EL SEGUNDO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

EL SEGUNDO HIGH SCHOOL

 

COURSE OF STUDY

 

Course Title:                 Biology 2AB

Department:                  Science

Grade Level:                 10 – 12

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

This course offers a third year of science to all students following their introductory courses.  The aim of this advanced science course is to concentrate on a few science concepts but learn them in greater detail than in a survey course. Biology II uses marine science as a theme to connect the topics of diversity of life, anatomical adaptations, and ecology conceptually. It is recommended for any student who has an interest in marine biology and human physiology.

 

 Using the oceans as a theme, students will be able to expand their knowledge of topics found in the California State Science Standards for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry and Physics.

 

Length:  One Year

Prerequisite for Enrollment:  Biology 1AB or Life Science.

Recommendation for Enrollment:  Chemistry or Earth Science

Type of Course: UC/CSU. Biology II is an elective laboratory science course.

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE & STANDARDS

1a, 1b, etc refer to California State Standards

Biology Standards

 

1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:

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

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

c. Students know most macromolecules (polysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids) in cells and organisms are synthesized from a small collection of simple precursors.(1h)

 

2. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population. As a basis for understanding this concept:

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

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

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

 

3. The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:

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

b.* Students know how exogenous DNA can be inserted into bacterial cells to alter their genetic makeup.(5e)

 

4.  Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects. As a basis for

understanding this concept:

a. Students know biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds of organisms and is affected by alterations of habitats.(6a)

b. Students know how to analyze changes in an ecosystem resulting from changes in climate, human activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in population size.(6b)

c. Students know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.(6d)

d. Students know a vital part of an ecosystem is the stability of its producers and decomposers.(6e)

e. Students know at each link in a food web some energy is stored in newly made structures but much energy is dissipated into the environment as heat. This dissipation may be represented in an energy pyramid.(6f)

f.* Students know how to distinguish between the accommodation of an individual organism to its environment and the gradual adaptation of a lineage of organisms through genetic change.(6g)

 

5. The frequency of an allele in a gene pool of a population depends on many factors and may be stable or unstable over time. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know why natural selection acts on the phenotype rather than the genotype of an organism.(7a)

b. Students know variation within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of a species will survive under changed environmental conditions.(7d)

 

6. Evolution is the result of genetic changes that occur in constantly changing environments. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know how natural selection determines the differential survival of groups of organisms.(8a)

b. Students know a great diversity of species increases the chance that at least some organisms survive major changes in the environment.(8b)

c. Students know the effects of genetic drift on the diversity of organisms in a population.(8c)

d. Students know reproductive or geographic isolation affects speciation.

e. Students know how to analyze fossil evidence with regard to biological diversity, episodic speciation, and mass extinction.(8e)

e.* Students know how to use comparative embryology, DNA or protein sequence comparisons, and other independent sources of data to create a branching dia-gram (cladogram) that shows probable evolutionary relationships.(8f)

 

7. As a result of the coordinated structures and functions of organ systems, the internal environment of the human body remains relatively stable (homeostatic) despite changes in the outside environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know how the complementary activity of major body systems provides cells with oxygen and nutrients and removes toxic waste products such as carbon dioxide.(9a)

b. Students know how the nervous system mediates communication between different parts of the body and the body’s interactions with the environment.(9b)

c. Students know how feedback loops in the nervous and endocrine systems regulate conditions in the body.(9c)

d. Students know the functions of the nervous system and the role of neurons in transmitting electrochemical impulses.(9d)

e. Students know the roles of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in sensation, thought, and response.(9e)

f.* Students know the individual functions and sites of secretion of digestive enzymes (amylases, proteases, nucleases, lipases), stomach acid, and bile salts.(9f)

g.* Students know the homeostatic role of the kidneys in the removal of nitrogenous wastes and the role of the liver in blood detoxification and glucose balance.(9g)

h.* Students know the cellular and molecular basis of muscle contraction, including the roles of actin, myosin, Ca +2 , and ATP.(9f)

i.* Students know how hormones (including digestive, reproductive, osmoregulatory) provide internal feedback mechanisms for homeostasis at the cellular level and in whole organisms.(9i)

 

8. Organisms have a variety of mechanisms to combat disease. As a basis for under-standing the human immune response:

a. Students know the role of the skin in providing nonspecific defenses against infection.(10a)

b. Students know the role of antibodies in the body’s response to infection.(10b)

c. Students know how vaccination protects an individual from infectious diseases.(10c)

d. Students know there are important differences between bacteria and viruses with  respect to their requirements for growth and replication, the body’s primary defenses against bacterial and viral infections, and effective treatments of these infections.(10d)

e. Students know why an individual with a compromised immune system (for example, a person with AIDS) may be unable to fight off and survive infections by microorganisms that are usually benign.(10e)

f.* Students know the roles of phagocytes, B-lymphocytes, and T-lymphocytes.(10f)

 

Chemistry

 

9. The periodic table displays the elements in increasing atomic number and shows how periodicity of the physical and chemical properties of the elements relates to atomic structure. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know how to relate the position of an element in the periodic table to its atomic number and atomic mass.(1a)

 

10.  Biological, chemical, and physical properties of matter result from the ability of atoms to form bonds from electrostatic forces between electrons and protons and between atoms and molecules. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know atoms combine to form molecules by sharing electrons to form covalent or metallic bonds or by exchanging electrons to form ionic bonds.(2a)

b. Students know chemical bonds between atoms in molecules such as H 2 , CH 4 , NH 3 , H 2 CCH 2 , N 2 , Cl 2 , and many large biological molecules are covalent.(2b)

c. Students know salt crystals, such as NaCl, are repeating patterns of positive and negative ions held together by electrostatic attraction.(2c)

 

11.  The kinetic molecular theory describes the motion of atoms and molecules and explains the properties of gases. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know the random motion of molecules and their collisions with a surface create the observable pressure on that surface.(4a)

b. Students know the random motion of molecules explains the diffusion of gases.(4b)

c. Students know how to apply the gas laws to relations between the pressure, temperature, and volume of any amount of an ideal gas or any mixture of ideal gases.(4c)

 

12.  Acids, bases, and salts are three classes of compounds that form ions in water solutions. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know the observable properties of acids, bases, and salt solutions.(5a)

b. Students know acids are hydrogen-ion-donating and bases are hydrogen-ion-accepting substances.(5b)

 

13.  Solutions are homogenous mixtures of two or more substances. As a basis for under-standing this concept:

a. Students know the definitions of solute and solvent. (6a)

b. Students know how to describe the dissolving process at the molecular level by

using the concept of random molecular motion.(6b)

c. Students know temperature, pressure, and surface area affect the dissolving process.(6c)

d.* Students know how molecules in a solution are separated or purified by the methods of chromatography and distillation.(6d)

 

14.  The bonding characteristics of carbon allow the formation of many different organic molecules of varied sizes, shapes, and chemical properties and provide the bio-chemical basis of life. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know large molecules (polymers), such as proteins, nucleic acids, and

starch, are formed by repetitive combinations of simple subunits.(10a)

b. Students know the bonding characteristics of carbon that result in the formation of a large variety of structures ranging from simple hydrocarbons to complex polymers and biological molecules.(10b)

c. Students know amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.(10c)

 

15. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, although in many processes energy is transferred to the environment as heat. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know heat flow and work are two forms of energy transfer between systems.(3a)

b. Students know that the work done by a heat engine that is working in a cycle is the difference between the heat flow into the engine at high temperature and the heat flow out at a lower temperature (first law of thermodynamics) and that this is an example of the law of conservation of energy.(3b)

f.* Students know the statement “Entropy tends to increase” is a law of statistical probability that governs all closed systems (second law of thermodynamics).(3f)

 

Physics

 

16. Waves have characteristic properties that do not depend on the type of wave. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know waves carry energy from one place to another.(4a)

b. Students know how to identify transverse and longitudinal waves in mechanical media, such as springs and ropes, and on the earth (seismic waves).(4b)

c. Students know how to solve problems involving wavelength, frequency, and wave speed.(4c)

 

Earth Science

 

17. Plate tectonics operating over geologic time has changed the patterns of land, sea,  and mountains on Earth’s surface. As the basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know features of the ocean floor (magnetic patterns, age, and sea-floor topography) provide evidence of plate tectonics.(3a)

b. Students know the principal structures that form at the three different kinds of plate boundaries.(3b)

c. Students know how to explain the properties of rocks based on the physical and chemical conditions in which they formed, including plate tectonic processes.(3c)

d. Students know the explanation for the location and properties of volcanoes that are due to hot spots and the explanation for those that are due to subduction.(3f)

 

18. Energy enters the Earth system primarily as solar radiation and eventually escapes as heat. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know the relative amount of incoming solar energy compared with Earth’s internal energy and the energy used by society.(4a)

b. Students know the fate of incoming solar radiation in terms of reflection, absorption, and photosynthesis.(4b)

c. Students know the different atmospheric gases that absorb the Earth’s thermal radiation and the mechanism and significance of the greenhouse effect.(4c)

 

 

19.  Heating of Earth’s surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents. As a basis for under-standing this concept:

a. Students know how differential heating of Earth results in circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans that globally distribute the heat.(5a)

b. Students know the relationship between the rotation of Earth and the circular motions of ocean currents and air in pressure centers.(5b)

d. Students know properties of ocean water, such as temperature and salinity, can be used to explain the layered structure of the oceans, the generation of horizontal and vertical ocean currents, and the geographic distribution of marine organisms.(5d)

e. Students know rain forests and deserts on Earth are distributed in bands at specific latitudes.(5e)

f.* Students know the interaction of wind patterns, ocean currents, and mountain ranges results in the global pattern of latitudinal bands of rain forests and deserts.(5f)

g.* Students know features of the ENSO (El Niño southern oscillation) cycle in terms of sea-surface and air temperature variations across the Pacific and some climatic results of this cycle.(5g)

 

20.  Each element on Earth moves among reservoirs, which exist in the solid earth, in oceans, in the atmosphere, and within and among organisms as part of biogeochemical cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know the carbon cycle of photosynthesis and respiration.(7a)

b. Students know the global carbon cycle: the different physical and chemical forms of carbon in the atmosphere, oceans, biomass, fossil fuels, and the movement of carbon among these reservoirs.(7b)

 

21. The geology of California underlies the state’s wealth of natural resources as well as its natural hazards. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know the importance of water to society, the origins of California’s fresh water, and the relationship between supply and need.(9c)

 

Investigation and Experimentation

 

Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

 

1. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (such as computer-linked

probes, spreadsheets, and graphing calculators) to perform tests, collect data,

analyze relationships, and display data.(1a)

2. Identify possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as sources of error or

uncontrolled conditions.(1c)

3. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.(1d)

4. Solve scientific problems by using quadratic equations and simple trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions.(1e)

5. Distinguish between hypothesis and theory as scientific terms.

6. Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific

representations of reality.(lf)

7. Read and interpret topographic and geologic maps.(lh)

8. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time intervals that are characteristic of

natural phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks, locations of planets over time,

and succession of species in an ecosystem).(li)

9. Recognize the issues of statistical variability and the need for controlled tests.

10 Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.(lj)

11 Analyze situations and solve problems that require combining and applying

concepts from more than one area of science.(1l)

12 Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature, analyzing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer, choice of energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.(1m)

 
COURSE OUTLINE

 

Introduction to Marine Science

            The Scientific Method

            Natural Selection & Evolution

            Navigation

Challenges to Life in the Sea

            Properties of Water

            Osmoregulation

            Photosynthesis

Diversity of Life

            Bacteria and Protists

            Marine Plant-like Organisms

            Marine Invertebrates

            Marine Vertebrates

Vertebrate Physiology

            Ten Organ Systems

            Comparative Anatomy

Physical & Chemical Features of the Oceans

            Plate Tectonics

            Water Chemistry

            Atmospheric Circulation

            Waves & Tides

Marine Ecology

            Marine Communities

            Humans and the Sea    

 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS

 

A.     Lecture & Discussion (Integrate Core Knowledge)

B.     Hands-on Activities (Communicate Effectively)

C.     Classwork and Homework (Develop Individually)

D.     Individual work (Develop Individually)

E.      Group work (Communicate Effectively)

F.      Projects (Think Critically)

G.     Lab experiments (Think Critically)

 

EVALUATION/GRADING OF STUDENT WORK

 

A.     Quizzes and Chapter Tests

B.     Unit Tests

C.     Final Exams

D.     Group Participation

E.      Projects

F.      Written Essays 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

 

A.     Textbook:  Greene, Marine Science

B.     For Sea Curriculum Lab Activities

C.     Nature Videos

D.     Overhead Transparencies

E.      Dissection Lab Manuals

F.      Marine Biology Coloring Book