The brilliant learners in SUIS Gubei have harvested 7 Global GOLD, 4 Global SILVER, 4 Global Bronze, 2 Global Highly Commended, and 3 Global Commended medals in BBO, after their active and passionate learning. Let’s shout out to the following winners!
Student Interview
Andrew yongjun Kim
To recount my experience of preparing for one of the most prestigious biology competitions, the BBO, I believe that cramming through the entire Campbell Biology textbook provided by school teachers played a pivotal role in consolidating my knowledge of biological concepts and diagrams, as well as allowing me to approach challenging questions with confidence. One of many specific examples from the textbook that greatly aided me in achieving a high score is the section on Mendelian inheritance, where the ABO blood group system and the Rh (Rhesus factor) are discussed thoroughly. Delving into these topics provided a deep understanding of blood type inheritance, encompassing the roles of multiple alleles, dominance, and co-ominance in determining an individual’s blood type. Armed with this knowledge, I was adept at dissecting inheritance problems with ease and precision. After thoroughly studying the textbook, I engaged in solving biology questions, including BBO past papers, from diverse resources spanning different curricula. This approach allowed me to build a strong foundational knowledge base while also familiarizing myself with various question styles. Consequently, it bolstered my confidence in tackling unfamiliar or novel question styles. Most importantly, I believe my interest and curiosity in the field of biology most accelerated my motivation to challenge myself in this competition.
Melody Ma
As a previous PIB student, I actually had a lot of challenges. I was in a different system and had been taught with different knowledge. Not completely different but I’ll have to say its limited. This disanvantage significantly appears in the competitions I attend. I was indeed very worried if my knowledge is not enough for the competition. Luckily, found a way that is really efficient for me to go over the contents and prepare the competition. I would like to share my method of learning with you guys.
First of all, for me, the preparation of the competition is not only just for the competition but also a great opportunity to review past contents, preview future contents in the IB syllabus and accumulate information that could be useful to me in the future. So I don’t put all the revision stuff till the last two weeks so that I can have a long turn memory. For the first two weeks, quickly working through earlier past papers can help me quickly find out the weakness and knowledge gaps I had. Those topics will the ones I specifically focus on for the next two weeks. In this period, try to not only remember “what” but also “why” or “how”. Knowing about “why”or “how” helps you make connections between the knowledge you learn and the knowledge you already know, which makes it more efficient for you to memorize it. In the end, you may even have the ability to solve questions in unfamiliar areas because you have the ability to find links between the information you are given and finally lead yourself to the answer using the connection and logic. And those are the questions competitions are more likely to give these days. The last two weeks are left for recent past papers. It is the chance to test your past month’s effort and the last chance for you to find any unfamiliar areas.
I am also an “output” type of learner, which means I can better organize my thoughts when I am speaking or writing. It can help me better focus on the what I am looking at and help me organize the logic. This characteristics makes me the type of person that fits well in a study group, which is the second way I recommend you guys to try. A study group that is run well could be more efficient than studying individually. Members of the group can share resources, be complementary on the topics they mastered and being taught by someone who knows a content well can be faster and more accurate than learning it by yourself. Here I really want to thank my teacher and my friends who studied with me and helped me with the problems during the preparation. I’m sure this method will also be useful in every day study if it fits you. So find a friend, or a group of friends that share the same interest with you and if you have any questions about a problem, that both, or many of you are interested in, don’t be shy to ask them and your teachers. But make sure you are not bothering them too much.
British Biology Olympiad (BBO)
The British Biology Olympiad (BBO) was created in 1995, to stimulate students with an interest in Biology to expand and extend their talents.It is one of the largest science competitions in the UK with more than 10,000 high school students participating every year. It enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded and publicly recognized through medals, certificates and other prizes.
The Intermediate Biology Olympiad tests students biology knowledge, and meanwhile, encourages them to continue studying the bio-sciences beyond school. Participants will get unique advantages when applying science majors in top universities.
Biology Challenge stimulates students’ curiosity for the natural world and encourages them to take an interest in biology outside of school by reading books and magazines, watching natural-history programs and keeping pace with news media.