Welcome to Serrano High School Experimental Biology I. Instructors teaching this course: Gallagher, Cortez, Adair, Minck Here you will find links to the experimental biology course review materials, teacher lectures, and other materials to help you be successful in biology.
Course Description In this course, students will explore relationships between structure and function in organisms and the interaction of cells and organisms with each other and their environments. Topics of study include: cells, homeostasis, genetics, evolution, biochemical processes, and ecosystems. Laboratory activities are an integral part of the course. In alignment with New Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Experimental Biology Curriculum
·Ask questions & state hypotheses
·Communicate & evaluate results
·Physical & biochemical characteristics of living things
•What types of questions and hypotheses can be answered by science?
·What elements of design are critical in conducting a scientific investigation?
·How can we ensure that scientific investigations are both safe and consistent with standard scientific practice?
·How do we know whether scientific data are accurate?
·How do we know whether the conclusions of a scientific investigation are valid?
·Is there always only one answer in science?
·What is life? How are all living things the same, and how are they different?
·How does a single‐cell become a complex organism in which different cells have different structures and perform highly specialized functions?
·How do living things maintain relatively constant internal conditions despite significant variation in external environmental conditions?
·How is information passed from one generation to the next, so that offspring resemble their parents but are not exactly the same as their parents?
·What does science tell us about evolutionary biology, the unity and diversity of organisms on Earth, and how present populations are changing?
·How is light energy from the sun transformed into energy usable by plants, and how do all organisms use stored chemical energy to perform the functions necessary for life (building and breaking down macromolecules, regulating the internal environment, etc.)?
·How do biotic and abiotic factors interact to influence the composition of ecosystems?
•How have science and technology affected the quality of life?
•What is the difference between a scientific hypothesis, theory, and law?
•What makes science different from other disciplines such as philosophy, mathematics, or the humanities?
Effective Components of Biology Program:
·Maintains an inquiry‐based learning environment
·Addresses a limited number of concepts, but does so in depth
·Provides students with multiple opportunities to learn and timely feedback to help students know what they need to improve upon
·Explains concepts and problems in multiple ways
·Uses assessment to guide instruction
·Differentiates instruction to meet student needs
·Draws out and actively engages the preexisting understandings about the natural world that students bring with them
·Assists students in developing metacognitive skills within the context of learning about science
·Provides opportunities and support to apply writing, reading, and mathematics skills in the context of investigating scientific concepts, including hand‐graphing data
·Provides a safe, equitable and engaging learning environment for all students
Technology, Integration & InformationLiteracy
·Uses technology responsibly for communication and transfer of ideas
·Uses technology to gather, organize, analyze and communicate about data
·Collaborates with others to identify information problems and to seek their solutions
·Organizes and reports information in a variety of complex ways including tables, graphs, charts, reports, labeled diagrams
·Evaluates the accuracy and objectivity of various information sources (text, audio, video, etc.)
·Presents information in a variety of formats including text, audio, pictures, video