The Common
Ground
Curriculum
Science: Biology
CGC Science : Biology
Defining Biology:
Biology is the study of living things in their environment. This is not a static, ‘snapshot’ of the living
world but an understanding of the past, present and possible future of the biosphere where the
major certainty is change. Since dynamic change is central to the modern study of biology we have
identified two key questions for biologists:
How do individual living things respond to changes in their environment?
How do populations of living things change over time?
Key Concepts:
Organisms • Biological Information • Genetics • Variation • Populations • Environment
Connecting Concepts:
Adaptation • Energy • Materials • Structures • Interdependence • Survival • Stresses • Species •
Homeostasis • Health • Sustainability • Processes • Inheritance • Systems • Reactions • Growth •
Change • Evolution • Reproduction
Conceptual standard 1:
Biology of the individual
Learners understand that organisms are adapted physically and biochemically to collect and manage
energy and raw materials to grow and repair their internal structures.
Amplification
Living things collect energy from their environment and use it to drive key life processes. Green plants
collect energy in the form of sunlight thorough photosynthesis and use this to manufacture organic
material from carbon dioxide and water. Animals consume organic matter as a source of energy and
raw materials for growth. The breakdown of organic material to produce energy occurs in both plants
and animals and is called respiration.
Living things take in raw materials and process these through a range of reactions collectively known
as metabolism. Catabolic reactions breakdown complex organic matter into simpler substances
which can be recombined into novel substances through a complex of anabolic reactions. The exact
balance of these reactions depends on environmental (energy and material supply, environmental
stresses) and internal factors (developmental stage and energy needs). Living things excrete waste
products generated by these processes.
Level
How do living things get what they need to survive from the environment?
High school
The living machine
Learners understand that living things have complex internal structures
and systems that allow energy and materials to be processed efficiently.
These internal systems show physical adaptations and change in response
to external and internal factors affecting survival.
Middle school
Life processes
Learners understand that life processes are common to all living things
(movement, respiration, growth, sensitivity, reproduction, excretion,
nutrition) and that living things possess physical and chemical adaptations,
some of which are characteristic of the individual species, to perform these
functions efficiently.
Elementary
Survival needs
Learners understand that every living thing makes a range of demands
on the environment for survival and some of these may be specific to a
particular species or individual.
Early childhood
Caring for living things
Learners understand that living things need a range of things from the
environment to survive and grow including factors such as food, air, water
and shelter. They will understand these most clearly in terms of food and
water for familiar animals like pets.
Conceptual standard 2:
Biological information systems
Learners understand that organisms manage information flow internally and between themselves and
their environment in order to manage the impact of the environment on them and their responses,
both short and long-term, to it to ensure continued survival.
Amplification
Living organisms detect changes in their environment (stimuli) through a range of senses. This
information can produce responses in terms of growth or development or, in the case of many
animals, movement. Many animals have a complex nervous system for processing this information
and producing a suitable, rapid response - which may be changed over time by learning. Plant
responses tend to be developmental (e.g. flowering, leaf moult) or growth-related (hydrotropism,
geotropism) but can be relatively fast (closure of stomata, opening and closing of flowers). Multicellular
organisms also monitor their internal environment and produce responses to endogenous stimuli
through hormones or direct nerve stimulation or inhibition of organs.
Level
How do living things get what they need to survive from the environment?
High school
Managing internal processes
Learners understand that living things monitor their internal as well as their
external environments and manage the processes that create and modify
their internal environment to keep key factors within the narrow limits
necessary for health.
Middle school
Making sense of the world
Learners understand that senses provide animals within information
that enables them to respond appropriately to ensure their continued
survival and that the capabilities of these senses reflect their lifestyle and
environmental niche.
Elementary
Responses to the environment
Learners understand that living organisms respond to changes in their
environment in terms of behaviour or physical development that increase
their chances of survival.
Early childhood
Our five senses
Learners understand that our senses tell us things about the world around
us and allow us to make decisions that protect our health and well-being
Conceptual standard 3:
Genetics and inheritance
Learners understand that organisms have systems that transfer information from generation to
generation. These mechanisms can result in changes in species that persist for generations.
Amplification
The genome is a store of information chemically coded in the nucleic acids DNA or RNA. This
information directs the manufacture of enzymes and, consequently, other cell structures. Other
factors (environmental and internal) can modify the expression of this information in real time. A limited
number of factors can modify the coded information to introduce random mutations which may be
expressed in the next generation. Asexual reproduction tends to conserve the gene assortment
whereas sexual reproduction tends to reorganise the genes present in the next generation leading
to greater variation.
Level
How do living things get what they need to survive from the environment?
High school
Genetic combinations
Learners understand that certain factors are controlled by single genes
which allows scientists to predict the proportion of offspring with these
characteristics from knowledge of the genotype of the parents. They
also understand that factors controlled by multiple genes working in
combination cannot be predicted in the same way.
Middle school
The nature of genes
Learners understand that genes contain information which allows a newlyfertilised egg to manufacture the body parts needed for an adult organism.
They understand that some factors are predominantly controlled by these
genes but that others may have a very limited genetic component and be
heavily modified by the organism’s environment.
Elementary
Parents and offspring
Learners understand that both male and female partners contribute
characteristics to the offspring but that the offspring is not a simple
combination of the two parents.
Early childhood
Birth and development
Learners understand that offspring are the same type of organism as the
parents even if the juvenile form of the organism might look very different
from the final adult form.
Conceptual standard 4:
Variation in populations
Learners understand that populations of organisms contain a range of variants and these typically
show differential survival when faced with environmental stresses. Over time this can lead to changes
in the types of organisms present in an environment and the evolution of novel species.
Amplification
Variation exists within a population of a species. This variation can be heritable or not heritable
(produced by the environment and not affecting the germ cells). Heritable variation can be produced
by mutation, resorting of genes during gamete production and sexual reproduction. Each variant will
respond differently to environmental pressures producing differential survival and contribution to the
next generation. This can produce changes in the population of organisms living in an area and in
certain circumstances lead to production of a new species.
Level
How do living things get what they need to survive from the environment?
High school
Evolutionary changes
Learners understand that environments change and that if populations
living in these environments do not have sufficient inherent variation
(augmented by random mutations) or the changes are very rapid the
population will fail. Where change occurs rapidly enough a new species
may develop which replaces the existing population.
Middle school
Natural selection
Learners understand that the differences between individuals of a
population of organisms of the same species living in an area will mean
that some are better equipped to survive in the environment than others
leading to an increasingly close match between the characteristics of the
environment and the capabilities of the species present.
Elementary
Variation
Learners understand that any population of a given species will have a
variety of types but that these all belong to the same species and that each
species has adaptations that help it to survive in its natural environment.