Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Reading around the subject

In my sixth form induction day all my teachers and older students told us to 'read around the subject', stay motivated, and work hard from day 1.

So... what websites/ blogs do you recommend?
Any other tips?

Thanks in advance :wink:

Reply 1

OedipusTheKing

And which subjects are they? :biggrin:

Reply 2

LadyJoka

Original post by Cutie_Pie

It would help if we knew the subjects :tongue:

I also tend to read books as well as just using online resources.

I May be able to help more if I knew the subjects though :biggrin:

Reply 3

paulpscully

Depends on what subject! For English, you could (of course) read more than just your required texts. You could also look a bit further into feminism, marxism, mordernism etc. etc. For Geography you could read up about how the Olympic games changed our economic structure (if it did, I don't know - these are just examples!)

This is what they mean by reading around the subject - relevant and most probably NOT on the syllabus :smile:

Reply 4

wallaby

Original post by Cutie_Pie

I think it depends on your subjects. But I've taken french, history, english lit, biology, chemistry and physics (over 3 years) and the only subject I ever had to do "extra" reading for outside of lessons for was biology for the unit 5 A2 exam essay, and even then it was minimal and I used google and in the exam I ended up not using any of it and used knowledge from my physics course instead! :smile:

They always said this to us in sixth form too, but I really don't think you need to know extra stuff because you don't get asked for it or get any more marks - in my subjects anyway. Just now the actual course inside out :smile:

But working from day 1 I would recommend :smile:

Reply 5

A random human

Can help, if you want, up to you. Some get A*'s without, some get it with.

Reply 6

Chlorophile

You don't have to do extra reading, but it's imperative if you want to really shine at your subject. For the sciences, popular science books are really good (and interesting).

Reply 7

Cutie_Pie

Original post by Cutie_Pie

SORRY GUYS!!!
ARGH! I'm so stupid :tongue:

Im taking:
maths
Biology
Chemistry
and Eng. Lit. but I want to change it to RS (PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS)

Sorry :biggrin:

Reply 8

Maid Marian

Original post by Cutie_Pie

SORRY GUYS!!!
ARGH! I'm so stupid :tongue:

Im taking:
maths
Biology
Chemistry
and Eng. Lit. but I want to change it to RS (PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS)

Sorry :biggrin:

Maths - you don't need to read around the subject.
Biology - only for unit 5 for the essay, and even then it's hardly worth it.

I didn't do your other two subjects. But honestly, my Biology teacher kept hammering into us from day 1 in AS that we should be reading around the subject. You don't need to. The only time you will get marks for stuff outside the curriculum is in the essay in unit 5. And even then, it's pot luck that you could even include your extra information in the essay.

For biology though, I'll say this - past papers are your best friend! Do them again and again and learn the mark scheme. That is how to do well in A level Biology :smile:

(I'm presuming you're doing AQA Biology... otherwise this post might be worthless :s-smilie:

)

Reply 9

anatomical frog

Well I don't think it's imperative to read around the subject massively with the exception of essay , but it can be a good idea for uni applications, etc.

For maths, it can be difficult to 'read around the subject' but if you're interested in maths problems, I would recommend the Art of Problem Solving, which could help if you're interested in the Olympiad.

For RS, it depends heavily on what topics you study, but any books such as The God Delusion (Dawkins), Beyond Good and Evil (Nietsche) or Ethics (Spinoza) can provide good content to talk about in the exams.

I'm afraid I'm not too sure about materials for chemistry or biology (even though I study chem)! Just a tip for chemistry though, make sure you understand the content as you learn it, or otherwise revision will be a nightmare!