HS-LS. High School Biology

The high school biology standards build from middle school and allow grade 9 or 10 students to explain additional and more complex phenomena related to genetics, the functioning of organisms, and interrelationships between organisms, populations, and the environment. The standards expect students to apply a variety of science and engineering practices to four core ideas of biology:

From molecules to organisms: structures and processes standards help students formulate an answer to the question, “How do organisms live and grow?” Students demonstrate that they can use investigations and gather evidence to support explanations of cell function and reproduction. They understand the role of proteins as essential to the work of the cell and living systems. Students can use models to explain photosynthesis, respiration, and the cycling of matter and flow of energy in living organisms. The cellular processes can be used as a model for understanding the hierarchical organization of organisms.

Standards focused on ecosystems: interactions, energy, and dynamics help students formulate an answer to the question, “How and why do organisms interact with their environment, and what are the effects of these interactions?” Students can use mathematical reasoning to demonstrate understanding of fundamental concepts of carrying capacity, factors affecting biodiversity and populations, and the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem. These models support students’ conceptual understanding of systems and their ability to develop design solutions to reduce the impact of human activities on the environment and maintain biodiversity.

Heredity: inheritance and variation of traits standards help students formulate answers to the questions: “How are characteristics of one generation passed to the next? How can individuals of the same species and even siblings have different characteristics?” Students are able to ask questions, make and defend a claim, and use concepts of probability to explain the genetic variation in a population. Students demonstrate understanding of why individuals of the same species vary in how they look and function. Students can explain the mechanisms of genetic inheritance and describe the environmental and genetic causes of gene mutation and the alteration of gene expression.

Standards for biological evolution: unity and diversity help students formulate an answer to the question, “What evidence shows that different species are related?” Students construct explanations for the processes of natural selection and evolution and communicate how multiple lines of evidence support these explanations. Students can evaluate evidence of the conditions that may result in new species and understand the role of genetic variation in natural selection. Additionally, students can apply concepts of probability to explain trends in populations as those trends relate to advantageous heritable traits in a specific environment.

The high school biology standards place particular emphasis on science and engineering practices of developing and using models; constructing explanations; engaging in argumentation from evidence; and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use multiple types of models, including mathematical models, to make predictions and develop explanations, analyze and identify flaws in the model, and communicate ideas that accurately represent or simulate the biological system. Students are asked to construct and revise explanations and claims based on valid and reliable evidence and apply scientific reasoning to evaluate complex real-world problems such as the effects of human activity on biodiversity and ecosystem health. Students must be able to find and interpret scientific literature to compare, integrate, and evaluate sources and communicate phenomena related to genetics, the functioning of organisms, and interrelationships between organisms, populations, and the environment. The application of these practices across the core ideas gives students a rich grounding in biology. ^{[1] [2]}

Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Conservation and Policy

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

How have human activities affected the peregrine falcon population, both negatively (DDT) and positively (conservation)?

Materials

Sample Plan

Go through selections of Silent Spring as a class (specifically, the early chapters). Carson doesn’t specifically mention peregrines in the book; have students extrapolate from the readings as to what they think the connections are between the use of pesticides and peregrine falcons. Also read the 1963 pro-pesticides coverage from The Long-Islander and discuss.

Read and watch About Falcons: Conservation, Falcon Curriculum: Conservation, Advanced videos, and History of Falconry with Chris Davis video to confirm/expand upon the students’ extrapolations.

Have students pretend to be early environmentalist advocates during the early 1960s and make trifold pamphlets to convince people to regulate pesticide use using information from the readings and additional research as needed.

High School Introductory Physics

The high school introductory physics standards build from middle school and allow grade 9 or 10 students to explain additional and more complex phenomena central to the physical world. The standards expect students to apply a variety of science and engineering practices to three core ideas of physics:

Standards on motion and stability: forces and interactions support students’ understanding of ideas related to why some objects move in certain ways, why objects change their motion, and why some materials are attracted to each other while others are not. This core idea helps students answer the question, “How can one explain and predict interactions between objects and within systems of objects?” Students are able to demonstrate their understanding by applying scientific and engineering ideas related to Newton’s second law, total momentum, conservation, system analysis, and gravitational and electrostatic forces.

A focus on energy develops students’ understanding of energy at both the macroscopic and atomic scales that can be accounted for as either motions of particles or energy stored in fields. This core idea helps students answer the question, “How is energy transferred and conserved?” Energy is understood as a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system; the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system. Students apply their understanding to explain situations that involve conservation of energy, energy transfer, and tracing the relationship between energy and forces.

Standards on waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer support students’ understanding of the physical principles used in a wide variety of existing and emerging technologies. As such, this core idea helps students answer the question, “How are waves used to transfer energy and send and store information?” Students are able to apply understanding of how wave properties and the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with matter can transfer information across long distances, store information, and investigate nature on many scales. They develop and use models of electromagnetic radiation, as either a wave of changing electric and magnetic fields or as particles. Students understand that combining waves of different frequencies can make a wide variety of patterns and thereby encode and transmit information. They can demonstrate their understanding by explaining how the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter are used in technological devices to transmit and capture information and energy.

Across the set of high school introductory physics standards, particular emphasis is placed on science and engineering practices of developing and using models, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics, and engaging in argument from evidence. Students are expected to use mathematical and graphical representations and models to quantitatively and qualitatively describe, evaluate, and make predictions of a variety of phenomena such as motion, energy, and waves. Students should be able to use multiple types of models and compare their merits and limitations and level of detail and accuracy, and use them as a basis for explanations or arguments about underlying concepts or processes. The standards call for students to critique competing ideas and evaluate design solutions using data and evidence relevant to high school science. Analyzing and interpreting data gathered during investigations or experiments, such as of magnetic fields and electric current, wave properties, or motion, also contributes to students’ development of explanations and arguments using relevant, quantitative evidence. Applying these practices across the core ideas gives students a rich grounding in introductory physics.^{[3] [4]}

Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Animal Behavior

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

How does Newton’s second law of motion relate to peregrine falcons in the context of sexual dimorphism?

Materials

Sample Plan

Read and watch About Falcons: Basic Information and Prey and Hunting and Falcon Curriculum: Prey and Hunting videos. Discuss sexual dimorphism: how male falcons are smaller than female falcons, and how their sizes assist them in their roles of hunting and nesting, respectively.

Explain/review Newton’s second law of motion: The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied. Watch the STEMonstrations: Newton’s Second Law of Motion video.

Do the “Wingshot” experiment:

1. Separate students into groups.
2. Have each group take an elastic and stretch it between 2 chairs/desks/etc. to make a taut slingshot 12 inches across. Put a piece of tape 5 inches behind the slingshot as the point to pull back to each time.
3. Set up books/pool noodles/etc. as bumpers to make a “track” in front of the slingshot.
4. Set up measuring tape along the track and measure out a distance of 5 feet. Put a piece of tape at that mark. (Optional: set up a small cup tower at the mark with cutouts of eggs and pigs.)
5. Figure out the different masses of the balls.
6. Put each ball individually into the slingshot, pull it back to the tape, and let it go, starting the stopwatch once it is let go and stopping the stopwatch once it reaches the 5-feet mark.
7. Repeat 3 times for each ball.
8. Part 2: See what happens when the distance to which you pull back on the elastic is less/more.

The results should demonstrate that the balls with less mass were able to travel the distance at a faster speed than the balls with more mass. This is why it is advantageous for the smaller male falcons to do the majority of the hunting. The results from the second part should also demonstrate that the amount of force will also affect the object’s acceleration.

High School Technology/Engineering

The high school technology/engineering standards build from middle school and allow grade 9 or 10 students to explain major technological systems used in society and to engage in more sophisticated design problems. The standards expect students to apply a variety of science and engineering practices to four core ideas of technology/engineering:

Engineering design standards support students’ understanding of how engineering design is applied to complex societal challenges as well as developing their skills in defining design problems and developing solutions.

A focus on materials, tools, and manufacturing supports students in understanding how manufacturing makes use of and can change material properties to create useful products. They consider different manufacturing processes, including where computer-aided systems can be useful, and how those processes can affect material properties.

Standards about technological systems help students to learn how complex design systems work, particularly those they use every day. Such systems include communications systems, structural systems, and transportation systems. Through the study of these critical infrastructure systems, students understand how the components they interact with every day depend on the design and functioning of the larger system. They also can abstract the concept of a system, identifying inputs and outputs of subsystems and their interrelationships.

Energy and power technologies standards support students in understanding how humans manipulate and use energy to accomplish physical tasks that would otherwise be impossible or difficult. These technologies include open and closed pneumatic and hydraulic systems.

The high school technology/engineering standards place particular emphasis on science and engineering practices of developing and using models; analyzing and interpreting data; using mathematics; designing solutions; and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Relevant examples give students a valuable context to learn about and model a technological system, use a model to explain differences in systems or illustrate how a system works. This leads to a more detailed understanding of the role that engineering design, materials, tools, and manufacturing have in the natural and designed world. The standards expect students to research and analyze specific design solutions that give them an opportunity to determine optimal conditions for performance of materials, influences of cost, constraints, criteria, and possible environmental impacts. Use of mathematics is a key skill in designing prototypes to scale, using prototypes or simulations that model multiple interactions in a complex problem and calculating change to a system that includes a number of variables. Students communicate and evaluate solutions to real-world problems, propose or refine solutions, and examine the social and cultural impacts a product, material, manufacturing process, or technology could have in our world. The application of these practices across the core ideas gives students a rich grounding in technology/engineering.^{[5] [6]}

Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Anatomy and Life Cycle
Animal Behavior

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

How can studying peregrine falcons (and nature in general) inspire design solutions to complex, real-world problems?

Materials

Sample Plan