CRITTERS ETC.

IB Standard Level Biology (2024-2025)

Course length: 2 years

Teacher: Mandy Heddle (Dr Mandy)

Room: 204A

Contact details: [email protected]

Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday  3.00 – 3.30 pm

Course overview: 

This course enables constructive engagement with topical scientific issues.  By learning biological concepts in the context of real world examples, we can evaluate scientific research more effectively, and make informed choices on issues such as human health and the environment.  You will develop an appreciation for the interaction between scientific solutions and their ethical, environmental and economic implications.  The course includes practical work leading to an individual investigation, and embedded active learning will inspire interest, understanding and curiosity about the natural world. 

Learner outcomes: 

• Identify examples of a concept linked to real-life phenomena
• Organize, reflect on, and modify Biological understanding
• Apply concepts to existing and future knowledge
• Apply conceptual understanding as a scientific thinking tool for predicting outcomes, justifying conclusions and evaluating knowledge claims.

Within each unit there will be subunits on 3-4 topics. 

Unit 1 :  Unity and Diversity

This unit will introduce you to the diversity of life but more importantly, the similarities of all life forms. Evolution has driven the diversity of life on this planet, but how do we know that? How do we know life only evolved once on Earth? Through the study of cells (Topics A2, and B2.2), molecules (Topics A1 and B1) Biodiversity (Topic A3) and Natural Selection (Topic A4), we will explore the common systems of all life which will include understanding the nature of systems in biology.  

Unit 2: Form and Function

The outcome of evolutionary processes are adaptations that increase the survival and reproductive potential of living things. The adaptation has a FORM (a shape, a structure) for carrying out a specific FUNCTION – for example, a giraffe’s long neck (form) is associated with finding available food resources in the higher branches of trees (function). We will explore this concept by looking at how cells and body systems transport,  exchange and move molecules that are essential for life (B2.1 and 2.3, and B3) as well as how organisms are adapted to their environments (B4). ‘

Unit 3: Continuity and Change

How do natural systems stay in balance? For example, organisms reproduce themselves, so that their offspring benefit from inherited adaptive traits, but at the same time the offspring must be different enough that they maintain healthy diversity. Our bodies regulate our temperature so it stays within a narrow margin suitable for the chemical reactions that take place in our bodies at every moment. This concept of balance doesn’t only impact organisms and cells, but also much bigger systems such as the earth’s atmosphere. Therefore in this unit we will also study climate change, the nature of atmospheric equilibrium and the impact of climate change on human health and earth’s systems. 

Unit 4: Interaction and Interdependence. To what extent do organisms interact and need one another for survival, and to what extent do they act alone to obtain resources and reproduce? Similarly, to what extent do your body systems interact with one another – for example your brain (nervous system)  and your digestive system are closely linked (C2), and your immune system consists, in part, of other organisms! (C3) In this unit we will explore these interactions at multiple levels from cellular processes (C1) to within (B3) and between (C4) organisms. 

Assessment details: 

An ISB Biology grade will derive from all Summative Assessments, which include end-of-unit tests, end-of-year exams, and IA grades. Each unit will contain a minimum of three formal formative and three Summative assessments, recorded on PowerSchool. 

To complete the 60 hours of LAB time required by the IB, LAB activities will be completed and submitted on Google Classroom. The individual investigation and the Collaborative Project contribute 20 hours towards the 60 hours.

IB Standard-Level Biology Assessment

Learning Resources: 

Kognity Online Text Book  – https://kognity.com/ 

Websites 

Curriculum Resources:

• BioNinja – http://ib.bioninja.com.au/ 
• Bio4Life – https://www.biologyforlife.com/11088ib-bio-syllabus11088.html 

Online Lectures 

• OSC – https://www.youtube.com/@OSC1990
• TeachMe – https://www.youtube.com/@TeachMe-Official

Simulations 

• LabXchange- https://www.labxchange.org/library 

Additional resources will be provided through Google Classroom.