Big Life
Grade Level: 7th
Subject: Science
Time Frame: 16 weeks (October- March)
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Essential Questions
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- where does energy for all life on Earth originate?
- how do matter and information flow within an organism?
- why are there no bacteria large enough to be seen with the naked eye?
- what do bacteria and big life have in common?
- what makes bacteria and big life so different from one another?
- how did the large differences we see in big life arise?
- what evidence exists to support the idea that all life on Earth had a common ancestor?
- what are the functions of DNA?
- how are proteins made?
- how do living things give rise to new generations?
- why do offspring resemble their parents, but differ slightly?
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By the end of the unit, students will know:
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- how organisms use and transform energy to drive the processes of life
- how energy flows through Earth's biosphere
- how matter is recycled in the biosphere
- who cells are small
- how DNA stores and replicates information
- how all forms of life have similar cellular structures that help them carry out the processes of life
- how specialized cells work together in Big Life
- the similarities and differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
- how modern eukaryotic cells evolved from primitive prokaryotes
- how traits result from information stored in DNA and how they are inherited
- how cells divide
- similarities and differences between sexual and asexual reproduction
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By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
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- describe the flow one-way flow of energy through the plant's system
- diagram the recycling of matter between producers, consumers and decomposers
- trace the path of their free energy from ATP back to sunlight
- describe a model that explains how DNA, cells and multi-cellular life evolved
- rank the levels of organization from organelle to organism
- discuss the structure of DNA and the relationship between DNA, genes, traits and chromosomes
- describe the production of proteins based on sequence information in nucleic acids
- predict an amino acid sequence based on a DNA sequence using the Universal Genetic Code
- predict the possible impacts of a mutation
- apply Mendel's Laws of Inheritance to interpret examples of heredity
- use punnet squares to identify the possible gametes and offspring in a mono-hybrid cross
- identify examples of non-Mendelian Inheritance
- calculate the outcomes of genetic crosses in terms of percent probabilities
- graph the exponential growth function
- compare surface area to volume ratios for different cells
- compare and contrast binary fission, meiotic and mitotic cell cycles
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Chapter: Diversity of Life
# of Days: 2
Topics:
- introduction to big life
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Chapter: Energy, Entropy, and Life
# of Days: 12
Topics:
- energy
- entropy
- free energy
- photosynthesis
- cellular respiration
- producers
- consumers
- decomposers
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Chapter: Matter and Systems
# of Days: 13
Topics:
- open and closed systems
- cells
- complex living systems
- tissue and organs
- free energy
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Chapter: Information Flow
# of Days: 17
Topics:
- RNA
- DNA
- DNA to RNA to protein
- mutations
- transcription, translation, mutation
- reproduction: inheritance of genes
- exponential growth
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Chapter: Heredity
# of Days: 19
Topics:
- genetics and variation
- Mendelian genetics
- asexual reproduction
- sexual reproduction
- punnet squares
- non-Mendelian inheritance
- inherited disorders
- sex determination
- genes
- mitochondrial inheritance
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Chapter: Big Life Summary
# of Days: 3
Topics:
- summarize big life unit
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Standards
MS-LS1.A; MS-LS1.C; MS-PS3.D; MS-LS1.B; MS-LS2.B; MS-LS3.A; MS-LS4.B; MS-LS.C