Courses of Study : Science

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 3
Learning Activities: 3
1 ) Use models to compare and contrast how the structural characteristics of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids define their function in organisms.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Describe the particles that compose an atom and relate these particles to types of chemical bonding such as covalent, ionic and hydrogen and describe Van der Waals forces.
  • Identify patterns in the elements that compose each macromolecule and the arrangement of monomer units in carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids .
  • Use standard experimental tests to predict the macromolecular content of a given substance.
  • Use models to differentiate macromolecules based on common characteristics.
  • Build models of each of the four macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids) and describe their role in biological processes.
  • Compare and contrast the structure of each macromolecule and predict the function of each from its structure.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Atom
  • Nucleus
  • Proton
  • Neutron
  • Electron
  • Element
  • Compound
  • Isotope
  • Covalent bond
  • Molecule
  • Ion
  • Ionic bond
  • Van der Waals force
  • Macromolecule
  • Polymer
  • Carbohydrate
  • Monosaccharide
  • Disaccharide
  • Polysaccharide
  • Lipid
  • Saturated fats
  • Unsaturated fats
  • Triglyceride
  • Phospholipid
  • Hydrophobic
  • Steroids
  • Protein
  • Amino acid
  • Peptide bonds
  • Nucleic acid
  • Nucleotide
  • DNA
  • RNA
  • ATP
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • An atom is composed of smaller particles, such as protons, neutrons and electrons.
  • Atoms of the same or different elements can form chemical bonds. The type of bond formed, such as covalent, ionic, or hydrogen, depends on the atomic structure of the element. Carbohydrates, Lipids, proteins and nucleic acids are the four macromolecules that compose life.
  • Carbohydrates are composed of a monomer of one carbon, 2 hydrogen and one oxygen atoms (CH2O). The role of carbohydrates in biological processes such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
  • The role of lipids in biological processes such as cell membrane function and energy storage.
  • The basic structure of a lipid includes fatty acid tails composed of a chain of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen and other carbon atoms by single or double bonds.
  • Proteins are made of amino acids, which are small compounds that are made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen hydrogen and sometimes sulfur. The structure of an amino acid consists of a carbon atom in the center which is bonded with a hydrogen, an amino group, a carboxyl group and a variable group—its that variable group that makes each amino acid different.
  • The roles of proteins in biological processes such as enzyme function or structural functionality.
  • Nucleic acids are made of smaller repeating subuntits composed of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and hydrogen atoms, called nucleotides.
  • There are six major nucleotides—all of which have three units—a phosphate, a nitrogenous base, and a ribose sugar. The role of nucleic acids in biological processes such as transmission of hereditary information.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Describe the particles that compose an atom.
  • Relate atomic particles to types of chemical bonding such as covalent, ionic and hydrogen.
  • Describe Van der Waals forces.
  • Identify patterns in the elements that compose each macromolecule.
  • Identify the arrangement of monomer units in carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids.
  • Differentiate macromolecules based on common characteristics.
  • Construct models of the four major macromolecules.
  • Analyze models of the four major biomolecules to identify the monomer unit that repeats across the macromolecule polymer and relate molecular structure to biological function.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Cells are made of atoms.
  • The four macromolecules that compose life are carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
  • Macromolecules contain distinct patterns of monomer subunits that repeat across the macromolecule polymer and that structure affects the biological function of the macromolecule.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Macromolecules: Structure and Function; DNA Model; Enzymes; Designer Enzymes; Macromolecules in Food
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.1: Living systems are made of complex molecules (including carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids) that consist mostly of a few elements, especially carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous.

NAEP Statement::
L12.2: Cellular processes are carried out by many different types of molecules, mostly proteins. Protein molecules are long, usually folded chains made from combinations of amino-acid molecules. Protein molecules assemble fats and carbohydrates and carry out other cellular functions. The function of each protein molecule depends on its specific sequence of amino acids and the shape of the molecule.

NAEP Statement::
L12.4: Plants have the capability (through photosynthesis) to take energy from light to form higher energy sugar molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from lower energy molecules. These sugar molecules can be used to make amino acids and other carbon-containing (organic) molecules and assembled into larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, and fats).

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.2- Recognize organelles (e.g., mitochondria, ribosomes, chloroplasts) and their functions within plant and animal cells.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 3
Learning Activities: 2
Classroom Resources: 1
2 ) Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe the function and diversity of organelles and structures in various types of cells (e.g., muscle cells having a large amount of mitochondria, plasmids in bacteria, chloroplasts in plant cells).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Describe the cell theory and discuss the historical context of its development.
  • Distinguish between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
  • Compare and contrast various types of cells.
  • Using various sources (prepared or wet mount slides, images, digital animations), identify cellular organelles.
  • Gather, analyze, and communicate the diversity of organelles and structures that exist within different types of cells.
  • Based on their function, describe why certain organelles and structures are found in particular types of cells
.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Cell
  • Cell theory
  • Plasma membrane
  • Organelle
  • Cell structures (e.g., cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, etc.)
  • Cell organelles (e.g., nucleus, chloroplast, mitochondrion, etc.)
  • Prokaryote
  • Eukaryote
  • Bacterial cell
  • Plant cell
  • Animal cell
  • Muscle cell
  • Other types of cells such as unicellular organisms (e.g., amoeba), nerve cell, sex cell (sperm/egg), etc.
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Historical contributions to the cell theory by scientists such as Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Schleiden etc.
  • The cell theory is one of the fundamental ideas of modern biology and includes three principles:
    1. All living things are composed of cells.
    2. Cells are the basic unit of structure and organization of all living organisms.
    3. Cells arise only from previously existing cells.
  • There are many types of organelles.
  • Eukaryotic cells contain a nucleus and other membrane bound organelles.
  • Prokaryotic cells are cells without a nucleus or other membrane bound organelles.
  • How organelles function within a cell.
  • How the function of organelles relates to their presence in various types of cells.
  • The characteristics of different types of cells can be determined based on the presence of certain organelles.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Obtain information about the function and diversity of organelles and cell structures.
  • Evaluate the function of a cell based on the presence or absence of particular organelles and/or cell structures.
  • Communicate information to describe the function of organelles and cell structures in various types of cells.
  • Communicate information to describe the diversity of organelles and structures in various types of cells.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Structures within different types of cells will have different functions.
  • Cellular function is related to the presence and number of particular organelles and cell structures.
  • Various types of cells can be identified by the presence of particular organelles and/or cell structures.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Comparing Cell Structures; Observing Protist Locomotion; Osmosis and Plasmolysis in Onion Cells; Why must Cells be Small?
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.3: Cellular processes are regulated both internally and externally by environments in which cells exist, including local environments that lead to cell differentiation during the development of multicellular organisms. During the development of complex multicellular organisms, cell differentiation is regulated through the expression of different genes.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 2
Learning Activities: 1
Classroom Resources: 1
3 ) Formulate an evidence-based explanation regarding how the composition of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) determines the structural organization of proteins.

a. Obtain and evaluate experiments of major scientists and communicate their contributions to the development of the structure of DNA and to the development of the central dogma of molecular biology.

b. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information that explains how advancements in genetic technology (e.g., Human Genome Project, Encyclopedia of DNA Elements [ENCODE] project, 1000 Genomes Project) have contributed to the understanding as to how a genetic change at the DNA level may affect proteins and, in turn, influence the appearance of traits.

c. Obtain information to identify errors that occur during DNA replication (e.g., deletion, insertion, translocation, substitution, inversion, frame-shift, point mutations).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Identify the structural components within a model of DNA including monomer units and hydrogen bonds.
  • Use models to demonstrate how information encoded in DNA leaves the nucleus.
  • Investigate the process of semi-conservative replication and compare the lead strand to the lagging strand.
  • Compare and contrast the functionality of multiple types of RNA and relate that function to protein synthesis.
  • Illustrate how mRNA serves as a template for building a polypeptide chain and how other types of RNA are utilized in the process.
  • Use a codon chart to determine the sequence of amino acids (polypeptide chains) that will be built from a given mRNA sequence.
  • Explain protein folding in terms of the rules of chemistry and physics to describe how the folding of the protein affects its function.
  • Relate the levels of protein structure to the final three-dimensional shape and functionality of the protein.
  • Cite and evaluate evidence that supports Watson and Crick's model of the double helix structure of DNA.
  • Annotate a diagram of the Central Dogma of Biology to include relevant discoveries and their implications on the understanding of the Central Dogma.
  • Evaluate the major findings of research projects such as the Human Genome Project, ENCODE, and the 1000 Genomes Project and modify my working definition of "a gene" based on the findings of those projects.
  • Communicate the impact of modern genome research projects on our understanding of gene structure and function.
  • Interpret the impacts of DNA changes using lab techniques such as gel electrophoresis, PCR, or computer based resources.
  • Explain gene expression in terms of genes being "turned on or off" and in broad terms identify the factors that influence gene expression.
  • Use data to support the concept that changes in DNA impact protein function in predictable ways.
  • Draw conclusions about errors that occur during replication.
  • Compare and contrast types of mutations and use a model to show how changes in DNA can result in changes in protein function.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Nitrogenous bases
  • Deoxyribose
  • Phosphates
  • Hydrogen bonding
  • Nucleotides
  • Semi-conservative replication
  • Central Dogma
  • Transcription
  • Various types of RNA, including those involved in protein synthesis (mRNA, tRNA & rRNA) and those associated with gene regulation (e.g., IncRNA, miRNA, siRNA) and post-transcriptional modification (snRNA)
  • RNA polymerase
  • Introns
  • Exons
  • Codon
  • Translation
  • Anticodon
  • Deletion
  • Insertion
  • Substitution
  • Variant
  • DNA sequencing
  • PCR
  • Gel electrophoresis
  • Big Science Projects conducted over last 30 years: Human Genome Project, The International Hap Map, ENCODE, Cancer Genome Atlas, 1000 Genomes project, ClinVar and ClinGen, and the Exome Aggregation
  • Consortium.
  • Deletion
  • Insertion
  • Translocation
  • Substitution
  • Inversion
  • Frameshift mutations
  • Point mutations
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • All living things have DNA How the 5' and 3' orientation of DNA nucleotides results in the antiparallel nature of DNA.
  • The complementary nature of nitrogenous bases.
  • How hydrogen bonding holds complementary bases together across two DNA strands.
  • The basic mechanism of reading and expressing genes is from DNA to RNA to Protein (The Central Dogma of Biology).
  • The first step of the Central dogma is a process called transcription, which synthesizes mRNA from DNA.
  • The process where the mRNA connects to a ribosome, the code is read and then translated into a protein is called translation.
  • To become a functional protein, a translated chain of amino acids must be folded into a specific three-dimensional shape.
  • Historically important experiments that led to the development of the structure of DNA, including Mieshcer, Chargraff, Rosalind Franklin, Watson/Crick, etc.
  • DNA changes can be linked to observable traits in the natural world, such as diseases.
  • Common laboratory techniques are used to obtain evidence that supports the premise that DNA changes may affect proteins and in turn the appearance of traits.
  • Types of errors that can occur during replication and the impact these errors have on protein production and/or function.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Build from scratch or work with previously constructed models of DNA to identify the key structural components of the molecule.
  • Obtain and communicate information (possibly through a conceptual model) describing how information encoded in DNA leaves the nucleus.
  • Obtain and expand explanation to include how the information transcribed from DNA to RNA determines the amino acid sequence of proteins.
  • Identify and describe the function of molecules required for replication and differentiate between replication on the leading and lagging DNA strands.
  • Group mRNA into codons and identify the amino acid associated with each codon. Create and manipulate polypeptide models to demonstrate protein folding.
  • Use a variety of resources (web-based timelines, original publications, documentaries, and interviews), explain how historically important experiments helped scientists determine the molecular structure of DNA, and develop the concept of the Central Dogma of Biology.
  • Analyze a variety of diagnostic techniques that identify genetic variation in a clinical setting.
  • Relate protein structure to enzyme function and discuss the causes and impacts of protein denaturation on both enzymes and structural proteins.
  • Identify the impact of DNA changes on the structure and/or function of the resulting amino acid sequences.
  • Predict the impact of errors during DNA replication in terms of protein production and/or function.
  • Classify types of DNA changes (deletions, insertions, and substitutions).
  • Use models to explain how deletions, insertions, translocation, substitution, inversion, frameshift, and point mutations occur during the process of DNA replication.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • The traits of living things are ultimately determined by inherited sequences of DNA.
  • The end product of transcription is always RNA, but the process produces many different types of RNA with varying functions.
  • DNA instructions are replicated and passed from parent to offspring, segregating traits across generations in a mathematically predictable manner.
  • A protein is a linear sequence of amino acids that spontaneously folds following rules of chemistry and physics.
  • A series of historically important experiments let to the current understanding of the structure of DNA and the Central Dogma of Biology.
  • Errors that occur during DNA replication can affect protein production and/or function. Important projects over the past 30 years have changed the definition of a "gene" and increased the ability to assess the impact of DNA variation in a trait or disease.
  • Genetic change can lead to altered protein function and the appearance of a different trait or disease.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Protein Synthesis Manipulative; Manipulating DNA; Genes and Consequences; Protein Synthesis with Words; Expanded DNA Extraction; HNPCC
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.9: The genetic information encoded in DNA molecules provides instructions for assembling protein molecules. Genes are segments of DNA molecules. Inserting, deleting, or substituting DNA segments can alter genes. An altered gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it. The resulting features may help, harm, or have little or no effect on the offspring's success in its environment.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.3- Recognize the structure of DNA which determines the characteristics of living organisms.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 2
Learning Activities: 2
4 ) Develop and use models to explain the role of the cell cycle during growth and maintenance in multicellular organisms (e.g., normal growth and/or uncontrolled growth resulting in tumors).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Illustrate the amount of time spent in each phase of the cell cycle by a cell.
  • Develop and use a model to describe patterns in typical cell growth and relate those patterns to the mechanisms of cell reproduction for growth, differentiation, and repair.
  • Develop a model of chromosome movement and use the model to explain the maintenance of chromosome number during meiosis.
  • Use chromosome models to illustrate mitosis and explain the role of mitosis in maintaining populations of cells.
  • Use a model to demonstrate errors that may occur during cell division.
  • Identify the strengths and limitations of a model in representing the cell cycle and cell differentiation.
  • Use evidence to describe the internal and external factors that influence cell cycle control mechanisms.
  • Use a model to compare multiple pathways to tumor formation.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Cell cycle
  • Chromosome
  • Somatic cell
  • Chromatin
  • Spindle fibers
  • Kinetochore microtubules
  • Centrioles
  • Centrosome
  • Centromere
  • Sister chromatids
  • Mitosis
  • Prometaphase
  • Prophase
  • Metaphase
  • Metaphase plate
  • Anaphase
  • Telophase
  • Cytokinesis
  • Cell plate
  • Cleavage furrow
  • Interphase
  • S phase
  • G1
  • G2
  • Growth
  • Maintenance
  • Checkpoints
  • Signaling factors
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The phases of the cell cycle (Interphase-G1, S, and G2 phases, Mitosis and cytokenisis), the amount of time spent in each cycle and what occurs during each cycle.
  • The process of cell cycle regulation.
  • Mechanisms, checkpoints and signaling factor molecules that regulate the cell cycle.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Generate a graphic illustrating the amount of time a cell spends in each phase of the cell cycle.
  • Observe video, image or microscope slide and identify cells in each phase, relative abundance, and estimate the time spent in each phase.
  • Obtain and communicate information about the relationship between the cell cycle and the growth and maintenance of an organism.
  • Illustrate chromosome behavior during mitosis using chromosome models.
  • Distinguish between replicated and un-replicated chromosomes.
  • Demonstrate the events and cellular processes involved in each stage of mitosis.
  • Investigate the impact of errors in the process of cell division.
  • Identify the basic mechanisms, checkpoints, and general categories of signaling factor molecules (both internal and external).
  • Relate errors in control mechanisms to uncontrolled cell growth (cancer).
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • The cell cycle is necessary for growth and maintenance in multi-cellular organisms.
  • Mitosis only makes somatic (body) cells.
  • Errors in control mechanisms within the cell cycle lead to uncontrolled cell growth (cancer).
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
The Cell Cycle
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.3: Cellular processes are regulated both internally and externally by environments in which cells exist, including local environments that lead to cell differentiation during the development of multicellular organisms. During the development of complex multicellular organisms, cell differentiation is regulated through the expression of different genes.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.4- Use a model to illustrate how growth occurs when cells multiply and recognize that uncontrolled growth can lead to the development of tumors (e.g., cancer).
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 0
5 ) Plan and carry out investigations to explain feedback mechanisms (e.g., sweating and shivering) and cellular processes (e.g., active and passive transport) that maintain homeostasis.

a. Plan and carry out investigations to explain how the unique properties of water (e.g., polarity, cohesion, adhesion) are vital to maintaining homeostasis in organisms.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function; Stability and Change
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Distinguish the components of a feedback loop and identify the function of each.
  • Predict the characteristics necessary for maintaining homeostasis and investigate factors that affect homeostasis in living organisms.
  • Use evidence from my investigation to explain how negative feedback mechanisms regulate and maintain a narrow range of internal conditions in living systems among a wide range of external conditions.
  • Investigate the phospholipid bilayer structure of the plasma membrane and how its hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties help separate the environment inside the cell from the environment outside of the cell.
  • Investigate how materials move across membranes and categorize the movements as active or passive transport.
  • Conduct several short investigations to predict the unique properties of water.
  • Build a model of a water molecule that illustrates hydrogen bonding.
  • Use model to illustrate how water molecules interact with each other and with other polar and non-polar molecules, based on oppositely charged pats of the molecule.
  • Distinguish between solution types based on solute concentration (hypo-, hyper-, isotonic solutions).
  • Relate multiple properties of water to impacts on cells and living systems as well as the maintenance of homeostasis.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Negative feedback loop
  • Positive feedback
  • Enzyme related feedback
  • Stimulus
  • Response
  • Effector
  • Receptor
  • Afferent pathway
  • Efferent pathway
  • Integration
  • Phospholipid bilayer
  • Selective permeability
  • Transport protein
  • Fluid mosaic model
  • Polarity
  • Surface tension
  • Capillary
  • Adhesion
  • Cohesion
  • Hypotonic
  • Hypertonic
  • Isotonic
  • Active transport
  • Passive transport
  • Mixture
  • Solution
  • Solvent
  • Solute
  • Diffusion
  • Dynamic equilibrium
  • Facilitated diffusion
  • Osmosis
  • Endocytosis
  • Exocytosis
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • A negative feedback loop is when the body senses (receptor) an internal change (stimulus) and activates mechanisms (effector) that reverse, or negate (response) that change (e.g., Regulation of body temperature).
  • The positive feedback loop is a process where the body senses a change and activates mechanisms that accelerate or increase that change—can aid in homeostasis but also can be life threatening (e.g., blood clotting (helpful), response to myocardial infarction (potentially fatal).
  • The chemical structure of the phospholipid membrane and the various ways large and small molecules move between the inside and outside of the cell to maintain homeostasis.
  • The movement of water is a cellular response to different solute concentrations within and outside the cell.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Investigate and communicate factors that affect homeostasis in living organisms.
  • Develop an answerable scientific question and plan and carry out an investigation that provides data about homeostasis.
  • Investigate the function of the plasma membrane in relation to cellular processes that maintain homeostasis within the cell.
  • Observe and explore simple experiments to develop a working list of the properties of water.
  • Use a model to explain the properties of water at a molecular level.
  • Use a model to illustrate chemical interactions between water molecules and other polar and non-polar compounds.
  • Design an experiment that provides data regarding one property of water and communicate the experimental design, results and conclusions.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Homeostasis is the tendency of an organism or cell to regulate its internal environment and maintain equilibrium, usually by a system of feedback controls, so as to stabilize health and functioning.
  • A complex set of chemical, thermal and neural factors interact in complex ways, both helping and hindering the body while it works to maintain homeostasis.
  • Water movement is critical to the maintenance of homeostasis for cells and vascular systems.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Osmosis and Diffusion; Rubber Egg Diffusion; We Got the Beet; Homeostasis; Thirsty for Water; Osmosis and Plasmolysis in Onion Cells; Pass the Molecules Please!; Expanded DNA Extraction
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.5- Recognize feedback mechanisms (e.g., sweating and shivering) that maintain homeostasis.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 0
6 ) Analyze and interpret data from investigations to explain the role of products and reactants of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of matter and the flow of energy.

a. Plan and carry out investigations to explain the interactions among pigments, absorption of light, and reflection of light.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations; Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect; Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Collect and analyze data to identify the reactants and products of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
  • Use evidence to describe the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration and illustrate that relationship.
  • Collect and analyze data from an investigation to explain how energy is transferred and used in cells to power life processes.
  • Analyze and interpret data from experiments related to photosynthesis to draw conclusions about the cycling of matter and energy.
  • Collect and analyze data from an investigation to explain how energy is transferred and used in cells to power life processes.
  • Compare respiration strategies in terms of energy required and energy released.
  • Use data from investigations to support the premise that light energy is absorbed by pigments during photosynthesis.
  • Relate evidence from an experiment to light absorption and reflection in photosynthetic organisms.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Energy
  • Thermodynamics
  • Metabolism
  • Photosynthesis
  • Cellular respiration
  • Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
  • Autotroph
  • Heterotroph
  • Chloroplasts
  • chlorophylls
  • Thylakoid
  • Granum
  • Stroma
  • Pigment
  • Photosystems I & II
  • NADP+
  • NADPH
  • chemiosmosis
  • Calvin Cycle
  • Rubisco
  • Anaerobic process
  • Aerobic respiration
  • Aerobic process
  • Glycolysis
  • ATP
  • Pyruvate
  • Krebs cycle
  • Fermentation (lactic acid and alcohol)
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Autotrophs obtain energy directly from sunlight.
  • Heterotrophs obtain energy by eating autotrophs and other heterotrophs.
  • The relationship between CO2 and O2 in photosynthesis and respiration—recognize that the reactants of one are the products of the other.
  • The inputs and outputs of energy at each stage of photosynthesis—stage I, the light-dependent reactions and stage II, the light-independent reactions (Calvin Cycle).
  • The structure and function of ATP--Energy is stored in the bonds between phosphates in ATP and released when those bonds are broken.
  • The inputs and outputs of energy at each stage of Cellular respiration—Glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and Electron transport.
  • The role of plant pigments in photosynthesis.
  • The red and blue ends of the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum are used by plants in photosynthesis while the reflection and transmission of the middle of the spectrum gives leaves their green visual color (in most cases).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Formulate a scientific question about how energy is stored and/or released in living systems.
  • Analyze information about how photosynthesis converts light energy into stored chemical energy.
  • Interpret data illustrating the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
  • Explain the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration in terms of energy flow and cycling of matter.
  • Investigate the relationship between wavelength and energy.
  • Investigate the energy absorbed and reflected by photosynthetic pigments at specific wavelengths.
  • Interpret data describing the absorption and reflection of wavelengths by various pigments.
  • Describe the relationship between pigments, wavelength and energy.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are two important processes that cells use to obtain energy.
  • The products of photosynthesis are oxygen and glucose, the reactants needed for cellular respiration.
  • The products of cellular respiration, carbon dioxide and water, are the reactants needed for photosynthesis.
  • Photosynthesis is dependent on the absorption of light by pigments in the leaves of plants.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Plants and Energy; Photosynthesis, Energy, and the Cycling of Matter; Leaf Disk Photosynthesis; Chromotography of Photosynthetic Pigments; Comparing Conditions of CO2Pproducation for Anaerobic and Aerobic Respiration; Factors affecting Photosynthesis; Yeast in Anaerobic Respiration; Cellular Events in Seed Germination; Tree Carbon Sequestration
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.4: Plants have the capability (through photosynthesis) to take energy from light to form higher energy sugar molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from lower energy molecules. These sugar molecules can be used to make amino acids and other carbon-containing (organic) molecules and assembled into larger molecules with biological activity (including proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, and fats).

NAEP Statement::
L12.5: The chemical elements that make up the molecules of living things pass through food webs and are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in an ecosystem, some energy is stored in newly made structures, but much is dissipated into the environment as heat. Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.6- Recognize the components necessary for plants to produce their own food and oxygen (e.g., water, sunlight, carbon dioxide).
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 1
Lesson Plans: 1
7 ) Develop and use models to illustrate examples of ecological hierarchy levels, including biosphere, biome, ecosystem, community, population, and organism.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Use observations to develop a model that illustrates ecological hierarchies and compare developed model to hierarchies existing in nature.
  • Use models to investigate the role of different environmental factors within the hierarchy.
  • Use data to develop a model depicting the ecological hierarchy of a novel ecosystem and communicate the dynamics of the hierarchy.
  • Investigate biomes, using a variety of resources to compare and contrast the characteristics of each.
  • Use evidence to classify major geographical regions into biomes, based on climate and dominant life forms.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Ecology
  • Biosphere
  • Biotic factor
  • Abiotic factor
  • Population
  • Biological community
  • Ecosystem
  • Biome
  • Species
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The biosphere is the portion of the Earth that supports life.
  • The lowest level of organization is the individual organism itself.
  • Individual organisms of a single species that share the same geographical location at the same time make up the population.
  • A group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographical area at the same time is a biological community.
  • An ecosystem is the biological community and all the abiotic factors that affect it (e.g., water temperature, light availability).
  • A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Organize objects or organisms into levels of hierarchy.
  • Develop a hierarchical classification model using standard language and parameters.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • In order to study relationships within the biosphere, it is divided into smaller levels of organization.
  • The simplest level of organization is the organism, with increasing levels of complexity as the numbers and interactions between organisms increase, shown in the population, biological community, ecosystem, and biome until reaching the most complex level of the biosphere.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Biome Bags; Protozoa Symbiosis; Global Carbon
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.7: Although the interrelationships and interdependence of organisms may generate biological communities in ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years, ecosystems always change when climate changes or when one or more new species appear as a result of migration or local evolution. The impact of the human species has major consequences for other species.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.7- Use models to recognize an organism, a population, and an ecosystem.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 2
Lesson Plans: 2
8 ) Develop and use models to describe the cycling of matter (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, water) and flow of energy (e.g., food chains, food webs, biomass pyramids, ten percent law) between abiotic and biotic factors in ecosystems.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models; Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Categorize organisms in an ecosystem based on evidence of how they obtain energy.
  • Construct a food chain that differentiates between producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers and integrate multiple food chains into a food web.
  • Use relationships between organisms to develop a food web and use it to demonstrate flow of energy and predict the impacts of population changes. Construct a pyramid of biomass, given population data about organisms in the ecosystem and make calculations using data from the pyramid.
  • Use mathematical examples, such as the 10% law to explain why there is less energy available at each level of an energy pyramid.
  • Analyze data to identify patterns in the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and water in ecosystems.
  • Use patterns identified in the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and water to build models of matter cycling through ecosystems.
  • Predict the effect of the reduction of a population of species on the carbon, nitrogen or water cycle.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Autotroph
  • Heterotroph
  • Primary producer
  • Primary consumer
  • Secondary consumer
  • Tertiary consumer
  • Herbivore
  • Carnivore
  • Omnivore
  • Detritivore
  • Trophic levels: primary, secondary and tertiary
  • Food chain
  • Food web
  • Biomass
  • Energy pyramid
  • Biomass pyramid
  • Number pyramid
  • Matter
  • Nutrient
  • Biogeochemical cycle
  • Nitrogen fixation
  • Denitrification
  • Law of conservation of mass
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • A food chain is a simple model representing the transfer of energy from organism to organism (e.g., sun → plant → grasshopper → mouse → snake).
  • Each step of a food chain represents a trophic level always starting with an autotroph in the first level and heterotrophs in the remaining levels.
  • The overlapping relationships between multiple food chains are shown in a food web.
  • An ecological pyramid is a model that can show the relative amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem.
  • In an energy pyramid, only 10% of energy is passed from one trophic level to the next due to loss of energy in the form of heat caused by cellular respiration (10% rule).
  • In a biomass pyramid, the total mass of living matter at each trophic level tends to decrease.
  • In a numbers pyramid, it shows the number of organisms at each trophic level tends to decrease because there is less energy available to support organisms.
  • The exchange of matter through the biosphere is called the biogeochemical cycle and involves living organisms (bio), geological processes (geo), and chemical processes (chemical).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Use a self-created food web diagram to predict the impact of removing one organism on other organisms within the food web.
  • Use data to create ecological pyramids to show flow of energy, biomass and number of organisms.
  • Model the cycling of matter (e.g., Carbon, water, nitrogen) through the biosphere.
  • Combine a food web diagram with a matter cycling diagram to provide a holistic view of the many aspects that make up an ecosystem.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Everything in an ecosystem is connected to everything else (both abiotic and biotic), either directly or indirectly.
  • Nutrients, in the form of elements and compounds, flow through organisms in an ecosystem (e.g., grass captures substances from the air, soil and water and converts them into usable nutrients → cow eats the grass → human eats the cow → decomposers return the nutrients to the cycle at every level).
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Traveling Carbon Passport; Traeling Nitrogen Passport; Traveling Phosphorus Passport; Food Chains, Food Webs and Energy; Owl Pellets; Tree Carbon Sequestration
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.5: The chemical elements that make up the molecules of living things pass through food webs and are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in an ecosystem, some energy is stored in newly made structures, but much is dissipated into the environment as heat. Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going.

NAEP Statement::
L12.6: As matter cycles and energy flows through different levels of organization of living systems (cells, organs, organisms, communities) and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each recombination results in storage and dissipation of energy into the environment as heat. Matter and energy are conserved in each change.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.8- Identify living and nonliving components in an ecosystem; identify the flow of energy within a common food chain.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 0
9 ) Use mathematical comparisons and visual representations to support or refute explanations of factors that affect population growth (e.g., exponential, linear, logistic).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Create graphs representing exponential, linear, and logistic growth and use those graphs to calculate doubling time for a population.
  • Use mathematical or computer models to investigate the factors that affect population growth in an ecosystem.
  • Identify patterns in the characteristics of population growth that distinguish exponential growth from linear growth from logistic growth.
  • Investigate factors that impact population growth and make predictions of how changing environmental conditions will affect population growth.
  • Use growth curves of predators and prey to evaluate the impact of one species on another.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Population growth rate
  • Emigration
  • Immigration
  • Exponential, linear and logistic growth
  • Doubling time
  • Carrying capacity
  • Density-independent
  • Density-dependent
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Exponential population growth occurs when the growth rate is proportional to the size of the population (J shaped curve).
  • Logistic population growth shows the population leveling off when it reaches carrying capacity (S shaped curve).
  • Linear population growth is the addition of the same number of organisms to the population at a constant rate, no matter the size of the population (strait line growth).
  • Environmental factors (density-independent factors) that can impact population growth (flood, drought, extreme heat or cold, etc.).
  • Ecological factors (density-dependent) that can affect population growth (e.g., predation, disease, parasites, competition).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Use data to create graphs.
  • Calculate doubling time for a population.
  • Mathematically compare populations experiencing varying conditions.
  • Investigate various factors (both environmental and ecological) that impact population growth.
  • Draw conclusions from population growth graphs.
  • Using various visual representations of data, make claims about specific causes and effects.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • An important characteristic of any population is its growth rate.
  • Some populations remain approximately the same size from year to year while others vary in size depending on conditions within their habitats.
  • Populations tend to stabilize near the carrying capacity of their environment.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Predator-Prey Populations Exponential Population Growth
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.7: Although the interrelationships and interdependence of organisms may generate biological communities in ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years, ecosystems always change when climate changes or when one or more new species appear as a result of migration or local evolution. The impact of the human species has major consequences for other species.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.9- Recognize the relationship between population size and available resources for food and shelter from a graphical representation.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 1
Lesson Plans: 1
10 ) Construct an explanation and design a real-world solution to address changing conditions and ecological succession caused by density-dependent and/or density-independent factors.*

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze data on population growth to identify limiting factors, both abiotic and biotic.
  • Analyze data to find patterns that distinguish density-dependent from density-independent limiting factors.
  • Distinguish between primary and secondary ecological succession and show that an ecosystem responds to such a disturbance in a predictable manner. Analyze historical data to find patterns in an ecosystem's response to disturbance.
  • Design a solution to changing environmental conditions or ecological succession that accounts for density-dependent and independent factors.
  • Synthesize data and reasoning to evaluate potential solutions to an environmental problem.
  • Communicate proposed solution and support conclusions with evidence and reasoning.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Population density
  • Dispersion
  • Density-independent factor
  • Density-dependent factor
  • Population growth rate
  • Limiting factor
  • Ecological succession
  • Primary succession
  • Climax community
  • Secondary succession
  • Pioneer species
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Factors associated with population density are important regulators of population growth.
  • Density-independent factors that can impact population growth (e.g., flood, drought, extreme heat or cold, tornadoes, etc.).
  • Density-dependent factors that can impact population growth (e.g., predation, disease, parasites, competition).
  • The different types of ecological succession and their causes. Primary succession is the development of a community in an area of exposed rock that does not have any topsoil (e.g., hardened lava flow).
  • Secondary Succession is the change that takes place after a community of organisms have been removed but the topsoil remains intact (e.g., fire, flood, etc.).
  • Engineering design principles.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Collect and organize population growth data compiled on population growth under varying conditions related to food availability, rainfall, predation, migration, and disease.
  • Analyze data to categorize factors, organize data and draw conclusions about a variety of limiting factors to classify each as density-dependent or independent.
  • Identify a problem, assess the data, determine if enough information is provided to make an informed decision, assess whether a solution is needed, and recommend what form that solution should take.
  • Apply engineering design principles to the development of a solution, identifying required inputs and expected outcomes and determine how the solution will be tested and refined.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Ecosystems are constantly changing.
  • Changes in an ecosystem are the result of density-dependent or density-independent factors, sometimes including human activity.
  • By using the engineering design process, solutions to ecological problems can be developed, tested and refined.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Limiting Factors; Bead Bugs; Bluegill Limiting Factors; Bio-Assessment; Soil Profiles; Ecological Succession
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 2
Learning Activities: 1
Lesson Plans: 1
11 ) Analyze and interpret data collected from probability calculations to explain the variation of expressed traits within a population.

a. Use mathematics and computation to predict phenotypic and genotypic ratios and percentages by constructing Punnett squares, including using both homozygous and heterozygous allele pairs.

b. Develop and use models to demonstrate codominance, incomplete dominance, and Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment.

c. Analyze and interpret data (e.g., pedigree charts, family and population studies) regarding Mendelian and complex genetic disorders (e.g., sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, type 2 diabetes) to determine patterns of genetic inheritance and disease risks from both genetic and environmental factors.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models; Analyzing and Interpreting Data; Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns; Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Collect and analyze data on traits within a population to identify patterns within expressed traits in a population.
  • Mathematically calculate the probability of expressed traits of offspring, given parental traits and an understanding of inheritance patterns.
  • Use a model to determine potential gametes from parental genotype and develop a Punnett square to predict inheritance outcomes.
  • Annotate a Punnett square, identifying maternal and paternal gametes, and use mathematics to explain the predicted outcomes.
  • Observe traits in offspring and use knowledge of inheritance patterns and Punnett squares to infer parental genotypes.
  • Use probability to predict the likelihood of specific offspring given parent traits and inheritance pattern.
  • Distinguish between homozygous and heterozygous allele pairs and relate these to phenotype.
  • Analyze data to find inheritance patterns and explain those patterns in terms of incomplete dominance, codominance and Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment.
  • Use models, diagrams, and/or text to connect Mendel's laws of inheritance to the biological processes of meiosis.
  • Differentiate genetic disorders in humans in terms of errors of meiosis, either large scale (chromosomal) or small scale (point mutations).
  • Apply concepts of inheritance to explain patterns seen in pedigrees, offspring ratios, and trait prevalence in a population.
  • Identify non-genetic factors that may impact expressed traits.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Genetics
  • Allele
  • Dominant
  • Recessive
  • Homozygous
  • Heterozygous
  • Genotype
  • Phenotype
  • Law of segregation
  • Hybrid
  • Law of independent assortment
  • F1 and F2 generations
  • Monohybrid
  • Dihybrid
  • Punnet square
  • Probability
  • Crossing over
  • Genetic recombination
  • Carrier
  • Pedigree
  • Incomplete dominance
  • Codominance
  • Multiple alleles
  • Epistasis
  • Sex chromosome
  • Autosome
  • Sex-linked trait
  • Polygenic trait
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Inheritable genetic variations may result from: new genetic combinations through meiosis, viable errors occurring during replication, and mutations caused by environmental factors.
  • Variations in genetic material naturally result during meiosis when corresponding sections of chromosome pairs exchange places.
  • Genetic material is inheritable.
  • Genetic variations produced by mutations and meiosis are inheritable.
  • The difference between genotypic and phenotypic ratios and percentages.
  • Examples of genetic crosses that do not fit traditional inheritance patterns (e.g., incomplete dominance, co-dominance, multi-allelic, polygenic) and explanations as to how the observed phenotypes are produced.
  • Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment.
  • Pedigrees can be used to infer genotypes from the observation of genotypes.
  • By analyzing a person's family history or a population study, disorders in future offspring can be predicted.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Perform and use appropriate statistical analysis of data, including probability measures to determine the relationship between a trait's occurrence within a population and environmental factors.
  • Differentiate between homozygous and heterozygous allele pairings.
  • Create Punnett squares to predict offspring genotypic and phenotypic ratios.
  • Explain the relationship between the inherited genotype and the visible trait phenotype.
  • Examine genetic crosses that do not fit traditional inheritance patterns (incomplete dominance and co-dominance).
  • Use chromosome models to physically demonstrate the points in meiosis where Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment are observed.
  • Analyze pedigrees to identify the patterns of inheritance for specific traits/ disorders including autosomal dominant/ recessive as well as sex-linked and mitochondrial patterns.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • In sexual reproduction, chromosomes can sometimes swap sections during the process of meiosis, thereby creating new genetic combinations and thus more genetic variation.
  • Although DNA replication is tightly regulated and remarkably accurate, errors do occur and result in mutations, which are also a source of genetic variation.
  • Environmental factors can also cause mutations in genes, and viable mutations are inherited.
  • Environmental factors also affect expression of traits, and hence affect the probability of occurrences of traits in a population.
  • The variation and distribution of traits observed depends on both genetic and environmental factors.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Dragon Genetics; Alkaptonuria; Blood Typing; Corn Lab; HNPCC; Chromosocks; Collecting Cancer Causing Changes (C4)
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.10: Sorting and recombination of genes in sexual reproduction results in a great variety of possible gene combinations from the offspring of any two parents.

NAEP Statement::
L12.8: Hereditary information is contained in genes, which are located in the chromosomes of each cell. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes. One or many genes can determine an inherited trait of an individual, and a single gene can influence more than one trait.

NAEP Statement::
L12.9: The genetic information encoded in DNA molecules provides instructions for assembling protein molecules. Genes are segments of DNA molecules. Inserting, deleting, or substituting DNA segments can alter genes. An altered gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it. The resulting features may help, harm, or have little or no effect on the offspring's success in its environment.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.11- Recognize that parents and offspring may have different traits.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 1
Learning Activities: 1
12 ) Develop and use a model to analyze the structure of chromosomes and how new genetic combinations occur through the process of meiosis.

a. Analyze data to draw conclusions about genetic disorders caused by errors in meiosis (e.g., Down syndrome, Turner syndrome).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models; Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns; Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Develop a model of a replicated and non-replicated chromosome to compare their structure and use scientific vocabulary to describe chromosome structures.
  • Develop a model of chromosome movement at multiple points during meiosis and use the model to determine when cells are haploid and diploid.
  • Identify when crossing over occurs and explain the significance of crossing over in genetic variation.
  • Use models to demonstrate a variety of chromosomal changes such as deletions, insertions, inversions, translocation, and nondisjunction.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Chromosome
  • Replicated chromosome
  • Sister chromatids
  • Telomeres
  • Centromere
  • Homologous chromosome pairs
  • Haploid (n)
  • Diploid (2n)
  • Gene
  • Gamete
  • Fertilization
  • Meiosis
  • Crossing over
  • Meiosis I
  • Interphase
  • Prophase I
  • Metaphase I
  • Anaphase I
  • Telophase I
  • Meiosis II
  • Prophase II
  • Metaphase II
  • Anaphase II
  • Telophase II
  • Cytokinesis
  • Karyotype
  • Nondisjunction
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Chromosomes appearing as an "X" shape are replicated chromosomes consisting of two sister chromatids.
  • The difference between mitosis and meiosis in terms of chromosome number and number of daughter cells produced.
  • Crossing over is where chromosomal segments are exchanged when homologous chromosomes are lined up during Prophase I.
  • Crossing over leads to more genetic variation within the population.
  • Types of errors that can occur during meiosis that can lead to genetic disorders such as nondisjunction where chromosomes fail to separate properly during Meiosis I or II and result in gametes not having the proper number of chromosomes or in disorders caused by breakage and improper rejoining of chromosome broken ends such as in deletions, insertions, inversions and translocations.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Develop models of replicated and non-replicated chromosomes and identify important parts of their structure.
  • Compare diagrams of mitosis and meiosis and list the differences between the two.
  • Develop a model of chromosome movement at each stage of meiosis.
  • Determine whether a cell is haploid or diploid.
  • Evaluate meiosis models, comparing them to the biological process, and identify strengths and weaknesses of the model.
  • Interpret human karyotypes to identify typical chromosome patterns as well as various large-scale chromosome errors.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • In sexual reproduction, chromosomes can sometimes swap sections during the process of meiosis, thereby creating new genetic combinations and thus more genetic variation.
  • Errors can occur during meiosis which can lead to genetic disorders.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Disorder Detectives; HNPCC
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.10: Sorting and recombination of genes in sexual reproduction results in a great variety of possible gene combinations from the offspring of any two parents.

NAEP Statement::
L12.8: Hereditary information is contained in genes, which are located in the chromosomes of each cell. A human cell contains many thousands of different genes. One or many genes can determine an inherited trait of an individual, and a single gene can influence more than one trait.

NAEP Statement::
L12.9: The genetic information encoded in DNA molecules provides instructions for assembling protein molecules. Genes are segments of DNA molecules. Inserting, deleting, or substituting DNA segments can alter genes. An altered gene may be passed on to every cell that develops from it. The resulting features may help, harm, or have little or no effect on the offspring's success in its environment.
Unity and Diversity
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 5
Learning Activities: 2
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 1
13 ) Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain how organisms are classified by physical characteristics, organized into levels of taxonomy, and identified by binomial nomenclature (e.g., taxonomic classification, dichotomous keys).

a. Engage in argument to justify the grouping of viruses in a category separate from living things.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: Unity and Diversity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Use major features to classify unfamiliar organisms using accepted classification schemes and justify classification.
  • Use binomial nomenclature and tools such as dichotomous keys to classify unfamiliar organisms and determine where they fit into accepted taxonomic schemes.
  • Identify characteristics of organisms within each of the six kingdoms of life.
  • Distinguish biotic from abiotic materials using the scientifically accepted characteristics of life.
  • Create a logical argument based on evidence and reasoning, to support the premise that viruses are not living things.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Classification
  • Taxonomy
  • Binomial nomenclature
  • Taxon
  • Genus
  • Family
  • Order
  • Class
  • Phylum
  • Division
  • Kingdom
  • Domain
  • Dichotomous key
  • Virus
  • Capsid
  • Lytic cycle
  • Lysogenic cycle
  • Retrovirus
  • Prion
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Historical systems of classification (Aristotle, Linnaeus).
  • Taxa are organized into a hierarchal system—each taxa contained within another, arranged from broadest to most specific.(domain ← kingdom ← phylum ← class ← order ← family ← genus ← species)
  • Characteristics of living things: made of cells, obtain and use energy, grow and develop, reproduce, respond to their environment, adapt to their environment.
  • Viruses do not exhibit all the characteristics of life: they do not possess cells, nor are they cells, they have no organelles to take in nutrients or use energy, they cannot make proteins, they cannot move, and they cannot replicate on their own.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Organize items based on physical characteristics and/or DNA sequences, etc. and communicate reasoning to others.
  • Design a classification scheme (e.g., dichotomous key) for a collection of common but not necessarily related objects.
  • Correctly write an organism's name using binomial nomenclature.
  • Research viruses using a variety of sources—analysis should include viral life cycles, reproductive strategies and their structure and function.
  • Argue from evidence whether a virus is living or not.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Biologists find it easier to communicate and retain information about organisms when organisms are organized into groups.
  • Though viruses exhibit several of the characteristics of life, they are not considered to be living things and are not included in the biological classification system.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Classification of Living Things; Observing Protist Locomotion; Animal Characteristics
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.13- Classify organisms into similar groups based on physical characteristics.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 1
Lesson Plans: 1
14 ) Analyze and interpret data to evaluate adaptations resulting from natural and artificial selection that may cause changes in populations over time (e.g., antibiotic-resistant bacteria, beak types, peppered moths, pest-resistant crops).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Unity and Diversity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Collect and analyze data to identify patterns in survival and trait frequency in a population of organisms.
  • Analyze and Interpret data about which traits in a population will confer an adaptive advantage while going through changing conditions.
  • Analyze and interpret data to predict how an environmental change could influence selection, driving changes in traits in a species that will persist in the population.
  • Compare and contrast natural and artificial selection and predict how artificial selection will impact the traits of an organism.
  • Analyze and interpret data to evaluate the impact of human intervention in determining the traits of agriculturally important plants and animals.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Artificial selection
  • Natural selection
  • Evolution
  • Genetic variation
  • Geographic variation
  • Mutation
  • Evolutionary fitness
  • Phenotypes
  • Genotypes
  • Sexual reproduction
  • Adaptations
  • Artificial selection
  • Genetic isolation
  • Adaptive radiation
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Organisms can produce enormous numbers of offspring.
  • These offspring must compete for limited resources.
  • These offspring also have genetic differences that are observed as phenotypic trait variations.
  • The offspring whose phenotypes provide the best chance to survive to adulthood and reproduce will pass on the highest frequency of their traits (and therefore genetic differences) to the next generation.
  • The process of directed breeding to produce offspring with desired traits is called selective breeding or artificial selection.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Analyze and interpret data to recognize a pattern in changes in populations over time.
  • Analyze different sources of evidence.
  • Interpret the validity of data.
  • Read and construct a graph.
  • Recognize examples of artificial selection.
  • Predict phenotypic adaptations as a result of changing environments.
  • Compare organisms derived from artificial selection with their wild ancestors, who were products of natural selection.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Natural selection leads to adaptation—to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment.
  • Survival and reproduction of organisms that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
  • The distribution of traits in a population can change when conditions change.
  • Artificial selection allows humans to produce plants or animals with desired traits.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Whale Evolution; Which beak is Best?; Peppered Moth; Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance; Fly Now
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.12: Molecular evidence substantiates the anatomical evidence for evolution and provides additional detail about the sequence in which various lines of descent branched.

NAEP Statement::
L12.13: Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection from environmental pressure of those organisms better able to survive and leave offspring.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 2
Lesson Plans: 2
15 ) Engage in argument from evidence (e.g., mathematical models such as distribution graphs) to explain how the diversity of organisms is affected by overpopulation of species, variation due to genetic mutations, and competition for limited resources.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Unity and Diversity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze evidence to describe the main ideas behind natural selection (overproduction of offspring, competition for limited resources, inherited variation in phenotypes and differential survival/reproduction).
  • Use mathematical models to test the concept that organisms with favorable adaptations are more likely to survive and reproduce.
  • Develop a logical argument for a proposed mechanism of evolution, including necessary adaptations, mutations, and environmental changes.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Variation
  • Adaptation
  • Fitness
  • Biodiversity
  • Habitat
  • Ecosystems
  • Diversity
  • Population
  • Population density
  • Limiting factors
  • Carrying capacity
  • Genetic mutation
  • Competition
  • Natural selection
  • Genetic recombination
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • As species grow in number, competition for limited resources can arise.
  • Individuals in a species have genetic variation (through mutations and sexual reproduction) that is passed on to their offspring.
  • Genetic variation can lead to variation of expressed traits in individuals in a population.
  • Individuals can have specific traits that give them a competitive advantage relative to other individuals in the species.
  • Individuals that survive and reproduce at a higher rate will provide their specific genetic variations to a greater proportion of individuals in the next generation.
  • Over many generations, groups of individuals with particular traits that enable them to survive and reproduce in distinct environments using distinct resources can evolve into a different species.
  • Natural selection is a process while biological evolution can result from that process.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Identify examples of adaptations among various organisms that increase fitness—camouflage, mimicry, drought tolerance, defensive coloration, beak adaptations.
  • Use reasoning to connect the evidence to construct an argument.
  • Interpret data.
  • Defend a position.
  • Use evidence to correlate claims about cause and effect.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Natural selection occurs only if there is both variation in the genetic information between organisms in a population and variation in the expression of that genetic information (trait variation) that leads to differences in performance among individuals.
  • Evolution is the consequence of the interaction of four factors:
    1. The potential for a species to increase in number.
    2. The genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction.
    3. Competition for an environment's limited supply of the resources that individuals need in order to survive and reproduce.
    4. The ensuing proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Whale Evolution; Bead Bugs; Which beak is Best?
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.11: Modern ideas about evolution (including natural selection and common descent) provide a scientific explanation for the history of life on Earth as depicted in the fossil record and in the similarities evident within the diversity of existing organisms.

NAEP Statement::
L12.13: Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection from environmental pressure of those organisms better able to survive and leave offspring.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 9 - 12
Biology
All Resources: 0
16 ) Analyze scientific evidence (e.g., DNA, fossil records, cladograms, biogeography) to support hypotheses of common ancestry and biological evolution.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: Unity and Diversity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze data, including fossil records, to support the premise that organisms have changed over time and that only a small fraction of the species that have previously existed currently survive on Earth.
  • Identify patterns of biogeography that are significant to Darwin's theory.
  • Make inferences about the diversity of life on Earth using examples and evidence of co-evolution, divergent and convergent evolution.
  • Describe homologous structures and explain how these structures are used as lines of evidence to support biological evolution.
  • Identify patterns in embryologic development among diverse organisms and explain how these patterns are used as lines of evidence to support biological evolution.
  • Describe vestigial structures and explain how these structures are used as lines of evidence to support biological evolution.
  • Interpret similarities in the genetic code to provide evidence of comment descent.
  • Create a cladogram of related objects or organisms and interpret cladograms to draw conclusions about the relatedness of organisms.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Biogeography
  • Parasitism
  • Mutualism
  • Commensalism
  • Co-evolution
  • convergent evolution
  • divergent
  • cladogram
  • phylogenetic tree
  • vestigial structures
  • homologous structures
  • embryonic
  • genetic conservation
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence including:
    1. Information derived from DNA sequences.
    2. Similarities of the patterns of amino acid sequences.
    3. Patterns in the fossil record.
    4. Pattern of anatomical and embryological similarities.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Examine historical explanations for the diversity of life on earth, including the work of Lamarck, Wallace, and Darwin.
  • Analyze parasitic, mutualistic and commensalistic relationships to investigate large scale evolutionary strategies such as coevolution, convergent evolution and divergent evolution.
  • Analyze fossil records, comparing the structure of extinct to existing species of living things.
  • Analyze DNA or amino acid sequences of closely related and distantly related organisms.
  • Construct a cladogram or phylogenetic tree using molecular sequences and fossil records.
  • Compare and contrast vestigial and homologous structures in modern organisms.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Genetic information, like the fossil record, provides evidence of evolution. DNA sequences vary among species, but there are many overlaps—multiple lines of descent can be inferred by comparing the DNA sequences of different organisms.
  • There are multiple lines of empirical evidence that support biological evolution.
AMSTI Resources:
ASIM Module:
Physical Anthropology: Comparing Fossil Hominids; Whale Evolution; Molecular Evolution; Reproduction, Development and Cellular Division; Caminacules
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L12.11: Modern ideas about evolution (including natural selection and common descent) provide a scientific explanation for the history of life on Earth as depicted in the fossil record and in the similarities evident within the diversity of existing organisms.

NAEP Statement::
L12.12: Molecular evidence substantiates the anatomical evidence for evolution and provides additional detail about the sequence in which various lines of descent branched.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.16- Using fossil evidence, recognize that humans have changed in appearance over a very long period of time.