A: Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration

A1: demonstrate scientific investigation skills (related to both inquiry and research) in the four areas of skills (initiating and planning, performing and recording, analysing and interpreting, and communicating);

A1.1: formulate relevant scientific questions about observed relationships, ideas, problems, or issues, make informed predictions, and/or formulate educated hypotheses to focus inquiries or research

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Sight vs. Sound Reactions

A1.5: conduct inquiries, controlling relevant variables, adapting or extending procedures as required, and using appropriate materials and equipment safely, accurately, and effectively, to collect observations and data

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Triple Beam Balance

A1.8: synthesize, analyse, interpret, and evaluate qualitative and/or quantitative data to determine whether the evidence supports or refutes the initial prediction or hypothesis and whether it is consistent with scientific theory; identify sources of bias and/or error; and suggest improvements to the inquiry to reduce the likelihood of error

Seed Germination
Evolution

A1.10: draw conclusions based on inquiry results and research findings, and justify their conclusions with reference to scientific knowledge

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Diffusion

A1.13: express the results of any calculations involving data accurately and precisely, to the appropriate number of decimal places or significant figures

Unit Conversions 2 - Scientific Notation and Significant Digits

B: Biochemistry

B2: investigate the chemical structures, functions, and chemical properties of biological molecules involved in some common cellular processes and biochemical reactions;

B2.1: use appropriate terminology related to biochemistry, including, but not limited to: active and passive transport, covalent and ionic bond, allosteric site, substrate, substrate-enzyme complex, and inhibition

Covalent Bonds
Ionic Bonds
Enzymes

B2.2: plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate the movement of substances across a membrane (e.g., the effects of salt water and distilled water on a potato)

Osmosis

B2.3: construct and draw three-dimensional molecular models of important biochemical compounds, including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids

RNA and Protein Synthesis

B2.4: conduct biological tests to identify biochemical compounds found in various food samples (e.g., use Benedict’s solution to test for carbohydrates in food samples), and compare the biochemical compounds found in each food to those found in the others

Identifying Nutrients

B3: demonstrate an understanding of the structures and functions of biological molecules, and the biochemical reactions required to maintain normal cellular function.

B3.1: explain the roles of various organelles, such as lysosomes, vacuoles, mitochondria, internal cell membranes, ribosomes, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi bodies, in cellular processes

Paramecium Homeostasis
RNA and Protein Synthesis

B3.2: describe the structure of important biochemical compounds, including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, and explain their function within cells

RNA and Protein Synthesis

B3.3: identify common functional groups within biological molecules (e.g., hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, amino, phosphate), and explain how they contribute to the function of each molecule

RNA and Protein Synthesis

B3.4: describe the chemical structures and mechanisms of various enzymes

Enzymes

B3.5: identify and describe the four main types of biochemical reactions (oxidation-reduction [redox], hydrolysis, condensation, and neutralization)

Dehydration Synthesis

C: Metabolic Processes

C2: investigate the products of metabolic processes such as cellular respiration and photosynthesis;

C2.1: use appropriate terminology related to metabolism, including, but not limited to: energy carriers, glycolysis, Krebs cycle, electron transport chain, ATP synthase, oxidative phosphorylation, chemiosmosis, proton pump, photolysis, Calvin cycle, light and dark reactions, and cyclic and noncyclic phosphorylation

Cell Energy Cycle

C3: demonstrate an understanding of the chemical changes and energy conversions that occur in metabolic processes.

C3.1: explain the chemical changes and energy conversions associated with the processes of aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration (e.g., in aerobic cellular respiration, glucose and oxygen react to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy in the form of heat and ATP; in anaerobic cellular respiration, yeast reacts with glucose in the absence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and ethanol)

Cell Energy Cycle

C3.2: explain the chemical changes and energy conversions associated with the process of photosynthesis (e.g., carbon dioxide and water react with sunlight to produce oxygen and glucose)

Cell Energy Cycle

C3.4: describe, compare, and illustrate (e.g., using flow charts) the matter and energy transformations that occur during the processes of cellular respiration (aerobic and anaerobic) and photosynthesis, including the roles of oxygen and organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts

Cell Energy Cycle
Photosynthesis

D: Molecular Genetics

D2: investigate, through laboratory activities, the structures of cell components and their roles in processes that occur within the cell;

D2.1: use appropriate terminology related to molecular genetics, including, but not limited to: polymerase I, II, and III, DNA ligase, helicase, Okazaki fragment, mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, codon, anticodon, translation, transcription, and ribosome subunits

RNA and Protein Synthesis

D2.2: analyse a simulated strand of DNA to determine the genetic code and base pairing of DNA (e.g., determine base sequences of DNA for a protein; analyse base sequences in DNA to recognize an anomaly)

Building DNA
DNA Analysis

D2.4: investigate and analyse the cell components involved in the process of protein synthesis, using appropriate laboratory equipment and techniques, or a computer simulation

RNA and Protein Synthesis

D3: demonstrate an understanding of concepts related to molecular genetics, and how genetic modification is applied in industry and agriculture.

D3.1: explain the current model of DNA replication, and describe the different repair mechanisms that can correct mistakes in DNA sequencing

Building DNA

D3.2: compare the structures and functions of RNA and DNA, and explain their roles in the process of protein synthesis

Building DNA
RNA and Protein Synthesis
Protein Synthesis

D3.3: explain the steps involved in the process of protein synthesis and how genetic expression is controlled in prokaryotes and eukaryotes by regulatory proteins (e.g., the role of operons in prokaryotic cells; the mechanism of gene expression in eukaryotic cells)

RNA and Protein Synthesis
Protein Synthesis

E: Homeostasis

E2: investigate the feedback mechanisms that maintain homeostasis in living organisms;

E2.2: plan and construct a model to illustrate the essential components of the homeostatic process (e.g., create a flow chart that illustrates representative feedback mechanisms in living things)

Human Homeostasis
Paramecium Homeostasis

E2.4: plan and conduct an investigation to study the response mechanism of an invertebrate to external stimuli (e.g., the instinctive behaviour of an invertebrate in response to a stimulus such as light), using appropriate laboratory equipment and techniques

Paramecium Homeostasis

E3: demonstrate an understanding of the anatomy and physiology of human body systems, and explain the mechanisms that enable the body to maintain homeostasis.

E3.3: describe the homeostatic processes involved in maintaining water, ionic, thermal, and acid–base equilibrium, and explain how these processes help body systems respond to both a change in environment and the effects of medical treatments (e.g., the role of feedback mechanisms in water balance or thermoregulation; how the buffering system of blood maintains the body’s pH balance; the effect of medical treatments on the endocrine system; the effects of chemotherapy on homeostasis)

Human Homeostasis
Osmosis

F: Population Dynamics

F1: analyse the relationships between population growth, personal consumption, technological development, and our ecological footprint, and assess the effectiveness of some Canadian initiatives intended to assist expanding populations;

F1.1: analyse the effects of human population growth, personal consumption, and technological development on our ecological footprint (e.g., the deforestation resulting from expanding development and demand for wood products causes the destruction of habitats that support biological diversity; the acidification of lakes associated with some industrial processes causes a decrease in fish populations)

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors

F2: investigate the characteristics of population growth, and use models to calculate the growth of populations within an ecosystem;

F2.1: use appropriate terminology related to population dynamics, including, but not limited to: carrying capacity, population growth, population cycle, fecundity, and mortality

Food Chain

F2.2: use conceptual and mathematical population growth models to calculate the growth of populations of various species in an ecosystem (e.g., use the concepts of exponential, sigmoid, and sinusoidal growth to estimate the sizes of various populations)

Food Chain

F2.3: determine, through laboratory inquiry or using computer simulations, the characteristics of population growth of two different populations (e.g., the different population cycles of a predator and its prey; the population cycles of two populations that compete for food; the increase of Aboriginal compared to non-Aboriginal populations and the significant difference in average age between the two groups)

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

F3: demonstrate an understanding of concepts related to population growth, and explain the factors that affect the growth of various populations of species.

F3.1: explain the concepts of interaction (e.g., competition, predation, defence mechanism, symbiotic relationship, parasitic relationship) between different species

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain

F3.3: explain factors such as carrying capacity, fecundity, density, and predation that cause fluctuation in populations, and analyse the fluctuation in the population of a species of plant, wild animal, or microorganism

Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

F3.5: explain how a change in one population in an aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem can affect the entire hierarchy of living things in that system (e.g., how the disappearance of crayfish from a lake causes a decrease in the bass population of the lake; how the disappearance of beaver from an ecosystem causes a decrease in the wolf population in that ecosystem)

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Pond Ecosystem