AP Biology Unit 10

Big Idea:

Student Expectations:

Main Ideas

Big Idea 3: Information - Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.

Big Idea 4: System - Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties

Enduring Understanding

3.E: Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.

4.C: Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.

Essential Knowledge

3.E.1: Individuals can act on information and communicate it to others.

3.E.2: Animals have nervous systems that detect external and internal signals, transmit and integrate information, and produce responses.

4.C.2: Environmental factors influence the expression of the genotype in an organism.

4.C.3: The level of variation in a population affects population dynamics.

4.C.4: The diversity of species within an ecosystem may influence the stability of the ecosystem.

Student Learning Targets:

Basic Principles of Animal Form and function

• The four types of tissues and their general functions.
• The importance of homeostasis and examples.
• How feedback systems control homeostasis and one example of positive feedback and one example of negative feedback.

The Immune System

• Several elements of an innate immune response.
• The differences between B and T cells relative to their activation and actions.
• How antigens are recognized by immune system cells.
• The differences in humoral and cell-mediated immunity.
• Why Helper T cells are central to immune responses.

Hormones and the Endocrine System

• Two ways hormones affect target organs.
• The secretion, target action, and regulation of at least three hormones.
• An illustration of both positive and negative feedback in the regulation of homeostasis by hormones.

Animal Development

• What occurs in cleavage, gastrulation, and organogenesis.
• Two structures derived from each germ layer.
• The events that occur when a sperm contacts an egg.

Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling

• The anatomy of a neuron.
• The mechanisms of impulse transmission in a neuron.
• The process that leads to release of neurotransmitter, and what happens at the synapse.

Nervous Systems

• The components of a reflex arc and how they work.
• The organization and function of the major parts of the nervous system.
• One function for each major brain region.

Animal Behavior

• The difference between a kinesis and a taxis.
• Various forms of animal communications.
• The role of altruism and inclusive fitness in kin selection.

Essential Questions:

Extra Information:

Adopted Textbook:

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