H. Biology Course Outline:
Fall Semester
Unit 1: The molecular and cellular basis of life
- Elements that are essential to life
- Four major organic compounds
- Structure and function of cell components
- Transportation across membranes
Unit 2: Energy in living systems
- Common energy carrying molecules
- Process of photosynthesis
- Process of respiration from glycolysis to citric acid cycle to electron transport chain
- Process of fermentation
- Relationship between products of one system to reactants of another
Unit 3: Cell division and genetics
- Stages of the cell cycle and division
- Methods of controlling cell growth and division
- Principles of inheritance described by Mendel
- Patterns of inheritance
- Using Punnett squares and pedigrees to answer questions about inheritance patterns
Unit 4: Transcription and translation: From DNA to Protein
- The story of discovering DNA
- Structure and function of DNA
- Transcription to RNA
- Translation to protein
- Epigenetics and other ways that the genome is affected by the environment
Unit 5: Evolution
- What Darwin saw and concluded
- Modern evidence of evolution in living systems
- Population genetics: Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium
- Defining a species
- Causes of speciation in nature
Spring Semester
Unit 6: Diversity of life
- Origins of life on earth
- Changes in diversity over time
- Viruses: nonliving but still relevant
- Bacteria: single celled and everywhere
- Protists: when a species doesn’t quite belong anywhere else
- Fungi: the great decomposers
Unit 7: Plants
- Characteristics of plants
- Plant diversity
- Plant tissue systems and cell types
- Plant organs
- Primary and secondary growth in plants
- Plant response to the environment
Unit 8: Animal Diversity
- Animal body plans and development
- Characteristics of invertebrate phyla
- Evolution of chordate diversity
Unit 9: Animal Systems- Nutrition, Digestion, and Excretion
- Methods of obtaining nutrition
- Stages of digestive system
- Variations in digestive systems based on food sources
- Maintaining balance of water and solutes
- Filtration of toxic substances
Unit 10: Animal Systems- Circulation and Respiration
- Methods of exchanging gas with the environment
- System of transporting materials around the body
Unit 11: Communication
- Peripheral nervous system structure and conduction of impulses along a neuron
- Central nervous system structure
- Production effects of hormones in the body
- Animal behavior
Honors Biology 2012-2013
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