Science 10

Unit 1: Genetics and the Diversity of Life

Big Idea: DNA is the basis for the diversity of living things. DNA carries the instructions for life, those instructions are passed between generations in predictable patterns, and mutation and selection reshape populations over time — with real applications and ethical questions attached.

• DNA structure and function

• Mendelian genetics and Punnett squares (predicting single-trait crosses)

• Dominance patterns (complete dominance, co-dominance, incomplete dominance)

• Sex-linked inheritance (traits carried on the X chromosome)

• Human genetics (pedigrees and inherited human traits/conditions)

• Mutation and its impact on evolution (mutagens, carcinogens, positive/negative/neutral effects)

• Natural selection (selection pressure, adaptation, adaptive radiation, extinction)

• Artificial selection (selective breeding in agriculture and of plants/animals)

• Applied genetics and its ethical considerations (GMOs, gene therapy, cloning, forensics; health/environmental/social implications)

Unit 2: Chemical Reactions and Energy Change

Big Idea: energy change is required as atoms rearrange in chemical processes. Reactions rearrange atoms, obey conservation of mass, release or absorb energy, and range from everyday acid-base chemistry to practical processes that touch First Peoples knowledge.

• How atoms rearrange in a reaction and how to balance a chemical equation

• Classifying reaction types (synthesis, decomposition, single/double replacement, combustion, neutralization)

• Acid-base chemistry (the pH scale, acids and bases, neutralization)

• The law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions

• Energy change during reactions (exothermic vs endothermic, activation energy)

• Practical applications of chemical processes, including First Peoples knowledge (traditional medicines, food chemistry, remediation)

Unit 3: Energy: Conservation and Transformation

Big Idea: energy is conserved, and its transformation can affect living things and the environment. Energy is never created or destroyed, only converted between forms such as nuclear, potential, and kinetic, and every real transformation and technology has consequences worth evaluating.

• Nuclear energy (fission vs fusion; nuclear technologies and their impacts)

• Radiation (ionizing vs non-ionizing; alpha, beta, gamma)

• The law of conservation of energy

• Gravitational potential energy and calculating PE = mgh

• Kinetic energy and calculating KE = 1/2 mv squared

• Transformation and transfer of energy, including heat (Q = mcΔT)

• Local and global impacts of energy transformations from technologies (pollution, habitat loss, CO2 output)

Unit 4: Formation of the Universe

Big Idea: the formation of the universe can be explained by the big bang theory. Evidence gathered with modern astronomical methods lets scientists reconstruct how the universe formed and how its components have changed over time.

• The big bang theory and the evidence that supports it

• Components of the universe over time (changes to energy, matter, and fundamental forces)

• Astronomical data and collection methods (telescopes, Doppler shift, space technologies as evidence)