All posts by Brad Grey

High School Biology Curriculum

The  Biology curriculum at USBiologyTeaching.Com is a curriculum built for Biology teachers. With this Biology curriculum, teachers have every day of instruction planned out for them.

The Biology curriculum is complete with:

The Biology scope and sequence is a very helpful to any biology teacher who wants understand the pacing of this course and get a better understanding of how the Biology curriculum is arranged.

The following units are included in the USBiologyTeaching.Com (USBT) curriculum. The units do not have to be taught in this order however, it is the recommended sequence for the curriculum.

Experimental Design (Scientific Method)

Experimental design is covered over the first two units in the Biology curriculum. In the curriculum, students will explore the nature of science by making observations, asking questions, conducting research, constructing hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments. analyzing data and communicating their results.

Student explore the nature of science through a variety of hands-on engaging activities like the Meal Worm Lab.  Starting the year off with experimental design allows teachers to engage their students and establish procedures.

You can get the first two units of this Biology curriculum here.

Characteristics of Life 

In this unit, students explore the characteristics of life through hands-on engaging activities and discussions that will have them questioning their own understand of what it means to be alive.

Macromolecules

In this unit students, learn all about carbon compounds and the importance of the biological molecules in their own lives.  Students explore this concept through a variety of activities including our very popular Macromolecule Boxing Activity. Students will also explore stomach contents to help determine the last meal of the deceased person in their case study.

Enzymes

In this unit, students use a lab experience to investigate the effects of  pH, temperature , concentration and other factors on enzymes. Students also learn about the structure of enzymes and the induced fit model of enzyme action.

Cell Structure and Function 

In this unit, student learn about cell theory and the basic cell structures and functions.  Student will also learn how proteins are transported throughout the cell. Students also grapple with learning how to properly use a microscope to compare cells and observe their differences.

Check out this cell sidewalk chalk activity!

Cell Transport

In this unit, student learn about how molecules get into and out of cells. Student will learn about passive and active transport. Students will complete a lab experience to investigate a case study about how salt could be the cause the wilted plants.

Get Instant Access to a Full Biology Curriculum

Photosynthesis 

In this unit students dive into the inner workings of the chloroplast to learn how autotrophs are able to make sugar from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Students learn about the light reactions, Calvin cycle, alternate pathways and factors that affect photosynthesis.

Click here to learn more.

Cellular Respiration 

In this unit students dive into the inner workings of the mitochondria.  Student learn about glycolysis, Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis. They also learn about the impact oxygen has on the amount of ATP generated.

Cell Reproduction

In this unit of the Biology curriculum, students explore the structure of chromosomes and learn about how and why cells divide. Students engage in a hands-on experience that will truly help them understand the process of cell division.

DNA Replication and Protein Synthesis

In this unit of the Biology curriculum students will extract DNA allowing them to visualize and connect with the concept of protein synthesis. Student will also work collaboratively to create a skit to model the process of protein synthesis.

Genetics

in this unit of the Biology Curriculum students explore  their own traits and calculate probabilities of a Mendelian and Non-Mendelian inheritance patters. Students also build and analyze their pedigree charts.

Mutations and Biotechnology

In this unit students, explore the latest biotechnology innovations like CRISPER CAS 9, DNA profiling, 3D bioprinting, stem cell therapy and more. Student also explore various genetic mutations that the field of biotechnology has set out to cure or prevent.

Ecology  

In this biology lesson plan (unit), students explore the complexity of the interactions that occur in ecosystems. This unit offers a hands-on approach that allows students to explore food webs, food chains, organism interactions and human impact on the environment.

Evolution

In this biology lesson plan (unit), students explore evolution by natural selection using a variety of hands-on activities and resources. Student learn about the evidence for evolution,  population genetics and speciation,

Classification 

In this unit in the biology curriculum, students learn about how organisms are classified and why the classification system is constantly changing as new methods for identifying relatedness are discovered. Students create their own dichotomous keys in addition to using dichotomous keys to classify some unique organisms.

Populations and Human Impact

In this unit students learn about how humans impact ecosystems. Students explore the growing human population and learn about the challenges human face with a growing human population.

Properties of Water  

In this biology lesson plan unit, students learn about the importance of water and the unique properties it has that allows life to flourish.

Human Body Systems

In the unit of the biology curriculum, students learn about the general structure and function of the human body systems and how they interact with each other as one complex system.

Biology Lesson Plans

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How to Create a Cohesive Biology Curriculum

In this video, I describe some of the strategies and thought process I used to create the Biology Curriculum  here at USBiologyTeaching.Com.

After getting questions like the ones below I decided to create this video to help teachers have some direction when creating their own biology curriculum or biology lesson plans.

Questions about creating biology curriculum that are covered in the video:

How can I keep my biology students engaged?

How should I include  biology assessments?

What biology lesson plan format should I use?

What biology resources should be included?

What all needs to be considered when creating a biology curriculum?

 

If you decide you do not want to write your own biology curriculum you can get a Full Biology Curriculum here!

Biology Curriculum

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How to Use Quizlet to Make Printable Biology Vocab Quizzes

Biology Vocabulary Building

It is no secret that Biology content is HEAVY with content vocabulary. For our students, it is like learning a foreign language.

Save Time

I love to use Quizlet for vocabulary building. It is  a huge time saver for Biology Teachers and my Biology students love it.

In addition to Quizlet Live, a team base vocabulary game, students have a lot of other options to choose from as well.

Students can choose to Learn, Matching, Flash Cards, Spelling and even the Gravity Game.

Quizlet live
Gravity Game

Engage Students

In addition, teachers can use their flash card sets to create quizzes for their students. The quizzes are customizable and take less than a minute to create and print.

Bonus:

Each time you create the quiz it creates a new version! You can allow your student to take it as many time as they need in order to achieve mastery and each time with a different quiz.

I created a video to show you have to create the printable quizzes. So, even if you are not a 1-1 school, Quizlet still has benefit for you!

 

For more vocabulary development check out our 90 prefixes and suffixes with our 9 quizzes with QUIZLETS!

 

Gain Instant Access to all of Our Quizlets and Full Biology Curriculum 

 

#quizlet #ntchat #teaching  #classroom #mlearning  #scichat #biologyteaching #biology

 

 

 

 

Biology Teacher’s Summer Yard Sale Checklist

Fellow Frugal Biology Teachers: It Is Yard Sale Season!

The school year is coming to an end and now is a great time to look around your classroom and determine what your NEEDS are for next year.

After determining your needs, it is time to head out and find those items.

Tip: When shopping, let the people who are selling their stuff know you are a teacher. It makes bargaining a lot easier and in some cases they just give you the stuff.

Here  is a checklist to get help you out. Print it out now and look around your classroom. Cross off the stuff you have or do not need.  Add stuff that you do need but do not see on the list.

Click the image below to download this checklist.

Download Checklist

Check out our cell sidewalk chalk activity!

Need a Full Biology Curriculum? We have everything you need!

Biology Curriculum

Biology Scope and Sequence

Using our Biology Scope and Sequence you will be able to present Biology content to your students in a logical manner.

Biology Scope and Sequence

Why is the Scope and Sequence arranged the way it is?

We are Biology teachers  who have taught this course with well over 100 years of combined experience. We have debated, discussed and tweaked this order so it can be presented in a manner that we have found to be most successful.

Why doesn’t the Scope and Sequence include 180 days of instruction?

When you look at the total number of days that are written into the curriculum your will see two difference numbers (139/81).

One hundred and thirty nine days are planned out in our Full Biology Curriculum using (50) minute periods and eighty one days using (90 minute blocks).

As a team we discussed that we want to arrange the curriculum so that it could be flexible for teachers.

We wanted to save you time for reteaching, going over assessments, dealing with school-wide interruptions like large field trips, assemblies, school wide initiatives and local testing.

We also understand that every class is different and so is their pacing. With this flexibility you can take the extra time you need where you need it and still run a rigorous Biology Curriculum.

What if my state does not require everything that is in the USBT Curriculum?

In our Full Biology Curriculum detailed lesson plans, there are specific notes about areas that can be cut out or extended depending on your state’s requirements. For example, our Evolution unit includes speciation.

We know some states do not assess students on the speciation terminology so we created two separate assessments.

One assessment does not include speciation while the other does. There are also notes in the presentation to help guide the teacher so they know where the evolution  assessment content ends and the speciation assessed content begins.

Materials List is Included

For our current members and future members we wanted to create a list of consumable materials that are used in each section of the curriculum. This list does not include general Biology lab supplies like microscopes, test tubes, beakers, pipettes ect.

When designing the Biology Curriculum we tried to make it economical yet engaging and hands-on.  We assumed the teacher would only have access to a small budget for materials.

Scope and Sequence USBT (Download)

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