Biology 12

Unit 1: The Chemistry & Cell Biology of Homeostasis

The molecular and cellular foundation of homeostasis: the biological molecules and enzymes that run the body's chemistry, the feedback loops that regulate the internal environment, and the membrane that controls what crosses into and out of every cell.

• Water, acids, bases, and buffers in biological systems
• Dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis reactions
• The four organic macromolecule classes and ATP

• Metabolism: anabolism, catabolism, and ATP
• Enzyme structure and function
• Regulation of enzyme activity (allosteric inhibition)

• Negative feedback loops
• Positive feedback loops

• Plasma membrane structure and selective permeability
• Passive and active transport mechanisms

Unit 2: Genes, Protein Synthesis & Biotechnology

How DNA stores and copies the cell's genetic information, how that information is expressed as proteins through transcription and translation, how a protein's shape gives it function, and how genomics and biotechnology let us read and apply that information.

• DNA as the cell's genetic information
• DNA replication

• Transcription (DNA to mRNA)
• Translation (mRNA to protein at the ribosome)

• Proteins and their relationship to the structure and function of all cells

• Genomics
• Biotechnology

Unit 3: Organ Systems & Health

The body's hierarchy of organization from molecule to organism, the structure and interdependence of its major organ systems, and how lifestyle, a holistic view of health, and disease connect back to homeostasis.

• Levels of biological organization

• The nervous system
• The endocrine system

• The cardiovascular system
• The respiratory system

• The digestive system
• The urinary system

• The lymphatic/immune system
• The reproductive system

• Organ-system interdependence and the maintenance of homeostasis

• Lifestyle differences and their effects on human health

• A holistic approach to health

• Disease as an imbalance in homeostasis

Unit 4: Lab Numeracy: Accuracy and Precision

The one Curricular Competency taught as its own cluster rather than woven: applying accuracy and precision to experimental data through significant figures and propagated measurement uncertainty, at the consolidation depth Grade 12 physiological calculations demand.

• Significant figures in multi-step physiological calculations
• Propagating measurement uncertainty through derived values, with scientific notation