a level biology essay

5

I'm supposed to do extra reading for my a level biology essay, does anyone have any tips on how I should go about this, I want to explore different things but also I want to be able to understand the concepts, and to not end up learning about things that are not helpful to the essay I have been told about journals but I'm not sure if they'll be too scientific to the point where I wont understand them. if you do have any journals that could help me, feel free to share of course, anything that helps.
is there anything I can watch or read, anything specific anyone has enjoyed learning about? where you learnt about it? I was thinking of watching documentary's such as David Attenborough's ones.
is there specific things I should research into?
also I feel like I struggle with essays so i really want to be prepared so when i get in to the exam I don't feel so overwhelmed

any advice would be much appreciated

Reply 1

kitty15

Study Forum Helper

15

Hi, I wouldn’t worry about beyond the spec stuff too much , it is having an excellent rest of the essay AND correct beyond the spec information to go into the22-25 bracket. If you strive too much to include beyond the spec stuff in depth, you might lose out on improving the rest of the essay. So I’d work on your essay technique first by practicing multiple essays and getting them checked by your teachers and once you are scoring like around 20 you can try adding some beyond-the-spec stuff. But must be stuff you can recite well and correctly otherwise you drop marks. Worth for beyond the spec is learning the various applications of gene technology rather than examples of ecology. As this links more to importance

Also are you in Year 12 or going into Year 12? If going into year 12 I wouldn’t worry about the essay till year 13, focus on content first.

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 2

Reality Check

22

Original post

by Chelseam005

I'm supposed to do extra reading for my a level biology essay, does anyone have any tips on how I should go about this, I want to explore different things but also I want to be able to understand the concepts, and to not end up learning about things that are not helpful to the essay I have been told about journals but I'm not sure if they'll be too scientific to the point where I wont understand them. if you do have any journals that could help me, feel free to share of course, anything that helps.
is there anything I can watch or read, anything specific anyone has enjoyed learning about? where you learnt about it? I was thinking of watching documentary's such as David Attenborough's ones.
is there specific things I should research into?
also I feel like I struggle with essays so i really want to be prepared so when i get in to the exam I don't feel so overwhelmed
any advice would be much appreciated

also I feel like I struggle with essays so i really want to be prepared so when i get in to the exam I don't feel so overwhelmed

This sounds a bit like putting the cart before the horse. If you 'struggle with essays', then the first thing to do is to practice writing them using the core material, and only the core material. Concentrate on writing succintly and clearing, using the right keywords and expressing your points clearly and accurately. Only once you can do this, preferably timed, is it the time to start adding in 'extra reading' and stuff. If you're not confident with the basics, there is no point in trying to add in a load of extra reading etc.

I'd also add that you don't need to be adding in a huge amount of 'extra reading' to score in the upper band for the essay. An essay which makes a series of logical, relevant, accurate and interconnected points tightly focussed on the question and based in the core material will score much more highly than one which includes lots of 'extra reading' but doesn't properly focus on the question - which is often the case when candidates try to vomit up everything they're read about 'biotech' or 'animal conservation' in an exam essay. This is my experience from marking biology GCSE and A level examinations for many years.

a level biology essay

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