Download End Of Course Biology Test Specifications Life Science

End Of Course Biology
Test Specifications
Life Science
Standard 5.5 A, B, C,
I.
Macro Statement:
Biology is the science that seeks to understand the living world in which
we live. The study of life on Earth must include an understanding about
the structure, organization and the diversity of living things. Living things
share the following characteristics: they are made of cells, they reproduce,
they grow and develop, they respond to stimuli, the evolve, they obtain
and use materials and energy, and adapt to their environment over time.
II.
Knowledge Statements:
A. Matter, Energy, Organization of Living Things
1. The Nature of Matter
a. The subatomic particles that make up atoms are protons, neutrons and
electrons.
b. Elements are pure substances that consist entirely of one type of atom.
c. In nature most elements are found combined with other elements in
compounds. The atoms found in compounds are held together by chemical
bonds.
d. The main types of chemical bonds are ionic and covalent bonds.
e. Water is the single most abundant compound in most living things.
1. Water molecules are polar because there is an uneven distribution of
electrons between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
2. Many of the properties of water are due to the fact that water is a
polar covalent molecule and that it has the ability to form weak
hydrogen bonds.
3. Due to hydrogen bonding, water is extremely cohesive.
2. The Chemistry of Life
a. Living organisms are composed primarily of very few elements.
b. The six most common elements in living things are C, H, O, N, P, and S.
c. Carbon has the ability to form millions of different large and complex
structures.
d. Four groups of organic compounds found in living things are
carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
e. Starches and sugars are examples of carbohydrates that are used as the
main source of energy for living things.
f. Carbohydrate compounds are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
g. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides. Large macromolecules formed
from simple sugars are called polysaccharides.
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h. Lipids can be used to store energy but some are important parts of
biological membranes and waterproof coverings.
i. Proteins contain nitrogen as well as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
j. Amino acids are the monomers of proteins.
k. Enzymes are special proteins that may control the rate of reactions and
regulate cell processes.
l. The function of a protein molecule depends on the specific sequence of
amino acids as well as their molecular shape.
m. Nucleic acids store and transmit hereditary or genetic information. Two
kinds of nucleic acids are DNA and RNA.
3. Cell Biology
a. Living things are: made of cells, reproduce, grow and develop, respond to
stimuli, use materials and energy, evolve, and adapt to their environment
over time.
b. The cell theory states that all living things are composed of cells, cells are
the basic unit of structure and function in living things, and new cells are
produced by existing cells.
1. Microscopes make it possible to observe very small objects like
cells.
2. The most commonly used microscope is the compound like
microscope which can produce clear images at up to 1000x.
c. If we require that living things be made of cells, and be able to live
independently, then viruses are not alive.
d. Prokaryotic cells have genetic material that is not contained in a nucleus.
Eukaryotic cells contain a nucleus in which genetic material is separated
from the rest of the cell.
e. Cell biologists divide the eukaryotic cell into two major parts: the nucleus
and the cytoplasm. The cytoplasm is the portion of the cell outside the
nucleus and bordered by the cell membrane.
f. Within the cell are specialized organelles for the transport of materials (e.g.
cell membrane), energy transformation
(e.g. mitochondria), protein building (e.g. ribosomes),
cellular control (e.g. nucleus), transport ( e.g. endoplasmic
reticulum, Golgi complex, cell membrane), energy capture
(e.g. chloroplasts), and support (e.g. cell wall in plants,
cytoskeleton).
4. Cell Boundaries
a. All cells have cell membranes.
b. Cell membranes regulate what enters and leaves a cell.
c. Cell membranes also provide protection and support.
d. Some cells have cell walls that provide additional support and protection.
e. Diffusion causes many substances to move across a cell membrane,
Diffusion does not require the use of any cellular energy.
f. Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a selectively permeable
membrane.
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g. Active transport is the energy requiring process that moves materials across
a cell membrane against a concentration gradient.
h. Large molecules may be transported by movements of the cell membrane.
5. Cellular Organization
a. Cells in multicellular organisms develop in different ways to perform
particular functions within the organism.
b. For many organisms, development includes periods of rapid and dramatic
changes (i.e. metamorphosis).
c. The levels of organization in multicellular organisms are individual cells,
tissues, organs, and organ systems.
d. Multicellular organisms exhibit the characteristics of division of labor,
interdependence and specialization.
6. Energy and Life
a. Plants and some micro-organisms containing chloroplasts are able to use
light energy from the Sun to produce food.
b. The characteristics of ATP make it exceptionally useful as the basic energy
source of all cells.
c. Photosynthesis uses the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon
dioxide into high energy sugars and oxygen.
d. In addition to water and carbon dioxide, photosynthesis requires light and
chlorophyll, a molecule found in the chloroplast.
e. The process of photosynthesis includes both the light dependent and light
independent reactions.
f. Cellular respiration is the process that releases energy by breaking down
glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen.
g. Cellular respiration takes place in both the cytoplasm and inside the
mitochondria.
h. Some organisms like yeast are able to liberate the energy found in a
glucose molecule in the absence of oxygen.
i. The products of photosynthesis are similar to the reactants of cellular
respiration. The products of cellular respiration are the reactants of
photosynthesis.
j. The chemical elements that make up the molecules of living things pass
through food webs and are combined and recombined in different ways.
k. Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic
organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.
7. Disease
a. Disease may result when biological systems are compromised.
b. Mutated systems can cause body parts or systems to work poorly.
c. Advances in technology give today’s human beings better chances of
staying healthier than their forebears.
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Science language
students should
be familiar with.
active site, active transport, aerobic, anaerobic,
carbohydrate, cellular respiration, cell theory, chlorophyll,
cohesion, dehydration synthesis, diffusion, enzyme,
equilibrium, fermentation, hypertonic, hypotonic, homeostasis,
indicators, isotonic, lipid bilayer, nucleic acid, organic,
osmosis, photosynthesis, protein, semipermeable, solute,
solvent, stomata, substrate, virus.
B. Diversity and Biological Evolution
1. Diversity
a. To study the diversity of life, biologists use classification systems to name
organisms and group them in a logical order.
b. In binomial nomenclature, each species is assigned a two part scientific
name.
c. As in all other areas of science, systems of classification adapt to new
ideas.
d. Organisms are now grouped into categories that represent lines of
evolutionary decent or phylogeny.
e. The genes of organisms show important similarities at the molecular level.
DNA can be used to help determine classification and evolutionary
relationships.
f. In recent years, some biologists have suggested using of a six-kingdom
classification.
g. As a result of molecular analyses, many scientists recognize the domain as
a new taxonomic category.
2. Biological Evolution
a. Early investigations helped to recognize Earth to be many millions of years
old, and that processes that had changed Earth in the past are the same
processes that operate in the present.
b. An early theory proposed that by selective use or disuse of organs,
organisms acquired or lost certain traits during their life time. These traits
could then be passed on to their offspring and this lead to change in a
species over time.
c. The basic premise of theoretical biological evolution is that Earth’s present
day species developed from earlier, distinctly different species.
d. Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide scientific
explanation for the fossil record of ancient forms, as well as for the striking
molecular similarities observed among diverse species of living organisms.
e. Over time, natural selection results in changes in the inherited
characteristics of a population. These changes increase a species’ fitness in
its environment.
f. The fossil record, and the structural and embryological similarities between
species, provides evidence that supports the theory of evolution.
g. Species are reproductively distinct groups of organisms as a result of being
reproductively isolated.
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Science language
students should be
familiar with:
adaptation, adaptive radiation, analogous, cladogram,
convergent evolution, extinction, fossil record,
geological timetable, homologous, mutation, natural
selection, phylogeny, punctuated equilibrium, species,
taxon, taxonomy.
C. Reproduction and Heredity
1. DNA: Secret of Life
a. Scientific discoveries identified DNA as the nucleic acid that stores and
transmits genetic information from one generation of an organism to
another.
b. The Watson and Crick model of DNA was a double helix, in which two
strands were wound around each other.
c. Each strand in a DNA ladder is made up of a chain of nucleotides.
d. The two strands in the DNA ladder are held together by hydrogen bonds
between the nucleotides adenine and thymine and guanine and cytosine.
e. During DNA replication, a DNA molecule separates into two strands, then
produces two new complimentary strands following the rules of base
pairing.
f. There are three main types of RNA: mRNA, rRNA and tRNA.
g. During transcription RNA polymerase uses one strand of DNA as a
template from which nucleotides are assembled into a stand of mRNA.
h. During translation the cell uses information from mRNA to produce
proteins.
i. Changes in DNA (mutations) can occur spontaneously at low rates.
Inserting, deleting or substituting DNA segments can alter genes. An
altered gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it. The
resulting change may help, harm, or have little effect on an offspring’s
success in its environment.
j. In sexually reproducing organisms, only mutations in germ cells (egg and
sperm) can be passed on to an organism’s offspring.
2. Reproduction
a. The larger a cell becomes, the more demands the cell places on its DNA. In
addition, the cell has more trouble moving enough nutrients and wastes
across the cell membrane due to a decrease in the cell’s surface area to
volume ratio.
b. During the cell cycle, a cell grows, prepares for division, and divides to
form two daughter cells, each of which then begins the cycle again.
c. Biologists divide the events of mitosis into four phases.
d. Mitosis insures that each daughter cell has the same genetic information as
the parent cell.
e. The longest phase of the cell cycle is the interphase.
f. Cytokinesis is the division of the cytoplasm.
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g. Cyclins regulate the timing of the cell cycle in eukaryotic cells.
h. Meiosis is a process of reduction division in which the number of
chromosomes per cell is cut in half through the separation of homologous
chromosomes in a diploid cell.
i. Mitosis results in the production of two genetically identical diploid cells,
whereas meiosis produces four genetically different haploid cells.
j. During sexual reproduction, male and female reproductive cells join, a
process known as fertilization.
k. Fertilization returns the chromosome number from the haploid to diploid
number.
3. Heredity
a. The principles of probability can be used to predict the outcomes of genetic
crosses.
b. A Punnett square is a diagram used to predict what traits an offspring will
have based on the traits found in its parents.
c. Characteristics are inherited as a result of hereditary factors called genes.
Genes occur, in most cases as homologous pairs.
d. The principle of dominance states that some alleles are dominant and others
are recessive.
e. Recessive traits shown from one parent may be hidden for one or more
generations and appear again in future generations.
f. Segregation is the separation of alleles during gamete formation.
g. Genes for different traits can segregate independently during the formation
of gametes.
h. Some alleles are neither dominant nor either recessive.
i. Codominance is a situation in which two alleles contribute to the phenotype
(i.e. human blood groups IA IB).
j. Many characteristics are controlled by multiple genes.
k. All human egg cells carry a single x chromosome. Half of all the sperm
cells carry an x chromosome, and half carry a y chromosome.
l. X-linked alleles are expressed in males, even if they are recessive.
m. If nondisjunction occurs, abnormal numbers of chromosomes may find
their way into gametes.
n. Our understanding of genetics has lead to the development of improved
varieties of plants, animals, and medicines through the application of
technology.
1. New varieties of cultivated plants and domesticated animals have
resulted from selective breeding for particular traits.
2. Genetic engineering has permitted the introduction of deliberate
mutations, which may be maintained as new varieties.
Science language
allele, anticodon, autosome, cell cycle, cell division, centriole,
students should
chromatid, codon, cross-over, dihybrid, diploid, exon,
be familiar with:
F1cross, F2 cross, genotype, haploid, helix, heterozygous,
homozygous, incomplete dominance, interphase, intron,
karyotype, mitosis, monohybrid, mutation, nitrogen base,
nondisjunction, nucleotide, pedigree, phenotype, purine,
D.
pyrimidine, replication, sex chromosome, sex linked, spindle,
tetrad, test 6cross, transformation, transcription, translation.
E. Environmental Studies
Standard 5.10 A, B
I. Macro-statement
The environment is a system of independent components affected
by human activity and natural phenomenon.
II. Knowledge statement:
1. Naturally occurring processes affect the environment. In some
cases human activities also affect the environment (climate change,
ozone production, erosion, and deposition).
2. The environment is a system of independent components.
a. Human activities impact the cycling of matter and the flow
of energy through ecosystems.
b. Humans attempt to maintain balance within an ecosystem
through protection, conservation, and the preservation of
natural resources.
3. Sound scientific methods are essential in determining the degree of
environmental impact caused by human activity.
Science language
students should
be familiar with:
End of
predator, prey symbiosis, competition, ecosystem, carbon
cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle, population, energy
pyramid, consumer, producer, herbivore, decomposer, food
chain, biotic, abiotic, biome, niche, symbiosis, mutualism,
parasitism, commensalisms, succession, acid rain,
Course
Biology Matrix
global warming, ozone layer
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Comprehension
Recall
Science and
Society/Technology
Habits of
Mind/Inquiry
Mathematics
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
A8
A9
B8
B9
C8
C9
D8
D9
A10
A11
A12
A13
B10
B11
B12
B13
C10
C11
C12
C13
D10
D11
D12
D13
Energy,
Organization of
Living Things
Nature of Matter
Chemistry of Life
Cell Biology
Cell Boundaries
Cellular Organization
Energy of Life
Disease
Diversity and
Biological
Evolution
Diversity
Biological Evolution
Reproduction and
Heredity
DNA
Reproduction
Heredity
Environment
Appendix A
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The taxonomy provided below can be employed as a useful structure in which to
categorize possible assessment items.
Competence
Knowledge
Skill Demonstrated
Observation and recall, knowledge of dates, events, places, knowledge
of major ideas, mastery of subject matter.
Question cues: list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label,
collect, examine, quote, name, who, when, where.
Comprehension Understanding information, grasp meaning, translate knowledge into
new context, interpret facts, compare, contrast, order, group, infer,
predict consequences.
Question cues: summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict,
associate, distinguish, estimate, discuss, extend.
Application
Use information, use methods, concepts, theories in new situations,
solve problems using required skills or knowledge.
Question cues: apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate,
show, solve, examine, modify, relate, classify, experiment.
Analysis
Seeing patterns, organization of parts, recognition of hidden
meanings, identification of components.
Question cues: analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify,
arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer.
Synthesis
Use old ideas to create new ones, generalize from given facts, relate
knowledge from several areas, predict, draw conclusions
Question cues: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute,
plan, create, design, invent, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize,
write.
Evaluation
Compare and discriminate between ideas, assess value of theories,
make choices based on reasoned argument, verify value of evidence,
recognize subjectivity.
Question cues: assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend,
convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude,
compare, summarize.
*From Benjamin S. Bloom Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA., Copyright (c) 1994 by Pearson Education.
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