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When you have to choose your subject combination in Upper Secondary, you may find yourself unable to decide which sciences to take.
Maybe you have heard from your seniors the horrors of taking each subject, and all of them sound like equally bad choices.
Not to worry, in the Pros and Cons Guide, I will be laying out what you need to consider before choosing each subject.
First up: Biology Edition!
Common Study Methods
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Biology is often said to be a subject where you have to memorise a lot of content.
It’s important to memorise information so that you don’t miss out on keywords or other things when you write your answers. However, memorisation is not the only way to study Biology.
It helps a lot when you understand the concepts. Once you know how something works, it makes remembering and explaining it easier.
Still, because there is a lot of content to take in, you are encouraged to revise often.
Pros of Taking Biology in Upper Secondary
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There are useful real-life applications to taking Biology in Upper Secondary. Since a lot of the topics taught are about the human body, you will gain many insights into human health.
For example, you will learn about nutrition—there are often questions on the difference in a blood glucose spike after eating white bread vs wholemeal bread. That, along with the other things you learn about nutrition, can help improve your own nutrition.
Because human biology is ingrained into our lives, you will find yourself understanding processes that are happening in real life better. Muscle fatigue and digestion are more examples of what you will understand better when it comes to your own life.
Experiments in Biology
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When it comes to experiments, Biology experiments are very hands-on and include food-related experiments, which can be anything from setting nuts on fire to calculate the amount of energy inside them or using different fluids to test for the presence of carbohydrates.
You will also have to do dissection, which can be unpleasant for some people but dissections are a good activity to visualise the structure of certain body parts better. Eye dissections (eyes belonging to livestock like cows and pigs) are fairly common.
Another good thing about Biology is that it has less formulae to memorise compared to Chemistry and Physics.
Cons of Taking Biology in Upper Secondary
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For those who hate the idea of dissections, having to do them in class is definitely a downside of taking Biology.
The other most commonly talked-about cons of taking Biology include the huge amounts of content that you will have to learn, which can be overwhelming for some when they still have other subjects to study.
Memorisation and studying can take up a lot of time. Biology may also be less fun for some people because it requires more regurgitation of information rather than letting you use critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Career Paths
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Studying Biology opens up many career paths for you.
Some examples are:
1) Biologist (Healthcare/Pharmaceutical sector)
2) Conservation Biologist (Environmental sector)
3) Teacher
4) Forensic Science (Law enforcement sector)
Alternatively, you could venture into biotechnology, or agriculture industries. There are countless paths you can choose!
Conclusion
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At the end of the day, when choosing your subject combination, it’s important to go for what you know you will enjoy instead of following your friends.
It isn’t always harmful to stick together, of course, but you have to take stock of the situation and decide for yourself what will be best. If you don’t know what to choose and what you will enjoy, having friends surround you in class can be very helpful.
Biology is an amazing, complex subject and if you enjoy it, why not take it?
And if you need help, you can always ask your teacher for help or hire a tutor!
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