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Advanced Biology

Description


This is a high school level course based on the California state standards and can help prepare for the AP Biology and SAT II Biology Subject Test.


The Biology Sequence at QuantumCamp focuses on the basic concepts and theories in modern biology. Through a series of hypothesis-driven experiments, hands-on activities, and active independent studies, students are going to develop ideas on the following topics:

  • Plant and animal anatomy
  • Origin of life and the theory of evolution
  • Organism, population and ecosystem
  • Chemistry of carbon
  • Basic organic chemistry
  • Chemistry of macromolecules in life
  • Cellular structure
  • Cell activities and basic mechanisms
  • Classic genetics 
  • Molecular genetics: DNA, RNA, protein and phenotype
Sequence


Cell Biology
Using optical microscopes with magnification up to 1600x, students are going to investigate major cell types and their cellular structure. They are expected to unveil the cell cycle themselves without any information given by the instructor, just like scientists did when making discoveries from the 1920s to 1950s! The class will also explore major cell activities including proliferation, photosynthesis and respiration, differentiation, and cell aging and death.


BioChemistry
From this course, students will find out why carbon is so unique in the chemistry of life. With a good understanding of carbon-centered chemical bonds, students will construct common macromolecules found in living things and explore the properties of these molecules.


Genetics
In this course, students will follow Gregor Mendel and Thomas Morgan's discoveries in classic genetics into modern molecular genetics. Classic genetics studies Mendelian inheritance and the chromosome theory of inheritance developed by Morgan. DNA, RNA, protein and phenotype are the core concepts of molecular genetics, which studies the structure and function of genes at a molecular level.
Information


The Advanced Biology sequence consists of three 30-hour workshops for a total of 90 hours of in-class material. Academic year sequences are held in 10 week classes each 3 hours long.

This sequence is designed to prepare students for success on the AP Biology exam and/or the SAT II Biology Subject Test.

Classes consist of hands-on activities, practice problems, and concept synthesis. Academic year students are required to complete a minimal amount of practice problems. Students seeking A-G fulfillment will need to work with their parent schools in order to have this course satisfy A-G requirements.

Prerequisites

Students should be in high school and have Geometry. Students should have completed the Physical Sciences sequence of courses. It is recommended that students have taken Chemistry in order to maximize their learning in this class.

AP Biology Standards covered

  • The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemi­cal reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism’s cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:
    • Students know cells are enclosed within semipermeable membranes that regulate their interaction with their surroundings.
    • Students know enzymes are proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions without altering the reaction equilibrium and the activities of enzymes depend on the temperature, ionic conditions, and the pH of the surroundings.
    • Students know how prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells (including those from plants and animals), and viruses differ in complexity and general structure.
    • Students know the central dogma of molecular biology outlines the flow of infor­ mation from transcription of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the nucleus to translation of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm.
    • Students know the role of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus in the secretion of proteins.
    • Students know usable energy is captured from sunlight by chloroplasts and is stored through the synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide.
    • Students know the role of the mitochondria in making stored chemical-bond energy available to cells by completing the breakdown of glucose to carbon dioxide.
    • Students know most macromolecules (polysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids) in cells and organisms are synthesized from a small collection of simple precursors.
    • Students know how chemiosmotic gradients in the mitochondria and chloroplast store energy for ATP production.
    • Students know how eukaryotic cells are given shape and internal organization by a cytoskeleton or cell wall or both.
  • Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population. As a basis for understanding this concept:
    • Students know meiosis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs of chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to pro­ duce gametes containing one chromosome of each type.
    • Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis.
    • Students know how random chromosome segregation explains the probability that a particular allele will be in a gamete.
    • Students know new combinations of alleles may be generated in a zygote through the fusion of male and female gametes (fertilization).
    • Students know why approximately half of an individual’s DNA sequence comes from each parent.
    • Students know the role of chromosomes in determining an individual’s sex.
    • Students know how to predict possible combinations of alleles in a zygote from the genetic makeup of the parents.
  • A multicellular organism develops from a single zygote, and its phenotype depends on its genotype, which is established at fertilization. As a basis for understanding this concept:
    • Students know how to predict the probable outcome of phenotypes in a genetic cross from the genotypes of the parents and mode of inheritance (autosomal or X-linked, dominant or recessive).
    • Students know the genetic basis for Mendel’s laws of segregation and indepen­ dent assortment.
    • Students know how to predict the probable mode of inheritance from a pedigree diagram showing phenotypes.
    • Students know how to use data on frequency of recombination at meiosis to esti­ mate genetic distances between loci and to interpret genetic maps of chromo­ somes.
  • Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism. As a basis for understanding this concept:
    • Students know the general pathway by which ribosomes synthesize proteins, using tRNAs to translate genetic information in mRNA.
    • Students know how to apply the genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids from a sequence of codons in RNA.
    • Students know how mutations in the DNA sequence of a gene may or may not affect the expression of the gene or the sequence of amino acids in an encoded protein.
    • Students know specialization of cells in multicellular organisms is usually due to different patterns of gene expression rather than to differences of the genes themselves.
    • Students know proteins can differ from one another in the number and sequence of amino acids.
    • Students know why proteins having different amino acid sequences typically have different shapes and chemical properties.
  • The genetic composition of cells can be altered by incorporation of exogenous DNA into the cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:
    • Students know the general structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein.
    • Students know how to apply base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA during semiconservative replication and transcription of information from DNA into mRNA.
    • Students know how genetic engineering (biotechnology) is used to produce novel biomedical and agricultural products.
    • Students know how basic DNA technology (restriction digestion by endonu­ cleases, gel electrophoresis, ligation, and transformation) is used to construct recombinant DNA molecules.
    • Students know how exogenous DNA can be inserted into bacterial cells to alter their genetic makeup and support expression of new protein products.