SPM Tips: The Right Way To Study Biology, Physics and Chemistry

Science is challenging in general but taking up ALL the science subjects is a real challenge indeed! Incredible







Somebody asked me : How do you study the sciences? Different people have different abililities. Some people are the reading type so they do good in Biology, some are good in imagination and application so they excel in Physics. The approach to Physics, Chemistry and Biology are completely different so how do you manage to study all 3 effectively?


Ok to be honest I would say that Physics was giving me a lot of hassle during my SPM days. I even took extra classes near my house once a week from Mr Jesu, a St John teacher so that I could improve my Physics. I got a B for Physics during Trial Exam and that really challenged me as I was aiming for A+.


I was asking myself "Was it really possible to get an A+ in a subject so hard when it was difficult to even get an A?" Well the grade boundaries in my school was quite high so that says it all ; 95 above was an A+ so if I'm not mistaken I just got 2 A+ for my trials. I remember getting 92 for a particular subject and it was so close. So please do not tell yourself that trial results are what you will be getting for SPM. That's not true as trials are generally harder than the real exam. On top of that, my school decided to use create their own tough trial papers and not the one set by the Ministry of Education standardised for each state.




Biology

• Read read and read. Do not attempt reading too many different books. Stick to one or two books so that you can re-read and understand it better. 
• Talk to yourself when reading. There's a lot to memorise so saying it aloud makes it more lively. 
• Teach a friend a certain topic then ask your friend to teach you a different one. Interactive learning makes it more fun. My friends, Vinosha and Raihan and I used to stay back after school and discuss certain topics together. I still remember teaching them Osmoregulation, then having them teaching me about Ultrafiltration in the kidneys ;) It was really fun. 
• Write down possible essay questions and list down your points. Memorise them. 
• Try to visualise diagrams as you memorise. Memorising becomes easier when you see a picture to help you remember. If you are not sure how dialysis works, watch a YouTube video or google images. 
• Do past year questions repeatedly and Trial Papers from other states especially Terengganu, Kelantan, KL and Perak. 

Chemistry

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• List down all the formulas in Chemistry Form 4 and 5 in 1 piece of paper.\ 
• List down all the equations in another piece of paper. 
• Use colored pencils or highlighters to represent the color of compounds. For example : CuO is black, Cu2O is red. 
• Focus a lot on topics like Oxidation and Reduction and Thermochemistry. These are more challenging topics so I had to read it many many times before I really understood. I just ran into my sister's room to check the Chemistry textbook ;) 
• After school, I arrange time to meet a teacher, Mr Imran who taught me in Form 4 so that I could ask extra questions from my pile of exercise books. Some teachers are busy so if you find one who could help, do appreciate him or her. These are extra questions from my own exercise books so not all teachers are very free to answer. Maybe you could even ask a friend :) If there's really nobody to ask just discuss among your friends till you come up with a conclusion. 
• Chemistry is memorising + understanding and applying your knowledge. 

Physics

Physics is pure application, imagination and understanding.
Since there may be questions you may not understand, make sure you DO NOT lose any marks for definition or formula.
Write down all the definition and formulas in a piece of paper. This is crucial. For formulas related to each other, write them close to one another and read them together.
Read and read the thick Pelangi/ Sasbadi/ Oxford revision books that you have.
Do a lot and a lot of objective questions.
Once you feel more confident with objective questions, spend one day just doing subjective and essay questions for Physics. This will make you a lot more confident on this subject.
Once you realise that Physics is not that hard after all, you are already getting the hang of it.
Physics needs a lot of discussions. If possible, find someone good in Physics who can teach you. My really smart friend, May Lee used to teach me certain topics that I found hard to understand like Light, Electromagnetism and Cathode Ray Oscilloscope. At times, you need to put the ego aside and ask help from people. Who knows they would really want to help you, all you need to do is ask politely :) Before you ask, make sure you read it first. When you really can't understand then ask other people.
If you still can purchase the Maktab Adabi Gaya Pos questions, do go and get it for all subjects. They are very good. I tried doing the trial paper and they marked it for me and sent it back via post. Even if you don't do the trial paper, the practice questions are equally good!


With consistent practice you can do it! Its never too late so go ahead and start now :)