SCIENTIFIC METHOD

• Identify Problem / Question
  • States problem clearly
  • Identifies possible variables and selects a single variable to be tested
• Research / Gather Information
  • Researches relevant literature, analyzes current research, and summarizes the findings
• Forms Hypothesis
  • Formulates possible explanation using logic and evidence
  • Designs an experiment to isolate and test a single variable against a control
• Test Hypothesis
  • Selects and uses appropriate tools and technology to test hypothesis
  • Identifies and communicates sources of experimental errors
• Collect and Analyze Data
  • Creates and displays appropriate charts, graphs and diagrams
• Conclusion
  • Identifies possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as sources of error or uncontrolled conditions
  • Formulates explanations using logic and evidence from the investigation
  • Recognizes that when an observation does not agree with an accepted scientific theory, the observation may be mistaken, or the hypothesis may need to be re-evaluated.
• Understands the interconnections within science and other disciplines and their applications to the world.
• Distinguishes between hypothesis and theory as science terms.
• Recognizes the use and limitation of models and theories as scientific representations of reality.
• Recognizes the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
• Knows that when an observation does not agree with an accepted scientific theory, sometimes the observation is mistaken or fraudulent (e.g., Piltdown man fossils or U.F.O.s), and sometimes the theory is wrong (e.g. Ptolemaic model of the movement of the sun, moon and planets).

BIOCHEMISTRY

• P4a: Describes chemical reactions by writing equations.

• P4b: Identifies products and reactants in chemical reactions.

• P4c: Describes the motion of atoms and molecules and explains the properties of matter.

• P5: Understands how the random motion of molecules explains the diffusion of matter.

• L1b: Identifies enzymes as proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions without altering the reaction equilibrium.

• L1c: Predicts the effects of temperature, ionic concentrations and pH on the activity of enzymes.

• L1f: Knows the general structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein.

• L1j: Lists the four macromolecules (polysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids), identifies their composition and structure, and describes their major functions.

• IE 12: Performs hands-on laboratory experiment that investigates core concepts – Identifies and relates structure to function of the cell, e.g., photosynthesis, respiration, ENZYMES, cell membrane / osmosis.

CELLS

1: The fundamental life process of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells.

1a: Students know cells are enclosed within semipermeable membranes that regulate their interaction with their surroundings.

1c: Students know how prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells (including those from plants and animals), and viruses differ in complexity and general structure.

1e: Students know the role of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus in the secretions of proteins.

1j: Students know how eukaryotic cells are given shape and internal organization by a cytoskeleton or cell wall or both.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

1: The fundamental life process of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells.

1f: Students know usable energy is captured from sunlight by chloroplasts and is stored through the synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide.

1g: 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.

RESPIRATION

1: The fundamental life process of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells.

1g: 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.

1f: Students know usable energy is captured from sunlight by chloroplasts and is stored through the synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide.

GENETICS

2: Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population.

2a: 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.

2b: Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis.

2c: Students know how random chromosome segregation explains the probability that a particular allele will be in a gamete.

2d: Students know new combinations of alleles may be generated in a zygote through the fusion of male and female gametes (fertilization).

2e: Students know why approximately half of an individual’s DNA sequence comes from each parent.

3: A multicellular organism develops from a single zygote, and its phenotype depends on its genotype, which is established at fertilization.

3b: Students know the genetic basis for Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.

RNA & DNA

1d: 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 cytoplasma.

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.

4a: Students know the general pathway by which ribosomes synthesize proteins, using tRNAS to translate genetic information in mRNA.

4b: Students know how to apply the genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids from a sequence of codons in RNA.

4c: 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.

4d: 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.

4e: Students know proteins can differ from one another in the number and sequence of amino acids.

5: 5: The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells.

5a: Students know the general structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein.

5b: Students know how to apply base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA during semi-conservative replication and transcription of information from DNA into mRNA.

GENETIC ENGINEERING

5: The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells.

5b: Students know how to apply base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA during semi-conservative replication and transcription of information from DNA into mRNA.

5c: Students know how genetic engineering (biotechnology) is used to produce novel biomedical and agricultural products.

HUMAN GENOME

2: Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population.

2f: Students know the role of chromosomes in determining an individual’s sex.

2g: 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 it phenotype depends on its genotype, which is established at fertilization.

3a: 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 X-linked, dominant or recessive).

3c: Students know how to predict the probable mode of inheritance from a pedigree diagram showing phenotypes.