What’s Your Favourite Mnemonic?

We asked and you delivered! We had some fantastic mnemonics sent in for our competition, here are some of our favourite to inspire and educate, including our winning one from Elizabeth James…

• Harry, He Likes Beer By Cupfuls, Not Over Frothy, Never Nasty Mugs Allowed. Since Past Six Closing, Are Kegs Cancelled?

  (H, He, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, K, Ca.)

Such an easy way to remember the first 20 elements.

Elizabeth James, Amery Hill School.

• Keep Penis Clean Or Forget Good Sex: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Possibly not the most PC but very memorable. I used this mnemonic when doing my A levels over 20 years ago to remember the order of the Levels of Classification and I’ve never forgotten it or them!!

Alex Craig, The Castle School.

• Real Men In Leeds Use Xtra Garlic for em spectrum

It’s flexible so you can change it, and it makes the students laugh.

Mark Lawrenson, Kents Hill Park.

• Does It Always Run Rather Horribly Over Each Ankle?

You’ll never forget how to spell diarrhoea ever again! 🙂

Katrina Cornell, UTC Oxfordshire.

• Real Men Inevitably Visit Ugly eX Girlfriends

I heard it once, many years ago and have never been able to forget it. I have no issues in remembering the Electromagnetic spectrum now!

Caroline Robinson, King Edward VI Academy.

• Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet – the rainbow colours.

This is just a classic!

Chloe Akery, Rossington All Saints Academy.

• ACE IT!

  A – Active Recall: Engage in active recall techniques such as flashcards, practice questions, and teaching the material to someone else.

  C – Chunking: Break down complex information into smaller, manageable chunks to aid in memorization and understanding.

  E – Elaboration: Connect new information to existing knowledge by explaining concepts in your own words or creating mental associations.

  I – Interleaving: Mix up different topics or subjects during study sessions to enhance retention and prevent information overload.

  T – Time Management: Plan and allocate dedicated study time for each subject, ensuring a balanced approach to cover all the necessary material.

It’s simple, a great study tool and covers lots of study techniques 🙂

Joseph Buta, Sheffield Hallam.

• Many Elephants Prefer Bigger Peanuts (meth-, eth-, pro-, but-, pent-)

It distinguished between the pro- and pent- and is easy to remember.

Suzanne Northwood, Norwich High School for Girls.

• MRS NERG: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Nutrition, Excretion, Reproduction, Growth

I did my GCSE’s in 2000 and can still remember this 23 years later!

Cheryl Miller, St John Henry Newman School.

• My Veins Eat Marshmallow Jam, Sitting Under Nigels Pants: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

I know this isn’t a well known one but we had to make one up at primary school to remember the planets. I had to sit next to a boy called Nigel who had too left legs and was always my country dancing partner, he was annoying! I’m 50 now and this still makes me chuckle (the mnemonic not the country dancing).

Emma Dent, St John Henry Newmam Catholic School.

• TURD and LURD

So useful for students to learn how thermistors and LDRs behave as the temperature changes: Temp Up Resistance Down for thermistors and Light Up Resistance Down for LDRs 🙂

Dan Jones, Monmouth School for Boys.

• My – mutation, Very – variation, Smelly – survival, Brown – breed, Poo – pass on alleles
  

It fits with any biological topic and the importance of survival.

Sarah Cooper, Meden School.

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