How is life organized?

Key Concept

Relationship

Related Concept

Patterns and function

Global Context

Identities and relationship

Statement of Inquiry

Your identity is determined by the relationship between different levels of organization in your body which,although differing in complexity, share patterns and functions with all life on earth.

Key Words

  • embryonic

  • hierarchy

  • multicellular

  • organization

  • physical

  • unicellular

Questions

Factual Question:

  • Factual: What are the characteristics of living things?

  • What are cells and how are they structured?

  • What roles do cells carry out?

  • What are the characteristics and functions of different cells, tissues and organs?

  • How are organisms grouped and classified?

  • What are the characteristics of living things?

  • What are cells and how are they structured?

  • What roles do cells carry out?

  • What are the characteristics and functions of different cells, tissues and organs?

  • How are organisms grouped and classified?

Conceptual Question:

  • What determines whether something is alive or not?

  • Are viruses alive?

  • How does cell structure relate to function?

  • What does it mean for organisms to be 'related’?

  • What characteristics make some organisms more closely related than others?

Debatable Question:

  • Should scientists use new research to reclassify organisms?

  • Are humans a special form of life?

  • Will it be possible to create artificial life?

  • Now share and compare your thoughts and ideas with your partner, or with the whole class.

A Journey Through Science

Assessment

  1. Assignment 1: Critical reading response.

Extention

Key to Approaches to Learning

What are ATL Skills?

1. Communication

I Communication

2. Social

II Collaboration

3. Self-Management

III Organization

IV Affective

V Reflection

4. Research

VI Information Literacy

VII Media Literacy

5. Thinking

VIII Critical Thinking

IX Creativity and Innovation

X Transfer

Command Words

Command words appear in an assessment task and can also be called instructional, operational or task words.

They indicate what approach should be applied to the information found.

Glossary

Biology Glossary

Lesson Resources

  1. BBCBitesize

  2. Biology for Kids

  3. Science Buzz

  4. Venier

  5. Funy to draw graphs

  6. Test yourself

  7. Cells Alive

  8. Physics classroom

News For Young Scientists

  1. Dogo News

  2. Wild Life

  3. Science Time

  4. Science News

  5. Popular Science

  6. Earth

  7. For Grade 6, 7, 8 and 9

  8. Science News for Kids - appropriate level reading

  9. Kidshealth

  10. Advanced

  11. Nature News

Learner Profile

Thinkers - using critical - and critical thinking skills to analyse problems.

Objectives

  • Find out how to identify of an organism is determmined by the parts it is made up form;

  • what determines something is alive or not.

  • Explore how living things are classified into groups with similar identities.

  • Take action by finding out whether something is alive or not.

  • Take action by finding out whether it is possible to create attificial life

Reflection

in this Unit we have seen how life exists at a range of scales and discovered how the identity of an organism is determined by the parts it is made up from and the relationship between them. We have found out about how organisms differ in form and complexity, and explained ways in which they are grouped and classified. We have explored the patterns in structures, functions and biological processes that are necessary to sustain life, and discussed whether it is possible to create artificial life. We have learnt about our role as a thinker, and how we can use critical and creative-thinking skills to analyse complex problems.

ATL Skills

  • Collaboration skills

  • Information literacy skills

  • Media literacy skills

  • Critical thinking skills

  • Creative thinking skills

Assessment

Links to Other Subject