Monday, May 10, 2010

How Creative People Study for Bio

Today was the AP Biology test.  The whole family has been studying for this for weeks.  Only one of us took the exam, but all of us studied.  That’s partly because the Student In Question had some creative ways to study.

How to Study, Part I:  Involve the whole family...

....by throwing biology facts into light dinner conversation.
AP Bio Student:  “Did you know that there’s the vitreous humor and the aqueous humor?”
Her Dad:  “And the slapstick humor and the ironic humor...”

....by scaring your little sister with big biology words.
AP Bio Student: “Did you know that plants have a diploid zygote and a triploid endosperm?!”
Her Little Sister:  “Nooooo! Run away from the triploid endosperm!”

....by putting bio vocab into a simile.
AP Bio Student:  “Adenosine is like a spoof on adenine.”

....by making blanket statements about humankind.
AP Bio Student:  “We all have a notochord.”
Her Dad:  “Well, everyone carries a cell phone these days.”
Her Little Sister:  “What’s an otochord?”

....by throwing around fake biology terms.
AP Bio Student to Little Sister:  “Are we herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, or albinovores?”

... by combining studying with other activities. 
AP Bio Student:  “Who wants to watch TV while I study biology!?”

... by relating it to personal body parts.
AP Bio Student, to her brother: “Hey, did you know your small intestine has the area of a tennis court?”

... by revealing your winning strategy.
AP Bio Student:  I made a good guess, but you made me change it.
Her Father: You can’t guess.
AP Bio Student:  That’s how you win the exam!  You guess the right answer!

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