TIPS ON HOW TO GET 30 MARKS AND ABOVE FOR BIOLOGY PAPER 1

1. Practice, practice, practice!
- Get papers online at xtremepapers.com (click on PAPERS: CIE : CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL O LEVELS: BIOLOGY (5090) )

2. Get a piece of paper and answer the questions- a good idea would be to start from about 2005, and work you way up to 2011 (7 years worth of papers x 2; JUNE and NOVEMBER)
- You can check your answers online OR pass them to me, I can mark them for you, and explain any doubts.
-Some questions are repeated;  the wordings and phrasing may change, but the answer is the same!

3. Learn to ELIMINATE/ LOOK FOR THE ONLY POSSIBLE ANSWER

Example:
JUNE 2005 QUESTION 3

Which process may require energy from respiration?
A movement of carbon dioxide into the alveoli
B movement of oxygen into red blood cells
C uptake of glucose by cells in the villi
D uptake of water by root hair cells

What have we learnt?

ACTIVE TRANSPORT REQUIRES ENERGY...so we're looking for something that uses active transport.

A is OUT because.... CO2 moves by DIFFUSION, and diffusion does NOT require energy
B is OUT because.... O2 also moves by DIFFUSION
C is the ANSWER because we have only learnt TWO examples of active transport: uptake of glucose by villi, and uptake of minerals by root hair cells
D is out because WATER moves by OSMOSIS

Another example:
JUNE 2005 QUESTION 21

Why does emphysema cause severe breathlessness?
A The alveoli become coated with tar.
B The cilia lining the trachea are destroyed.
C The lungs become cancerous.
D The surface area of the lungs is reduced.

What have we learnt?

EMPHYSEMA IS WHEN THE ALVEOLI HAVE WEAKENED AND BURST .
What's the alveoli for? --> EXCHANGE OF GASES BECAUSE THEY ARE THIN WALLED AND HAVE A LARGE SURFACE AREA.

So the answer has to do with surface area.... and the answer is... D! :)

Some questions can be answered by elimination, some questions can be answered based on what you have MEMORIZED and LEARNT. The key here is to REVISE :) The more MCQs you do, the more experienced you become.

So start now guys! 25% of your total is MCQ and if you get 40/40 (which is actually very possible with all that practice!), you're that much closer to your DISTINCTION :)