Biology 20

Unit 1: Introduction to Biology

The nature of the study of biology, microscope technique, and the role of theory in biology.

• The nature of biological study

• Examining cells with a microscope

• The importance of theory in biology

Unit 2: Ecological Organization

Ecosystems, communities, past ecosystems, populations and their changes, and ecological sequencing.

• Soil components and plant growth
• Climate and plant growth
• Soil microorganisms and nutrient cycles

• Niche, habitat, and community components
• The human community and food webs
• Relationships and succession

• Evidence of life in the past

• Estimating populations by sampling
• Analyzing population change

• Levels of ecological organization and biomes

Unit 3: The Diversity of Life

Principles of classification, the microbial and fungal kingdoms, the diversity of plants, and the diversity of animals.

• Classification and binomial nomenclature

• Viruses and bacteria
• The protist kingdom
• The fungi

• Nonvascular and vascular plants

• The major animal phyla
• Innate, learned, and social behaviour

Unit 4: Agricultural Botany of Saskatchewan

Plant biological processes, Saskatchewan's biogeographical regions and agriculture, internal and external influences on plant growth, and the interconnectedness of agriculture and the environment.

• Plant reproduction and transport
• Crop systems and growth influences
• Plant structures and tissues

• Saskatchewan's biogeographical regions

• Hormones, tropisms, and soil chemistry

• Agriculture and the environment