Students' Confusion in Exam Preparation: Introduction to Biology Olympiads (USABO, CBO, BBO). When preparing for biology Olympiads like USABO, CBO, and BBO, people often think of the 1200-page Campbell textbook. Teachers usually focus on explaining knowledge points, but CBO preparation is not about memorizing the entire biology textbook; it's about learning to use biological knowledge for logical reasoning. This often leaves students feeling lost when solving problems.
At Gaoling Education, you won't be so confused.
The two textbooks above also represent two stages of biology teaching at Gaoling Education:
1. Teacher Lisa guides Steven, from basic concepts, problem-solving, experiments, and papers... all the way to the International Biology Olympiad.
2. Teacher Kevin has led students to win gold medals in the CBO competition for many consecutive years.
Based on this, we are starting the 2026-27 Biology Olympiad training camp.
PART.01 Course Features and Teaching Advantages
At Gaoling Education, follow the team of Teachers Kevin and Lisa, who have over twenty years of North American Olympiad competition training experience. Based on the core knowledge points of the CBO Biology Competition, they systematically screen and integrate course topics to help students avoid blindly reading through entire biology textbooks, focus on key areas, and avoid detours within the limited preparation time. We also have a simulated computer-based testing system to help students familiarize themselves with the exam format through continuous training and constantly improve their problem-solving abilities.
01 CBO Preparation Emphasizes Logical Reasoning with Biological Knowledge
Many students and parents tend to misunderstand the CBO Biology Competition as a competition of "biological knowledge quantity," believing that one must systematically complete AP Biology and master a vast amount of biological knowledge, memorizing all textbook content, before being suitable for the competition.
However, in reality, while many CBO questions are based on biological concepts, what they truly test is not just "how much you have memorized," but rather "whether you can derive the answer step-by-step based on the information provided in the question."
Therefore, a student with strong logical reasoning skills, even if temporarily lacking in some biological knowledge, can entirely analyze the correct answer using experimental conditions, diagrams, data, and textual information from the question.
This is a very important distinction between CBO and regular biology courses.
02 We don't "finish learning knowledge first, then start practicing competition problems."
- Quickly extract key information from lengthy problem statements;
- Perform logical deductions based on given conditions;
- Determine experimental variables and causal relationships;
- Read complex diagrams and data;
- Verify or rule out hypotheses based on experimental results;
- Apply acquired knowledge to unfamiliar situations;
- Infer answers using problem information even when knowledge is not completely familiar.
03 Reduce "textbook-style preparation," improve preparation efficiency
The scope of biological knowledge involved in CBO is very broad. If one were to follow the traditional method of reading and memorizing a large number of biology textbooks from beginning to end before starting to prepare for the competition, for many middle school students, this would not only require a huge time investment but also might not lead to ideal preparation efficiency.
Therefore, we emphasize precise screening of core knowledge + CBO question type training + biological logical thinking training.
The course helps students master knowledge truly relevant to solving competition problems and understand the connections between different knowledge points, rather than simply pursuing coverage of all knowledge.
On this basis, through typical question types, experimental design, data analysis, diagram interpretation, past exam questions, and simulated training, students gradually form a stable CBO problem-solving mindset:
Understand the question → Extract conditions → Formulate hypotheses → Analyze variables → Interpret evidence → Logical deduction → Draw conclusions.
Therefore, we hope to help students reduce the pressure of reading lengthy textbooks and rote memorization, and truly invest their limited preparation time in the most valuable knowledge and most important problem-solving abilities.
To achieve the learning objectives of the CBO Biology Competition, in addition to weekly classroom learning, students must also dedicate sufficient time to self-study outside of class.
01 Class Schedule Regular phase: 1 class per week, 2 hours each
02 After-class Study Students need to allocate approximately 2-3 extra hours per week to complete assigned tasks, including: completing homework and competition exercises, watching designated knowledge explanation videos, reading supplementary textbooks, competition materials, and relevant literature, organizing class notes, and reviewing key content.
03 Pre-exam Sprint Five weeks before the competition, the course will adjust to 2 classes per week, 2 hours each, focusing on past paper practice, thematic breakthroughs, mock exams, and strengthening competition techniques.
04 Interlude: Introduction to Kevin's Other Biology Courses AP Biology: New lectures every Monday from 7:30-9:30 p.m., 25 lessons, 50 hours + 10 mock exams.
Biology 11, 12: 20 lessons, 40 hours.
Phase One
10 Exam-prep Sessions
Phase I – Core Biology Knowledge (Lessons 1–30)
Phase II – Competition Problem Solving (Lessons 31–40)
