Use the science to investigate a real source, explain the evidence, and communicate a defensible conclusion. The guide supplies the actual reading, data, task, and chosen level before the unit begins.
| Strand | Required evidence |
|---|---|
| History, Reading, Writing | Use an approved source in context and a student-authored response. Separate the original evidence from later explanations; do not force a single-hero story. |
| Geography and ethics | Include location, social context, or ethical trade-offs where they genuinely support the scientific question. |
| Elective extensions | Choose additional depth in data, technology, economics, or art. Extensions do not replace the core work. |
| Quantitative science | Use the unit's mathematical lane at the agreed level. Supply units, denominators, and model conditions; required science is assessed as science. |
Integration is reported separately and cannot lower the science grade or block a science demonstration pass. Science and practical criteria determine that pass.
Use the same approved task in both formats. The web guide explains the source, data, assumptions, student work, and evidence checklist; this packet is its portable summary, not a different assignment.
Use the web guide's approved unit assignment.
| Unit | Biology big idea | Integration anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 01 · Chemistry of Life | Molecular structure constrains water behavior, macromolecule function and reaction rate. | 1972 Nobel chemistry recognition and OpenStax molecular models; distinguish a historical citation from a complete experiment. Assigned source/task |
| 02 · Cell Structure & Function | Membranes and compartments connect cell structure, selective transport and scale. | 2014 microscopy recognition and OpenStax scale/compartment evidence; distinguish a visible feature from an inferred one. Assigned source/task |
| 03 · Cellular Energetics | Cells couple reactions and gradients; matter cycles while energy flows and dissipates as heat. | Calvin’s 1961 recognition and OpenStax pathways; distinguish carbon-assimilation history from synthetic oxygen records. Assigned source/task |
| 04 · Cell Communication & Cell Cycle | Specific signals regulate responses and division; sampling and controls constrain causal claims. | 2001 cell-cycle regulator recognition and OpenStax checkpoints; explain mechanisms without diagnosing a person. Assigned source/task |
| 05 · Heredity | Meiosis and explicit inheritance models generate testable probability predictions. | Mendel’s experiments in OpenStax; distinguish model expectations, historical counts and the synthetic practice sample. Assigned source/task |
| 06 · Gene Expression & Regulation | Directional information flow and multi-level regulation connect sequence to context-dependent products. | Meselson–Stahl interpretation and NHGRI genome history; cite the evidence rather than reproducing an experiment or secure assessment. Assigned source/task |
| 07 · Natural Selection | Heritable variation and population processes produce change; evidence distinguishes models without progress ladders. | Darwin/Wallace context and modern molecular/phylogenetic comparisons in OpenStax, with alternative-mechanism reasoning. Assigned source/task |
| 08 · Ecology | Organisms respond to environments while energy, matter, populations and communities interact. | CDC’s dated cholera history plus ecology evidence; map patterns and synthetic rate/site differences support bounded inferences, not proof. Assigned source/task |
Read the CDC historical account; distinguish clusters, denominators and causal comparisons. A map alone does not prove a cause. Unit 8’s stream/community records are synthetic, not Snow’s data. Cite the source, defend a claim and name an alternative explanation.
Math never drives a unit, but biology uses it constantly — always anchored to the organism or measurement at the bench. Here is the quantitative skill each unit actually uses, done inside the lab context rather than as a parallel curriculum.
| Unit | Applied math at the agreed level |
|---|---|
| 01 · Chemistry of Life | Mean/range; sample SD s with n−1; SE = s/√n only for independent replicates; pH concentration ratios; linear-chain links. |
| 02 · Cell Structure & Function | Scale-bar ratios; cube area/volume = 6/L; mean percent mass change and local interpolation; honors water potential Ψ = −iCRT + Ψp with stated units. |
| 03 · Cellular Energetics | Carbon balance; coupled ΔG sum with a real coupling assumption; signed O₂ slopes, replicate SD, conditional gross = net + respiration. |
| 04 · Cell Communication & Cell Cycle | Reporter means/ranges; cells-in-mitosis/total; conditional stage fraction × cycle time; distinguish fields/subsamples from roots. |
| 05 · Heredity | Conditional/product probability; non-Mendelian crosses; χ² = Σ(O−E)²/E with independent counts, fixed null, df 3 and 7.815 reference; recombination %. |
| 06 · Gene Expression & Regulation | 5′/3′ complements; triplet frames/64 codons; hybrid fractions; expression fold/protein:RNA ratios; N₀2ⁿ ideal copies; log(bp) gel interpolation. |
| 07 · Natural Selection | Relative fitness and allele frequencies; p=(2AA+Aa)/(2N); p²/2pq/q² conditions; fitted-p χ² df 1 and 3.841 reference; sequence mismatch proportions. |
| 08 · Ecology | GPP−respiration=NPP; actual/combined transfer ratios; C/N/water balances; density and sample SD; one-step logistic/exponential models; 1−Σp² diversity. |
Students do the chi-square inside the genetics cross, the growth curve inside the population study, the surface-area ratio inside the cell lab. The number always means something because it is attached to a result they produced — never a worksheet detached from the biology.
Integration is its own strand. Track each unit’s integration level across the year — Developing, Proficient, or Mastery — separate from the science-mastery rubric. Record the evidence reference and date in the final column.
| Unit | Developing | Proficient | Mastery | Evidence / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Chemistry of Life | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 02 Cell Structure | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 03 Cellular Energetics | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 04 Cell Comm. & Cycle | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 05 Heredity | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 06 Gene Expression | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 07 Natural Selection | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 08 Ecology | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
Task inputs and public calibrations: eight pathways. Investigation inventory · current AP map and limits.
A student who walks through all eight anchors finishes understanding that biology is woven into history, governed by data, and weighted with ethical consequence — the truest thing we can teach them about the subject.