Home Page News   St Benildus College "THE BEST EDUCATION MONEY CAN'T BUY" Irish Independent   Sciences 2009/2010 < back   Biology 2009/2010 Why Biology? Biology is an exciting area of science that offers a broad and advancing frontier between the known and the unknown. If the first half of this century was the era of the theoretical physicist, then the second half is definitely the era of the biologist. Many of the problems we face as a society, from the destruction of the rain forests to human cloning, will require biological solutions. Biology is the study of living things. It examines the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution of living things. The Leaving  Certificate Course The Leaving Certificate course is broken up into 3 areas: 1. The study of life    2. The cell   3. The organisms   1.The study of life covers areas such as  - the Scientific Method (an attempt at using an organised approach to solve problems ) -         Nutrition -         Ecology which includes compulsory Ecosystem project   2.The cell contains a lot of abstract ideas -         Enzymology -         Photosynthesis -         Respiration -         Cell structure – Continuity  and Diversity -         Metabolism -         Genetics, evolution -         Genetic engineering   3.The Organism -    -   Diversity of Organisms -    -   Organisation of the Vascular Structures -    -   Transport and Nutrition -   -    Breathing System and Excretion -    -   Responses to Stimuli -  -     Reproduction and Growth Advice for students As with any of the Leaving Certificate Science subjects, Junior Certificate is not reflective of the ease of Biology. Although the present course has been revised and reduced (2004), the volume of information you are expected to retain is still quite large. Unfortunately, there is little room for selecting certain chapters and learning only them for the examination. Often one question can entail 3 different topics. So there is no real practicing one question and a similar one coming up the following year.  Also, as the chapters are often interlinked, you may need to have a good understanding of a certain topic to understand other topics e.g. understand the food chapter to follow into the chapter on digestion which can lead into the circulatory system. With this new syllabus, they have added a section on experiments. This means the mandatory experiments you carry out over the two year period will be assessed – its great fun doing them but when it comes to the exam – you need to remember them. On average to date, at Higher level 10% of students obtain an A grade and at Ordinary level 20% obtained less than a D.  So if you are depending on Biology for a Grade A at higher level – you need to put a lot of consistent work into your studies.