MS Life: Bundle 1: Structure, Function, and Information Processing
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how information is processed through various structures in the human body. Your mission will be to create a preparedness plan for a family backpacking through the Grand Canyon. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
● Living things are made of cells.
● Cells have different parts that contribute to the overall function of the cell.
● The human body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
● Information is processed by the nervous system in different ways.
Many investigations will take place over several weeks of class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich
MS Life: Bundle 2: Growth and Development of Organisms
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how you can promote the growth and development of organisms and discovering how this knowledge can be applied to our world. Your mission will be to design a compost garden for a large company wanting to become more environmentally friendly. You must include a diagram with instructions on how to create a compost and blueprints for the layout of the garden. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
Plants and animals possess adaptations and behaviors that help them reproduce.
Genetic as well as environmental factors can affect the growth of plants and animals.
Plants use energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide, and water to create their own chemical energy.
Animals consume this energy and, through digestion and cellular respiration, break it down into molecules they can use for energy, and remove waste and carbon dioxide that are produced during the process.
Many investigations will be done over several weeks in class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich
MS Life: Bundle 3: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how changes in ecosystems affect interacting relationships among organisms in an area and discovering how this knowledge can be applied to our world. Your mission will be to create a report that maps out the benefits and risks of building an oil pipeline through Yosemite National Park. Your report will include a risk/benefits assessment, an example food web, and a summary of the effects on the biodiversity of the park. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
● Biotic and abiotic factors can affect an organism’s survival.
● Limited resources can affect an organism’s growth or population increase.
● Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial relationships affect organisms.
● Food webs demonstrate the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
● Disruptions to components of ecosystems can affect populations.
● Changes in the biodiversity of an ecosystem can affect humans.
Many investigations will be done over several weeks in class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich
MS Life: Bundle 4: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how traits are inherited in a species and how mutations to genes impact organisms. Your mission will be to analyze test results from patients at a veterinary clinic to help diagnose if their ailments are genetically based or not. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
The structural changes to genes located on chromosomes are called mutations.
Mutations can cause harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
Genes control the production of specific proteins; mutated genes change this production of proteins.
Asexual reproduction results in offspring genetically identical to the parent organism.
Sexual reproduction results in offspring that are genetically diverse from both parents.
Many investigations will be done over several weeks in class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich
MS Life: Bundle 5: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how the fossil record, evolutionary relationships, and embryonic similarities provide evidence of common ancestry of organisms. Your mission will be to write a press release defending the accuracy of the fossil exhibit at the Natural Science Museum by citing evidence from the fossil record, evolutionary relationships, and embryonic similarities. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
The fossil record is the collection of fossils and their placement in the sedimentary layers.
There are anatomical similarities between organisms living today and extinct organisms from the distant past.
Comparing the development of embryos can provide links between species that look vastly different as adults.
Many investigations will be done over several weeks in class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich
MS Life: Bundle 6: Changes in Organisms Over Time
The scopes included in this bundle include the following:
Mission Briefing: You are about to begin a new journey studying how certain traits in organisms can be determined by nature or by human influence. Your mission will be to create a new, fastgrowing crop and to write a proposal to the FDA justifying the need for this new breed. As you work toward this goal, you will learn the following concepts:
Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population and the suppression of others.
Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions.
Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common.
In artificial selection, humans selectively breed desired traits in organisms.
Many investigations will be done over several weeks in class to help you learn these concepts from firsthand experiences. After completing each investigation, take time to look for examples of these concepts in the world around you.
Sincerely, Ms Dietrich