Science - #JC2017 - Maria Hayes

Maria Hayes - Scoil RuainThe Science paper which I was faced with today was very good. Everything I had concentrated on, came up!!I began with the Biology questions, then Chemistry, then finally Physics.I was happy with the biology questions, usually they are very difficult but this time they weren't as hard. Same goes for chemistry and physics!The only problem with the Chemistry was we had to draw a molecule of oxygen. I forgot my compass to draw the molecule!!!Other than that I was very happy with the paper!#StateExams2017

Science - #JC2017 - Diego Brule

Diego Brule - Colaiste Einde Salthill GalwayScience was one of the two subjects in which I had prepared myself the most in. I was very looking forward to it, considering that for my LC subjects, I picked Physics, Chemistry and Applied Maths.But maybe you noticed from my subject choices that Biology isn't my strongest? Well you are correct. As I opened the paper, the biology part made everything more complicated. A combination of asking precisely about topics that I hadn't much interest in, unusual wording, and me not being able to translate scientific names to english, made those first 3 questions very frustrating.But relief came to me as I went into the chemistry section. This time, no translating required, as it was more maths, the universal language. Balancing chemical equations, lab experiments, and the fact that not one thing about hard water came up made this section very enjoyable.And last but definitely not least, Physics section. Ah, my favourite science. I flew through it, knowing all the theory behind it. I just got a bit stuck on electricity, but my log book helped me out.Overall, for me, this test was satisfying and relaxed. And I can't help but be happy that now I can completely forget about studying plants again, or mostly anything about Biology for that matter.#StateExams2017

Leaving Certificate Biology

Emma - Higher Level 

Biology. Words can not describe the pain I have endured trying to make this subject less difficult! All of my time was spent the last three months completely on biology for seemingly absolutely nothing. The paper can only be deemed as fairly random and with a nice examiner I'd say I'd be lucky to scrape a D1 or C3. Half of my exam time was spent adding up marks I could get to scrape the grades needed for my course next year. The questions were an odd mix of everything with little digestion, little plant reproduction and little human reproduction, which was disappointing as that's what I had focused on for the last few weeks. The question on the eye, and the ear was manageable with the ecology being fairly handy with a couple of hard parts involving the grazing food chain. I completed all of the short questions, all of the experiments (which were fairly ok!!) and 5 long questions because I made a mess of the respiration question. For all of the study I put in, I'm thrown that nothing I learned in huge detail came up. However if you knew each part extremely well, like everything, I'm sure you would have done fabulously. The exam papers are in the bin and I cannot wait to leave behind the bane of my life- biology!

Ellen - Higher Level 

What can I say about that biology exam? Cruel is the first word that springs to mind. No genetics long question? I'm heartbroken to be honest. I even said it going in, 'this better not be the year they decide not to put genetics in the long questions'... so I feel like I may have jinxed it. Sorry guys. The short questions were manageable- if you could call it that. I thought it was very cruel to put plant reproduction in there when that is a difficult chapter most people (myself included) would avoid like the plague. The experiments were cruel in that it relied on your knowledge of the circulatory system to draw a graph for the experiment - not an easy thing to do if you ask me- and everyone I asked coming out of the exam hall went about it differently. With no genetics I was left to answer Q10 (ecology), Q11(photosynthesis & respiration) Q14b&c and, the horror of  horrors Q12- the ear and eye - definitely not something I had anticipated doing. I am truly exhausted after these two exams but only one more double day left, then it's all over!

Cárthach - Higher Level 

Beannacht dé ar aoinne a shuí sin!Absolutely sickening paper, ruthless in it's approach.For example in the short questions, I had previously used the same 'give examples' examples for questions, they opened questions 2 with 'Name an non metallic element apart from C H N O found in proteins' ...I had not expected they would specify to this detail. The same in 2 (f) , my example of an element was Iron, and they asked 'apart from Iron'.This wasn't the worst, but yet again it was harsh.Other questions were stricter and not much chance to avoid anything you don't like.I hadn't spent much time studying this because of honours maths, But I didn't think it would be this bad :(Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate Biology

Lorraine - Higher Level

Hi all! :) Well I'm just out of Biology and I have to admit I am fairly disappointed. As someone who has never been mad on Biology but gotten good grades after the mocks I really kicked myself even though I got a B and I attackedBiology properly. I did every exam paper, repeatedly went through on line videos, wrote out notes and flashcards and really tried to drill it into my head but that exam was awful. First of all, I didn't even know where to start with the short questions!! The last one, Q6, was literally 2 definitions that I have never seen before! I made a stab at them but I know my answers were wrong. I'm normally a big banker on Section A and Section B to pull me through Biology but today, I was really let down. The section A questions just seemed very different than other years and I was really disappointed.Section B was ok enough, although I completely forgot about the diagrams for fungi reproduction! :P Section C though I can honestly say I found really really hard. I always try and skip genetics because me and the crosses just do not work together but today I actually had to do genetics question because I was lost on the paper.After the exam from talking to everyone else, everyone thinks that we were really unlucky with a really horrible paper. I have to say I'm really disappointed as I had started to enjoy Biology but at this point in time, I'm hoping I at least got a D-C because that was an awful paper!I'm going to go cram some History and French for tomorrow- I think only an hour break betweenthese papers is ridiculous!

Joanna - Higher Level

It was a long paper and although parts got me stuck, thankfully there is always some choice, so I think I did well in it. The time in Biology is not tight at all, so it's grand in terms of taking your time with everything and then reading back over it.I found the first section easy enough. The second one, I answered the questions that were needed and then I did one extra in the last section. The paper seemed a bit different to me than papers in previous years, but maybe its just the sleep deprivation from the last two nights. There was a picture e of a dogs teeth on one page and a reflex arc (my favourite) on another. I don't know, I was so tired going in to the exam, all I can remember is writing answers and then cycling home... Thank god these last two days are over. Two exams per day, twice in a row should not be happening! Well, I'm finally over half way there (7 exams out of 11 done) so I'm delighted that the end of these exams is near :)

Isabelle - Higher Level

Biology has always been one of my better subjects, but due to being overwhelmed and and overtired as well as a lack of preparation my mock result didn't reflect that at all, and so I made sure I was prepared for today! I left Irish a bit early and went to cram as many definitions as I could!I thought the paper couldn't have suited me any better to be honest, everything I had crammed came up and everything I had avoided was avoidable (and also that guy who predicts papers on YouTube got the experiments spot on, shout out to him for saving me today) I came out of the paper feeling pleased that I had done as much as I could have done, and I know I certainly improved on my mock grade!However, the majority of my friends didn't feel this way at all, and I certainly can see how many people came out unhappy! Weird topics came up together (reproductive system with nervous system) and some of the questions were phrased really oddly too! I guess with such a big course it really is the luck of the draw and you can't learn everything, but seeing as so many people found it difficult lets just pray for a nice marking scheme.

Leah - Higher Level

Oh lord. Where to even begin with Biology. After that thrilling and soothing morning with such a beautiful Irish Paper, I will admit that I may have gotten too laid back. Biology brought me right back to the terrors of exams though. I am not even ashamed to admit that I wanted to cry over the paper.My entire paper was nothing less than a train wreck; partially because of the paper and partially because Biology is my worst subject. The Paper made me feel like I had done no study all year - not effective study anyway. The only consolation in that entire question were the Ecology sections. Apart from that though, I spent at least an hour and a half of the three hour long exam staring at the blanks on my paper. I feel like Irish Paper II worked against us to trick us into a sense of false security and then Biology showed up and shot us all with gamma rays or something. I was even contemplating on whether to take an Ordinary Level exam or not. Maybe I should have.All in all - Biology was a bit of muck. 0/10, would not recommend. It's all over now though. Now I get the sweet bliss of 9 days exam-free, until the 19th where I will have Religion and Japanese. I will of course be back here then to let you all know how they went but, until then, I wish you luck. Catch you on the (almost) flip side.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Cert Biology

Jessica - Ordinary Level

  Well, Biology wasn't to bad, it was a hundred times better than I was expecting it to be! After spending an hour panic studying in the break beforehand convincing myself I knew nothing it turned out I do know one or two things! I was delighted to see the trusty genetics and ecology questions there, especially the little ecology paragraph with all the answers in front of us!Female reproduction also made an appearance which is never a bad thing! Have to say though after finding out that the digestive system has made the cut 9 years running and spending so much time on it over the past few weeks I was very disappointed it wasn't there!After hearing the few people who stuck with higher I'm very glad for ordinary level! I'm really happy that its over with now!   Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.

LC Biology

Ailbhe (Higher Level)

ONE MORE EXAM TO GO!!YEEEHHAAAWWWWBiology, biology, biology… where do I start? Needing a much sought after A in this subject, I subjected myself to a heavy night of studying. Thanks God this is my favourite subject or those 11 hours at work yesterday would have been rather tiresome. I fell into bed at 1am and rose at 7.30. “Just. Two. More. Chapters.”I was ready to drop as I sat myself into the chair. In my state of hazy drowsiness, I had forgotten to bring a ruler and calculator into the hall with me. They were sitting comfortably in my schoolbag outside the door. Great. No capture recapture method for me then. No graphs either by the looks of it.Opened the paper. All predictions rang through. There were no nasty surprises lurking in the depths of the pink booklet. My confidence was greatly restored as I began to write. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Surprisingly all the experts were wrong. You can cram. And cram I did.What I loved about this paper was that it had evolved (geddit) from its earlier ancestors. Now that the species of question has grown more complex, a new breed has developed. I like to call it homo-think-for-yourself-erectus.The second short question was a fine specimen all together. Instead of employing the old genetics-for-Long-Q3 method, genetics were slipped into the short questions. This caused a slight ripple of surprise but calm waters were restored after I realised it was easier than it looked.Ecology moved to a whole new (trophic) level. There were graph-like creatures roaming the territory of long Q3. These questions really exemplified the whole concept of what biology is about - applying your knowledge. You had to read, understand, interpret and apply your knowledge to the graph in order to answer the question.I was disappointed to see that Protein Synthesis had devoured the usual inhabitant of long Q1 but the question's bark was worse than its bite and was easy enough to pin down.The final long question was another of the new generation progeny. You had to give reasons for statements. I know that questions like this have come up before but this year, they really broke through their endosperms of dormancy and made a remarkable comeback. Another breed of this organism was in the Ecology Question where taxonomy had to be applied. Sentences had to be declared true or false.The experiments were as predicted. I have always hated that experiment on the heart. The day we did this I spent more time butchering my heart with the scalpel than I did admiring the tricuspid valves. Once the green food dye came out to highlight the coronary arteries, I was a lost cause.....FOOD DYE FIGHT ANYONE??My other pet hate, plant mumbo jumbo, snarled at me from its lair in the third experiment question. I tried to slip in the key words here and there serial dilution, indolacetic acid, growth stimulators blahblahblah hopefully my point crossed the synapse.Once again, the second experiment question was crawling with homo-think-for-yourself-erectus. Instead of giving a question on one experiment it was based on almost every experiment on the course. This was great as it resurrected the ghost of the late night cramming session within me and really rewarded the student who had a good knowledge of the whole course rather than just relying on predictions. You had to apply your knowledge to the question once again.I think my ATP has just about been restored from last night. Let’s hope the adrenalin starts pumping to increase my mental alertness while I study for accounting. Homeostasis will be put to the test keeping me cool and calm during the weekend heat wave by the books. I'll test out my hypothesis "I will get my results, if I fight the temptations of the beach for the next three days". I'm sure it will work; I can feel it in my (spindle) fibres. ;)

Owen (Higher Level)

Ah Biology… the study of all living things!! Seeing as we are living, it should prove to be a nice exam and it being one of my favourite subjects, I was quite looking forward to getting it done!Short questions were a good way to warm up the brain cells which were quite nice and very much approachable… a good few marks to be seized in this section!Experiments and they weren't my favourite ones on the course so I wasn't very happy with this choice!I avoided the heart dissection as it is very particular and 'nitty gritty' so I moved on to the second and third choice, a nice variety in the second choice with questions ranging from all the experiments. Next was plant growth regulation and the use of IAA, an in depth experiment and you really needed to know your stuff here so lucky for me I gave it a bit of last minute revision this morning so it was quite fresh in my head!Long questions, again a nice variety from ecology to enzymes to the nervous system!I found myself doing questions 11, 13, 14 and 15 which were very manageable. However, I did find a few bits and pieces here and there that proved to be a challenge but I did give them a fairly decent attempt and used every ounce of information I knew on the topic to pick up most of the marks! As one of my friends said, 'I was basically vomiting up all the stuff that I knew onto the page just to be safe'.Everyone seemed to be quite content with how the exam went. As for me, I found myself questioning how well it had gone after the exam and whether or not I had done enough to secure the high grade which I had been banking on. However, after analysing the paper a bit further, I feel reassured that it was a very do-able paper and hopefully the generous marking scheme will work in my favour to gain the majority of marks with the 'nitty gritty' bits.Now off for a week… I'm already feeling the Freedom, on the other hand there's still study to be done for music but hey, only one exam left!! :D