Problem solving is a crucial part of the biology olympiad. If you look at the most recent exams of, for instance, the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), you’ll notice that many questions revolve around data interpretation and analysis of a range of different biological experiments. Reading Campbell will only give you a solid foundation of basic biology knowledge, but if you want to advance to the top of the charts of your National Biology Olympiad, you need to improve your problem solving skills. So how do you do this?
Best ways to build problem solving skills
Well, to start with you must review all past papers of your National Biology Olympiad and then you can also look at the IBO papers. Make sure you know how to interpret each question and how to find the right information from facts and figures. Honestly, solving problems is the best way to learn problem solving. No magic! 😉 The most questions you tackle, the better you’ll get at analysing and interpreting the questions.
Next, you should check out the MIT Open Courseware resources. They have a bunch of amazing and free question papers with solutions that range from biochemistry to genetics to cell biology. Bellow I left a list of the best courses to help you prepare for the Biology Olympiad.
5-07SC Biochemistry from MIT Opencourseware
Review Module I, Module II and Module III
