As the end-of-school exams come closer, students start worrying about their ATAR position and chances to enter the university they want. Revising biology with so much to think of can be pretty challenging, especially considering that you also have other subjects to work on. The key to succeeding in your revision is planning. Students need to learn how to organize their work and study what's really important.

At times, this can be as difficult as understanding the subjects themselves, but luckily, we are here to help the students. To make your revision even more effective, there are various resources you can use. You can find a lot of information about biology and science in general and find a new way to study it.

However, those resources are quite numerous and a student probably won't have time to test them all.

Find out about the best online resources to revise biology.

This is why we decided to gather information about the most useful ones in this article, so students can master their biology course as fully as possible. Whether you prefer working with books in a library or learning with online applications on your smartphone, here are some useful ideas that can help you.

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Sara
5
5 (14 reviews)
Sara
$70
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Binish
4.9
4.9 (20 reviews)
Binish
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Tahlia
4.9
4.9 (8 reviews)
Tahlia
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Sushmitha
5
5 (12 reviews)
Sushmitha
$40
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Melvin
5
5 (9 reviews)
Melvin
$45
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Nainesh
4.8
4.8 (20 reviews)
Nainesh
$20
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Namra
5
5 (10 reviews)
Namra
$60
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Learning biology

So, we are here to study biology but what is this science exactly about? A simple definition could be that the central theme of biology is life in all its forms. This description may seem quite large and it would be completely normal because biology is a really broad subject spanning from zoology and botany to genetics and molecular biology.

As a biology exam can include a lot of content, a student needs to develop a lot of different skills and come to master various topics to get the highest ATAR. To succeed in that, it is better to study as early as possible in the year and use the best revision resources available to you. By combining different ways of learning, you will understand every single unit of your course and achieve excellent results.

Good knowledge of biology can be crucial in numerous professions
Biology can help you find a good job as an engineer, doctor or researcher | Unsplash - Louis Reed

So, students should choose what works better for them in general, as well as the right resource for each part of the syllabus. For instance, you can master the DNA concept by watching educational videos and studying various types of plants and animals using a mobile app.

End-of-year biology revision with apps and podcasts

Technology has brought a lot of great things into our lives. One of them is the possibility to make our end-of-year revision much more enjoyable and efficient. The advantage of apps is that it combines different types of content, like audio recordings and videos, and allow you to track your progress by doing a series of interactive assessment tests.

However, podcasts are worth mentioning as well. A lot of students use their phones to listen to music. Now, these same phones can be used to learn biology and improve your chances to get an outstanding ATAR. All you need is to download a podcast about the unit you need to work on, put on your headphones and start your revision having fun.

Podcasts and apps can also be helpful for your revision.

The best Biology tutors available
Sara
5
5 (14 reviews)
Sara
$70
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Binish
4.9
4.9 (20 reviews)
Binish
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Tahlia
4.9
4.9 (8 reviews)
Tahlia
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Sushmitha
5
5 (12 reviews)
Sushmitha
$40
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Melvin
5
5 (9 reviews)
Melvin
$45
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Nainesh
4.8
4.8 (20 reviews)
Nainesh
$20
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Namra
5
5 (10 reviews)
Namra
$60
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Zain
5
5 (10 reviews)
Zain
$60
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Sara
5
5 (14 reviews)
Sara
$70
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Binish
4.9
4.9 (20 reviews)
Binish
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Tahlia
4.9
4.9 (8 reviews)
Tahlia
$55
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Sushmitha
5
5 (12 reviews)
Sushmitha
$40
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Melvin
5
5 (9 reviews)
Melvin
$45
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Nainesh
4.8
4.8 (20 reviews)
Nainesh
$20
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Namra
5
5 (10 reviews)
Namra
$60
/h
Gift icon
1st lesson free!
Zain
5
5 (10 reviews)
Zain
$60
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1st lesson free!
Let's go

Great apps to study and revise biology

These days, learning the science of life has become much more fun thanks to the various apps you can use to boost your understanding of the school syllabus.

One of the most effective ones is Biobrain. It is an app that was created on purpose to assist school and university students in their revision. In the app, you will find a lot of content covering the whole of the syllabus, as well as useful assessment tests. Learning with Biobrain can be fun and help an Australian student get an excellent ATAR by the end of the year.

Another excellent and pretty versatile app is Quizlet. Students can use it to make all sorts of flashcards and revise the content they need. It is sometimes even used by teachers who create a series of flashcards and share them with their students for revision purposes.

A podcast about the science of life

Podcasts may be a less innovative way of learning because they are just audio recordings, but they can still be extremely helpful to an Australian student.

What makes them so great is that there are a great variety of biology podcasts on the Internet and every student can find something fit for their learning style. Some may include jokes and funny examples, whereas others are completely serious and scientific.

Listening to podcasts is an effective and fun revision methods
There are a lot of biology podcasts that can help you in your revision | Unsplash - Blaz Erzetic

What's more, you can learn a series of podcasts focusing on some particular theme, which can be great if you're revising one given unit. This Week in Evolution is one of the greatest resources to complement your course on Darwin's theory. Bio Eats World can provide you with insights into how biology is changing the world. Big Biology is about famous contemporary scientists and their research.

Then, in addition to specialised podcasts, there are also more general ones, such as The Naked Scientists dealing with all sorts of issues from chemistry, physics and biology. It contains a lot of humour and is an excellent option to learn more about science in a fun way.

A student can find a great choice of podcasts on the Internet or even ask their teacher for advice. It's a great way to see their course in a different light and develop a more creative approach to biology.

Reading biology books can be a great way to deepen your knowledge.

Reading books for deep revision

Books are probably the most classical source of knowledge and at times can require a lot more concentration from a student than apps and podcasts. However, if you want to understand the science of life really deeply, books will be unavoidable for you. They provide information on various units of the syllabus in an organized way, which can be especially good for revision.

As books have been around for quite a long time (compared with apps and podcasts), an Australian student will definitely not lack choice. Your reading options can roughly be divided into three main types: textbooks, books by real biologists and magazines. Let's look at each of them in more detail and see how they can help you improve your ATAR.

Textbooks to get ready for end-of-year exams

As the end-of-year exams get nearer, students have less time for revision and need concentrated sources of information. One of those can be specialised textbooks. These are specially developed to help students revise the most important units in a limited time. Their content is tailored for the exams and they often include a series of assessment tests to help students check their knowledge.

Some of the best editors are Pearson, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. In their books, you can be sure to find relevant information that will help you improve your ATAR and knowledge of science in general.

Biology books by real scientists

All the biology information we can find in textbooks, apps or podcasts is actually there because some scientists have described it in detail in their books.

While textbooks are usually written by a teacher and adapted for school children, original books by scientists can be much more challenging. They deal with various arguments and counterarguments with respect to the theories in question and at times it gets quite confusing for non-specialists.

However, discovering such books can be a great way for students to find out how science really works. Reading them will also improve their analytical skills and help them improve their ATAR in the end.

Biology books contain a lot of useful information for revision
In textbooks, you can find concentrated and well-organised information on the biology topics you need | Unsplash - Susan Q Yin

Some of the authors a student may try to read are Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Rachel Carson or Ed Yong, for example. If you struggle to understand something, you can ask a question of your school teacher so they explain it to you.

Reading magazines to widen your biology knowledge

Magazines are different from both textbooks and scientific books in that they are often oriented to the general public. They deal with a greater variety of topics and the articles are written in a more accessible way.

An excellent magazine students may want to start with is the New Scientists. Even though it doesn't necessarily deal with topics from the school syllabus, it can be a great source of motivation and broaden the student's knowledge.

Revision websites to boost your ATAR

Everyone has certainly visited a biology website at least once in their life. What's great about all this is that the different websites and sometimes even sections of the same website were not developed by the same person. As a result, they include slightly different content and can offer different points of view on the same topic.

If a student struggles with one particular unit of the syllabus, they can check various websites until they find the right one for them. Some biology websites are even developed by Australian school teachers and can be particularly helpful.

One great website to learn more about the science of life is Microbenote. It includes short articles on various biology topics and can help you deal with some especially difficult themes. Another great website is Bioninja. Its content is tailored to the Australian syllabus, so it can be perfectly suitable for revision.

You can find amazing biology tutors here on Superprof!

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ioannkompaniets

Paris-based language enthusiast with a passion for reading, travelling and connecting with nature. Always exploring, learning, and seeking new avenues for personal growth.