Download Biology - Paradise High School

Course of Study-Biology
I.
Department: SCIENCE
II.
Course Title: Biology
III.
IV.
Grade Level:
Length:
Number of Credits:
Prerequisites:
9-12
Two semesters
Ten Units
It is recommended that students taking Biology
as a freshman be concurrently enrolled in
geometry. If not a freshman, it is recommended
that biology be taken as a sophomore.
Course Description:
Biology is a college preparatory lab science course. Themes to be studied in this course are set
forth by the California State Standards and include investigation in science methodology,
biochemistry, cells and their processes, genetics, evolution, anatomy and physiology as relating
to the human body, and ecology.
V.
Rationale for the Course:
Biology is considered the first step in our sequence of college preparatory coursework. It is
designed to:
A. Fulfill the requirement for a lab science for the University of California, as well as
graduate high school.
B. Develop critical thinking skills.
C. Apply abstract thinking to cellular processes.
D. Provide hands on lab experience via different strategies of contextualizing.
E. A profound understanding of how their bodies work as an individual organism, as
well as, how organisms evolve and interact within an ecosystem.
VI.
VII.
List of ESLERs Emphasized in this course.
 Respectful
 Informed
 Safe
 Excellent
 Purposeful
Biology Curriculum Standards
Below is the outline that we follow in Biology. The numbers in the brackets correspond to the
California State Standards that are covered.
The Scientific Method
 [1b, 1c] Identify sources of experimental error such as uncontrolled conditions.
 [1d] Use logic to analyze evidence and form an explanation.
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[1f] Distinguish between hypothesis and theory
Biochemistry
 [1b] Know that enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions in organisms by
lowering activation energy.
 [1b] Explain how enzymes have specific environmental conditions in which they work
best; such as, pH and temperature.
 [1h] Know the four macromolecules: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids.
 [1h] Understand that macromolecules are polymers which are made from monomers
obtained through diet.
 [4e] Proteins are different from one another in the number and sequence of amino
acids.
 [4f*] Know that the structure of a protein is directly related to the number and
sequence of amino acids and how they interact.
Cells
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[1a] Structure and function of the cell membrane
[1a] Fluid Mosaic Model and how molecules enter and leave the cell
[1c] Compare and contrast animal and plant cells structure and function
[1c] Compare and contrast the general structures of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells as
well as viruses.
[1e] Explain the relationship between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi
apparatus in terms of exporting proteins from the cell.
[1j*] Describe the function of the cytoskeleton
Photosynthesis & Respiration
 [1f] Structure and function of a chloroplast.
 [1f] Know that reactants and products of photosynthesis
 [1i*] Explain how ATP is formed when hydrogen ions follow their concentration gradient
out of a thylakoid and into the stroma of a chloroplast.
 [1g] Know the reactants and products of respiration; discuss the relationship between
glucose and carbon dioxide.
 [1g] Describe the function of the mitochondria.
Cell Division
 [2a] Explain how meiosis is the first step in sexual reproduction
 [2a] Discuss how a complete set of chromosomes in a zygote is a random selection of
chromosomes from your parents.
 [2a] Gametes contain only one chromosome of each type, one from your mom or one
from your dad.
 [2b] Understand that only certain cells found in the reproductive organs go through
meiosis.
 [2e] Explain how approximately half of your DNA information comes from each parent.
DNA & Protein Synthesis
 [5a] Compare and contrast the structure and function of DNA and RNA
 [5b] Apply Chargaff’s Rule of base pairing for DNA replication and transcribing DNA into
mRNA.
 [5c] Understand that genetic engineering is responsible for some advancements in
agricultural and medical fields.
 [1d] Outline the flow of information from transcription in the nucleus to translation of
proteins in the cytoplasm.
 [4a] Explain the process of translation.
 [4b] Apply the genetic code to determine which amino acid each mRNA codon codes
for.
 [4c] Understand that mutations in DNA may or may not change the amino acid
sequence in the resulting protein.
 [4d] Even though all cells contain the same genes, cells have specialized functions due to
the different genes that are being expressed.
 [4e] Proteins can differ from one another in the number and sequence of amino acids.
Genetics
 [2a] Gametes contain only one chromosome of each type, one from your mom or one
from your dad.
 [2d] DNA combine during fertilization of a male and female gamete to produce new
combinations of alleles in a zygote.
 [2e] Explain how approximately half of your DNA information comes from each parent.
 [2f] Understand the role of chromosomes in determining an individual’s sex.
 [2g] Know how to create and interpret a Punnett square to predict the possible allele
combinations from two parents.
 [3a] Know how to predict the possible phenotypes by interpreting a Punnett square.
 [3a] Differentiate between autosomal and sex linked inheritance.
 [3b] Explain the basis for Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.
 [3c] Analyze a pedigree and predict the type of inheritance, phenotypes, and genotypes.
Evolution
 [7a] Explain how natural selection acts on phenotypes rather than genotypes in an
organism.
 [7b] Explain how lethal alleles are maintained in a gene pool.
 [7c] Describe how mutations are constantly being generated in a gene pool.
 [7d] Know that variation increases the likelihood that some individuals will survive a
change in environmental conditions, i.e., genetic drift.
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[7e*] Explain the conditions for the Hardy-Weinberg principle and understand why
these conditions are not likely to appear in nature.
[8a] Understand that through natural selection, some variations are favorable in certain
environments and lead to a healthy and successful population.
[8b] Explain how a greater diversity within a community will increase the chances that
some organisms will survive a major catastrophic event; i.e., genetic drift.
[8c] Understand the effects of genetic drift on the diversity of a population.
[8d] Know how reproductive or geographic isolation affects speciation.
[8e] Analyze fossil evidence to show the relationships between species.
[8f*] Analyze DNA and amino acid sequences to illustrate common ancestry via a
cladogram.
[8g*] Explain how molecular clocks may be used to show how long ago various groups of
organisms diverged from one another.
Ecology
 [6a] Describe the concept of biodiversity and know how changes in an ecosystem can
affect biodiversity.
 [6b] Analyze data presented through video, pollution studies, and packet work to see
how climate, human activity, nonnative species, and changes in population affect an
ecosystem.
 [6c] Analyze data presented through a board game to determine how birth, death,
immigration, and emigration rates affect a population
 [6d] Examine water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles to explain how biotic and abiotic
systems are related
 [6e] Explain how the vitality and stability of an ecosystem depends on the health of its
producers and decomposers.
Physiology
 [9b, d, e] Explain how the brain collects, processes, and responds to information
gathered from both inside and outside the body.
 [9c] Draw several negative feedback loops that illustrate how the endocrine and nervous
system control and regulate the body.
 [10a] Know how the skin acts as a barrier to infection for nonspecific diseases.
 [10c] Explain how vaccination work to protect from infection.
 [10d] Compare and contrast bacterial and viral infections, requirements for growth, and
treatments.
VIII.
Suggested Teaching Strategies
 Direct instruction
 Cooperative learning groups
 Creative projects
 On-hands labs
 Strategies and methods used for differentiated instruction:
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Scaffolding
use of realia
concrete examples/metaphors for abstract concepts
inquiry & problem based learning
think-pair-share
 Career opportunities associated with this course:
• Environmental field
• Biotechnology
• Various careers in research
• Various careers in academia
• Various careers in the medical field
 Job entry skills developed in this course:
• Critical thinking
• Technical/expository writing
• Data analysis
IX.
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Assessments
Test/quiz
Lab reports
Creative projects
Informal oral assessments
Resources
A. Biology. Author: Stephen Nowicki. Publisher: McDougal Littell, 2008
B. Supplemental Materials: California Standards Review and Practice, California Benchmark
Test and Reteaching, specific unit supplemental resource materials provided by the
publisher.
C. Library computer lab, various supporting DVDs and Videos.
California State Standards: Biology/Life Sciences
Cell Biology
1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical
reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
a. Students know cells are enclosed within semipermeable membranes that regulate
their interaction with their surroundings.
b. Students know enzymes are proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions without
altering the reaction equilibrium and the activities of enzymes depend on the
temperature, ionic conditions, and the pH of the surroundings.
c. Students know how prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells (including those from
plants and animals), and viruses differ in complexity and general structure.
d. Students know the central dogma of molecular biology outlines the flow of
information from transcription of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the nucleus to
translation of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm.
e. Students know the role of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi
apparatus in the secretion of proteins. f. Students know usable
energy is captured from sunlight by chloroplasts and is stored
through the synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide.
g. Students know the role of the mitochondria in making stored chemical-bond
energy available to cells by completing the breakdown of glucose to carbon
dioxide.
h. Students know most macromolecules (polysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins,
lipids) in cells and organisms are synthesized from a small collection of simple
precursors.
i.* Students know how chemiosmotic gradients in the mitochondria and
chloroplast store energy for ATP production. j* Students know how
eukaryotic cells are given shape and internal organization by a
cytoskeleton or cell wall or both.
Genetics
2. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population. As a
basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know meiosis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs of
chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to produce
gametes containing one chromosome of each type.
b. Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo
meiosis.
c. Students know how random chromosome segregation explains the
probability that a particular allele will be in a gamete.
d. Students know new combinations of alleles may be generated in a zygote
through the fusion of male and female gametes (fertilization).
e. Students know why approximately half of an individual’s DNA sequence
comes from each parent.
f. Students know the role of chromosomes in determining an individual’s sex.
g. Students know how to predict possible combinations of alleles in a zygote
from the genetic makeup of the parents.
3. A multicellular organism develops from a single zygote, and its phenotype depends on
its genotype, which is established at fertilization. As a basis for understanding this
concept:
a. Students know how to predict the probable outcome of phenotypes in a genetic
cross from the genotypes of the parents and mode of inheritance (autosomal or Xlinked, dominant or recessive).
b. Students know the genetic basis for Mendel’s laws of segregation
and independent assortment.
c.* Students know how to predict the probable mode of inheritance
from a pedigree diagram showing phenotypes.
d.* Students know how to use data on frequency of recombination
at meiosis to estimate genetic distances between loci and to
interpret genetic maps of chromosomes.
4. Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that
specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism. As a
basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the general pathway by which ribosomes synthesize proteins,
using tRNAs to translate genetic information in mRNA. b. Students know
how to apply the genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids
from a sequence of codons in RNA.
c. Students know how mutations in the DNA sequence of a gene may or may not
affect the expression of the gene or the sequence of amino acids in an encoded
protein.
d. Students know specialization of cells in multicellular organisms is usually due to
different patterns of gene expression rather than to differences of the genes
themselves.
e. Students know proteins can differ from one another in the
number and sequence of amino acids. f.* Students know why
proteins having different amino acid sequences typically have
different shapes and chemical properties.
5. The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into
the cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the general structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein.
b. Students know how to apply base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA
during semiconservative replication and transcription of information from DNA into
mRNA.
c. Students know how genetic engineering (biotechnology) is used to produce novel
biomedical and agricultural products.
d.* Students know how basic DNA technology (restriction digestion by endonucleases, gel
electrophoresis, ligation, and transformation) is used to construct recombinant DNA
molecules.
e.* Students know how exogenous DNA can be inserted into bacterial cells to alter their
genetic makeup and support expression of new protein products.
Ecology
6. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing
effects. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds
of organisms and is affected by alterations of habitats.
b. Students know how to analyze changes in an ecosystem resulting from changes in
climate, human activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in population
size.
c. Students know how fluctuations in population size in an ecosystem are
determined by the relative rates of birth, immigration, emigration, and death.
d. Students know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources
and organic matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen cycles through
photosynthesis and respiration.
e. Students know a vital part of an ecosystem is the stability of its producers and
decomposers.
f. Students know at each link in a food web some energy is stored in newly made
structures but much energy is dissipated into the environment as heat. This
dissipation may be represented in an energy pyramid.
g.* Students know how to distinguish between the accommodation of an individual
organism to its environment and the gradual adaptation of a lineage of
organisms through genetic change.
Evolution
7. The frequency of an allele in a gene pool of a population depends on
many factors and may be stable or unstable over time. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
a. Students know why natural selection acts on the phenotype rather
than the genotype of an organism.
b. Students know why alleles that are lethal in a homozygous
individual may be carried in a heterozygote and thus maintained in
a gene pool.
c. Students know new mutations are constantly being generated in a
gene pool.
d. Students know variation within a species increases the likelihood that
at least some members of a species will survive under changed
environmental conditions.
e.* Students know the conditions for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in a population
and why these conditions are not likely to appear in nature.
f.* Students know how to solve the Hardy-Weinberg equation to predict the
frequency of genotypes in a population, given the frequency of phenotypes.
8. Evolution is the result of genetic changes that occur in constantly changing
environments. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how natural selection determines the differential
survival of groups of organisms.
b. Students know a great diversity of species increases the chance
that at least some organisms survive major changes in the
environment.
c. Students know the effects of genetic drift on the diversity of
organisms in a population.
d. Students know reproductive or geographic isolation affects
speciation.
e. Students know how to analyze fossil evidence with regard to
biological diversity, episodic speciation, and mass extinction.
f.* Students know how to use comparative embryology, DNA or
protein sequence comparisons, and other independent sources
of data to create a branching diagram (cladogram) that shows
probable evolutionary relationships.
g.* Students know how several independent molecular clocks,
calibrated against each other and combined with evidence from
the fossil record, can help to estimate how long ago various
groups of organisms diverged evolutionarily from one another.
Physiology
9. As a result of the coordinated structures and functions of organ systems, the internal
environment of the human body remains relatively stable (homeostatic) despite changes
in the outside environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how the complementary activity of major body systems provides cells
with oxygen and nutrients and removes toxic waste products such as carbon
dioxide.
b. Students know how the nervous system mediates communication between different
parts of the body and the body’s interactions with the environment.
c. Students know how feedback loops in the nervous and endocrine systems regulate
conditions in the body.
d. Students know the functions of the nervous system and the role of neurons in
transmitting electrochemical impulses.
e. Students know the roles of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in
sensation, thought, and response.
f.* Students know the individual functions and sites of secretion of digestive enzymes
(amylases, proteases, nucleases, lipases), stomach acid, and bile salts.
g.* Students know the homeostatic role of the kidneys in the removal of nitrogenous
wastes and the role of the liver in blood detoxification and glucose balance.
h.* Students know the cellular and molecular basis of muscle contraction, including
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the roles of actin, myosin, Ca , and ATP.
i.* Students know how hormones (including digestive, reproductive, osmoregulatory)
provide internal feedback mechanisms for homeostasis at the cellular level and in
whole organisms.
10. Organisms have a variety of mechanisms to combat disease. As a basis for understanding the human immune response:
a. Students know the role of the skin in providing nonspecific defenses against
infection.
b. Students know the role of antibodies in the body’s response to infection.
c. Students know how vaccination protects an individual from infectious
diseases.
d. Students know there are important differences between bacteria and viruses
with respect to their requirements for growth and replication, the body’s
primary defenses against bacterial and viral infections, and effective
treatments of these infections.
e. Students know why an individual with a compromised immune system (for
example, a person with AIDS) may be unable to fight off and survive
infections by microorganisms that are usually benign.
f.* Students know the roles of phagocytes, B-lymphocytes, and T-lymphocytes in the
immune system.