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AS bio and chem

Hi, my name is Todd. I just got my GCSE results so I know for sure what I'm taking for A Level. Two of the subjects are ones I'm not naturally gifted at: Biology and Chemistry. I did very well at GCSE but then again, so did my older friends, and their results have disappointed them at AS. We don't have the best teachers in the world you see.

What I'm asking is, how do I prepare for these sciences? How can I get GOOD at them? How can I prepare myself to get the top grade? Which websites and resources will help me improve in an easy-to-understand way?

Reply 1

sophiaaax

I was in the exact same position, bio and chem weren't things I naturally excelled in (i did well, but had to work for it). The summer before you start AS is crucial in my opinion. Make sure you know the basics, because both bio and chem especially rely on previous knowledge. Thats the most important thing i'd suggest
Get good at explaining fundamental principles out loud and being able to word them well, because for chemistry, precise terminology is SO SO SO much more important than at GCSE - confusing an "ion" with an "atom" can lose you all the marks to one question.
Textbooks can be quite basic, so i wouldnt rely on those. Get a couple of good revision guides, and make sure if you're confused about anything, ask your teachers, dont just avoid it.

Reply 2

Ezme39

Original post by piano8myhomework

I got B-grades in both at AS, but was close to the A boundary. A key point to remember is that you need to be a lot more self-motivated this year than you had to be at GCSE, so starting early and reading through your textbooks to get "a general idea" is a good way to start.
A lot of people get caught-out with the maths elements of chemistry because they assume they'll just be able to look at a formula and figure it out, like at GCSE. Nothing is given to you at AS, so practice is the key to getting these right. If you have some time over the summer, have a look at "titration calculations", moles, concentrations etc- depending on your GCSE course you should have seen most of these already.
The earlier you can start exam question practice, the better. Just make sure you don't run out of resources to0 early on!
Good luck; the jump from GCSE to AS is a big one, but keep up on the workload and you should be looking at getting those top grades.

Reply 3

piano8myhomework

Thanks guys, this is the information I needed. I'm glad you're telling me to buy revision guides early on, because my friends have been telling me not to...even though I do want to get that head start, and I love learning. So far I've been studying this book all about the human body for biology, but I'll try and buy revision guides soon. For GCSE I had three guides per science, but the CGP one was definitely my favourite. I'll start off with that and wait for my teacher to recommend some more.

I did triple science so I did do C3 (chemistry unit 3), so I've learnt all about titrations, moles, concentrations etc. BUT I will make sure to do more work on that as I've probably forgotten it. Can you recommend any websites I could look at for these? Preferably ones with a nice layout and lots of concise information, there's nothing I hate more than bucket-loads of text that fills up the whole screen.