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 and assigned source | Required output and evidence limit |
|---|---|
| 01 Characteristics & Needs OpenStax Biology 1.2; Microbiology 3.1 | Six card decisions, seed graph (10/12), Redi (1668) response: compare air and fly access, explain gauze and unresolved viability. No historical cultures. |
| 02 Cells OpenStax Biology 4.1, 4.3 | Hooke/Leeuwenhoek timeline, scaled evidence note and function labels. Separate reference images from actual observations and unresolved features. |
| 03 Body Systems Harvey (1628), VIII–IX; OpenStax 40.1 | Flow map, 5,040 mL/minute model and cited paragraph. Through-flow is not stored blood; synthetic numbers are not Harvey’s measurements. |
| 04 Heredity OpenStax Biology 12.1 | Pp x Pp pea square; 705 purple/224 white comparison and museum label. Complete dominance, independent trials, equal survival; one-in-four is probability, not a quartet guarantee. |
| 05 Evolution OpenStax Biology 18.1, 20.1 | Paper-model log and frequency graph; Darwin/Wallace (1858) response with inheritance, offspring and an alternative mechanism. Not historical finch data. |
| 06 Classification Linnean Society, His career and legacy; OpenStax 20.1 | Four key paths, tested alternate key, naming label (1753/1758). A closed set cannot establish all species or ancestry; missing traits remain unresolved. |
| 07 Yellowstone NPS Elk and Trophic Cascades; USGS wolf restoration | Food web, dated count graph, source-claim ledger and brief on 1995/1996 reintroduction. Compare predators, hunting, weather, hydrology and beavers. Synthetic water-table data do not prove wolves alone reshaped rivers. |
| 08 Human Impact EPA DDT history; OpenStax Biology 47.3 | Carson (1962)/regulation (1972) memo and budgeted recommendation using matched site means. Relative change -2 mg/L in synthetic nitrate data, not local sampling or DDT measurements. |
A 20 mm displayed scale bar represents 50 micrometres; the displayed cell is 40 mm: 40/20 × 50 = 100 micrometres. Doubling both displayed lengths leaves the answer unchanged. Cite OpenStax 4.1: Hooke’s 1665 cork and Leeuwenhoek’s 1670s microorganisms are distinct evidence. Supplied measurements do not certify microscope handling.
Math never drives a unit, but life science asks students to measure and count all the time — always tied to what is happening at the bench. Here is the measuring skill each unit actually uses, done inside the lab context rather than as a parallel curriculum.
| Unit | Applied math at the agreed level |
|---|---|
| 01 Characteristics & Needs of Living Things | Six evidence-card decisions; cumulative germination 10/12 = 83.33%, not a sum of repeated counts. |
| 02 Cells & Their Structures | Scale-bar ratio gives 100 micrometres in either resized record; lens magnification is 400 times. |
| 03 From Cells to Organisms | Supplied 36 beats/30 seconds and 70 mL/beat give 5,040 mL/minute; distinguish flow from stored blood. |
| 04 Genetics & Heredity | Pp x Pp genotype/phenotype probabilities; 224/929 = 24.11% white in the cited pea record, not an exact-quartet rule. |
| 05 Evolution & Adaptation | Separate starting, survivor and offspring counts; hard-seed model gives 48/64 = 75% deep-beak offspring. |
| 06 Classification & the Kingdoms of Life | Three binary questions, four closed-set labels, two decisions per complete card; missing traits stay unresolved. |
| 07 Ecosystems & Interdependence | Dated northern-herd counts; synthetic willow means and water-dependent exclusion effects (+10 versus +90 cm); 12% then 10% energy transfer. |
| 08 Human Impact on Living Systems | Matched before/after site means: -3 and -1 mg/L, relative change -2 mg/L; costs and one-site limitations. |
Students work out magnification inside the microscope lab, count traits inside the genetics activity, and tally populations inside the ecosystem study. The number always means something because it is attached to a result they produced — never a worksheet detached from the science.
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 Characteristics & Needs | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 02 Cells & Structures | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 03 Cells to Organisms | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 04 Genetics & Heredity | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 05 Evolution & Adaptation | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 06 Classification of Life | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 07 Ecosystems | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
| 08 Human Impact | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ | ______ |
A student who walks through all eight anchors finishes understanding that life science is how humans learned to see the living world, and that every idea on the page was once a discovery someone had to fight to be believed — the version of the subject a student keeps.