Morningside High School Mrs. T.

Allen (T1)
(310) 680-5230 x 7341 Trainallen@aol.com
BIOLOGY
1 year 10credits

~~Biology Syllabus~~
2014-2015
Course Description
Welcome students to Biology! Biology is the study of living things. Living things are
characterized as having the ability to reproduce, grow, adjust and adapt. This includes plants,
animals, and microorganisms. This course is designed to enhance students awareness on the
essentials of Biology and the underline disciplines that it covers: Cell Biology, Genetics,
Ecology, Evolution, and Physiology along with investigations and experimentations. Students
will be able to understand the connecting relationships that exist between living and non-living
organisms and their effects on each other. Students will be able to accurately carry out
investigations and experimentations through a series of developed lab experiments. Critical
thinking and problem solving will be utilized to understand and develop meaningful knowledge
about Biology and its core content. Through inquiry, students will gain facts, data and an overall
comprehension on the information obtained along with the experiments completed. Various tests,
quizzes, reports, assessments and presentations will help to convey what students have grasp,
learned and developed, along with added needs to revise. Content standards will be utilized as a
format to meet the needs of the guided curriculum. The academic growth of the
student, in the field of science, will be enhanced, expanded and well developed
upon completing this course.
UNITS COVERED:

1. ECOLOGY: The scientific study of living organisms and the relationship with each other and their
environment. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.
2. CELL BIOLOGY: The study of the basic structural and functional unit of life. The fundamental
life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in
specialized areas of the organisms cells.
3. GENETICS: The science of heredity and of the mechanism by which traits are passed from parents
to offspring. Mutation and sexual reproduction leads to genetic variations within a population. A
multi-cellular organism develops from a cell zygote, and its phenotype depends on its genotype
which is established at fertilization. Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence
of each organism that specifies the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that
organism. The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into
cells.
4. EVOLUTION: A change in the characteristics of a population from one generation to the next. The
frequency of an allele in a gene pool of a population depends on many factors and maybe stable or
unstable overtime. Evolution is the result of genetic changes that occurs in a constant changing
environment.
5. PHYSIOLOGY: The science of the function of living systems. 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. Organisms have a
variety of mechanisms to combat diseases.