Two 90-minute sprints. 1 year’s worth of content. 50 percent of your total grade. This is the Biology external assessment in a single snapshot!
Now, I know just how daunting these externals can seem — trust me, I’ve been there, done that. But what if I told you that they don’t need to be as anxiety-inducing as they have the potential to be?
While this exam is a big one, worth half of your total grade for the year, there are a few things that you can do right from the very get-go to help ensure that you ace it.
让我们潜入！
考试前的领先
During the Exam
The Lead Up to the Biology External Assessment
这项考试意愿涵盖整个单元3和4的内容, so it is imperative that you are on top of it as you are learning throughout the year.
Contrary to popular belief, acing your QCE Biology EA requires more than simply rote learning. It requires you to正确理解内容，以便您可以运用您学到的理论以有意义和适当的方式。
In order to achieve the goal of truly understanding the content, there are您应该记住的6件事：
＃1：查找连接
跨单位3和4您需要熟悉自己需要73个教学大纲积分。这是实现的壮举。
However, this challenge can be made much less daunting byfinding the connections between all of the content covered.它可以帮助您将所有的教学大纲点放在您面前，并创建一个连接它们的路线图。
It is possible to connect every single one of the 73 points in one big mind map. By doing thisit becomes much easier to recall the content as you begin making association cues between all of the different topics.
这是思维图的潜在片段：
＃2：创建对话
简单地创建有关内容的对话可能会非常有帮助！您应该尝试谈论生物学的任何机会，因为您谈论的越多，就越会记住它。
You can create this dialogue byjoining academic forums to discuss the subject/ask questions, talk to your teacher about the content during class and ask any questions you may have, and teach the content to others.
最后的提示是向他人传授内容的被低估了。通过向另一个人解释内容，您可以强迫自己简化概念，直到他们很容易理解- 让您在最基本的层面上更好地了解该主题！
＃3：有效的笔记
While rote learning shouldn’t be the way to go with regard to exam preparation,当您需要修饰内容的某些方面时，拥有一组好的音符仍然非常有帮助。In order to make sure you are taking notes effectively and efficiently, it can help to use the syllabus as a guide.
将教学大纲点复制到Word文档上，并在每个点下方填充您的笔记。This way you know that you are ticking all the boxes whilst also ensuring that you aren’t including any information that isn’t relevant for your studies.
It would be good to set yourself the goal of finishing your notes 1 month before the exam最新！
同样重要的是，您要积极参与笔记。您准备在准备过程中要做的最后一件事是被动地阅读笔记。为了避免这种情况，try highlighting and annotating!
Write down any questions that you come up with while reading and aim to answer them as soon as possible.绘制任何可能帮助您记住内容的图表也很有帮助。
您可以包含的图表的一个示例将是一个comparing the growth curves for r- and k-selective species:
图像来自socratic.org
＃4：让它有趣
当谈到准备any exam,exposure to the content is key.您想以任何可能的方式暴露自己的内容 - 谁说学习必须很无聊？
查找有趣的播客或观看纪录片，以深入研究您所学习的内容。就个人而言，我读了查尔斯·达尔文的关于物种的起源for fun during Grade 12 and that helped me remember some of the content (and it was much more interesting that reading my textbook!).
尝试使学习尽可能有趣 -很有可能，如果您不喜欢这个过程，您将不会进行更多的学习。您可以使学习更加愉快的某些方法是：
- 成立研究组
- Utilising flash cards
- 做kahoots
#5: Practice Papers
至少考试前一个月，您想开始练习论文。通过坐下来完成论文，您可以为自己提供最佳机会。
Not only does doing so expose you to the level of question difficulty that you can expect to encounter during the real deal, but it also为您提供所需修饰的内容的指示。
同样重要的是在考试条件下完成这些练习论文。如果您还学习心理学，您将熟悉context-dependent memories.
If you don’t study Psychology, what this concept essentially means is that如果您在与编码信息相当的环境中这样做，您将最好地召回信息。Put more simply, if you practise in exam conditions you will be able to recall the information better in exam conditions.
#6: Self-Care
重要的是take care of your health throughout the year— this should be your number one priority. Doing so will reap many benefits, including allowing you to perform at your best!
要照顾好自己，这里有一些要记住的事情：
- Get enough sleep
- 充分加油
- 休息一下，玩得开心
- 如果需要寻求支持
During the Biology External Assessment
在阅读时间和整个实际考试中，您可以做一些事情，以最大程度地提高您的表现。
阅读时间
If needed, you should在此期间花一些时间让自己平静下来，并确保您处于正确的心态以完成考试。Once you are calm and ready to go here is how you can utilise this time wisely:
在阅读时间，您想work backwards through the exam.
Instead of going through the multiple choice questions first (which you may find yourself instinctively wanting to do),读的时间越长反应questions at the back of the paper.By doing so you are giving yourself more time to contemplate and produce an answer.
You don’t need to actively engage with the questions just yet, but you should at least get some exposure to the questions.阅读了所有简短的问题后，您应该阅读多项选择问题。
当您阅读这些问题时，your mind will be subconsciously trying to solve the short-answer questions you just reviewed- 这意味着您尝试这样做会花费更少的时间来回答它们。
工作时间
在工作时间里，您想从头到尾工作。Complete the multiple choice questions first and then move to the short-response.
如果在任何时候，您发现自己陷入了几分钟的问题，继续前进，然后再回到它with a fresh mind.
这可能有帮助强调每个问题的关键部分，以确保您正确回答。Also take note of the cognitive verbs to ensure your response is appropriate!
你有它！
With all these tips about how to prepare for the QCE Biology external assessment, you can feel confident in your approach to the exam!
如果您正在寻找其他QCE生物学资源，请查看以下内容：
- 撰写QCE生物学的学生实验报告的最终指南
- 4个简单的步骤，您可以遵循QCE生物学研究的ACE研究调查
- QCE Unit 3 Biology Data Test IA1 – Practice Questions
您是否正在寻找QCE生物学外部评估的额外帮助？
我们有一个令人难以置信的QCE导师和导师团队！
我们可以帮助您掌握生物学教学大纲，并通过在您的家庭或在线上进行一对一的个性化课程，即将进行的生物学评估！
We’ve supported over8,000 students over the last 11 years，平均而言，我们的学生得分超过20％！
要了解更多信息，并从鼓舞人心的QCE导师和导师开始get in touch today或给我们戒指1300 267 888！
凯特琳·史密斯was a pioneer in the Queensland ATAR system. After graduating in 2020 with an ATAR of 98.40, she now studies a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) at The University of Queensland — majoring in Physics. Through her studies, she hopes to develop a greater appreciation for how the wonders of the universe work. When she isn’t slaving away behind her unnecessarily large textbooks, she enjoys catching up with friends, scrolling mindlessly through TikTok, and sleeping.
