UNIT I. BIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
(Weeks 1-7)
(Massachusetts curriculum frameworks: Standards SIS1.)
- Important concepts and themes in biology
(CWH chapter 1)
- What is biology? Biology is the science that explores life
from the global to the atomic scale.
- Important concepts and themes in biology include the biosphere,
ecosystems, organisms, cells, DNA, and genes.
- There is unity in processes that are similar for
all organisms, and there is also diversity among organisms in
the myriad ways in which they face common challenges.
- At all levels, life is full of systems that function in
ways that their separate parts cannot.
- Biology interacts with other sciences and with mathematics.
- Biology has many practical and social implications.
- Science and the scientific method(s)
(CWH chapter 2)
What is science? The role of science in our life.
- Science as a process
(CWH chapter 3)
Science as inquiry: observations, data, inferences,
generalizations. Discovery science.
- Hypothesis-based science: experimental and comparative methods.
Forming and testing a hypothesis. Designing a controlled experiment.
Organizing and presenting data. Interpreting results. Evidence in
science.
- Lab 6A. Learning scientific methods
with radish seedlings
- Experimental and naturalistic science:
Experimental scientists (in chemistry, physics, physiology)
can manipulate and control their material; naturalists
(most investigators in astronomy, geology, ecology, evolutionary
biology) cannot, so they compare and collect observations from those
experiments that nature has performed.
- Science and its limitations. Theories in science. Science, technology,
and society.
- Equipment and techniques used in biology
- Lab 6B. Microscopy
- Observing behavior in natural environments.
Research studies in animal behavior.
- TEST on Unit I.
- Review and discussion of test results.
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UNIT II. THE UNITY OF LIFE. THE MOLECULAR AND
CELLULAR BASIS OF LIFE. (Weeks 8-16)
(Massachusetts curriculum frameworks:
Standards 1.1, 1.2, 1.3.)
- Nine life processes
- Nutrition & metabolism: autotrophs and heterotrophs
- Transport
- Respiration and gas exchange
- Excretion of wastes
- Biosynthesis, and the importance of enzymes
- Regulation
- Growth and development
- Reproduction and transmission of hereditary information
- Reaction to environmental stimuli, both rapidly and
slowly. Homeostasis.
- Field trip to the Museum of Science. Discussion of things
observed and lessons learned on this trip.
- Atoms and molecules
(CWH chapter 4)
- Carbohydrates as energy sources. Energy storage.
- Lipids as energy and as important cell components.
- Proteins and their many roles in cells.
- Nucleic acids and their role in heredity.
- Lab 6C. Chemistry of life
- Cell theory as a unifying principle
(CWH chapter 5)
- TEST on Unit II.
- Review and discussion of test results.
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UNIT III. THE CELLULAR BASIS OF LIFE (CONTINUED).
(Weeks 17-24)
(Massachusetts curriculum frameworks:
Standards 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5)
- Basic cell structure
(CWH chapter 6)
- Lab 6D. Cells
- Overview of major cell parts
- Procaryotic cells
- Cell membranes and their structure and function. How membranes
organize a cell's activities. The functions of membrane proteins.
- Transport across membranes. Passive and active transport processes.
Transport of large items.
- Lab 6E. Demonstration: diffusion &
osmosis
- Eucaryotic cells and their parts
- Structure and function of the nucleus
- Ribosomes
- Membrane organelles: endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus,
vacuoles, lysosomes, membrane pathways, regulation of cell traffic
- Chloroplasts and mitochondria
- Cytoskeleton
- The cell as a coordinated unit
- ATP, and how cells use energy
(CWH chapter 7)
- Introduction to energy and its measurement.
- Review of autotrophs and heterotrophs
- Capturing and harvesting energy
- The role of ATP
- Putting chemical energy to work
- TEST on Unit III.
- Review and discussion of test results.
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UNIT IV. DIVERSITY: MICROBIAL LIFE
(Weeks 25-36)
(Massachusetts curriculum frameworks:
Standards 2.3, 2.8.)
- Diversity of life, and the need for classification
(CWH pages 7-9)
- Classification: why and how, the basic idea
- The three domains and Six Kingdoms of life
(CWH chapter 16)
- Kingdom Archaea
- Kingdom Eubacteria (Monera)
- Lab 6F. Six Kingdoms.
Procaryotic life
- Bacterial diseases (needs supplementary material)
(CWH chapter 31)
How bacteria cause illness. Body defenses against
bacterial diseases.
- Viruses and viral diseases. Viral structure and reproduction.
TMV and HIV as examples of viruses. Defenses against viral diseases.
- The Domain Eukarya and its four kingdoms: Protista, Plantae,
Mycota (fungi), Animalia
- Endosymbiosis theory. The origin of eukaryotes. Evidence for
endosymbiosis. The family tree of the Domain Eukarya.
- Kingdom Protista
(CWH chapter 17)
General characteristics of protists. Protists as the most complex
cells.
- Protozoa (animal-like protists). Protozoa with pseudopods.
Protozoa with flagella. Protozoa with cilia. Protozoa lacking
motility.
- Lab 6G. Protozoans
- Asexual and sexual reproduction
- Introduction to life cycles
- Algae (photosynthetic protists). Euglenoids. Dinoflagellates.
Diatoms. Brown, red, and green algae.
- Lab 6H. Algae
- Kingdom Mycota (fungi)
(CWH chapter 18)
Structure, function, and reproduction of fungi. Impacts on
other organisms. Symbiotic associations: lichens, mycorrhizae.
- Lab 6I. Fungi
- TEST on Unit IV.
- Review and discussion of test results.
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