Content of the SAT II Biology
The SAT II Biology covers the biology topics taught in any standard American high school biology course, with particular emphasis on either ecology or molecular biology. ETS breaks the test down into five basic categories:
Topic Number of Questions
Cellular and Molecular Biology8–11
Ecology8–11
Classical Genetics7–9
Organismal Biology22–26
Evolution and Diversity7–10
As we said, depending on which specialty section you elect to take, you will also face 20 questions (25 percent of the total questions you will see) in either ecology/evolution or molecular biology/evolution.
While these categories are helpful, they are also very broad. For example, you may have cell structure down pat, but biochemistry throws you for a loop, and you would like to get a sense of how much of the test is devoted to these two topics. To help you out, we’ve broken the core of the test down even further, so that you’ll know exactly where to expect to feel the squeeze.
Topic Number of Questions
Cellular and Molecular Biology8–12
The Cell and Cell Structure4–6
Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry3–5
Cell Processes1–3
Mendelian and Molecular Genetics8–10
Evolution and Diversity8–10
Evolution2–4
Diversity4–6
Organismal Biology20–26
Animal Structure, Function, and Behavior9–13
Plant Structure and Function9–13
Ecology7–9
This book is organized according to these categories, allowing you to focus on each topic to whatever degree you feel necessary. Also, each question in the practice tests at the back of this book has been sorted into these categories, so that when you study your practice tests, you can very precisely identify your weaknesses and use this book to address them.