High School Biology

How biologists test ideas: hypotheses, controlled experiments, reading data, and what a scientific theory is.

1. Hypotheses and Controlled Experiments
2. Reading Graphs and Data
3. Scientific Theories

The elements and bonds of life, water's special properties, pH, the four kinds of large biological molecules, and enzymes.

1. The Elements and Bonds of Life
2. The Properties of Water
3. Acids, Bases and pH
4. Monomers and Polymers
5. Carbohydrates
6. Lipids
7. Proteins
8. Nucleic Acids
9. Enzymes
10. Temperature, pH and Enzymes

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the endomembrane system that makes and ships proteins, and the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts.

1. Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
2. The Endomembrane System
3. Where Mitochondria and Chloroplasts Came From

The fluid mosaic membrane, diffusion, osmosis and tonicity, channels and pumps, and moving large particles in and out.

1. The Cell Membrane
2. Diffusion and Concentration Gradients
3. Osmosis and Tonicity
4. Channels, Carriers and Pumps
5. Endocytosis and Exocytosis

ATP, photosynthesis and its limiting factors, cellular respiration, fermentation, and how the two processes link through the carbon cycle.

1. ATP: The Cell's Energy Currency
2. Photosynthesis
3. What Limits Photosynthesis
4. Cellular Respiration
5. Fermentation
6. Photosynthesis, Respiration and the Carbon Cycle

The cell cycle and its controls, chromosomes and their counts, mitosis, and meiosis with the variation it creates.

1. Chromosomes and Their Numbers
2. The Cell Cycle
3. Mitosis
4. Controlling the Cell Cycle
5. Meiosis
6. How Meiosis Makes Variation
7. Mitosis and Meiosis Compared

Mendel's experiments, monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, probability rules, patterns beyond simple dominance, X-linked traits and pedigrees.

1. Mendel's Experiments
2. Monohybrid Crosses
3. The Test Cross
4. Probability Rules for Genetics
5. Dihybrid Crosses
6. Incomplete Dominance and Codominance
7. Multiple Alleles: Blood Types
8. Polygenic Traits and the Environment
9. X-Linked Traits
10. Reading Pedigrees

The structure and copying of DNA, transcription and translation, the genetic code, mutations, and how cells turn genes on and off.

1. The Structure of DNA
2. DNA Replication
3. Transcription
4. Translation
5. Reading the Genetic Code
6. Mutations
7. Turning Genes On and Off

Copying DNA with PCR, sorting it by size with gels, and moving genes between organisms.

1. PCR: Copying DNA
2. Gel Electrophoresis
3. Recombinant DNA

Natural selection and its patterns, the evidence for common ancestry, population genetics and Hardy-Weinberg, the other mechanisms of evolution, speciation, and reading phylogenetic trees.

1. Natural Selection
2. Directional, Stabilizing and Disruptive Selection
3. Evolution in Action
4. Evidence: Fossils and Anatomy
5. Evidence: DNA and Proteins
6. Reading Phylogenetic Trees
7. Building Cladograms
8. Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
9. Mutation, Drift, Gene Flow and Selection
10. How New Species Form

Population growth models, density-dependent limits, community interactions, energy flow and biomass, the cycles of matter, stability and change, group behavior, and biodiversity.

1. Exponential and Logistic Growth
2. Density-Dependent and Independent Factors
3. Niches and Community Interactions
4. Energy Flow and Biomass
5. The Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles
6. Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions
7. Stability, Disturbance and Change
8. Keystone Species and Trophic Cascades
9. Group Behavior
10. Biodiversity and Human Impact

Feedback loops, temperature and blood sugar control, and the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, immune and excretory systems in more depth, plus water balance in plants.

1. Homeostasis and Feedback
2. Controlling Body Temperature
3. Blood Sugar: Insulin and Glucagon
4. Interacting Body Systems
5. The Path of Blood
6. Gas Exchange in the Lungs
7. Digestive Enzymes and Absorption
8. Neurons and Signals
9. The Immune System
10. The Kidneys and Water Balance
11. Water Balance in Plants