2015-2016 Biology Honors Summer Reading Assignment
Dear Biology Honors Student,
Congratulations on your placement into Biology Honors. We hope you are enjoying the
summer and the anticipation of entering Santa Margarita Catholic High School. We are very
fortunate here at SMCHS to have a beautiful science building and a great faculty.
Biology Honors is an exciting class with information galore! The textbook that we are
using is a benchmark and has the wonderful added benefit of giving each student an enhanced
online version available from home. Each student will receive a code during the first week of
school so that you can access your entire textbook and additional materials online!
The activities in Biology Honors are fun and exciting. Since our
expectations are extremely high for the class, we partake in many complex
laboratory experiments. During the first semester, we will test the pH of various
substances and observe osmosis. Additionally, we will test for the presence of
organic chemicals with standard indicators and we will extract DNA from cells
and perform a karyotype simulation. During the second semester we will learn sterile
technique and identify bacterial cultures and perform Gram staining. We will also learn the
complexities of the animal kingdom, its phylogeny and physiology, as we perform virtual and
actual dissections. Finally, we will learn about ecology, biomes, and human reasonability.
During the year we work as a team. Experience tells us that the tighter the class
becomes the better the learning outcome. We will experiment together, reflect together and
discover together. The school’s Learning Portal will help you keep organized with up to date
class information, important resources, assignments and lecture notes. There will be many
opportunities for small group work, while individual projects will also be assigned.
So, as you can see... we accomplish a great deal in this class! However, in order to do
this you need to do some preparation before the first day of class. All students are required to
read Unit One (Chapters 1-3) in the textbook Modern Biology and complete the attached Study
Guide assignment. The chapters are named “The Science of Life, Chemistry of Life, and
Biochemistry” and deal with many basic terms and concepts that you will need to understand
throughout the school year. We anticipate that the textbook will be available from the
bookstore before regular book sales should you wish to purchase it early, however the
assignment shouldn’t take more than a few hours to complete. The assignment is due when
school begins. You will receive instructions for uploading the assignment to the Learning Portal
the first week, another important skill you will need for the class.
We look forward to seeing you in August!
See you soon!
The SMCHS Science Department
3/10/2016
Unit One Study Guide
Summer Assignment
Biology Honors (CH 1,2,3)
This study guide is intended to help you when you study for unit tests and the final exam. Study
guides are not intended to be all inclusive, but will help you focus your study. All labs, activities,
Study Guides, worksheets, and class notes are sources for test questions. Use your textbook to
answer the following questions:
Save this document as a word document in preparation for uploading to the learning portal the
first week of school. Type your responses in the space provided.
Chapter 1
1. What are the unifying themes of Biology?
2. Distinguish between unicellular and multicellular organisms
3. Describe Homeostasis
4. Define metabolism
5. Distinguish between asexual and sexual reproduction
6. Describe the characteristics of living things
7. What is a gene?
8. Describe the steps of the scientific method
9. Distinguish between a control and experimental group
10. Distinguish between a dependent and independent variable
11. Label/know the function of the parts of a light microscope:
12. Know how to calculate total magnification for a compound light microscope.
13. Compare/contrast TEMs and SEMs .
Chapter 2
14. Define element, atom, compound, and molecule
15. Draw and label a model of the structure of an atom
16. What are the general properties of a Periodic Chart
17. Distinguish between covalent and ionic bonds
18. Describe the three states of matter
19. Explain activation energy
20. Distinguish between products and reactants in a chemical reaction
21. Describe the polarity of water
22. Define solution, solute, solvent, and concentration
23. Explain the dissociation of water
24. Contrast the properties of acids and bases
25. What are buffers and what is their purpose in living systems?
Chapter 3
26. Distinguish between organic and inorganic compounds
27. Name three main elements found in organic compounds
28. Explain why carbon is able to form so many different compounds
29. Discuss the various types of carbohydrates
30. Identify the chemical and molecular structure of proteins
31. Draw the basic structure of an amino acid and label the parts
32. Describe the “induced fit” model of enzyme action
33. Discuss the various types of lipids and their basic structure
34. Describe the 2 types of nucleic acids and their role in biology