Download Biology Syllabus GENERAL INFORMATION: Instructor: Jay Meyers

Biology Syllabus
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Instructor: Jay Meyers, Ph.D. - Room 304
Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]
Phone: (CHS) 816-671-4080 (Home) 816-324-5910
BIOLOGY COURSE DESCRIPTIONS AND OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed for freshmen students who plan to enter into higher level Biology
classes, such as AP, IB, and DC. Honors Biology will cover additional content with higher
vocabulary compared to General Biology and therefore moves at a faster pace. Higher labs and
additional projects will be expected in Honors Biology.
There are four life science disciplinary core ideas in high school: 1) From Molecules to
Organisms: Structures and Processes, 2) Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics, 3)
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits, 4) Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity. The
performance expectations for high school life science blend core ideas with scientific and
engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable
knowledge that can be applied across the science disciplines.
This course introduces the study of living organisms. It is a prerequisite for all other biology
electives and is assessed by the State of Missouri in an End of Course (EOC) assessment. It
includes all theories relevant to biology, the basic physical and chemical structure and function
of cells, reproduction of cells, and genetics. The course focuses on the unifying themes in
biology of structure and function, energy transformation, change over time, and will help to
establish a solid foundation in inquiry-based scientific exploration.
MATERIALS REQUIRED:
Each student will be issued an online version of the text for the class. Bound versions of the
textbook are held within the classroom and can be used during class time; however, no bound
copies will be check out to students.
It is up to each person to bring to class each day his/her computer (in order to use the text),
pencil or pen, calculator (when needed), paper, a small 3 ring binder for handouts (notes,
assignments, etc.), and a composition notebook (lined or grid).
ATTENDANCE, GRADING, and OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
• A tardy will be assessed if your body is not through the plane of the door when the bell rings.
• Class assignments and tests may be made up only under the approval of the instructor and in
accordance with school policy.
o Pop quizzes must be made up before the next class period (before/after school, or
seminar).
o Late assignments (anything not turned in when due) will receive no grade higher than 1/2
credit.
§ Students will be given one full-credit exemption per semester to the late assignment
policy for one assignment
o Any late assignment not turned in before the end of the grading period (1st 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
Quarter) will receive no credit.
• Cheating will not be tolerated: 0 for assignment
• All grading will be recorded on a total point accumulation.
• All electronic devices are to be put away upon entering the room (cell phones should be set to
“silent”)
o Cell phones may be used as a timer, calculator, or to input due dates in calendars.
o Cell phones will be confiscated and given to your VP if you are texting or they ring during
class.
o Texting during a quiz or exam will result in a 0 for the assignment
TEACHER AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY:
There are a few responsibilities that I feel are important in the class. It is the responsibility of the
teacher to
1) teach the student
2) enforce appropriate behaviors in the class, and
3) be available and able to answer any questions any of the students may ask.
It is up to the student to
1) learn
2) exhibit an appropriate behavior (courtesy),
3) complete all assignments, and
4) participate in all activities.
Please do not hesitate to come and talk to me at any time about this class!!!
Scope and Sequence
Unit 1 - Cells (16 Weeks): The study of cells addresses how individual organisms are configured
and how cellular structures function to support life, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
• Big Idea
o All living organisms are made of cells. Life is the quality that distinguishes living
things—composed of living cells—from nonliving objects or those that have died.
While a simple definition of life can be difficult to capture, all living things—that is
to say all organisms—can be characterized by common aspects of their structure and
functioning. Organisms are complex, organized, and built on a hierarchical structure,
with each level providing the foundation for the next, from the chemical foundation
of elements and atoms, to the cells and systems of individual organisms, to species
and populations living and interacting in complex ecosystems.
o Organisms can be made of a single cell or millions of cells working together and
include animals, plants, algae, fungi, bacteria, and all other microorganisms.
Organisms respond to stimuli from their environment and actively maintain their
internal environment through homeostasis. They grow and reproduce, transferring
their genetic information to their offspring. While individual organisms carry the
same genetic information over their lifetime, mutation and the transfer from parent to
offspring produce new combinations of genes. Over generations natural selection can
lead to changes in a species overall; hence, species evolve over time. To maintain all
of these processes and functions, organisms require materials and energy from their
environment; nearly all energy that sustains life ultimately comes from the sun.
• Topics
o Characteristics of Life
o Cell Interactions
o Homeostasis and Cellular Transport
o Cellular Reproduction
• Essential Questions
o How do organisms live, grow, respond to their environment, and reproduce?
o How do the structures of organisms enable life’s functions?
o How do organisms grow and develop?
o How do organisms obtain and use the matter and energy they need to live and grow?
o How do matter and energy move through an ecosystem?
o How do organisms detect, process, and use information about the environment?
Unit 2 - Genetics (6 Weeks): Heredity explains why offspring resemble, but are not identical to,
their parents and is a unifying biological principle. Heredity refers to specific mechanisms by
which characteristics or traits are passed from one generation to the next via
• Big Idea
o Genes encode the information for making specific proteins, which are responsible for
the specific traits of an individual. Each gene can have several variants, called alleles,
which code for different variants of the trait in question. Genes reside in a cell’s
chromosomes, each of which contains many genes. Every cell of any individual
organism contains the identical set of chromosomes. When organisms reproduce,
genetic information is transferred to their offspring. In species that reproduce
sexually, each cell contains two variants of each chromosome, one inherited from
each parent. Thus sexual reproduction gives rise to a new combination of
chromosome pairs with variations between parent and offspring. Very rarely,
mutations also cause variations, which may be harmful, neutral, or occasionally
advantageous for an individual. Environmental as well as genetic variation and the
relative dominance of each of the genes in a pair play an important role in how traits
develop within an individual. Complex relationships between genes and interactions
of genes with the environment determine how an organism will develop and function.
• Topics
o Molecular Genetics
o Mendalian Genetics
o Population Genetics
• Essential Questions
o How are characteristics of one generation passed to the next?
§ How are the characteristics of one generation related to the previous
generation?
o How can individuals of the same species and even siblings have different
characteristics?
§ Why do individuals of the same species vary in how they look, function, and
behave?
Unit 3 - Populations (8 Weeks): Evolution, which is continuous and ongoing, occurs when
natural selection acts on the genetic variation in a population and changes the distribution of
traits in that population gradually over multiple generations. Through natural selection, traits that
provide an individual with an advantage to best meet environmental challenges and reproduce
are the ones most likely to be passed on to the next generation. Biological evolution is supported
by extensive scientific evidence ranging from the fossil record, DNA and protein sequence
analyses, and genetic relationships among species. How species evolve and develop their niche
in an ecosystem is important to understanding the complexity of populations and the interactions
within.
• Big Ideas
o The unit begins with a discussion of the converging evidence for shared ancestry that
has emerged from a variety of sources (e.g., comparative anatomy and embryology,
molecular biology and genetics). It describes how variation of genetically determined
traits in a population may give some members a reproductive advantage in a given
environment. This natural selection can lead to adaptation, that is, to a distribution of
traits in the population that is matched to and can change with environmental
conditions. Such adaptations can eventually lead to the development of separate
species in separated populations. Finally, the idea describes the factors, including
human activity, that affect biodiversity in an ecosystem, and the value of biodiversity
in ecosystem resilience.
o Ecosystems are complex, interactive systems that include both biological
communities (biotic) and physical (abiotic) components of the environment. Each
organisms ecological niche in a given ecosystem can be explained through natural
selection.
• Topics
o Natural Selection
o Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
o Population Interactions
• Essential Questions
o How can there be so many similarities among organisms yet so many different kinds
of plants, animals, and microorganisms?
§ What evidence shows that different species are related?
§ How does genetic variation among organisms affect survival and
reproduction?
§ How does the environment influence populations of organisms over multiple
generations?
o How does biodiversity affect humans?
§ What is biodiversity, how do humans affect it, and how does it affect humans?
o How and why do organisms interact with others and the environment and what are the
effects of these interactions?
§ What affects populations?
§ How do organisms interact with the living and nonliving environments to
obtain matter and energy?
§ What happens to ecosystems when the environment changes?