most classes. (But these facts that you’re “memorizing” are actually quite logical if you think about it. You can learn and relate roots to help you out. But even that’s not even necessary if you learn physics and chemistry first. All it really is connection ideas and realizing fundamental principles) </p>
<p>Biology IS NOT classification! That is all.</p>
<p>First and foremost, before I start my studying, I go over my spelling. For example, if I wanted to study but wasn’t sure how to spell efficiently, I’d first learn how to spell it. </p>
<p>Well, you said you have a bad teacher. If a different, better, teacher teaches AP, it’s eminently likely you could do much better in that class/have an easier time of it.</p>
<p>I would ask your current teacher if she has any recommendations as to how you ought to study. If her suggestions are poor or overly vague and broad, ask around and find out friends or classmates who tend to ace her tests. Then, ask them how they study, and see if you can arrange to get together a couple times before the next test to study together. Go over this test and make sure you know exactly what and why you got wrong. Then fix it. Good luck!</p>
<p>just ask your teacher to go over all the wrong questions on the test. and maybe you can ask her to go over important concepts after school the day before the test. I’d be pretty ticked off too if i studied forever and got a C >.<</p>
<p>Haha sorry, disregard that.
One time, to study for an AP Chem test, I drew a big picture (complete with pug dogs) and wrote notes throughout the picture. It kind of worked. If you’re a creative type of person, try something like that. Instead of just writing your notes on the usual lined paper, do something creative that will help you remember facts and create a picture in your mind.
There are many other ways to study that I would recommend. Try repeating facts over and over until they stick, try teaching someone else, etc.</p>
