Edison School District

Developing a desire for lifelong learning

Focus on

Life Sciences

Cell Biology

All living organisms are composed of cells, from just one to many trillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope. As a basis for understanding

this concept:

Þ Students know cells     function similarly in all living organisms.

Þ Students know the      characteristics that         distinguish plant cells from animal cells, including    chloroplasts and cell walls.

Þ Students know the nucleus is the repository for genetic information in plant and       animal cells.

Þ Students know that mitochondria liberate energy for the work that cells do and that chloroplasts capture sunlight energy for photosynthesis.

Þ Students know cells divide to increase their numbers through a process of mitosis, which results in two daughter cells with identical sets of chromosomes.

Þ Students know that as multicellular organisms develop, their cells differentiate.

Genetics

A typical cell of any organism contains genetic instructions that  specify its traits. Those traits

may be modified by environmental influences. As a basis for understanding this        concept:

Þ Students know the differences        between the life cycles and           reproduction methods of sexual and asexual organisms.

Þ Students know reproduction         produces offspring that inherit half their genes from each parent.

Þ Students know an inherited trait can be determined by one or more genes.

Þ Students know plant and animal cells contain many thousands of  different genes and typically have two      copies of every gene. The two copies of the gene may or may not be identical, and one may be dominant in determining the phenotype while the other is recessive.

Þ Students know DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the         genetic material of living organisms and is located in the chromosomes of each cell.

Evolution

Biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many                generations. As a basis for                 understanding this concept:

Þ Students know both genetic           variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and           diversity of organisms.

Þ Students know the reasoning used by Charles Darwin in reaching his conclusion that natural selection is the mechanism of evolution.

Þ Students know how independent lines of evidence from geology,         fossils, and comparative anatomy provide the bases for the theory of evolution.

Students know how to construct a simple branching diagram to classify living groups of           organisms by shared derived characteristics and

Þ how to         expand the diagram to include fossil organisms.

Þ Students know that extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient for its survival.

Earth and Life History (Earth Sciences)

Evidence from rocks allows us to understand the evolution of life on Earth. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Þ Students know Earth processes today are similar to those that occurred in the past and slow geologic processes have large cumulative effects over long periods of time.

Þ Students know the history of life on Earth has been               disrupted by major                catastrophic events, such as major volcanic eruptions or the impacts of asteroids.

Þ Students know that the rock cycle includes the formation of new sediment and rocks and that rocks are often found in layers, with the oldest generally on the bottom.

Þ Students know that evidence from geologic layers and           radioactive dating indicates Earth is approximately 4.6         billion years old and that life on this planet has existed for more than 3 billion years.

Þ Students know fossils provide evidence of how life and         environmental conditions have changed.

Students know how movements of Earth’s continental and         oceanic plates through time, with associated changes in climate and geographic