DCI.BIO.1: Cells as a System

(Framing Text): Biologists have determined that organisms share unique characteristics that differentiate them from non-living things. Organisms range from very simple to extremely complex.

BIO.1A: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of life and biological organization.

BIO.1A.1: Develop criteria to differentiate between living and non-living things.

Pond Ecosystem

(Framing Text): Organisms are composed of four primary macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Metabolism is the sum of all chemical reactions between molecules within cells. Cells continuously utilize materials obtained from the environment and the breakdown of other macromolecules to synthesize their own large macromolecules for cellular structures and functions. These metabolic reactions require enzymes for catalysis.

BIO.1B: Students will analyze the structure and function of the macromolecules that make up cells.

BIO.1B.1: Develop and use models to compare and contrast the structure and function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in organisms.

RNA and Protein Synthesis

BIO.1B.2: Design and conduct an experiment to determine how enzymes react given various environmental conditions (i.e., pH, temperature, and concentration). Analyze, interpret, graph, and present data to explain how those changing conditions affect the enzyme activity and the rate of the reactions that take place in biological organisms.

Collision Theory

(Framing Text): Cells are the basic units of all organisms, both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells differ in key structural features, but both can perform all functions necessary for life.

BIO.1C: Students will relate the diversity of organelles to a variety of specialized cellular functions.

BIO.1C.3: Contrast the structure of viruses with that of cells, and explain why viruses must use living cells to reproduce.

Virus Lytic Cycle

(Framing Text): The structure of the cell membrane allows it to be a selectively permeable barrier and maintain homeostasis. Substances that enter or exit the cell must do so via the cell membrane. This transport across the membrane may occur through a variety of mechanisms, including simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, osmosis, and active transport.

BIO.1D: Students will describe the structure of the cell membrane and analyze how the structure is related to its primary function of regulating transport in and out of cells to maintain homeostasis.

BIO.1D.1: Plan and conduct investigations to prove that the cell membrane is a semi-permeable, allowing it to maintain homeostasis with its environment through active and passive transport processes.

Osmosis

BIO.1D.2: Develop and use models to explain how the cell deals with imbalances of solute concentration across the cell membrane (i.e., hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic conditions, sodium/potassium pump).

Osmosis

(Framing Text): Cells grow and reproduce through a regulated cell cycle. Within multicellular organisms, cells repeatedly divide for repair, replacement, and growth. Likewise, an embryo begins as a single cell that reproduces to form a complex, multicellular organism through the processes of cell division and differentiation.

BIO.1E: Students will develop and use models to explain the role of the cell cycle during growth, development, and maintenance in multicellular organisms.

BIO.1E.3: Relate the processes of cellular reproduction to asexual reproduction in simple organisms (i.e., budding, vegetative propagation, regeneration, binary fission). Explain why the DNA of the daughter cells is the same as the parent cell.

Cell Division

DCI.BIO.2: Energy Transfer

(Framing Text): Organisms require energy to perform life functions. Cells are transformers of energy, continuously utilizing a complex sequence of reactions in which energy is transferred from one form to another, for example, from light energy to chemical energy to kinetic energy. Emphasis is on illustrating the inputs and outputs of matter and the transfer and transformation of energy in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Assessment is limited to identification of the phases (i.e., glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and electron transport chain) in cellular respiration as well as light and light-independent reactions of photosynthesis and does not include specific biochemical reactions within the phases.

BIO.2: Students will explain that cells transform energy through the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration to drive cellular functions.

BIO.2.2: Develop models of the major reactants and products of photosynthesis to demonstrate the transformation of light energy into stored chemical energy in cells. Emphasize the chemical processes in which bonds are broken and energy is released, and new bonds are formed and energy is stored.

Cell Energy Cycle

BIO.2.3: Develop models of the major reactants and products of cellular respiration (aerobic and anaerobic) to demonstrate the transformation of the chemical energy stored in food to the available energy of ATP. Emphasize the chemical processes in which bonds are broken and energy is released, and new bonds are formed and energy is stored.

Cell Energy Cycle

DCI.BIO.3: Reproduction and Heredity

(Framing Text): Offspring inherit DNA from their parents. The genes contained in the DNA (genotype) determine the traits expressed in the offspring’s phenotype. Alleles of a gene may demonstrate various patterns of inheritance. These patterns of inheritance may be followed through multiple generations within families.

BIO.3B: Students will analyze and interpret data collected from probability calculations to explain the variation of expressed traits within a population.

BIO.3B.1: Demonstrate Mendel’s law of dominance and segregation using mathematics to predict phenotypic and genotypic ratios by constructing Punnett squares with both homozygous and heterozygous allele pairs.

Chicken Genetics
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

BIO.3B.2: Illustrate Mendel’s law of independent assortment using Punnett squares and/or the product rule of probability to analyze monohybrid crosses.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Microevolution
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

BIO.3B.3: Investigate traits that follow non-Mendelian inheritance patterns (e.g., incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple alleles in human blood types, and sex-linkage).

Chicken Genetics
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

BIO.3B.4: Analyze and interpret data (e.g., pedigrees, family, and population studies) regarding Mendelian and complex genetic traits (e.g., sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, color-blindness, and hemophilia) to determine patterns of inheritance and disease risk.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

(Framing Text): Gene expression results in the production of proteins and thus determines the phenotypes of the organism. Changes in the DNA occur throughout an organism’s life. Mutations are a source of genetic variation that may have a positive, negative, or no effect on the organism.

BIO.3C: Students will construct an explanation based on evidence to describe how the structure and nucleotide base sequence of DNA determines the structure of proteins or RNA that carry out essential functions of life.

BIO.3C.1: Develop and use models to explain the relationship between DNA, genes, and chromosomes in coding the instructions for the traits transferred from parent to offspring.

Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

BIO.3C.2: Evaluate the mechanisms of transcription and translation in protein synthesis.

RNA and Protein Synthesis

BIO.3C.3: Use models to predict how various changes in the nucleotide sequence (e.g., point mutations, deletions, and additions) will affect the resulting protein product and the subsequent inherited trait.

Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

DCI.BIO.4: Adaptations and Evolution

(Framing Text): Evolution is a key unifying principle in biology. Differentiating between organic and chemical evolution and the analysis of the gradual changes in populations over time, helps students understand common features and differences between species and thus the relatedness between species. There are several factors that affect how natural selection acts on populations within their environments leading to speciation, extinction, and the current diversity of life on earth.

BIO.4: Students will analyze and interpret evidence to explain the unity and diversity of life.

BIO.4.5: Use Darwin's Theory to explain how genetic variation, competition, overproduction, and unequal reproductive success acts as driving forces of natural selection and evolution.

Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

DCI.BIO.5: Interdependence of Organisms and Their Environments

(Framing Text): Complex interactions within an ecosystem affect the numbers and types of organisms that survive. Fluctuations in conditions can affect the ecosystem’s function, resources, and habitat availability. Ecosystems are subject to carrying capacities and can only support a limited number of organisms and populations. Factors that can affect the carrying capacities of populations are both biotic and abiotic.

BIO.5: Students will Investigate and evaluate the interdependence of living organisms and their environment.

BIO.5.2: Analyze models of the cycling of matter (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water) between abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem and evaluate the ability of these cycles to maintain the health and sustainability of the ecosystem.

Pond Ecosystem

BIO.5.4: Develop and use models to describe the flow of energy and amount of biomass through food chains, food webs, and food pyramids.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

BIO.5.6: Analyze and interpret population data, both density-dependent and density-independent, to define limiting factors. Use graphical representations (growth curves) to illustrate the carrying capacity within ecosystems.

Food Chain
Rabbit Population by Season