Term 3

This term was a very hectic one for me, in addition to the science concepts and formulas that had to be memorised, there were also projects and other school activities, not to mention the term 3 tests. In this term, we moved from physics and chemistry to the topic on biology, the topics learnt includes cells, diffusion and osmosis, and also about the topic of Energy, where we learnt about digestion and respiration. In the cells section, we learnt about how to examine a cell under a microscope using an appropriate temporary staining technique, how to draw biological diagrams, identify the parts of a plant and animal cell, compare the differences between a plant and animal cell, state the functions of the different functions of plant and animal cell, and explain the significance of the division of labour at the cellular level. In diffusion and osmosis, we learnt about the definition of diffusion and osmosis and to distinguish between diffusion and osmosis in terms of types of molecules and the presence or absence of a partially permeable membrane. In the Energy section, we learnt about the definition of digestion, why food had to be digested, how to describe the major components of the human digestive system, namely the mouth, buccal cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, liver, small intestine, large intestine and the anus. We also learnt how to describe how the digestive system helps in digestion of food and the part played by enzymes in digestion. We only learnt about 4 classes of enzymes, the amylase, maltase, protease and lipase. Shown below is the summary of the breakdown of different classes of food by different types of enzymes.

For the topic on respiration and photosynthesis, we had to learn how to describe aerobic respiration, state its importance and construct a word equation for aerobic respiration, which was:

Glucose+Oxygen--->Cardon dioxide+water+energy,

we also had to learn about the major components of the human respiratory system, namely the nose, nasal cavity, pharynx, trachea(formally known as windpipe to me in primary school), bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli and the diaphragm, we had to understand the difference between respiration and breathing, understand how plants take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, and compare respiration and photosynthesis. We also had to learn the word equation for photosynthesis, which was:

carbon dioxide+water(with the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight)---->oxygen + glucose. 

The picture shown below is a diagram of the human respiratory system

The topics were fairly easy as the basics of all the topics had been already taught and tested in Primary School, except for digestion in Energy, I realised that there was more that meets the eyes in digestive system, and the digestive system I knew before was now known as the alimentary canal. however, I was still worried for the term 3 test, this was because the majority of the questions would be on the previous term's topics, as I was still unclear of some of the concepts, I had to do alot of last-minute work, which was meant to be done last term. In this term, there were many things to be memorised, together with last term's work, making me very stressed out. However, I was still pretty confident with myself the night before the science test as I had memorised almost everything in my notes, and I got a B4 in the end. I was very disappointed with my results as I was sure that I had prepared well and had all the concepts memorised. Looking through my paper, I realised that my preparing methods were ineffective as memorising only helped me with the basics and to score well for more advanced questions, I had to do more exercises. I also felt that over-confidence was yet another factor for my bad results. I will consider going for science remedial in term 4 to boost my science results in preparation for the End-Of-Year exams.