YEAR 10 SCIENCE
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Year 10 Level Description
The Science Inquiry Skills and Science as a Human Endeavour strands are described across a two-year band. In their planning, schools and teachers refer to the expectations
outlined in the Achievement Standard and also to the content of the Science Understanding strand for the relevant year level to ensure that these two strands are addressed
over the two-year period. The three strands of the curriculum are interrelated and their content should be taught in an integrated way.
The order and detail in which the content descriptions are organised into teaching/learning programs are decisions to be made by the teacher.
In the Year 10 curriculum students explore systems at different scales and connect microscopic and macroscopic properties to explain phenomena. Students explore the
biological, chemical, geological and physical evidence for different theories, such as the theories of natural selection and the Big Bang. Atomic theory is developed to
understand relationships within the periodic table. Understanding motion and forces are related by applying physical laws. Relationships between aspects of the living,
physical and chemical world are applied to systems on a local and global scale and this enables students to predict how changes will affect equilibrium within these systems.
Year 10 Content Description
Science Understanding
Biological sciences
Science as a Human Endeavour
Nature and development of science
The transmission of heritable characteristics from
one generation to the next involves DNA and genes
(ACSSU184)
Scientific understanding, including models and
theories, are contestable and are refined over time
through a process of review by the scientific
community (ACSHE191)
The theory of evolution by natural selection
explains the diversity of living things and is
supported by a range of scientific evidence
(ACSSU185)
Advances in scientific understanding often rely on
developments in technology and technological
advances are often linked to scientific discoveries
(ACSHE192)
Use and influence of science
People can use scientific knowledge to evaluate
whether they should accept claims, explanations or
predictions (ACSHE194)
Advances in science and emerging sciences and
technologies can significantly affect people’s lives,
including generating new career opportunities
(ACSHE195)
The values and needs of contemporary society can
influence the focus of scientific research
(ACSHE230)
Science Inquiry Skills
Questioning and predicting
Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be
investigated scientifically (ACSIS198)
Processing and analysing data and
information
Analyse patterns and trends in data, including
describing relationships between variables and
identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS203)
and describe specific ways to improve the quality
of the data (ACSIS205)
Critically analyse the validity of information in
secondary sources and evaluate the approaches
used to solve problems (ACSIS206)
Communicating
Planning and conducting
Plan, select and use appropriate investigation
methods, including field work and laboratory
experimentation, to collect reliable data; assess risk
and address ethical issues associated with these
methods (ACSIS199)
Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw
conclusions that are consistent with evidence
(ACSIS204)
Select and use appropriate equipment, including
digital technologies, to systematically and
accurately collect and record data (ACSIS200)
Evaluate conclusions, including identifying sources
of uncertainty and possible alternative explanations,
Evaluating
Communicate scientific ideas and information for a
particular purpose, including constructing evidencebased arguments and using appropriate scientific
language, conventions and representations
(ACSIS208)
Outcomes:
1. Outline processes involved in natural selection and describe biodiversity as a function of evolution.
2. Investigate the changes caused by natural selection in a population and describe the relationship between genetic characteristics,
survival and reproduction.
3. Evaluate and interpret evidence for evolution (including, fossil records, chemical and anatomical similarities and geographical
distribution).
4. Discuss the role of different sources of evidence for evolution by natural selection, including biochemical, anatomical and fossil
evidence.
Week
Content/Activity
1
Revision quiz testing the knowledge retained from
semester 1.
CHANGES
Fossils and evolution
OVER
GENERATIONS


Examine the evolution of the horse. Find
fossil evidence from the chapter to
support the idea that the horse had
evolved over time.
Define: evolution and generation.
Resources and Experiments
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 3 ‘Natural
selection and evolution’. p. 69.
Assessment and Homework
Unit review 3.1 RQ 1 -15 p.
76
Pearson Activity Book 3.1 ‘Vertebrate Limbs’
Pearson Activity book 3.2 ‘Artificial
selection’
Practical activity 3.2 Signs in the skeletons
p.77
Structure and relationships
Theory – That organisms that exhibited the same
characteristic must be related at some point. Relate
this back to their study of genetics in semester 1.
Homologous & analogous structures – Compare
and contrast these structures. Define these terms.
Find examples of each.
Artificial Selection & Selective breeding.
Compare and contrast. Give an example and
explain how certain organisms have been changed
via these methods. Students should know that
when organisms adapt to an environment, not
every feature is an adaption, though the adaptions
are for the benefit of it.
2
NATURAL
SELECTION
Darwin & Natural Selection
Examine Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
Students define natural selection and explain how
the desired features are ‘chosen’ and passed onto
the next generation. Define selective agent &
introduce the idea of ‘survival of the fittest’ – only
those characteristics that will help the organism to
survive are more likely to be passed on.
Variation – Natural selection can only act if
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 3.1 ‘Natural
selection. p. 78.
Pearson activity sheet: Chapter 3 ‘Natural
Selection and Evolution’
Practical activity 3.3 Natural selection
modelled p. 84.
Pearson Activity book 3.4 ‘Natural selection
Unit review 3.2 Q1-14 p. 83
variation is involved (Darwin’s theory). Students
must use prior knowledge about genes to explain
how variation in characteristics can be passed on.
Complete experiment.
of snails’
Genetics and natural selection
Pearson Activity book 342 ‘combating
bacterial resistance’
Evidence for natural selection – Henry Bernard
Kettlewell’s study of the peppered moth. Examine
his study and explain his findings.
Natural selection in insects & bacteria –
Examine the resistance that insects developed to
insecticides and research the mechanisms that
allowed insects to become resistant. Examine the
resistance that bacteria developed to antibiotics
and research the mechanisms that allows bacteria
to become resistant.
Pearson Activity book 3.5 ‘Comparing eyes’
Pearson Online – Student resource 3.2
Interactive activity ‘Penguin adaptations’
http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/asset_view
er.aspx?a=-KfL0Vxduew%3d . p. 79 in the
online text, click on the resource button.
Natural selection practical – Candy dish
selection
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/less
ons/candy_dish.html
Natural selection practical – Beans
http://chem.lapeer.org/Bio1Docs/BeanLabEv
olution.html
Additional activities http://peer.tamu.edu/curriculum_modules/Eco
systems/module_1/activity.htm
3
SPECIATION
AND
EVOLUTION
Evolution
The theory of evolution by natural selection
proposes that all species are related. Examine
some of Darwin’s research into evolution.
Interactive peppered moths website
http://www.techapps.net/interactives/pepperM
oths.swf
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 3.3
‘Speciation and evolution’ p. 85
Vertebrate fossil history
Interactive activity
http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/asset_view
er.aspx?a=5Gq4dFjA3pY%3d p. 85 of online
text.
Moving from water to land – Land vertebrates &
Exercise 2.2 Dinosaurs and extinction.
Validation – Natural
selection. Use Darwin’s
book ‘on the origins of
species’ to make up part of
the task. Bacteria and insect
resistance and how natural
selection allowed these to
become resistant.
http://www.gutenberg.org/file
the evidence to prove they existed. Birds &
humans and the evidence associated with them.
Species
Define species and speciation and identify the
steps involved in speciation that allow new
species to evolve.
Pearson Activity book 3.6 ‘Bipedalism’
s/1228/1228-h/1228h.htm#link2H_4_0006
Watch: David Attenborough’s Rise of the
animals, Triumph of the vertebrates.
Complete worksheet, highlights the evidence
for the evolution of vertebrates.
Evidence for evolution
Students summarise the evidence for
evolution (using the textbook) with examples.
Including; Fossils, Comparative anatomy,
DNA, protein structure, distribution of species
& embryology.
4
HUMAN
EVOLUTION
Humans and apes
Briefly compare structures between humans and
apes. Students create a brief timeline/scale/flow
chart of human evolution using information from
the text. Students must examine the evidence and
decide the ancestral line of modern humans. A
brief description should be included. Students
should also b aware that these groups may have
evolved at the same time, rather than one at a time.






Australopithecine (A. Afarensis)
Homo ergaster/erectus
Homo rudolfensis
Homo neandethalensis
Homo heifelbergensis
Homo sapien
Out of Africa
Students examine and explain the Out of Africa
Model and give evidence and reasons to support
this theory of how the earth was populated from
the first humans in Africa.
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 3.4 ‘Human
evolution’p.93
Skull comparison Practical
Video:
http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/PORTALS
/0/assets/science/uc_b4_l079_05_01a.mp4
Practical activity 3.4.1 Hand adaptation p.98
Practical activity 3.4.2 Foot adaptations p.99
Unit review 3.4 Q 1 – 17 p.97
Signs of the skulls
Students compare the skulls of some of the above
and describe the apparent changes between them.
5
FOSSILS AND
DATING
TECHNIQUES
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 2.1 ‘Fossils’
p. 39
Fossils
What they are and their formation – Students
define fossils and explain the use of them. Outline
the 4 steps in fossil formation (interactive).
Types of fossils – Are due to the ways in which
they form. 4 classifications of fossils, students
summarise and compare and contrast; original
fossils, replacement fossils, carbon film fossils,
indirect fossils.
Preserving environments
Students examine the different methods in which
fossils can form from the environment. Including;
Peat, tar, permafrost, amber & dry air.
Dating techniques
1.
2.
Relative dating (estimated time period
of when the rock/fossil was formed) –
Layer by layer and index fossils.
Stratigraphy – students use stratigraphy to
determine location and age of fossils.
Fluorine dating & the Piltdown man.
Absolute dating (give an actual age of
the rock or fossil) – radioactive
dating/half life. Students practice
calculating half-life. (worked example
p.51) Tree ring dating.
Interactive fossil formation http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/asset_view
er.aspx?a=qXZObPxUK5Q=
Practical activity 2.1.1 Making fossils p. 47
Practical activity 2.1.2 modelling fossils p. 47
Pearson Science Text 10 Chapter 2.2 ‘Dating
techniques’ p. 48
Half-life questions
http://www.chemteam.info/Radioactivity/WSRadioactivity2.html
Unit review 2.1 Q 1-18 p.46.
Unit review 2.2 Q 1 -12, 14
& 15 p.53
6
GEOLOGICAL
TIME SCALE
7
Sequence ordering events activity as an
introductory exercise to the topic.
Time scale – Precambrian, Palaeozoic, Mosozoic,
Cenozoic time periods, summarise these time
periods and identify some main events that
occurred at this time.
Sequencing in order events http://edu.environmentalatlas.ae/downloads/
Worksheet_Geological_Time.pdf
Unit review 2.3 Q1 – 10 p.63
Interactive game ‘A history of life on earth’
http://www.pearsonplaces.com.au/asset_view
er.aspx?a=HFocjuUDd28%3d
Test revision
Topic test
Assessment Outline
ASSESSMENT TYPE
TITLE
WORTH
Validation test
Natural selection
8%
Topic test
Topic test
12%