Biology

I teach Year 11 and 12 Biology in the Victorian Certificate of Education. This is a non-compulsory course used to generate knowledge and skills required of practicing Biologists and for entry to higher education. The students are aged between 16 and 18.

Organisms are made up of cells. All organisms are faced with the challenge of obtaining nutrients and water, a source of energy, a means of disposing their waste products and a means of reproducing themselves. In this unit students will investigate the structure and function of cells and the manner in which all living things meet the challenge of finding the requirements for life.
 * Unit 1. Unity and Diversity**

__Area of Study 1 - Cells in Action__ The first area of study focuses on the activities of cells. Students investigate the relationship between specialised structures of cells and the processes that maintain life.

__Area of Study 2 - Functioning Organisms__ In this area of study students will focus on the relationship between features of organisms and how organisms meet their requirements for life.

Students investigate particular sets of biotic and abiotic factors that operate in different places in the biosphere, and how these factors influence the kinds of organisms that live there. Students examine how organisms in their particular habitats are part of the integrated and naturally self-sustaining systems in which energy flows and matter is cycled between the living and non-living components of the environment.
 * Unit 2. Organisms in their Environment**

__Area of Study 1 - Adaptations of Organisms__ This area of study focuses on the kinds of environmental factors that are common to all habitats. We investigate the adaptations that allow organisms to exploit their resources – these include structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations.

__Area of Study 2 - Dynamic Ecosystems__ In this area of study we investigate the relationships that exist between the living and non-living aspects of the environment. This includes the cycling of energy and nutrients through the global ecosystems.

Currently, my Year 11 class are studying ecosystem structure and have been set the task of preparing a management plan for the school's natural environments. We have decided to construct a Wiki so that we can work as a collaborative team to produce this management plan and share our understandings with a global audience. Please feel free to make helpful suggestions and comments.

In this unit students consider the molecules and biochemical processes that are indicators of life. They investigate the synthesis of biomolecules and biochemical processes that are common to autotrophic and heterotrophic life forms. Students consider the universality of DNA and investigate its structure; the genes of an organism, as functional units of DNA and code for the production of a diverse range of proteins in an organism.
 * Unit 3. Signatures of Life**

__Area of Study 1 - Molecules of Life__ In this area of study, students investigate the activities of cells at molecular level; the synthesis of biomolecules that form components of cells and the role of enzymes in catalysing biochemical processes. Students investigate energy transformations in cells and how autotrophs and heterotrophs obtain their energy requirements, particularly through the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Students gain an understanding that DNA and proteins are key molecules of life forms, and that units of DNA code for the production of proteins underpins the relationship between changing the code and changing the molecular products of cells. Students explore applications of molecular biology in medical diagnosis and the design of new pharmaceuticals.

__Area of Study 2 - Detecting and Responding__ This area of study focuses on how cells detect biomolecules that elicit particular responses depending on whether the molecules are ‘self’ or ‘non-self’. Students investigate how signalling molecules, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, assist in coordinating and regulating cell activities by binding to specific receptors on membranes of target cells, initiating a series of molecular changes in response. Students examine the barriers and mechanisms of organisms that protect them from invasion and infection by pathogenic organisms. They investigate mechanisms that control the effectiveness of pathogens, and specific and non-specific immune responses of organisms to antigens. Students investigate signalling molecules and their role in regulating activities of organisms such as growth hormones in plants and/or action of antibiotics. They investigate how advances in molecular biology have helped to find causes of disorders in cell communication, and how technologies assist in managing disorders that interfere with coordination and regulation.

In this unit students examine evidence for evolution of life forms over time. Students explore hypotheses that explain how changes to species have come about. In addition to observable similarities and differences between organisms, students explore the universality of DNA, and conversation of genes as evidence for ancestral lines of life that have given rise to the present biodiversity of our planet.
 * Unit 4. Continuity and Change**

This includes investigations of molecular genetics and the genome, transmittion of genes for generation to generation, and the interrelationships between biological, cultural and technological evolution.

__Area of Study 1 - Heredity__ This area of study focuses on molecular genetics and the investigation not only of individual units of inheritance, but also of the genomes of individuals and species. Students investigate inheritance in asexually reproducing organisms and the mechanisms and patterns of transmission of heritable traits in sexually reproducing organisms.

Students will examine the process of meiosis and investigate the techniques and technologies that are used in association with genetic manipulation.

__Area of Study 2 - Change over Time__ This area of study focuses on change to genetic material that occurs over time and the changing nature and reliability of evidence that supports the concept of evolution of life forms. Students investigate changes to species and examine the process of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution.

Students will examine how evolutionary biology has been based upon changes in evidence and consider how the interaction between human, cultural and technological evolution.