5 Best Ways To Make Learning Biology Fun And Interesting

Biology is one of the three main science subjects in Secondary School. Being a content-heavy subject, with the large amounts of information to grasp and memorise, biology can be a challenging subject for some students.

Fear not, we are going to address some of the common challenges faced with learning biology by sharing 5 ways you can make studying biology fun and interesting!

Common challenges faced when learning Biology

1. Difficulty memorising the content

One of the biggest problems most students face when studying for this subject is in trying to memorise all the different information and content needed for their Biology exam.

In Biology, there are many different topics and subtopics. Many students struggle to find the time to understand and familiarise themselves with the content. Even if they manage to find time to revise everything, most of them have trouble memorising and taking note of essential keywords needed in their answers before the exam.

2. DIfficulty visualising how things work

Biology as a subject area has a lot to do with studying systems and processes that may not be visible to the naked eye. This is especially so when we study things at the molecular level. This makes it difficult for students to visualise the various processes which may affect their understanding of the topic or concept.

3. Not using the right terminology when answering questions

Another challenge that students face is that they are unable to find the right terminology to answer the questions. In a subkect like Biology, it is important to use the right terminology and keywrords when answering the questions. This means that even if students understand the concept, they may not be able to score the marks due to the absence of specific keywords the examiners are looking for.

The similarity behind these 3 issues is that some students do not devote their time to understanding the concepts. Instead, the rely on pure memorisation to get them through the examinations.

Here are 5 tips and ways students can try out to make learning this subject more fun and interactive, which can help them learn and understand the topics better. This, in turn, will equip them with the knowledge to do well in examinations.

5 Ways to Make Learning Biology Fun and Interesting

1. Do experiments

One of the best ways to learn more effectively is to engage your senses! Doing experiments not only allow you to visualise various processes, it also allows you to participate in hand-on learning that can increase the effectiveness of your study session.

A common topic students often struggle with is the Circulatory System and how the heart works. To have a better understanding on this topic, I remembered that my teacher brought in a pig’s heart and used coloured water as blood to demonstrate to us how the heart functions. By using the pig's heart to mimic the human heart, I had a better understanding of how the heart works and how the different blood vessels connect to the heart.

However, please only try out experiments that are safe to conduct at home! Simple experiments such as the plant transport system that may be tested in the Biology Practical Exam are easy to try out at home. 

2. Learn through videos

Sometimes the materials needed for the experiment may be unobtainable or too expensive to purchase. A great alternative to help students understand without conducting experiments is to learn through watching videos.

Today, with the advent of technology, there are many videos with 3D animations that are able to help students visualise the different processes so that they have a better understanding of how things work. They can also explain things at the molecular level, such as enzymes and DNA, which is not easily obtainable and seen with the naked eye without special equipment. Youtube videos make such information and content readily available for students any time!

Some YouTube channels that do a great job in this include CrashCourse and Cognito.

Apart from YouTube, another great learning academy that has all these videos is Khan Academy.

3. Drawing diagrams or include diagrams in notes

Another great way to help you memorise biology content more easily is to use diagrams. Diagrams can help you identify important structures and visualise how things work. Through drawing diagrams or adding diagrams in your notes, you will be able to connect the information that you read with an image. This helps with knowledge retention and understanding the concepts more deeply. Furthermore, by drawing diagrams, you will be able to easily identify the structures if the exam questions require you to identify them.

Drawing diagrams can also make the studying session more fun and interesting! It is a good break from writing and allows you to add more colours and shapes into your notes. Besides physical note-taking mediums, digital note-taking apps are a great alternative for you to add images from Google into your notes directly. 

You can use Notion, Evernote, or simply just google docs to achieve that. 

4. Create mind maps

Creating mind maps can be really helpful in content-heavy topics such as biology.

Mind Maps allow one to see the connections between topics, which can be helpful in tackling compare and contrast questions in examinations. Furthermore, a mind map forces one to summaries whatever they have  learnt into a few essential keywords for the topic. Thus, they are able to focus on the different main points and memorise the main keywords used.

5. Play biology games

Learning does not always have to take the form of reading textbooks and making notes. A great way to learn is also through games. This interactive medium is engaging and stimulating and tests students to apply the knowledge they've learnt then and there. However, learning through these games should be accopanied with the traditional studying methods. Relying on playing these games alone may not help you achieve the results you may be expecting! 

Planeta 42 and Anatomy Arcade are websites that allow students to test their biology knowledge through games.

For example, in Planeta 42, students are required to know the differences in structure between a plant and animal cell and add the right structure to the respective cells. This shows how games can help to emphasize the important information and keywords that are used in biology, helping students familiarise the concepts with them.

I hope these methods will help you realise that biology can be engaging and interactive while helping you ace your biology examinations.

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