Download Learning Outcomes - Cells + Genes

Learning Outcomes
Week 1a – Characteristics of life
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Understand the unit outline and the expectations for the trimester
Define the characteristics of life
List the levels of the hierarchy of life
o From biosphere  atom
Understand the conventions of binomial nomenclature
List the levels of classification
o From domain  species
Understand atomic structure, and interpret the periodic table
Be aware of the different types of bonds
Be able to highlight the importance of water
Understand the basic concepts of pH
Week 1b – Macromolecules
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Understand the major classes of macromolecules
o Carbohydrates
o Lipids
o Proteins
o Nucleic acids
Understand the structure of DNA, and its importance in cellular function
Week 2a – Prokaryotes
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Understand the concept of surface area : volume ratio
Know the differences between different types of microscopes
Identify the key differences and similarities between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Be aware of the classifications of prokaryotic organisms
Identify the key features of a prokaryotic organism, as well as the function of these features
Be aware of how to identify different prokaryotes, particularly using Gram staining
Understand the process of binary fission
Be aware of endospores and the conditions that they exist in
Understand how prokaryotic organisms can have an impact upon other organisms
Week 2b – Eukaryotes
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Identify the key features of a eukaryotic organism, as well as the function of these features
Week 3a – Cytoskeleton and Cell membrane
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Understand the components of the cytoskeleton and what their function is
Understand the structure of eukaryotic flagella and cilia
Be aware of the difference between the different types of intercellular junctions
Understand the role of the plasma membrane, and how its fluidity can change
Be aware of other components that make up the plasma membrane
Week 3b – Cell membrane, membrane transport and origins of life
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Understand the different methods of membrane transport and their purpose
o Passive and Active transport
o Bulk transport
Be aware of tonicity and how it can impact upon cells and their contents
o Hypertonic
o Isotonic
o Hypotonic
Understand some of the theories about how life originated
o Early experiments on the origin of life
o Protobionts
o Major Extinction events
Week 4a – Mitosis
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Understand the key events of cell division
Be aware of how DNA replicates
Understand the Cell Cycle, as well as how it is controlled
Understand the key stages of mitosis, and what happens during each stage
Week 4b – Metabolism and library workshop
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Be aware of the different types of metabolism
Understand how enzymes impact upon reactions, and how they function
Be able to explain how energy coupling works
Understand how ATP works as an energy carrier (shuttle)
List the ways that factors such as temperature and pH impact enzymes
Be able to compare the different types of enzymatic inhibition
Understand the importance of cofactors and coenzymes
Be aware of feedback mechanisms
Be able to complete a library search and reference a published article
Week 5a – Cellular respiration
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Understand how energy flows through the biosphere
Be able to define redox reactions
Be aware of the key processes that make up cellular respiration
Understand the input and output of each process, and where each process takes place
o Glycolysis
o Acetyl CoA conversion
o Citric Acid Cycle
o Electron Transport Chain
Be able to explain the importance of oxygen, and what happens when it is not present
Understand how other molecules interact with cellular respiration and its processes
Week 5b – Revision for mid-trimester test
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Should be prepared for the mid-trimester test
Week 6a – Meiosis
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Understand the role that genes play in heredity
Be aware of what chromosomes are, as well as the meaning of haploid and diploid
Understand the differences between asexual and sexual reproduction
Be aware of varied life cycles
o Animals
o Plants – alternation of generations
Week 6b – Meiosis
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Understand the role of meiosis
Be aware of the products of meiosis
Understand the key stages, and what happens in each stage for both:
o Meiosis I
o Meiosis II
Be able to compare mitosis and meiosis
Be aware of the mechanisms that allow for genetic variation
o Independent assortment
o Crossing over
o Random fertilisation
Understand what happens when errors occur during meiosis
Be able to recognise non-disjunction disorders from a karyotype
Week 7a – Mendelian Genetics
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Be able to define the following terms
o Character
o Trait
o True breeding
o Hybridisation
o P/F1/F2 generations
Be aware of how Mendel conducted his experiments, and the results that he got
Be able to define the following terms
o Allele
o Dominant/recessive allele
o Locus
o Homozygous/Heterozygous
o Genotype/Phenotype
Week 7b – Mendelian Genetics
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Understand Mendel’s 4 concepts of genetics
o Alternative versions of genes account for variations in inherited characters
o For each character, an organism inherits two alleles, one from each parent
o If the two alleles at a locus differ, the dominant allele determines the organism’s
appearance and the recessive allele has no noticeable effect on appearance
o Law of segregation
Be aware of how to utilise Punnett squares and probability to solve genetic problems
o Monohybrid Cross
o Dihybrid Cross
o Probability questions
Week 8a – Modes of Inheritance
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Understand each of the following modes of inheritance, how to recognise them, and be
aware of examples of traits that are inherited in these modes
o Complete dominance
o Incomplete Dominance
o Co-dominance
o Multiple alleles
o Pleiotropy
o Epistasis
o Polygenic inheritance
o Sex-linked genes
o Maternal/Mitochondrial inheritance
Week 8b – Pedigree Analysis
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Be able to recognise the different features of a pedigree
Understand how to analyse a pedigree
Be able to recognise the following inheritance patterns
o Recessive/Dominant
o Autosomal/X-linked
o Y linked/mitochondrial
Week 9a – Linked genes and DNA structure
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Understand what linked genes are and how they occur
Recognise the difference between parental and recombinant phenotypes
Understand what a linkage map is, and how it is constructed
Be able to calculate the recombination frequency of a gene
Be able to interpret a linkage map
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Understand the structure and function of DNA, and how these were discovered
o Nucleotide pairing
o Purines and Pyrimidines
o Hershey-Chase experiment/ Franklin/ Watson & Crick
Understand the basic principles of DNA replication
Be able to describe the function of the following enzymes
o Helicase
o Single strand binding protein
o Topoisomerase
o Primase
o DNA Pol I and DNA Pol III
o DNA ligase
Be able to distinguish between the leading and lagging strands during replication
Understand how enzymes can repair errors in DNA replication
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Week 9b – Transcription and Translation
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Understand the difference between the processes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms
Be aware of the differences between DNA and RNA
Understand how the 3 key stages of transcription work
o Initiation
o Elongation
o Termination
Understand how mRNA is modified after transcription
Understand the role that tRNA plays in translation
Understand the role that ribosomes play in translation
Understand how the 3 key stages of translation work
o Initiation
o Elongation
o Termination
Week 10a – Mutations in protein synthesis and control of gene expression
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Understand how to interpret a codon table
Be able to recognise the following mutations, and their underlying cause
o INDELS (insertion/deletion/substitution)
o Duplication
o Translocation
o Silent mutations
o Missense mutations
o Nonsense mutations
o Frameshift mutations
Be aware of how mutagens impact on mutation rates
Understand the mechanisms that cause cancer
Be able to explain why our cells look different, despite containing the same genetic material
Understand the importance of gene regulation, and how it can be regulated
Understand the 2 main ways that chromatin can be modified
o Histone acetylation
o DNA methylation
Week 10b – Gene regulation and Viruses
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Be able to define epigenetics, and understand the role it plays in inheritance
Understand how transcription is regulated
Be able to explain how mRNA can be altered or degraded
Understand what microRNA is, and the role it plays in regulating translation
Understand how embryonic development is genetically controlled
Be aware of how post-translational modification occurs
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Identify features of viruses
Be aware that viruses can contain many varying forms of genetic material
Understand the 2 reproductive cycles of viruses, and how they work
o Lysogenic
o Lytic
Be able to explain how bacteria can defend themselves against viruses
o CRISPR – Cas system
Be aware of some of the major classes of viruses
Understand the HIV virus lifecycle
Explain how retroviruses synthesise genetic material
Be aware of how viroids and prions act, and how they differ from viruses
Week 11a – DNA technology
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Understand the general concepts of recombinant DNA technology
o Genetic engineering
o Gene cloning
o Vectors
o Restriction enzymes
o Genomic/cDNA libraries
Understand how plasmids are utilised in biotechnology, and why they are so useful
Understand the following processes
o blue-white screening
o gel electrophoresis
o PCR
Week 11b – DNA technology
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Understand the general concepts of DNA sequencing
Understand the following processes
o Chain termination sequencing
o Next-generation sequencing
o Nanopore sequencing
o High resolution melting
o CRISPR-Cas 9
o Cloning
o Gene therapy
Understand how biotechnology can be used to study gene expression
o RT-PCR and sequencing
o Microarrays
Be aware of some application for PCR and sequencing
Understand the process of DNA fingerprinting, and how to interpret those results
Be aware of the use of transgenic organisms, and the impact they can have
Be aware of genomics and proteomics