SAMPLE COURSE OUTLINE
BIOLOGY
GENERAL YEAR 12
Copyright
© School Curriculum and Standards Authority, 2015
This document – apart from any third party copyright material contained in it – may be freely copied, or communicated on an intranet, for
non-commercial purposes in educational institutions, provided that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority is acknowledged as the
copyright owner, and that the Authority’s moral rights are not infringed.
Copying or communication for any other purpose can be done only within the terms of the Copyright Act 1968 or with prior written
permission of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. Copying or communication of any third party copyright material can be
done only within the terms of the Copyright Act 1968 or with permission of the copyright owners.
Any content in this document that has been derived from the Australian Curriculum may be used under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia licence
Disclaimer
Any resources such as texts, websites and so on that may be referred to in this document are provided as examples of resources that
teachers can use to support their learning programs. Their inclusion does not imply that they are mandatory or that they are the only
resources relevant to the course.
2015/13034v3
1
Sample course outline
Biology – General Year 12
Unit 3 and Unit 4
Semester 1 – Unit 3 – Reproduction and inheritance
Week
Key teaching points
Reproduction
1–2
3
Asexual reproduction
• asexual reproduction (binary fission, budding, vegetative propagation, cuttings, bulbs, tubers,
spores, parthenogenesis)
• plant propagation by asexual reproduction
• observation of yeast cells
• use of the microscope
Cell division
• mitosis
• use of the microscope to observe growing root cells
• meiosis
Sexual reproduction
• types of gametes
• fertilisation (restoring the diploid number)
4–6
Life cycle of a flowering plant
• alternation of haploid and diploid stages
Reproduction in flowering plants
• structure and function of parts of the flower
• dissection of a variety of flowers (real or virtual dissections)
• mechanisms of pollination
• human facilitation in pollination of native plants
• seed dispersal – agents for dispersal and adaptations, self-dispersal mechanisms
• adaptations of Australian plants to regular burning – seed dispersal and recolonisation
• requirements for germination
• use of smoke-water to promote germination in native Australian plants
Task 1: Science inquiry – Reproduction in flowering plants
7–8
Animal reproduction
• reproductive structures for external and internal fertilisation
• timing of reproduction
• strategies for survival of offspring, including parental care and number of offspring
Life cycles of animals
• life cycle of insects/amphibians and Australian marsupials
• pest control based on knowledge of life cycles
Task 2: Test – Reproduction
Sample course outline | Biology | General Year 12
2
Week
Key teaching points
Inheritance and change
9–11
12–14
15
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
• structure and function of DNA
• models of DNA
• genes
Mutations
• gene
• chromosome (structure and number)
Sex determination
• genetics
• influence of environmental conditions (temperature, day length)
Task 3: Science inquiry – Structure of DNA
Variation and Natural selection
• causes of variation
• selection pressures
• survival and reproduction
Task 4: Externally set task – A task set by the SCSA based on the following content from Unit 3 –
<teacher to insert information provided by the Authority>
Task 5: Extended response – Natural selection
Selective breeding used in animal husbandry
• agriculture/horticulture/domestic pets
Local ecosystem study
• introduction to citizen science
• identification of local environmental project/scientific data collection
• liaison with relevant groups to form partnerships/involvement in projects
Task 6: Test – Inheritance and change
Sample course outline | Biology | General Year 12
3
Semester 2 – Unit 4 – Ecosystems and eco-issues
Week
Key teaching points
Local ecosystem study
1
Long-term project
• planning/links to agency or community organisation
Ecosystems
• definition and characteristics
• types of ecosystems
2–4
Energy flow
• flow of energy
• biogeochemical cycling
• food chains/webs
• trophic levels
Long-term project
• data collection
5–7
Communities and populations
• relationships in communities competition, predation, symbiosis
• population size, density and carrying capacity
• community structure and composition
Long-term project
• data collection and collation
Task 7: Test – Ecosystems
8–10
Biodiversity
• unique WA biodiversity
• World Heritage areas – Shark Bay, Ningaloo Reef, Purnululu National Park
• biodiversity hotspots
• keystone species
• bioindicator species
Task 8: Extended response – Case study
11
12–14
15
Long-term project
• data collection and collation
Threats to biodiversity
• habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation
• spread of invasive species
• unsustainable use of natural resources
• climate change
• burning/fire
• aquatic ecosystems and water flows
Task 9: Test – Biodiversity
Long-term project
• complete and submit report
• present findings to local government, agency or community group
Task 10: Science inquiry – Long-term project
Sample course outline | Biology | General Year 12