Characteristics of Living Things

Owl Pellet Dissection Animation

Pooping Cow

Seed to Tree

•  Animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, & need food, air, & water
• Characteristics of living and nonliving things
• Plants and animals have life cycles that vary

•  Physical characteristics of plants and animals
• Plants and animals go through predictable life cycles, including birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death
• Major life cycle stages of the frog and butterfly

• Organisms are classified into kingdoms

• Cellular evidence and modes of nutrition in the six kingdoms 

Structure and Function of Cells / Cell Biology and Biochemistry

Photosynthesis

Seed to Tree

•  Organisms are composed of cells, and many organisms are single-celled, where one cell must carry out all basic functions of life
• Plant and inimal cells have similarities and differences in their major organelles
• Basic functions of living organisms are carried out in cells

• Biological organisms are composed primarily of few elements
• Molecular structures and functions of the four major categories of organic molecules
• Enzymes are catalysts for biochemical reactions affected by a variety of factors.
• Cell parts/organelles and their functions; cell membranes.
• Cellular similarities and differences of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
• Reactants, products, and purposes of photosynthesis and respiration.
• Role of ATP in metabolism.
• The cell cycle and mitosis in asexual reproduction.
• Meiosis in sexual reproduction.
• Differences of a virus and a cell.

Systems in Living Things / Anatomy and Physiology

Blood Flow in the Heart

Owl Pellet Dissection Animation

Photosynthesis

Seed to Tree

•  Structures in plants that are responsible for food production, support, water transport, reproduction, growth, and protection.

•  Multicellular organisms can be hierarchically organized from cells to tissues to organs to systems to organisms.
• General functions of the major systems of the human body, and the interactions of these systems.

•  The digestive system converts macromolecules into smaller molecules.
• The circulatory system transports nutrients and oxygen, and removes cell wastes. Kidneys and liver remove waste from blood.
• The respiratory system provides exchange of O2 and CO2.
• The nervous system mediates communication.
• The muscular/skeletal system supports the body and allows for movement. Bones produce blood cells.
• Sexual reproductive system.
• Communication among cells is required for coordination of body functions.
• Body systems interact to maintain homeostasis using physiological feedback loops.

Heredity / Genetics

Seed to Tree

•  Plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed appearance.

• Observed characteristics of plants and animals can be fully inherited or they can be affected by the climate or environment. 

• Every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another.
• Hereditary information is contained in genes located in the chromosomes of each cell.
• Sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. 

•  DNA structure and its function in genetic inheritance.
• DNA replication transmits and conserves the genetic code. Transcription and translation result in expression of genes.
• Mutations in the DNA sequence or gametes may result in phenotypic changes in an organism or offspring.
• Genetic traits result in observed inheritance patterns.
• Patterns of inheritance can be explained through Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment.
• Probabilities for genotype and phenotype combinations in monohybrid crosses can be modeled using a Punnett Square.

Evolution and Biodiversity / Evolution

•  Fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited the earth years ago.

• Inherited characteristics may change over time as adaptations to changes in the environment enable organisms to survive.
• Changes in the environment have caused some plants and animals to die or move to new locations. 

•  Genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution and the diversity of organisms.
• Evidence drawn from mul-tiple sources provides the basis of the theory of evolution.
• Extinction of species is related to a mismatch of adaptation and environment.
• Ecosystems have changed through geologic time in response to various influences.
• Biological evolution accounts for species diversity developed over generations.

• Evolution is demonstrated by evidence from multiple sources.
• Species are reproductively distinct groups of organisms. Species are classified into a hierarchical taxonomic system based on similarities. Geographic isolation can play a role in speciation.
• Evolution through natural selection can result in changes in biodiversity through an increase or decrease of genetic diversity within a population.

Living Things and Their Environments / Ecology

Owl Pellet Dissection Animation

Pooping Cow

Seed to Tree

•  People and other animals interact with the environ-ment through their senses.
• Animals and plants go through changes in appearance as the seasons change.
• An organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs.

•  Organisms meet needs by using behaviors in response to information from the environ-ment. Some behaviors are instinctive and others learned.
• Plants have characteristic behaviors. Plants and animals can survive harsh environ-ments via seasonal behaviors.
• Organisms can cause changes in their environment to ensure survival, which may affect the ecosystem.
• Energy derived from the sun is used by plants to produce sugars and is transferred with-in a food chain from producers to consumers to decomposers.

•  Organisms interact and have different functions within an ecosystem that enable the ecosystem to survive.
• Roles & relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.
• Dead plants and animals are broken down by other living organisms, which contributes to the system as a whole.
• Producers use energy from sunlight to make sugars through photosynthesis, which can be used immediately, stored for later use, or used by other organisms.

• Birth, death, immigration, and emigration influence population size.
• Changes in population size and biodiversity result from a variety of influences.
• A food web identifies producers, consumers, and decomposers, and explains the transfer of energy through trophic levels. Relationships among organisms add to the complexity of biological communities.
• Water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter, and oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.