My Personal Guide To SPM! (Part III.5)
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Every student will have their own favorite when it comes to science subjects. But when it comes studying them, you need to have that love for all of em. Science makes you feel inquisitive. It's all about learning the behind-the-scenes stuff in life. There are also times when you feel in awe at the complexity of creation. All these factors make up the fuel you need to study Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Let's get to it! But first let's clear something up.
Chemistry
I usually go through the experiment once, remember the apparatus, and the steps we do. Ingat ingat lah time buat experiment tu kat lab. It really helps! So stay awake when you're doing em.
One more thing...
Links: Online Notes
Biology
I did try to do some past years, but I just felt like they were not efficient. Question bank untuk Bio ni sangat luas. Terlalu luas. So what I did was set a time, sit down, and went through a chapter. If I didn't understand something, or felt bored, I'd watch videos on YouTube that explains it. Sometimes you should google the topic you don't understand, sebab ade je banyak blogspot, or slideshare yang simplify-kan the topics so it's easier to understand.
By simply going through the topics yourself, you are simultaneously studying for Paper 1 AND Paper 2.
Draw some pictures, talk out loud, do some actions. Make sure you use methods that you can vibe with. Methods that help you memorize. Methods that stimulate your brain.
"Tapi banyak lah". Memang banyak, tapi sebenarnya mudah. Here's another confession: I never memorized everything.
I never memorized all the types of tissues.
WHICH BOOK SHOULD I GET?
Most, or even all, of my reference books are the Whizz Thru ones or eNotes. I prefer to use the small, condensed ones, instead of those huge ones. I'm not saying they're bad, but nak belajar pon rasa macam
"Ahhhh how am I supposed to memorize all of this!?" (I'm looking at you Success books).
Tapi for Chemistry, buku Spotlight highly recommended jugak lah sebab dia punya description for experiments sangat lengkap. But imo, you only need one for Chemistry.Please do have only 1 or 2 reference books for all of your SPM subjects, because honestly, that's all you need.
I never actually bought a Success book for Chem. My friends are kind enough to snap pictures of the experiments from their Success book, and send it to me via Whatsapp. Sometimes I'd borrow their book to salin the exp. myself. I AIN'T CHEAP :C.
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| "Basically the only Chemistry book I studied from besides the past years book" |
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| "My Bio reference book" |
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| "I used two books for Physics for the full lengkap-ness" |
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| "Did I mention I love Whizz Thru books?" |
Now that that's settled, it's time to talk about the 3 Science Subjects of SPM! (two 'thats' in a sentence always look weird :/)
Chemistry
Ok so Chemistry, like the rest of the science subjects, have 3 papers. The practice for Paper 1, is to do past papers. "Aww, is there no magic shortcut to master paper 1?" Well, to tell ya the truth...no. But that doesn't mean you can't do it. Chemistry was one of the subjects I went for tution for (not tution centres mind you). Our teacher constantly gave us past year papers to do as work.
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| "We used this book" |
At first, memang rase susah nak buat. But soon, every objective question you see will become so simple! Doing past papers for Chemistry is the most important for two reasons.
- Chemistry has the most repeated questions and patterns compared to Bio and Phy.
- Soalan past years selalunya keluar sejibik, dalam peperiksaan SPM sebenar
What do i mean by repeated questions? It means that Chemistry is probably the easiest subject to practice on because of the sheer amount of topics they're forced to repeat every year. This is really obvious when you go through the past year objectives.
For Paper 2, I studied using the method I mentioned a bajillion times in the previous parts. BUT, I am gonna give you some of the things you should focus on, which I only did when SPM was like 2 months away... Oh here's a tip, keywords are very very very vital in scoring your exams.
- Learn about the HEATING/COOLING CURVE FOR NAPHTHALENE, you'll be surprised how many students (and me...) belittle this topic.
- Isotopes, and how to determine Empirical Formula. They usually ask you about the Copper Oxide one, and the Magnesium Oxide one. Oh yeah, please try to memorize the precautions for the experiments you learn, like why we don't use a crucible when doing the Copper(II) Oxide experiment.
- Learn to draw Ionic/Covalent bonds
- PERIOD 3
- Understand Electrochemistry, and the Electrochemical Series. You'll use this for a lot of chapters in Chemistry, so look up some YouTube vids if you need help understanding it.
- DRAWING/NAMING HYDROCARBONS
- Definition for all the types of Heat (e.g. Heat of Displacement)
Chemistry is a subject that you can learn from doing past year questions, because it doesn't have a lot of concepts to understand. As for paper 3, my teacher once said: (paraphrased)
"Don't just hafal each experiment, understand what you're doing, then you can see the steps in your head"
I usually go through the experiment once, remember the apparatus, and the steps we do. Ingat ingat lah time buat experiment tu kat lab. It really helps! So stay awake when you're doing em.
One more thing...
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| PLEASE MASTER THIS |
Biology
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| sorry. |
Biology is infamous for having so much to read and memorize. Cells, Mitosis, Systems, Aerobic, Anaerobic Plants, Genes, Alleles, Kingdom, Phylum, Mangroves, AHHHHHH!!! But most of us don't see the bigger picture. Biology is a subject you can ace JUST BY READING AND UNDERSTANDING. I am being honest with you. All I did was read, watch some videos, and that's it.
But again, I'm not saying this is the magical way to an A+, if you feel the need to practice questions, that's all fine and dandy. I'm just decribing what worked for me.
I did try to do some past years, but I just felt like they were not efficient. Question bank untuk Bio ni sangat luas. Terlalu luas. So what I did was set a time, sit down, and went through a chapter. If I didn't understand something, or felt bored, I'd watch videos on YouTube that explains it. Sometimes you should google the topic you don't understand, sebab ade je banyak blogspot, or slideshare yang simplify-kan the topics so it's easier to understand.
By simply going through the topics yourself, you are simultaneously studying for Paper 1 AND Paper 2.
Draw some pictures, talk out loud, do some actions. Make sure you use methods that you can vibe with. Methods that help you memorize. Methods that stimulate your brain.
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| Or else... |
"Tapi banyak lah". Memang banyak, tapi sebenarnya mudah. Here's another confession: I never memorized everything.
I never memorized all the types of tissues.
I never memorized the uses of Microorganisms in Biotechnology
I never memorized ALL the vitamins, I just went through them a few times.
I never memorized the nutrients requirements for plants in Chp6 for Form 4.
Sometimes ade jumpe topic yang rase tak pernah belajar pon!
And those are just some of the things. So what do you try to memorize?
I memorized the Mitosis and Meiosis processes.
I understood Aerobic and Anaerobic respiration (yeast too)
I understood what hypertonic/hypotonic/isotonic solutions mean.
I memorized the Colonization and Succession, especially the mangroves.
See you need to give focus on the questions that actually come out in exams. If you filter out topics yang tak pernah keluar in SPM, sebenarnya takde lah banyak sangat. Ade some chapters yang guarantee keluar untuk SPM like if I'm not mistaken, the last chapter for Form 4 selalu keluar.
Of course, tak pernah keluar, doesn't mean memang tak akan keluar dah FOREVER. But we need to study to the best of our abilities. Study smart > Study hard. Jangan anggap I have to hafal the whole book. Nanti dah nak dekat SPM tu, banyak lah ramalan akan keluar. You can focus on that. But unfortunately for my batch (1999), most of the soalan ramalan tak keluar la pulak xD.
Paper 3, standard lah belajar. Cume Bio ni jarang buat experiment, so you need to memorize better than the other science subjects. Oh yeah, and KEYWORDS. Paper 3 have SPECIFIC WORDS you have to use. I do not know what they are for your year, so please confront your teacher. How specific are they? Well for my year...
"Use the same" ✔
"Use constant" ✖
Yes, even though they're synonymous, the 2nd one is considered wrong. Please learn the format for Inference, Hypothesis, Operational Definition, etc. from your Biology teacher, as they are strictly fixed.
Last, but important tip here. Nowadays, SPM ni mementingkan concept. I'm sure you've heard of the infamous watermelon question in 2016's paper 2. They like to test your general knowledge, but don't panic. Always think rationally, and think back to your syllabus if you feel lost.
Links:
Online Notes
Bozeman Science (He doesn't specifically teach our syllabus, but some of his videos are great. Helped me throughout Form 4 and Form 5. Check this one out)
Mr Sai Mun ( I actually stumbled upon his channel while working on this blogpost, looks like he has a bunch of useful content so please check him out too!)
Last, but important tip here. Nowadays, SPM ni mementingkan concept. I'm sure you've heard of the infamous watermelon question in 2016's paper 2. They like to test your general knowledge, but don't panic. Always think rationally, and think back to your syllabus if you feel lost.
Links:
Online Notes
Bozeman Science (He doesn't specifically teach our syllabus, but some of his videos are great. Helped me throughout Form 4 and Form 5. Check this one out)
Mr Sai Mun ( I actually stumbled upon his channel while working on this blogpost, looks like he has a bunch of useful content so please check him out too!)
Physics
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| straight up. |
I would consider Physics my weakest of the three. Tips-wise, it's more or less the same with the ones above, except for Paper 2. But first a small warning for Paper 1. Physics, is by far the most trickiest objective paper I've ever faced. If you do not read the question carefully you're gonna get trolled. Hard. I remember doing one question where they told you to calculate the pressure for this 3D rectangle.
Hmph, simple enough.
Looks like the force is given...
Oh! They even gave me all the lengths!
Pressure is just force divided by area so let's just do that.
210Pa! Ok, let's see if this is in the answers...
Yes! There it is! The answer is D!
Easy right? Hahahahah-WRONG. Turned out the question was asking for the maximum pressure, so I calculated the wrong surface...Yeah so you get the point.
For Paper 2, you face subjective questions. Again, it all has a pattern. Just look up a trial paper online. Mesti ade question pasal measuring instruments. Mesti ade question yang suruh bagi definition. And of course, the two big questions at the end. Modification, and Pick the Best One.
What helped me with these were online resources. You can't predict what'll come out, but they give you a good idea on how to answer the questions. Links below! Right so I'm gonna give you specific advice on some topics that you should focus.
1) The instruments. Oh man the instruments. Vernier Caliper, Micrometer Screw-gauge, Ticker Tape, Ammeter, and Voltmeter. Be sure to know how to read the measurements, zero errors (positive and negative), and memorize what the parts are called. It is highly likely that one of these will come out in the first part of your Paper 2
2) For Light, make sure you know how to describe the object based on where it is placed in front of a lens, or mirror. This is important because they might want you to draw a diagram for them. Same goes with telescope, and microscope. If you have trouble understanding, don't be afraid to ask your teacher, even outside of class.
3) Learn to draw every bit of this diagram in Electromagnetism. Even the directions the arrows are facing. This was a question once, and I wasn't prepared. Follow the one in your book, or the one given by your teacher.
4) All the definitions in the Radioactivity chapter. They want you to memorize these word for word. Miss one and you might lose a mark. I learned that the hard way.
Final tip for Physics...the UNIT. You won't believe how many times students lose marks because they forgot to write the unit, or they wrote the wrong one, so please do remember ya.
Links:
Mr Sai Mun
Online Notes
Modifications
Small, but useful physics videos on this channel
4) All the definitions in the Radioactivity chapter. They want you to memorize these word for word. Miss one and you might lose a mark. I learned that the hard way.
Final tip for Physics...the UNIT. You won't believe how many times students lose marks because they forgot to write the unit, or they wrote the wrong one, so please do remember ya.
Links:
Mr Sai Mun
Online Notes
Modifications
Small, but useful physics videos on this channel
So is that all to the SPM Guide? No actually. I plan to write more on general tips in general, but generally speaking (ok I'll stop) I hope to tackle common questions you have on dealing with Form 5, SPM, or school life.
What do I know about school life? I've moved schools 7 times man! Buuuut that's another story. For any questions you wanna ask, please email me at syafiq99@gmail.com.
One last thing, SPM is just one phase of your life, so don't take it negatively. Put your trust in Allah s.w.t, and hope for the best. Enjoy your final year of high school man, because after this...well...I'll let you find out for yourself. ;-). See ya.
What do I know about school life? I've moved schools 7 times man! Buuuut that's another story. For any questions you wanna ask, please email me at syafiq99@gmail.com.
One last thing, SPM is just one phase of your life, so don't take it negatively. Put your trust in Allah s.w.t, and hope for the best. Enjoy your final year of high school man, because after this...well...I'll let you find out for yourself. ;-). See ya.
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