Bioscience 2 Honors (#2000510)

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Course Standards

General Course Information and Notes

General Notes

Laboratory investigations that include the use of scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, laboratory apparatus and technologies, experimental procedures, and safety procedures are an integral part of this course. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recommends that at the high school level, all students should be in the science lab or field, collecting data every week. School laboratory investigations (labs) are defined by the National Research Council (NRC) as an experience in the laboratory, classroom, or the field that provides students with opportunities to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others using tools, materials, data collection techniques, and models (NRC, 2006, p. 3). Laboratory investigations in the high school classroom should help all students develop a growing understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills to calibrate and troubleshoot equipment used to make observations. Learners should understand measurement error; and have the skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data (National Research Council, 2006, p.77; NSTA, 2007). Bioscience II is a rigorous laboratory based course that provides an advanced foundation in the concepts, theories, and pioneering methods involved in micro and molecular based research including medical research, functional genomics, gene discovery, agriculture and forensics. Students will learn how to design plasmids and primers for polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Course focus will be on proteomics (the study of protein expression), protein separation and analysis, protein chromatography purification, protein quantification through spectroscopy, cladistical analysis, immunology, stem cell research, gene sequencing, and bioinformatics using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool.) Emphasis will be placed on training students in the means by which to design experiments in preparation for independent research. Students will learn the principles, methodologies, and applications of equipment such as thermocyclers, horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis, micropipettes, spectrophotometers, centrifuges, and other advanced laboratory apparatus used in the bioscience industry.

Laboratory activities may include but not be limited to:

The preparation of buffer solutions and polyacrylamide gels for vertical electrophoresis;
Quantitative analysis of protein molecular weights by developing a standard curve;
Western blotting and ELISA testing;
The preparation of serial dilutions for spectroscopy to determine unknown concentrations;
Bacterial transformation and ligation using bacterial blue/white screening;
Extraction of DNA for chromatography purification to be used for electrophoresis;
Polymerase chain reactions using self designed primers;
Gene Sequencing and Bioinformatics.

Special Notes

Instructional Practices: Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis:

Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.
Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.
Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

Prerequisite: Honors Chemistry and Bioscience I/or AP Biology
Corequisite: Honors Physics

General Information

Course Number: 2000510

Course Path:

Section: Grades PreK to 12 Education Courses > Grade Group: Grades 9 to 12 and Adult Education Courses > Subject: Science > SubSubject: Biological Sciences >

Abbreviated Title: BIOSCIENCE 2 HON

Course Length: Year (Y)

Course Attributes:

Honors

Course Type: Core Academic Course

Course Level: 3

Course Status: Course Approved

Grade Level(s): 9,10,11,12

Educator Certifications

One of these educator certification options is required to teach this course.

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this course.

Original Student Tutorials

Quadratic Functions Part 1: Ball Games:

Join us as we watch ball games and explore how the height of a ball bounce over time is represented by quadratic functions, which provides opportunities to interpret key features of the function in this interactive tutorial.

This is part 1 of a two-part series: Click HERE to open part 2.