High School Biology is being revised to align with NGSS Science Standards below

This year-long 9th grade high school course involves a teacher guided process of engaging students in the study of life and living organisms, and examines biology and biochemistry in the real world. Through scaffolding, the course covers traditional concepts in biology and encourages exploration of science-based phenomena and real-world applications. The components include Matter and Energy in Living Systems, System Dynamics and Homeostasis, Inheritance and Variation, Natural Selection, and Sustainability. This course is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and is implemented according to the 5-E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate). The goals of these standards are to develop a thorough understanding of content as well as improve key skills such as, communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and creative thinking. The Biology course incorporates Earth Science principles and concepts.

Course Levels - Honors Biology differentiates from College-Prep Biology in the amount of homework, depth of topic coverage, pacing, and rigorous assessments

NGSS STANDARDS

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

• HS-LS1-6 Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.
• HS-LS1-5 Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
• HS-LS1-7 Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.

Matter and its Interactions

• HS-PS1-7 Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-4 Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
• HS-LS2-5 Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

NGSS STANDARDS

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

• HS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.
• HS-LS1-3 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-1 Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.
• HS-LS2-2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
• HS-LS2-3 Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Matter and its Interactions

• HS-PS1-6 Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.

Engineering Design

• HS-ETS1-2 Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

NGSS STANDARDS

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

• HS-LS1-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
• HS-LS1-4 Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-6 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

• HS-LS3-1 Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
• HS-LS3-2 Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
• HS-LS3-3 Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Engineering Design

• HS-ETS1-4 Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.

NGSS STANDARDS

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-6 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
• HS-LS2-8 Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• HS-LS4-1 Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
• HS-LS4-3 Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
• HS-LS4-4 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Earth's Place in the Universe

• HS-ESS1-5 Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.
• HS-ESS1-6 Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.

Earth's Systems

• HS-ESS2-7 Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.

NGSS STANDARDS

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• HS-LS4-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.
• HS-LS4-5 Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
• HS-LS4-6 Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.

Earth and Human Activity

• HS-ESS3-3 Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

Engineering Design

• HS-EST1-1 Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
• HS-EST1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.