Biology help

I am struggling to learn facts about cells in Biology. How should I revise them?

(edited 6 years ago)

What level of biology are you at?

If doing A levels, take the following steps, for each of which I have given examples:-

A. Ask yourself and research the "6 wise men" [What? When? Why? Where? How? and Which?) when you are looking at any part of a cell (organelle) e.g. when trying to remember what the mitochondria do in detail: What do they look like? Ok they have a double membrane and inner one is folded into cristae (look at a pic and then close your eyes and try to visualize that pic in your mind's eye. Why is inner membrane folded into cristae? Yes, wll done: to increase surface area. What is the sequence of events in respiration and where? Ok: the glucose and oxygen neede d must come from outside the cell (blood carrying them from the intestine (after you ate that Cadburys milk choc [yummy!] and lungs, respectively. So first, those "chemicals" must enter the cytoplasm where 1st process occurs = glycolysis. Then the pyruvate must enter the mitochondrion - surely it will enter the matrix before the cristate so 2nd stage = Krebs cycle in matrix then 3rd stage = oxidative phosphorylation on cristae in "stalked particles" Why? because each particle is one molecule of ATP synthase (adenosine TRIphosphate [ATP] is made from adenosine DIphosphate [TRI = 3; DI = 2, so ONE phosphate added to make ATP yes makes sense? Why is it called ATP synthase? Yes well done it synthesizes = makes ATP from ADP. etc etc etc

B. Try to find out why each technical word is so called - look up the Greek origins of words - names in biology are not given the same way as grandma names the baby haha! There is a reason ALWAYS. e.g. lysosome: lysis = breakdown, the job of lysosome is to break down unwanted or toxic material/waste (external [like bacteria] that have been phagocytosed [phagy] OR internal [like dead mitochondria]). What is haemolysis? haem = blood; lysis you already know yes...............go on................ well done: breakdown;so destruction of blood cells.

E.g. No 2. Do you play netball? Or hockey? What do you need for exercise? Yes energy for muscle action. The Greek for muscle is myo-; Remember Greek for cell (CLUE: look 4 lines up!) So what is the name given to a muscle cell? .......................have a shot myo........................................cyte Yes myocyte. You know that mitochondria help generate ATP for energy - Would you expect to see many mitochondria in a muscle cell? Of course, there are hundreds of large ones - do a Google images search.

C Cross-link/associate differen facts that have something in common: brilliant way to aid memory. e.g. when trying to remember that rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) is responsible for protein synthesis, think also about which proteins you know, where they are made/found, think of protein digestion , etc. Cells that make proteins have a rich RER (obvious isn't it?) e.g. pancreatic cells that make enzymes (you know enzymes are proteins yes? - this will remind you about lock and key theory - where else do you come across that? yes immunity antigen and antibody - Which cells make antibody? - plasma cells (coming from B lymphocytes) also have lots of RER - with me?

THERE EASY PEASY lemon squeezy!

Thanks.
M (Biology tutor)

Biology help

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