how do I study cell biology?

read the cell that is a easy book and complete .........The Cell A Molecular Approach-Cooper-Hausman

The thing I find is that there is so much you need to know and it becomes so overwhelming. Don't get caught up in the detail too much (all those protein names and acronyms), but focus on the general processes that take place. For instance, if you're talking about protein synthesis, know that the peptide passes through a protein in the endoplasmic reticulum, but you don't necessarily have to know the name of the proteins it passes through.

Also you know what, animations can really help, so look for those animations and learn how the processes work.

well i would say it depends on what your professor or teacher would want you to study for.
i would make a study guide or get a group together to study
note cards are extremely useful especially for pictures and stuff
some stuff i had to study in my early biology days were:
study and characteristics of living things
a little of chemistry and biochemistry
cell structure and functions
photosynthesis*
cellular respiration*
cell cycle (mitosis and meiosis)*
DNA structure and function
RNA stucture and function
translation and transcription
medelian genetics*
evolution
ecology
organ systems:*
reproductive, endocrine, nervous, lymphatic, muscular etc...

the * are the ones that would need pictures to really help you understand it
hope i helped
good luck to you...

1. Go through your class notes and take notice of what he/she focused on, or spent a lot of time on. Then make sure you fully understand those processes.

2. Go through your notes and write down all the terms/names of important things like: motor proteins, golgi apparatus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, apoptosis, etc. You can also include various proteins that your professor talked about a lot. Then write a definition beside each term and make sure you know it. Memorize them, then turn the paper over and pretend you're explaining it to someone else (out loud).

3. Make sure you know the major concepts (e.g., cell division, signaling, transcription, etc). If you don't understand the major concepts, you can't fully explain the details.