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Biology Tips and Tricks

This document provides 36 tips for acing the IGCSE Biology exam across various topics and paper types. It begins by outlining the different paper options students may face, including multiple choice (Paper 1), short answer (Paper 2 or 3), and practical exams (Paper 5 or 6). It then details specific exam strategies and tips for areas like writing clearly, knowing key biology terms, understanding question structure, multiple choice questions, graphs, tables, calculations, and extended writing. Overall, the document aims to help students optimize their exam preparation and performance.

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Dr Ahmed Reyad
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230 views

Biology Tips and Tricks

This document provides 36 tips for acing the IGCSE Biology exam across various topics and paper types. It begins by outlining the different paper options students may face, including multiple choice (Paper 1), short answer (Paper 2 or 3), and practical exams (Paper 5 or 6). It then details specific exam strategies and tips for areas like writing clearly, knowing key biology terms, understanding question structure, multiple choice questions, graphs, tables, calculations, and extended writing. Overall, the document aims to help students optimize their exam preparation and performance.

Uploaded by

Dr Ahmed Reyad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IGCSE Biology:
36 Tips To Ace
Your IGCSE
Biology Paper
 Nuha Ghouse
 Created on February 27, 2019
 5:58 am
 Blog, IGCSE, IGCSE Notes, Notes

These IGCSE Biology tips are


based on some common
mistakes made by students.
They are collected under
various subheadings to help
you when you prepare for
your examinations.

Make sure you read all the


general tips. These can be
important in any of the papers
you do.

Make sure you know which


examination papers you are
taking before you look at the
tips for the
different papers.

All of you will take IGCSE


Biology paper 1, which is all
multiple-choice questions.
You may be taking paper 2,
which is Foundation OR you
may be taking paper 3, which
is
Extended.
You may be taking paper 5,
which is a practical
examination in a laboratory
OR you may be
taking paper 6 which is a
written paper about practical
work.

Here are the specific IGCSE


Biology Paper tips we will be
going through:
1 – Writing
2 – Knowing key biology
terms
3 – Knowing the structure of
the paper
4 – Paper 1 tips
5 – Multiple choice tips
6 – Written Paper tips
7 – Drawing graphs
8 – Tables
9 – Calculation Tips
10 – Comparison questions
11 – Extended writing
and in total, there are 36
IGCSE Biology tips for you to
take away at the end of this
article!
Read also: 5 Tips To Get
Through Your IGCSE Exams

How To Ace the


IGCSE Biology
Questions
There are a few factors to
understanding an IGCSE
Biology Paper and the list
follows:

1 – Writing Advice
1. Keep your answer in the
lines on the question paper. If
you write in the margin, at the
bottom
of a page, or on blank pages,
part of your answer might be
missed.
2. If you have to cross out
something, put a line through,
but do not scribble all over it.
If you have to use a different
space to write another answer
to one you have crossed out,
then put a note to say where
it is, e.g. answer on page 5
Written papers are now
marked on a computer
screen so your written
paper will be scanned.
If you write on the
margin the scanner may
not be able to copy this.
3. Try to be precise, in other
word be accurate in what you
say. Using biological terms
correctly can help.
4. Do not use words like
“it”, “they”, “effect”, “affect”
without any more
explanation
explanation. A sentence like
“It has an effect on the body”
or “They affect the process”
does not say anything: –
If you use the word “it” or
“they “– think WHAT? – If
you use the word “affect” or
“effect” – think HOW?

Sample Question 1:
Stating Key Terms 

Q: State why
magnesium ions are
important for healthy
plant development. [1]
A : “it are needed by the
plant” is true but too
vague.
“They are needed by the
leaves” is still too vague
“Magnesium is part of a
chlorophyll molecule.”
Good answer!

2 – Knowing Key
Biology Terms
List of
terms in the topic for
Cellular Division
Terms are the names used in
biology. These will be used in
questions. You will get
more marks if you can use
them correctly in your
examination. Ask your teacher
if you are
unsure of the different
meanings between biological
terms.

1. Try to use the correct


spelling
spelling. The person marking
your answer will try to
recognise what
the word you mean, but if the
spelling is too wrong, then
they cannot allow you a mark.
Some biological terms
have very similar spelling.
One example is “ureter”,
urethra” and
“uterus”. If your mis-
spelling is “uretus”, it
could be “ureters” or
“uterus”. Other common
examples are ovum, ova,
ovary and ovule, testes
and testa; sucrose and
sucrase.

2. Do not try to mix the


spellings of two words
when you are not sure which
of them is the
the correct answer, e.g.
meitosis, when you are not
sure whether the answer is
mitosis or
meiosis, or urether, when you
are not sure if the answer is
ureter or urethra.
You need to check
carefully that you have
used the right word when
similar terms are used
in the same topic, e.g.
urea and urine, ureter and
urethra., semen and sperm

3. Writing in your own


words. You sometimes have
to write two or more
sentences to answer a
question.
Use short sentences. If
you write long sentences
you can get mixed up. It
is hard to find
correct statements in a
muddled answer.

You are often asked to write


down something you have
learned. Make sure you have
learnt
the meanings of the common
terms used in biology, e.g.
photosynthesis, osmosis,
fermentation. You also need
to be able to write down the
meaning of more complicated
ideas, e.g. level of the
organisation, natural selection,
global warming,
eutrophication.

3 – Knowing the
structure of the IGCSE
Biology paper
1) The number of marks

In multiple-choice questions,
there is only one mark for a
correct answer. Other sorts of
question show how many
marks at the end of each part
like this [2]. The number of
marks helps you decide how
much to write.
The number of marks is a
guide to how long to
spend on each question
or parts of a question. If
you allow about 1 minute
per mark then you should
finish in time to check
your answers.

Do not waste time and write a


long answer for a question
that has [1]. You will only get
one
mark even if the rest of the
answer has correct
statements.

If there are two or more


marks do not write the same
thing in two different ways,
e.g. The leaf is
very large. The leaf has a
large surface area.

2) Understand the
instructions
These are called command
words and tell you what to
do.

If a question says “Show your


working” when you have to
do a calculation, then write
down the
stages of your calculation to
show how you got your
answer. Even if you get the
final answer
wrong, you may be given a
mark for knowing what to do.

If a question asks you to


“Name” or “State” two things
only the first two will be
marked. Use the
numbered lines for your
answers if they on the
question paper. If you write
more than two and
the first is correct but the
second one is wrong, you will
only get the mark for the first
one. Even
if the third answer is correct,
it will not be marked.

Some questions have two


commands in the question, for
example, “Predict” AND
“Explain” ….”
This means you have to say
what you think will happen
AND then say why you think
it will
happen.

3) Understand the
question – what is the
question asking you to
do?
Make sure you know which
part of your biology is being
tested.
1. Read the whole question
carefully before you begin to
answer it. Some of the parts
have
similar answers so you need
to work out the difference
between them. If you write
exactly the
same thing in different parts
of the same question, then
only one of them might be a
correct
answer.

2. It helps to highlight the


main features of a
question. e.g. “Name the
tissue that transports the
sugars made by
photosynthesis to other parts
of the plant”. This tells you
that you want a one-word
answer, about the plant
transport of sugars.

3. Do not be put off the


question is about something
you have not studied. There
will be enough
information in the question
for you to work out an
answer.

4. Look carefully at any


diagrams, graphs or tables
and make sure you understand
what they are
about. You may have to use
information from them to
answer the questions.

5. Answer each question as


far as you can. Do not spend
a long time staring at a
question
If you have forgotten
something, go on to the next
question or part of a question.
Come back
to the ones you found
difficult when you have
finished all of the paper.

6. Try not to leave blanks.


When you come back to a
question you often remember
an answer
you left out.

7. Do not waste time by


writing about things unrelated
to the question.

4 – IGCSE Biology
Paper 1 Tips
Each question tests just one
thing. You have about 1
minute to read and answer
each
question.
Some questions test what
you know and understand. For
example “What
What part of the
eye
detects light?”
Some questions test if you
can use what you have
learned to understand new
data. These
questions will often have a
diagram, graph or table to use.

Try to decide what the


question is testing as you are
reading it.
Sample Question 1:
Content Question
Q: What is a
characteristic feature
of all living things?
[1]
A: You need to know the
characteristic features of
living things. If you know
a quick way of
remembering all seven
then you can jot it down
on the question paper.
e.g. MRS GREN
for Movement,
Respiration, Sensitivity,
Growth, Reproduction,
Excretion and Nutrition, or
the first letters of Real
Elephants Grow Massive
Red Feet Slowly,
Sample Question 2:
Content and
Inference 
Q: “In which vessel will
absorb alcohol first be
found?” [2]
A : You need to think
about what the question
is asking you.
– Is it about digestion?
– Is it about excretion (of
alcohol)?
– Is it about the
circulation?
The question is asking
about something
absorbed from the gut to
be transported, so it is
about circulation.
– Which vessel carries
substances absorbed by
the gut?
– Answer “The Hepatic
Portal Vein”.
So you have to choose

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