This guide is written by Josephine Wang: Anatomy & Physiology and Biology instructor and co-founder of ScioVirtual. Josephine is a captain of the WW-P North Science Olympiad team, ranked in the top 50 of the USA Biology Olympiad, and infamously conducted biochemistry research at Indiana University.
- The Purpose of this Guide
- The Two Simple Steps
- Step 1: Learn the Basics of Biology
- The 7 Major Biology Branches
- Before you get started
- How do you study? (not just for biology!)
- Step 2: Specialize in 2-3 Topics
The Purpose of this Guide
With over 1,000 ScioVirtual students (flex), we get many questions from students and their parents:
- “How can I learn science by myself?” How can I go beyond what we learn in school?
- “Where do I start?” Should I read textbooks? Watch YouTube? Play online science games? What is the best online resource?
- “How do I not forget stuff after I learn it?” Why do I forget stuff one week after I learn it? Do I need to keep relearning stuff regularly?
- “In how much detail do I need to go?” How do I know if I understand a concept completely?
- “How can I use my time effectively?” How do I spend my time on the most important stuff?
From these questions, it’s clear that ScioVirtual students are ambitious. Whether they want to win an upcoming competition next week or become successful in college and beyond, our students are hungry for more knowledge.
The problem is that many young students do not know where to start learning. And even when they do, students make common “rookie mistakes” that prevent them from using their precious time effectively.
When I was in middle school, I had the same questions. This guide is for motivated students that want to challenge themselves and properly learn biology by themself.
The Two Simple Steps
Famous biologist Thomas Huxley said:
"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.”
This guide will help you do that by splitting up your learning in two steps:
A common mistake students make is they jump into very specific topics without having a proper background. For instance, when I was in 6th grade, I tried to understand DNA sequencing technologies when I didn’t even learn the basics of DNA structure and replication.
That’s like a kid learning long division before being able to count. No matter how hard that kid tries to memorize symbols, patterns, and procedures, they won’t really understand what is actually going on and will forget everything quickly.
Even if some of the content seems unrelated to the specific topic you want to learn, learning this information anyways beforehand will give you a huge edge for biology class in high school and college!
To learn the basics of biology, you need to spend some time on each topic.
Step 1: Learn the Basics of Biology
There are 7 major branches in biology. If you take one week and assign a major topic to each day, you can learn the basics of biology in just one week!
However, to fit everything in one week, you need around three hours of deep work per day.
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
Anatomy & Physiology | Cell Biology | Genetics & Development | Biochemistry | Biosystematics | Public Health | Ecology |
Some notes:
- This recommended schedule is challenging and accelerated. It is more important to take your time to actually understand the content and ask questions (instead of just rushing).
- You are not going to be an expert on every topic in just one week. Step 1 simply allows you to survey and understand the bigger picture of biology before you enter the specifics.
The 7 Major Biology Branches
Click on each branch to learn.
Before you get started
Here are some general study tips to help you navigate massive amounts of biology that is about to follow!
How do you study? (not just for biology!)
Step 2: Specialize in 2-3 Topics
Now that you have surveyed the main branches of biology, you have a strong understanding of the different types of biology you can learn.
Visit the table of specific biology-related Science Olympiad events below.