High school biology

Units

1. 1

   Cells, DNA and proteins

   11 lessons

   1. Biomolecules: the four macromoleculesName the four classes of biomolecules with their monomers and jobs, account for the atoms when monomers join or split, and read a food test.
   2. Enzymes: how they speed reactionsExplain how an enzyme lowers the activation energy at its active site, and read how temperature, pH and substrate amount change its rate.
   3. Cell structure and organellesMatch each organelle to its job, tell plant cells from animal cells, and use a cell's organelles to say what that cell does.
   4. Prokaryotes, eukaryotes and virusesTell a prokaryote from a eukaryote and both from a virus by their parts, and use that to choose a treatment.
   5. The cell membrane: diffusion and osmosisExplain the membrane's bilayer, why diffusion needs no cell energy and never stops moving, and how osmosis and tonicity predict which way water moves.
   6. Active transportExplain how a pump uses ATP to move particles against their gradient, how vesicles move large particles, and how evidence tells active from passive transport.
   7. DNA structureDescribe a nucleotide and the double helix, write a complementary strand, use pairing to find base percentages, and say what evidence showed the structure.
   8. DNA replicationExplain how a cell copies its DNA by unwinding and pairing, why each new molecule has one old and one new strand, and when in the cell cycle copying happens.
   9. Transcription: DNA to RNAExplain how one gene is copied into mRNA by pairing, write the mRNA for a template and name the coding strand, and follow the mRNA out of the nucleus.
   10. Translation: RNA to proteinExplain why the genetic code is read in triplets, translate an mRNA into amino acids with a codon chart, and trace how a DNA sequence decides a protein's shape and job.
   11. Mutations and their effects on proteinsClassify point mutations and frameshifts by what they do to the protein, trace sickle cell disease from one base to a changed shape, and say which mutations are inherited.
2. 2

   Body systems and homeostasis

   4 lessons

   1. Levels of organization and interacting body systemsDescribe the levels from cell to organism, show how structure fits function, and trace how body systems depend on one another.
   2. Plant systems: transport, reproduction, responseExplain how xylem and phloem move water and sugar, how stomata balance gas exchange against water loss, and how plants reproduce and respond.
   3. Homeostasis and feedback loopsExplain homeostasis as regulation within a range, name the parts of a feedback loop, and tell negative from positive feedback using data.
   4. Nervous and endocrine controlDescribe how a neuron and a synapse carry a signal, trace a reflex arc, and compare nerve and hormone control, including how the two systems work together.
3. 3

   Cell division and growth

   3 lessons

   1. The cell cycle and mitosisDescribe the phases of the cell cycle, follow the chromosomes through mitosis, and use cell counts to estimate how long each phase lasts.
   2. Cell differentiation and stem cellsExplain how one cell becomes trillions of different cells with the same DNA, and say what stem cells can and cannot become.
   3. Cancer: when cell cycle control failsExplain cancer as a failure of cell cycle control caused by accumulating mutations, tell benign from malignant tumors, and read data on risk.
4. 4

   Photosynthesis and cellular respiration

   7 lessons

   1. Photosynthesis overviewWrite the photosynthesis equation, trace every atom and the energy through it, say where it happens, and read what limits its rate.
   2. The light reactionsFollow light, water, ADP and NADP⁺ through the thylakoid membrane to oxygen, ATP and NADPH, and say what each part of the membrane does.
   3. The Calvin cycleFollow carbon from CO₂ into sugar in the stroma, count the CO₂, ATP and NADPH for one glucose, and explain why the cycle stops without the light reactions.
   4. From sugar to the molecules of lifeShow how the atoms of sugar are rearranged into fats, amino acids, starch and cellulose, which atoms must come from minerals, and read evidence that nitrogen limits growth.
   5. Cellular respiration overview: glycolysis and the Krebs cycleWrite the respiration equation, account for every atom and the energy, say why net energy is released, and place glycolysis and the Krebs cycle in the cell.
   6. The electron transport chain and ATPFollow electrons from NADH and FADH₂ along the chain to oxygen, explain how the H⁺ gradient makes most of the ATP, and complete the ATP ledger for one glucose.
   7. FermentationExplain why cells without oxygen ferment, name the products of lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation, compare the ATP yield with aerobic respiration, and judge the claim that lactic acid causes next-day soreness.
5. 5

   Ecosystems and populations

   4 lessons

   1. Carrying capacity and limiting factorsEstimate carrying capacity from population data, explain what sets it and why it moves, and sort limiting factors as density-dependent or density-independent.
   2. Exponential and logistic population growthTell exponential from logistic growth, compute doublings and logistic steps, see why growth peaks at half of K, and compare populations and biodiversity from data.
   3. Ecosystem stability, disturbance and successionExplain how feedback keeps an ecosystem steady, when a disturbance is absorbed and when it makes a new ecosystem, and how succession and keystone species work.
   4. Group behavior and survivalEvaluate evidence that group living helps an individual survive and reproduce, weigh benefits against costs, and explain how simple rules make a flock without a leader.
6. 6

   Matter and energy in ecosystems

   4 lessons

   1. Aerobic and anaerobic cycling in ecosystemsCompare how matter and energy move through decomposition with and without oxygen, and explain methane, peat and dead zones.
   2. Energy pyramids and the 10 percent ruleUse the ten percent rule to find the energy at each trophic level, explain where the rest goes, and contrast one-way energy with recycled matter.
   3. The carbon cycle through living thingsTrace carbon through the atmosphere, living things, oceans and rock, and use a box model with rates to show why CO₂ is rising.
   4. The nitrogen cycleExplain why plants cannot use the nitrogen in air, name the five processes of the nitrogen cycle with their organisms, and weigh fertilizer's yield against its runoff.
7. 7

   Inheritance and variation

   6 lessons

   1. Genes, chromosomes and traitsLink DNA, genes, alleles and chromosomes to traits, use genotype and phenotype correctly, and explain how two brown-eyed parents can have a blue-eyed child.
   2. Meiosis and gametesFollow a diploid cell through meiosis I and II to four different haploid gametes, count chromosomes at each stage, and explain how crossing over, independent assortment and nondisjunction change the result.
   3. Sources of genetic variationName the sources of genetic variation, rank shuffling against mutation with numbers, tell inherited differences from acquired ones, and explain variation in bacteria.
   4. Mendelian genetics and Punnett squaresBuild Punnett squares for one and two genes, read genotype and phenotype ratios, and treat each child as an independent chance event.
   5. Incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple allelesPredict offspring for incomplete dominance, codominance and ABO blood types, and explain why height forms a bell curve and why environment can change a phenotype.
   6. Sex-linked traits and pedigreesTrace X-linked recessive traits through a Punnett square, read pedigree symbols and patterns, and work out genotypes and risk by multiplying along the family tree.
8. 8

   Evolution and natural selection

   6 lessons

   1. Evidence for evolution: fossils, anatomy, DNAShow that common ancestry is supported by several independent lines of evidence, and use fossils, bone patterns and DNA differences to judge relatedness.
   2. Natural selection: the four factorsExplain a change in a population with the four factors of natural selection, saying why populations evolve and individuals do not.
   3. Changing allele frequencies in a populationCount allele frequencies from genotypes, define evolution as a change in them, and tell selection from drift, gene flow and mutation with the sickle cell allele as the example.
   4. AdaptationDefine adaptation as an inherited trait built by selection over generations, tell it from acclimation, and explain it with data on a changing environment, including its limits.
   5. Speciation and extinctionExplain how isolation leads to new species, name the reproductive barriers, and use data on environmental change and mass extinctions to show it can increase some species, produce new ones and end others.
   6. Cladograms and classificationRead and build a cladogram from shared derived characters or DNA differences, say what a node and a clade are, and write a scientific name and rank an organism.
9. 9

   Biodiversity and human impact

   2 lessons

   1. Human impacts on biodiversity and solutionsMeasure how habitat loss and other human pressures reduce biodiversity, then design and compare solutions using criteria, constraints, trade-offs and testing.
   2. Testing a conservation solution with a simulationBuild a simple population model, test a conservation fix against a baseline by changing one thing, model the loss of genetic variation, and revise the model when real counts disagree.
10. 10

    Earth's history and climate

    3 lessons

    1. Rock ages and plate motion evidenceUse the ages of ocean-floor and continental rock to show that plates move, calculate how fast, and explain why the ocean floor is young.
    2. Earth's early history and radiometric datingUse half-life and the daughter-to-parent ratio to date a rock, choose a suitable isotope, and show why independent clocks put Earth's formation at about 4.5 to 4.6 billion years ago.
    3. Life and Earth changing togetherBuild an evidence argument that life and Earth's systems changed each other, using banded iron, red beds, the ozone layer, coal and mass extinctions.
11. 11

    Earth and human activity

    6 lessons

    1. Resources, hazards and human historyExplain, with a claim, evidence and reasoning, how resources, hazards and climate change have shaped where and how people live, and weigh a risk as likelihood times consequence.
    2. Managing energy and mineral resourcesSort energy and mineral resources into renewable and nonrenewable with their costs and benefits, compare designs by benefit-cost ratio, net benefit and a weighted matrix, and say what science can and cannot decide.
    3. Sustainability modelsUse a stock-and-harvest model to find the largest sustainable harvest, compare management scenarios, and say what a model can and cannot tell us.
    4. Reducing human impact on natural systemsUse impact data to judge a technological solution against criteria and constraints, refine it by changing one feature and retesting, and weigh its trade-offs and side effects.
    5. Climate change data and forecastsTell weather from climate, calculate rates of change from data, weigh the evidence that human emissions drive the warming, and make a forecast that states its limits.
    6. Human activity and Earth's systemsTrace how burning fossil fuels changes the air, ice, ocean and living things through linked systems, tell amplifying from reducing feedbacks, and calculate what a pH change means.