Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas

Biology is a subject that, while fascinating, can present challenges for students who are not great "memorizers". I try and avoid pure memorization by using mnemonics. A mnemonic is a memory device useful for association of a difficult concept to something more easily memorized.

An expression mnemonic I use when studying the immune system is "Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas". This expression helps me not only memorize the five types of white blood cells, but also their order from most numerous to least numerous.

1. Neutrophils

2. Lymphocytes

3. Monocytes

4. Eosinophils

5. Basophils

Mnemonics like this one are useful for many topics in Biology, especially if memorization is not your forte.