A2 Biology Discussion and Help

I'd encourage all any any students, interested in taking a biology-based degree to seriously consider the olympiad.

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Unfortunately, I think the BBO is just for post-16 students, while the BC is open to year 9 - 11 (depending on where you study).

Great idea - as with the AS thread.

I've survived OCR AS and A2 Biology so if anyone has anything OCR specific, quote me!

Great idea - as with the AS thread.

I've survived OCR AS and A2 Biology so if anyone has anything OCR specific, quote me!

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The best method I've found is not just repeatedly going over them (although that can help for some), but you should really aim to incorporate the key words into phrases and sentences. If you can utilise them in that manner, you'll be a step closer to using them without thinking about it.



OK - when it comes to the 'suggest' questions, you really need to tackle the questions in a wider context. Don't just look at what the question says and start answering it, you really need to think about what the question means before then starting your answer. I've answered a 4/6 mark question before then realising that I've totally missed the point. I know it sounds silly, and obvious, but think about the question before you then answer it.

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I would do past paper questions, as you learn, so that you understand the exam format well in advance of actually sitting them.

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Can it be taken by university students?

'Fraid not.

Similar to the AS thread (which can be found here: clicky!) I'm going to stick this thread to the top of the page, to make it easier to find for any new members, so if you go searching through pages and pages of this particular forum and find nothing, you'll now know where to look.

As I said before, if anyone has any questions about the AS/A2 experience of Biology, especially the OCR course, just quote me.

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No worries - I hope people find the thread helpful, no doubt it will become (naturally) more active as the academic year progresses.

I have a question about lipid hormones. So, I understand that they bind to receptors inside of the target cell to initiate a response. However, what I don't get is how they identify target cells if their target cells do not have cell surface membrane receptors. Do they just have to diffuse through cells until they find a cell with the hormone's specific receptor, or what? If it is that, then why aren't they a lot slower at bringing about a response than protein hormones? What is even the point of them being transported in the blood if they're going to do things the slow, indirect way anyway?