Download Biology syllabus - Block Island School

Block Island School
Biology
2009-2010
Dr. Susan Gibbons
Course Description
This course develops in students an understanding and appreciation of
biological concepts including unity and diversity of life, levels of organization
inherent in all life, form follows function, interaction of life with its environment,
the relationship between evolution and adaptation, mechanisms of genetics, and
manipulation of genetic material to artificially select for certain traits.
Textbook: Biology (Prentice Hall, 2002) and accompanying resource materials.
Assessment will include homework, laboratory reports, quizzes, tests,
simulation and/or dissection labs, and demonstration of scientific principles
through writing activities and hands-on projects.
Website: www.blockislandschool.net
Find my pages from the homepage- go to “teachers directory”, then “Gibbons,
Susan”. I will post notices, messages, and homework on these pages!
Grading Policy
Assessment will include homework, text outlining, laboratory reports, quizzes,
tests, problem-solving labs, projects, writing assignments, and demonstration
of scientific principles through hands-on projects.
• Class grades will be based on attentiveness/participation, text
outlining, homework, lab activities and reports, written assignments,
quizzes and tests, and special projects.
• Homework is due the next school day after it is assigned. Late
homework will lose point values for up to 2 days, after which it will
not be accepted. Obviously copied homework, or homework
completed during class time will be assigned a grade of “O”.
• Specific due dates for lab reports, writing assignments, and other
projects will be provided. Late assignments will lose point values for
up to 2 school days after the due date, after which they will then not
be accepted.
• Participation points will be given each day, and will be earned by
bringing all needed materials to class, paying attention and actively
listening, following directions, and asking questions.
Percentages for grading (may be changed at instructor discretion)
Quizzes and tests: 30%
Homework: 25%
Textbook outlining: 10%
Participation/class readiness: 10%
Lab reports: 15%
Projects/writing assignments: 10%
Biology Units and Topics
Unit 1
The Nature of Life
Chapter 1
The Science of Biology
1-1: What is Science?
Learning Objectives
Explain what the goal of science is
Explain what a hypothesis is
1-2: How Scientists Work
Describe how scientists test hypotheses
Explain how a scientific theory develops
1-3: Studying Life
Chapter 2
Describe some characteristics of living
things
Explain how life can be studied at
different levels
The Chemistry of Life
2-1: The Nature of Matter
2-2: Properties of Water
2-3: Carbon Compounds
2-4: Chemical reactions and
enzymes
Unit 3
Cells
Chapter 7
Cell Structure and Function
7-1: Life is Cellular
Identify the three subatomic particles
found in atoms
Explain how all of the isotopes of an
element are similar and how they are
different
Explain what chemical compounds are
Describe the two types of chemical
bonds
Explain why water molecules are polar
Differentiate between solutions and
suspensions
Explain what acidic solutions and basic
solutions are
Describe the functions of each group of
organic compounds
Explain how chemical reactions affect
chemical bonds in compounds
Describe how energy changes affect how
easily a chemical reaction will occur
Explain why enzymes are important to
living things
Explain what the cell theory is
Name the basic cell structures
Describe prokaryotes and eukaryotes
7-2: Cell Structures
7-3: Movement through the
membrane
Describe the main function of the cell
wall
Describe the function of the cell nucleus
Identify the main roles of the
cytoskeleton
Describe the functions of the major cell
organelles
Identify the main functions of the cell
membrane
Describe what happens during diffusion
Explain the processes of osmosis,
facilitated diffusion, and active transport
7-4: The Diversity of Cellular
Life
Describe cell specialization
Identify the organizational levels in
multicellular organisms
Chapter 8
Photosynthesis
8-1: Energy and Life
8-2: Photosynthesis: an
overview
8-3: The Reactions of
photosynthesis
Explain where plants get the energy they
need to produce food
Describe the role of ATP in cellular
activities
Explain what the experiments of van
Helmont, Priestley, and Ingenhousz
reveal about how plants grow
State the overall equation for
photosynthesis
Describe the role of light and
chlorophyll in photosynthesis
Describe the structure and function of a
chloroplast
Describe what happens in the lightdependent reactions
Explain what the Calvin cycle is
Identify factors that affect the rate at
which photosynthesis occurs
Chapter 9
Cellular Respiration
9-1: Chemical Pathways
9-2: The Krebs Cycle and
Electron Transport
Chapter 10
Cell Growth and Division
10-1: Earth: A Unique Planet
10-2: Cell Division
10-3: Regulation the cell cycle
Explain what cellular respiration is
Describe what happens during the
process of glycolysis
Name the two main types of
fermentation
Describe what happens during the Krebs
cycle
Explain how high-energy electrons are
used by the electron transport chain
Identify three pathways the body uses to
release energy during exercise
Compare photosynthesis and respiration
Explain the problems that growth
causes for cells
Describe how cell division solves the
problems of cell growth
Name the main events of the cell cycle
Describe what happens during the four
phases of mitosis
Identify a factor that stops cells from
growing
Describe how the cell is regulated
Explain how cancer cells are different
from other cells
Unit 4
Genetics
Chapter 11
Introduction to Genetics
11-1: The Work of Gregor
Mendel
Describe how Mendel studied
inheritance in peas
Summarize Mendel’s conclusion about
inheritance
Explain the principle of dominance
11-2: Probability and Punnett
Squares
11-3: Exploring Mendelian
Genetics
11-4: Meiosis
Describe what happens during
segregation
Explain how geneticists use the
principles of probability
Describe how geneticists use Punnett
squares
Explain the principle of independent
assortment
Describe the other inheritance patterns
that exist aside from simple dominance
Explain how Mendel’s principles apply to
organisms
Contrast the chromosome number of
body cells and gametes
Summarize the events of meiosis
Contrast meiosis and mitosis
11-5: Linkage and Gene Maps
Chapter 12
Identify the structures that actually
assort independently
Explain how gene maps are produced
DNA and RNA
12-1: DNA
12-2: Chromosomes and DNA
Replication
12-3: RNA and Protein
Synthesis
Summarize the relationship between
genes and DNA
Describe the overall structure of the
DNA molecule
Summarize the events of DNA
replication
Relate the DNA molecule to chromosome
structure
Tell how RNA differs from DNA
Name the three main types of RNA
Describe transcription and the editing of
RNA
Identify the genetic code
Summarize translation
12-4: Mutations
12-5: Gene Regulation
Explain the relationship between genes
and proteins
Contrast gene mutations and
chromosomal mutations
Describe a typical gene
Describe how lac genes are turned on
and off
Explain how most eukaryotic genes are
controlled
Relate gene regulation to development
Chapter 13
Genetic Engineering
13-1:Changing the Living World Explain the process of selective breeding
Describe two techniques used in
selective breeding
Tell why breeders try to induce
mutations
13-2: Manipulating DNA
Explain how scientists manipulate DNA
13-3: Cell Transformation
Summarize what happens during cell
transformation
Explain how you can tell if a
transformation experiment has been
successful
Describe the usefulness of some
transgenic organisms
Summarize the main steps in cloning
13-4: Applications of Genetic
Engineering
Consider ethical issues related to
genetic engineering, transgenic
organisms, and cloning
Chapter 14
The Human Genome
14-1: Human Heredity
14-2: Human Chromosomes
14-3: Human Molecular
Genetics
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Identify the types of human
chromosomes in a karyotype
Explain how sex is determined
Explain how pedigrees are used to study
human traits
Explain how small changes in DNA cause
genetic disorders
Identify characteristics of human
chromosomes
Describe some sex-linked disorders and
explain why they are more common in
males than in females
Explain the process of X-chromosome
inactivation
Summarize nondisjunction and the
problems it causes
Summarize methods of human DNA
analysis
State the goal of the Human Genome
Project
Describe how researchers are attempting
to cure genetic disorders
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
15-1: The Puzzle of Life’s
Describe the pattern Darwin observed
Diversity
among organisms of the Galapagos
Islands
15-2: Ideas the Shaped
State how Hutton and Lyell described
Darwin’s Thinking
geological change
Identify how Lamarck thought species
evolve
Describe Malthus’s theory of population
growth
15-3: Darwin Presents his Case List events leading to Darwin’s
publication of On the Origin of Species
Describe how natural variation is used in
artificial selection
Explain how natural selection is related
to species’ fitness
Identify evidence Darwin used to present
his case for evolution
State Darwin’s theory of evolution by
natural selection
Evolution of Populations
16-1: Genes and Variation
Explain what a gene pool is
16-2: Evolution as Genetic
Change
Chapter 17
List the five conditions needed to
maintain genetic equilibrium
16-3:The Process of Speciation Identify the conditions necessary for a
new species to evolve
Describe the process of speciation in the
Galapagos finches
The History of Life
17-1: The Fossil Record
17-2: Earth’s Early History
17-3:Evolution of Multicellular
Life
17-4: Patterns of Evolution
Chapter 18
Identify the main source of inheritable
variation in a population
State what determines how a phenotype
is expressed
Explain how natural selection affects
single-gene and polygenic traits
Describe genetic drift
Describe the fossil record
State the information that relative dating
and radioactive dating provide about
fossils
Identify the divisions of the geologic
time scale
Describe how conditions on early Earth
were different from conditions today
Explain what Miller and Urey’s
experiments showed
State the hypotheses that have been
proposed for how life first arose on
Earth
Identify some of the main evolutionary
steps in the early evolution of life
Describe the key forms of life in the
Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras
Identify important patterns of
macroevolution
Discuss current theories and processes
of human evolution
Classification
18-1: Finding Order in Diversity Explain how living things are organized
for study
Describe binomial nomenclature
18-2: Modern Evolutionary
Classification
18-3: Kingdoms and Domains
Explain Linnaeus’s system of
classification
Explain how evolutionary relationships
are important in classification
Identify the principle behind cladistic
analysis
Explain how we can compare very
dissimilar organisms
Name the six kingdoms of life as they
are now identified
Describe the three-domain system of
classification
Unit 8
Invertebrates
Chapter 26
Sponges and Cnidarians
26-1: Introduction to the Animal List the characteristics that all animals
Kingdom
share
26-2:Sponges
26-3: Cnidarians
Chapter 27
Worms and Mollusks
27-1: Flatworms
Identify characteristics of flatworms
27-2: Roundworms
Describe form and function in
roundworms
Identify characteristics of annelids
27-3: Annelids
27-4: Mollusks
Chapter 28
Chapter 30
Comparing Invertebrates
29-2: Form and Function in
Invertebrates
Non-vertebrate Chordates,
Fishes and Amphibians
30-1: The Chordates
30-2: Fishes
30-3: Amphibians
Chapter 31
31-2: Birds
Describe how different invertebrate
phyla carry out their essential life
functions
Identify the characteristics that all
chordates share
Explain how fishes are adapted for life in
water
Describe the three main groups of fishes
Explain how amphibians are adapted for
life on land
Describe essential life functions in
amphibians
Explain how reptiles are adapted to life
on land
Explain how birds are adapted for flight
Mammals
32-1: Intro to Mammals
32-2: Diversity of Mammals
32-3: Primates and Human
Origins
Chapter 33
Identify distinguishing features of
echinoderms
Reptiles and Birds
31-1: Reptiles
Chapter 32
Describe the body plans, essential
functions and ecology of mollusks
Arthropods and Echinoderms
28-1: Introduction to
Identify defining features of arthropods
Arthropods
28-3: Insects
Identify distinguishing feature of insects
28-4: Echinoderms
Chapter 29
Describe the essential functions that
animals carry out
Identify important trends in animal
evolution
Describe the body plans, essential
functions and ecology of sponges
Describe the body plans, essential
functions and ecology of cnidarians
Describe how mammals perform
essential life functions
Explain how the three groups of living
mammals differ from one another
Identify the characteristics that all
primates share
Describe the major evolutionary groups
of primates
Describe the various ancestors of
humans
Comparing Chordates
33-1: Chordate evolution
Summarize a main trend in the evolution
of chordates
Unit 10
33-2: Controlling Body
Temperature
The Human Body
Describe how ectotherms and
endotherms control body temperature
35-1: Human Body Systems
Describe how the human body is
organized
Explain the basic functions of the
nervous, integumentary, respiratory,
digestive, excretory, skeletal, muscular,
circulatory, endocrine, reproductive, and
lymphatic systems
Chapter 35