Biology: General

Biology majors have probably heard the popular saying “Biology is just memorization!” This sounds difficult to believe when there are hundreds of slides to learn for an exam for each class. However, Biology is still just memorization. There are many sides and grey areas to topics and mechanisms as the courses move into upper division, yet it is all possible to just memorize the information and be able to use it to answer even difficult scenario-type questions.

Basic Facts and Multiple Cards

It is critical that before putting information into the SRS, like Anki, the material must be understood. This only means that none of the material is mysterious and  vague. It is okay if the material isn’t memorized – it is the purpose of the program TO memorize. For example: a card detailing a fact about rRNA. If the card creator does not know what rRNA is, the card is useless. This is simple to alleviate. Just make a card, or several cards, explaining what rRNA is! 
 

 
Front: rRNA is transcribed in the […]

Back: rRNA is transcribed in the Nucleus

 
Front: rRNA stands for […] RNA

Back: rRNA stands for Ribosomal RNA

 
Front: Prokaryotic RNA large subunit […Svedberg]

Back: Prokaryotic RNA large subunit 70S

 
Front: Prokaryotic RNA small subunit […Svedberg]

Back: Prokaryotic RNA small subunit 30S

If the […] is a new concept, head on over to Basic Card Models to read about the basics of making cards. Note how instead of putting the information for both Prokaryotic subunits on one card, the information is split into two cards. This is for optimizing efficiency. Cards should only cover one fact. This seems counterintuitive at first, yet makes sense in practice.  
   
 
Most of Biology can be strolled through using this basic card model. Here are some more examples:

 
Front: […Gram] cells contain a peptidoglycan cell wall

Back: Gram (+) cells contain a peptidoglycan cell wall

 
Front: Gram (+) cells contain a […] cell wall

Back: Gram (+) cells contain a peptidoglycan cell wall

 
Front: Amoeba move using […]

Back: Amoeba move using pseudopods

 
Front: […]: One gene affecting several traits

Back: Pleiotropy: One gene affecting several traits

 
Front: […size] nerve fibers are faster

Back: Larger nerve fibers are faster

 
Front: […]: Increase in cell numbers

Back: Hyperplasia: increase in cell numbers

Pictures/Diagrams

The hardest part of Biology is memorizing the amount of information. I have found picture card models to be extremely effective at learning oceans of information in a little amount of time. If someone is just beginning to learn Biology and must memorize the visual structures of a cell, this can be done easily using a picture of a cell from the internet and MS-paint. Just find a picture of a cell without labels and make a series of photos drawing an arrow to a cell structure. Alternatively, pull the picture from the powerpoint slides or textbook and occlude the structure names in MS-Paint. Example:

 
Front: (Picture of cell with arrow pointing to single structure)

                                                    […]
 
Back: (Picture of cell with arrow pointing to single structure)

                                         Nameoforganelle

 
Anatomy and Physiology would be a breeze using this method.
 
This should cover all areas of Biology except for pathways, which are discussed here(LINK) The effort put in to make the cards multiples over on itself several times with the SRS. Also since this is all on the computer it is much faster. It normally takes me 20-30 minutes per lecture to make cards for science courses.

Table of Contents

Related posts:

1. Organic Chemistry: IR/NMR
2. Organic Chemistry: General
3. Biology: Helpful Tools
4. Creating Cards: Card Models for All Classes
5. Letting Go of the Wall