This is a thread for the discussion about grade 11/12 biology(AP and Non AP). General discussions about the course, specific questions, studying guides, strategies etc can all be posted here.

Here is the Ontario Curriculum for Grade 12:
1. Biochemistry and cellular biology
2. Energy and metabolism
3. Molecular genetics
4. Homeostasis
5. Population dynamics/ecology

For those who finished, which unit do you think is the easiest? hardest?
How does grade 11 compare to grade 12? general comments?

I'm currently taking this course, we've done Biochemistry and Metabolic Processes so far. Biochemistry was extremely easy. Metabolic Processes had way more memorization due to the different stages of both cellular respiration and photosynthesis. We just started Molecular Genetics and it seems like it's going to be much harder than the first two units. But I hear Homeostasis is the hardest.

Grade 11 to 12 was a HUGE jump.
Finished biochem. I thought it was really bad but the result turned out fine. My class avg was 76% (which is pretty decent considering a full class). Sad thing is the highest avg was 88. Nobody hit the 90s in all 4 classes of SBI4U.

We're on Metabolic processes right now. A quiz is coming up next Thursday and I'm so nervous. 50 marks is not a quiz, Miss. //criesss

Hate the fact that my school only offers AP Bio... :( SMH

Any1 already written the genetics unit test wanna share the long answer/application questions? (or any questions that you found hard) I have my test on Thursday, gonna try to get a 98% on this. (I'm not considering 100% because my teacher always takes off 1 to 2 marks on communication)

And to answer the poster above, as long as you know the polar/non-polar molecules and their properties, you'll be fine. It would help to have some knowledge on organic chem and functional groups too.

I actually really enjoyed the biochemistry section, cell respiration and all. Memorizing the metabolic processes was strangely fun and not that difficult.
I learned the biochem section in Gr 11; at that point I wasn't thinking of continuing in the sciences at all, but biochemistry/metabolic processes changed my mind! If you took grade 12 chemistry, some of biochem and metabolic processes should be familiar, such as functional groups and even Gibbs.

What I found difficult were the diagrams in homeostasis. There were a lot.

Also, when you add all the content together and are studying for final exams, it seems really overwhelming! But what I learned from bio was that my brain could fit a lot more info than I thought, :D

I wish I could help more, but I don't remember much about what was on the test. Need to start reviewing my biology again... The point of my post was basically what I underlined. Don't be overwhelmed, just study and have fun. :)

The first unit of SBI4U I found really easy, functional groups requires easy memorization and drawing glucose structures became really easy just from repitive drawing. Metabolic process were alright as well. The harder units are the ones with cellular respiration, photosynthesis and then the nervous system got a little confusing. For me, I am good at visualizing these processes deep in the cells so I didn't have a problem with the course, except memorizing glycolysis,Krebs, ETC, photosynthetic respiration. Luckily I had a crib sheet for the exam and got 89% on my exam!

Overall I found SBI4U really interesting more so than SBI3U, because I now have greater knowledge of molecular processes that happen in the body, causing extremely nerdy comments at the dinner table. lol I love feeling smart!!

We just finished Biochemistry. I have to say I actually liked that unit. Maybe because I had chemistry last semester, but there was a lot less content to know, and it was more about understanding.

I found that you can only study up to a certain point, and when you reach that point, it's all about your teacher that determines your mark and the questions they ask.

For example, to me the second semester biology test was way easier than the first semester biology test, even though they are of equal difficulty. I would've probably gotten 5% less if I wrote the first semester test.