Study tips for Econs

Case study

• Generate your answers based on theory, then make reference to case study materials (when practicing)
• Start from the back because they make up almost half/more than half of your marks. 
• Understand/memorize standard answers then adjust according to the context, you don't have time to slowly craft a response. Always draw diagrams! Practice drawing them. 

Essays:

• Don't spend so much time on intro, delve more into your body paragraphs. Put in definitions of concepts in your intro.
• Write at least 3 points, 2 detailed, 1 not so detailed because you don't have time. 
• Practice drawing diagrams. You can condense your diagrams if needed.
• You can make reference to diagrams you have drawn in part (a) in part(b) but you cannot make reference to diagrams in another question. 
• Make sure you know how to modify the 'standard response' according to what the question wants, come up with 'detailed' and 'condensed' versions of your answer. 
• In microecons, do questions related to market structure and market failure because they have a clear essay structure. 

Evaluations:

• Know your standard evaluations and elaborate in context. 
• They don't have to be in the conclusion only, evaluate your answers in the body paragraph as well. State assumptions when illustrating a mechanism/theory.

Examples:

• Don't just state examples, explain them and link them to the point/explanations you are making
• Examples should have relevant details. 
• Use standard examples (eg healthcare, public lighting), but you must be able to explain them well. 

Study tips for H2 Biology

Multiple choice:

• Eliminate options that are not likely to be the answer

Structured Questions

• Use the preamble to assist you in crafting your answer
• When revising your lecture notes, study it with the tutorial so you know what sub topics are most likely to come out. 
• Study your tutorial to also know how to answer your questions. Learn how to break down your questions.
• When a question gives you a diagram, make sure you craft your answers referring to the diagram if the question calls for it. Always quote values + give a trend!

Free Response Questions:

• These are the questions that you need to memorize the most for. 
• Drawing a table helps, but you need to phrase your answers in full sentences. 
• When in doubt, "location" of reactions/processes that occur is a standard point.

Practical:

• Don't draw best fit line unless you have a lot of time, it takes a long time to measure the distance between the points and the line you have drawn. 
• When you don't have enough time, do two concentrations of solutions (eg) to derive the trend than fake your results. 
• Craft your response by using standard phrasing in the theories you have learnt. 

Transitioning into JC

I have not been updating this blog for a long time. I don't know if I will update this regularly too. But I am in a JC now and will update this blog post with content I learn in a JC from now on.

History

There was a war between Majapahit and Singapura (which is believed to be Singapore)

Singapore was a bustling trading centre in the 1330s and 1340s since:

• Wang Dayuan's accounts
• Porcelain of late Ming Dynasty found, stuff from other countries of the 13/14th century. 
• It is autonomous, specialized town, city or small state intended for trade. Paid occasional tribute. 
• Usually a trans-shipment point between different ecological regions. 
• Deliberately neutral buffer zone. Did not belong to China, India or Siam. 
• Sejarah Melayu
• Old maps, Photographs. 

- 

Singapore chosen by the British because:

• Good habour
• Excellent supply of water
• Heart of Malay Archipelago
• Penang and Bencoolen not suitable ports
• Dutch not on island

British wants to break Dutch monopoly of trade. 

British reached Singapore on 28 January 1819, Farquhar and Raffles met Temenggong on 29 January 1819. Raffles recognised Tengku Hussien as the rightful Sultan and signed a treaty with him and Temenggong on 6 Februrary 1819 that allows British to start a settlement in Singapore. 

Dutch protested strongly, but both sides have nothing to gain from a war. Hence they signed the Anglo-Dutch treaty on 17 March 1824. Indeonesia and Bencoolen was placed under Dutch, British has Singapore, Melaka and Penang then. 

John Crawford signed a treaty on 2 August 1824 that allowed the British to keep Singapore. 

Raffles - fought for Singapore, signed treaty that allowed British to start a settlement

Farquhar - solved problems of Singapore: clearing trees, fortifying Singapore, having sufficient food, policing crime, exterminating pests. 

John Crawfurd - signed treaty in August 1824 that allowed British to keep Singapore. 

Biology: Cells

• Cells are the building blocks of life.
• takes in raw materials => processes materials, make new molecules => molecule used by cell or transported (eg insulin transported to liver and muscles)
• Use two types of microscopes to see cells => light microscopes(1000 x, colour images)/electron microscopes(black and white images, can be artificially colourized, 200000 x)

Protoplasm:

-About 70% of protoplasm is water. 

-It is made of the nucleus, cell surface membrane and the cytoplasm

Nucleus:

• It contains chromatin
• It controls cell activities 
• Essential for cell division

Chromatin

• A network of long thread-like stuctures found within the nucleus.
• Made up of proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
• When the cell is dividing, chromatin becomes highly coiled structures called chromosomes

Cell surface membrane:

-Also called plasma membrane

-partially permeable 

-A thin layer surrounding the cell
-Controls substances entering or leaving the cell

Cytoplasm:

• Contains enzymes and specialized structures called organelles. 
• In gel or sol state because of jelly-like consistency 
• Gel state (a semi-solid state) in the outer region, sol state (liquid state) in the inner regions

Centrioles:

-Cannot be seen under light microscope

-Responsible for cell division

-Found only in animal cells

Cell wall:

• Made of cellulose
• Protects cell from injury and gives the plant a fixed shape
• Fully permeable
• Absent in plant cells

Rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER):

• Ribosomes attached to its surface
• Ribosomes that are attached to the RER make proteins that are transported out of the cell.
• Ribosomes that lie freely in the cytoplasm make proteins that are used inside the cell.
• RER transports proteins made by ribosomes to Golgi apparatus for secretion out of cell

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER):

• does not have ribosomes attached to its surface
• synthesises substances such as fats and steriods (sex hormones in mammals)
• more tubular than RER

Golgi apparatus:

• stores and modifies substances sent by ER
• packages these substances in vesicles for secretion out of cell
• shaped like a disc
• consits of a stack of flattened spaces by membranes
• vesicles fuses with one side of Golgi apparatus and pinched off from the other side

Mitochondria:

• Small sausaged-shaped organelles
• Aerobic respiration occurs in mitochondria
• Food substances are oxidised to release energy.