Tag Archives: Biology Curriculum

biology curriculum, Biology Lesson Plans

High School Biology Curriculum

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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.

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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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Biology Lesson Plans

How to Create a Cohesive Biology Curriculum

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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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assessment, Prefixes and Suffixes, Vocabulary

How to Use Quizlet to Make Printable Biology Vocab Quizzes

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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 

 

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assessment

Biology Teamwork Assessment: Peers Evaluate Each Other!

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Peer Collaboration Evaluation Tool

Using our “Peer Collaboration Evaluation Tool,”  you will be able to help students be more consciences of how well they work with other team members.

As part of a State wide STEM competition I had to take my student to a variety of local businesses, government agencies, hospitals and organizations to help gather some insight about the needs for the community.

As a result of that experience there was a common response  I receive to the question: What skills do you need our students to have when coming to you out of high school or college?

For every person I posed the question, all of their responses were:

“THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO WORK WELL WITH THE TEAM”

Reflect on your grade book right know.

How are you assessing your student’s ability to work as team?

Do your students know they are not easy to work with?

Are they able to do almost no work and still get the same grade as the whole group because they are good at pretending to be involved?

Student can no longer sit back and let everyone else work for them!

Using this google form tool your student can now evaluate each other!

Here is a quick video that shows you what the tool can do!

 

The Google Form That Your Students Will See (Below)

 

The best part of this that the tool will keep track of all of the responses for as long as you want. You can even use it across disciplines.

The tool takes your students’ scores from their peers and automatically gives you the average of all of their scores as a percentage, average of  all of their total scores and the average of all of their individual scores.

All you need to do as a teacher, is set up a place for students to fill out the Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form using a computer, Ipad or other device with internet access.

How to Implement the Peer Collaboration Evaluation Tool  in the Classroom

This tool can be used with any type of partner, lab or  collaborative group work.

To use google forms you must first have a google account (gmail is a google account). Create one here if you do not have one yet.

You get free storage and a whole host of other excellent tools like forms and it is completely free.

Once you have an account and get logged in, click on the waffle (circled in red) on the top right of your screen.

Next, click on “Drive”. This takes you to your Google Drive . This is where your storage space is located and where your tool will be located after your receive it in your email and click “make a copy” (see below)

After clicking on make a copy, you will land on the screen pictured below.

This screen (above) is the raw calculations spreadsheet. This is were your data will populate as your students begin to rank each other.

To go to the live form, click on  “go to live form” under the “Form” menu. This will take you to the live form that can be shared with your students.

The best part of the forms is that it collects the data from all of your  students and puts it into a single spreadsheet that can then be sorted and easily added into your grade book.

Check out the video on how the use this tool!

 

 

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meiosis, mitosis

Mitosis and Meiosis Worksheets

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Cell Reproduction

In our Full Biology Curriculum, you will use a variety of mitosis and meiosis worksheets to help your students grasp the concept of cell reproduction and the new genetic combinations that are created in meiosis.

Engage your students

In our Full Biology Curriculum your students will begin by watching a video of a cell dividing with the sound turned off. They will try to describe what they are seeing.

Next, your students will explore the content through our Cell Reproduction Presentation and the Guided Student Notes. Your students will then complete the mitosis worksheet as they apply the information they just learned about mitosis and the cell cycle.

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Download your Cell Mitosis Worksheet Below

After the mitosis worksheet, you can use our beach ball activity (check it out here)with the phases of mitosis in each segment of the beach ball to assess your student’s understanding of the content.

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As students progress through the unit they will explore mitosis using the Onion Root Tip Microscope Lab. Your students will demonstrate their understanding of mitosis and their ability to use the microscope. Using our lab worksheet, your students will be required to show you each phase of mitosis and obtain your approval to move on the the next step.

Students will even complete an modeling activity to show the process cell division!

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Over the course of the Cell Reproduction Unit, students will complete several mitosis and meiosis worksheets, bell ringers and exit activities that will help you easily assess your students and give them plenty of practice as they prepare for Cell Reproduction Test (included in the Full Biology Curriculum).

 

 

 

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