Ib bio syllabus pdf

Plant biology 13 Genetics and evolution 8 Animal physiology 16 Option 15 25 A. Neurobiology and behaviour 15 25 B. Biotechnology and bioinformatics 15 25 C. Ecology and conservation 15 25 D. Human physiology 15 25 Practical scheme of work 40 60 Practical activities 20 40 Individual investigation internal assessment—IA 10 10 Group 4 project 10 10 Total teaching hours The recommended teaching time is hours to complete HL and hours to complete SL courses as stated in the document General regulations: Diploma Programme for students and their legal guardians page 4, Article 8.

You will be constantly evaluated on your learning using the Biology Binder. It is imperative that you remain on-task at all times in order to receive maximum credit for your Binder work. Table of Contents up to date with exact titles and page numbers. Everything must be clearly labeled! Keep everything in order and be able to find it instantly using your Table of Contents.

Always be up to date. I will be constantly doing Bio Binder Checks! Complete, clear sentences! Correct Answers! There may be random sampling of your work at any time. The purpose of assignments is learning. Not every assignment will be assessed. Some will be assessed through homework quizzes etc. When given permission to pack up, you may put away your classroom materials and check to make sure that your row is neat and orderly.

You may NOT leave nor line up by the door. When it has been determined that your row is neat and orderly, you will be given permission to stand up by row. Make sure your chairs are pushed in or, for last period only, placed on top of the tables. You may line up by the door in an orderly fashion once you have been dismissed. You may not exit the room nor open the room door, however, until the bell rings. Course This course is a college level course in general biology.

Contact: Mr. Brett Baughman E-mail: bbaughman tvusd. Labs The style for the write-ups will be presented to the students and should be followed precisely. Internal Assessment The internal assessment project is a major assessment in this course requiring students to design, perform, and analyze their own experiments. Webpage For more syllabus details, assignment information and other resources see my webpage on the Great Oak High School website.

Saprotroph Organism that feeds by secreting digestive decomposer enzymes onto its food source and absorbing the products of digestion. Fungi and bacteria are examples. Trophic level Stage in a food chain or web leading from primary producers lowest trophic level through primary consumers herbivores to secondary and tertiary consumers carnivores.

Carrying Maximum average number or biomass of capacity organisms that can be sustained in a habitat over the long term. Usually refers to a particular species, but can be applied to more than one. Random sample A method to ensure that every individual in a population has an equal chance of being observed.

Evolution The process of cumulative change in the heritable characteristics of a population. Release of an absorbed Physiology or endogenous substance or of a waste product, in urine, faeces, or other products normally leaving the body. Excretion of most chemical compounds from the body occurs mainly through the kidney and the gut, although volatile compounds may be largely eliminated by exhalation.

Excretion by perspiration and through hair and nails may also occur. Excretion by the gastrointestinal tract may take place by various routes such as the bile, the shedding of intestinal cells and transport through the intestinal mucosa. Topic 8: Recombination The reassortment of genes or characters into Genetics different combinations from those of the parents.

Linkage group Genes that are located on the same chromosome are part of a linkage group; the closer together the genes are, the lower the probability that they will be separated by crossing-over during meiosis in, and hence the greater the probability that they will be inherited together. Polygenic A trait or characteristic that is influenced by the inheritance expression of more than one gene, e.

Continuous variation occurs as a result. In Movement humans, the value is around mV, meaning the inside is negative relative to the outside of the cell. Action potential Voltage change generated across the membrane of a nerve or muscle cell when the cell is activated by electrical, chemical or mechanical stimuli.

The action potential is propagated along the nerve by voltage-gated ion channels. Topic Osmoregulatio The control of the water balance of the blood, Excretion n tissue or cytoplasm of a living organism. Conservation Net production Gross production less the energy used by the autotrophs for their own respiration, in kJ m-2 yr Many genetic diseases in humans are due to recessive alleles of autosomal genes, although some genetic diseases are due to dominant or co-dominant alleles.

Some genetic diseases are sex-linked. The pattern of inheritance is different with sex-linked genes due to their location on sex chromosomes. Many genetic diseases have been identified in humans but most are very rare. Radiation and mutagenic chemicals increase the mutation rate and can cause genetic diseases and cancer. Genetic modification and biotechnology 3. Genetic modification is carried out by gene transfer between species. Clones are groups of genetically identical organisms, derived from a single original parent cell.

Many plant species and some animal species have natural methods of cloning. Animals can be cloned at the embryo stage by breaking up the embryo into more than one group of cells. Methods have been developed for cloning adult animals using differentiated cells. Members of a species may be reproductively isolated in separate populations. Species have either an autotrophic or heterotrophic method of nutrition a few species have both methods.

Consumers are heterotrophs that feed on living organisms by ingestion. Detritivores are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from detritus by internal digestion. Saprotrophs are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from dead organisms by external digestion. A community is formed by populations of different species living together and interacting with each other.

A community forms an ecosystem by its interactions with the abiotic environment. Autotrophs obtain inorganic nutrients from the abiotic environment. The supply of inorganic nutrients is maintained by nutrient cycling. Ecosystems have the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time. Energy flow 4. Light energy is converted to chemical energy in carbon compounds by photosynthesis. Chemical energy in carbon compounds flows through food chains by means of feeding.

Energy released from carbon compounds by respiration is used in living organisms and converted to heat. Living organisms cannot convert heat to other forms of energy. Heat is lost from ecosystems. Energy losses between trophic levels restrict the length of food chains and the biomass of higher trophic levels.

Carbon cycling 4. In aquatic ecosystems carbon is present as dissolved carbon dioxide and hydrogen carbonate ions. Carbon dioxide diffuses from the atmosphere or water into autotrophs. Carbon dioxide is produced by respiration and diffuses out of organisms into water or the atmosphere. Methane is produced from organic matter in anaerobic conditions by methanogenic archaeans and some diffuses into the atmosphere or accumulates in the ground. Methane is oxidized to carbon dioxide and water in the atmosphere.

Partially decomposed organic matter from past geological eras was converted either into coal or into oil and gas that accumulate in porous rocks. Carbon dioxide is produced by the combustion of biomass and fossilized organic matter. Animals such as reef-building corals and mollusca have hard parts that are composed of calcium carbonate and can become fossilized in limestone. Climate change 4. Other gases including methane and nitrogen oxides have less impact. The impact of a gas depends on its ability to absorb long wave radiation as well as on its concentration in the atmosphere.

The warmed Earth emits longer wavelength radiation heat. Longer wave radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases that retain the heat in the atmosphere. Global temperatures and climate patterns are influenced by concentrations of greenhouse gases. There is a correlation between rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide since the start of the industrial revolution years ago and average global temperatures. Recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are largely due to increases in the combustion of fossilized organic matter.

The fossil record provides evidence for evolution. Selective breeding of domesticated animals shows that artificial selection can cause evolution. Evolution of homologous structures by adaptive radiation explains similarities in structure when there are differences in function.

Populations of a species can gradually diverge into separate species by evolution. Continuous variation across the geographical range of related populations matches the concept of gradual divergence. Natural selection 5. Mutation, meiosis and sexual reproduction cause variation between individuals in a species. Adaptations are characteristics that make an individual suited to its environment and way of life.

Species tend to produce more offspring than the environment can support. Individuals that are better adapted tend to survive and produce more offspring while the less well adapted tend to die or produce fewer offspring. Individuals that reproduce pass on characteristics to their offspring. Natural selection increases the frequency of characteristics that make individuals better adapted and decreases the frequency of other characteristics leading to changes within the species.

Classification of biodiversity 5. When species are discovered they are given scientific names using the binomial system. Taxonomists classify species using a hierarchy of taxa. All organisms are classified into three domains. The principal taxa for classifying eukaryotes are kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. In a natural classification, the genus and accompanying higher taxa consist of all the species that have evolved from one common ancestral species. Taxonomists sometimes reclassify groups of species when new evidence shows that a previous taxon contains species that have evolved from different ancestral species.

Natural classifications help in identification of species and allow the prediction of characteristics shared by species within a group. Cladistics 5. Evidence for which species are part of a clade can be obtained from the base sequences of a gene or the corresponding amino acid sequence of a protein.

Sequence differences accumulate gradually so there is a positive correlation between the number of differences between two species and the time since they diverged from a common ancestor. Traits can be analogous or homologous. Cladograms are tree diagrams that show the most probable sequence of divergence in clades.

Evidence from cladistics has shown that classifications of some groups based on structure did not correspond with the evolutionary origins of a group or species. The pancreas secretes enzymes into the lumen of the small intestine. Enzymes digest most macromolecules in food into monomers in the small intestine.

Villi increase the surface area of epithelium over which absorption is carried out. Villi absorb monomers formed by digestion as well as mineral ions and vitamins. Different methods of membrane transport are required to absorb different nutrients. The blood system 6.

Arteries have muscle cells and elastic fibres in their walls. The muscle and elastic fibres assist in maintaining blood pressure between pump cycles. Blood flows through tissues in capillaries. Capillaries have permeable walls that allow exchange of materials between cells in the tissue and the blood in the capillary.

Veins collect blood at low pressure from the tissues of the body and return it to the atria of the heart. Valves in veins and the heart ensure circulation of blood by preventing backflow. There is a separate circulation for the lungs. The heart beat is initiated by a group of specialized muscle cells in the right atrium called the sinoatrial node. The sinoatrial node acts as a pacemaker. The sinoatrial node sends out an electrical signal that stimulates contraction as it is propagated through the walls of the atria and then the walls of the ventricles.

The heart rate can be increased or decreased by impulses brought to the heart through two nerves from the medulla of the brain. Epinephrine increases the heart rate to prepare for vigorous physical activity. Defense against infectious disease 6. Cuts in the skin are sealed by blood clotting. Clotting factors are released from platelets. The cascade results in the rapid conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin by thrombin. Ingestion of pathogens by phagocytic white blood cells gives non-specific immunity to diseases.

Production of antibodies by lymphocytes in response to particular pathogens gives specific immunity. Antibiotics block processes that occur in prokaryotic cells but not in eukaryotic cells. Viruses lack a metabolism and cannot therefore be treated with antibiotics. Some strains of bacteria have evolved with genes that confer resistance to antibiotics and some strains of bacteria have multiple resistance.

Gas exchange 6. Type I pneumocytes are extremely thin alveolar cells that are adapted to carry out gas exchange. Type II pneumocytes secrete a solution containing surfactant that creates a moist surface inside the alveoli to prevent the sides of the alveolus adhering to each other by reducing surface tension. Air is carried to the lungs in the trachea and bronchi and then to the alveoli in bronchioles. Muscle contractions cause the pressure changes inside the thorax that force air in and out of the lungs to ventilate them.

Different muscles are required for inspiration and expiration because muscles only do work when they contract. Neurons and synapses 6. The myelination of nerve fibres allows for saltatory conduction. Neurons pump sodium and potassium ions across their membranes to generate a resting potential. An action potential consists of depolarization and repolarization of the neuron. Nerve impulses are action potentials propagated along the axons of neurons. Propagation of nerve impulses is the result of local currents that cause each successive part of the axon to reach the threshold potential.

Synapses are junctions between neurons and between neurons and receptor or effector cells. When presynaptic neurons are depolarized they release a neurotransmitter into the synapse. A nerve impulse is only initiated if the threshold potential is reached.

Hormones, homeostasis and reproduction 6. Thyroxin is secreted by the thyroid gland to regulate the metabolic rate and help control body temperature. Leptin is secreted by cells in adipose tissue and acts on the hypothalamus of the brain to inhibit appetite. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland to control circadian rhythms. A gene on the Y chromosome causes embryonic gonads to develop as testes and secrete testosterone. Testosterone causes pre-natal development of male genitalia and both sperm production and development of male secondary sexual characteristics during puberty.

Estrogen and progesterone cause pre-natal development of female reproductive organs and female secondary sexual characteristics during puberty. The menstrual cycle is controlled by negative and positive feedback mechanisms involving ovarian and pituitary hormones. DNA polymerases can only add nucleotides to the 3' end of a primer.

DNA replication is continuous on the leading strand and discontinuous on the lagging strand. DNA replication is carried out by a complex system of enzymes. Some regions of DNA do not code for proteins but have other important functions.

Nucleosomes help to regulate transcription in eukaryotes. Eukaryotic cells modify mRNA after transcription. Splicing of mRNA increases the number of different proteins an organism can produce. Gene expression is regulated by proteins that bind to specific base sequences in DNA. The environment of a cell and of an organism has an impact on gene expression. Synthesis of the polypeptide involves a repeated cycle of events.

Disassembly of the components follows termination of translation. Free ribosomes synthesize proteins for use primarily within the cell. Bound ribosomes synthesize proteins primarily for secretion or for use in lysosomes.

Translation can occur immediately after transcription in prokaryotes due to the absence of a nuclear membrane. The sequence and number of amino acids in the polypeptide is the primary structure. The secondary structure is the formation of alpha helices and beta pleated sheets stabilized by hydrogen bonding. The tertiary structure is the further folding of the polypeptide stabilized by interactions between R groups. The quaternary structure exists in proteins with more than one polypeptide chain.

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According to the cell theory , living organisms are composed of cells. Prokaryotes have a simple cell structure without compartmentalization. Phospholipids form bilayers in water due to the amphipathic properties of phospholipid molecules. Particles move across membranes by simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, osmosis and active transport. Cells can only be formed by division of pre-existing cells. Mitosis is division of the nucleus into two genetically identical daughter nuclei.

Molecular biology explains living processes in terms of the chemical substances involved. Water molecules are polar and hydrogen bonds form between them. Monosaccharide monomers are linked together by condensation reactions to form disaccharides and polysaccharide polymers.

Amino acids are linked together by condensation to form polypeptides. Enzymes have an active site to which specific substrates bind. The replication of DNA is semi-conservative and depends on complementary base pairing.

Cell respiration is the controlled release of energy from organic compounds to produce ATP. Photosynthesis is the production of carbon compounds in cells using light energy. A gene is a heritable factor that consists of a length of DNA and influences a specific characteristic. Prokaryotes have one chromosome consisting of a circular DNA molecule.

One diploid nucleus divides by meiosis to produce four haploid nuclei. Mendel discovered the principles of inheritance with experiments in which large numbers of pea plants were crossed. Gel electrophoresis is used to separate proteins or fragments of DNA according to size. Species are groups of organisms that can potentially interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Most ecosystems rely on a supply of energy from sunlight. Autotrophs convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and other carbon compounds.

Carbon dioxide and water vapour are the most significant greenhouse gases. Evolution occurs when heritable characteristics of a species change. Natural selection can only occur if there is variation among members of the same species. The binomial system of names for species is universal among biologists and has been agreed and developed at a series of congresses. A clade is a group of organisms that have evolved from a common ancestor.

The contraction of circular and longitudinal muscle of the small intestine mixes the food with enzymes and moves it along the gut. Arteries convey blood at high pressure from the ventricles to the tissues of the body. The skin and mucous membranes form a primary defense against pathogens that cause infectious disease. Ventilation maintains concentration gradients of oxygen and carbon dioxide between air in alveoli and blood flowing in adjacent capillaries.

Neurons transmit electrical impulses. Nucleosomes help to supercoil the DNA. Transcription occurs in a 5' to 3' direction. Initiation of translation involves assembly of the components that carry out the process.

Metabolic pathways consist of chains and cycles of enzyme-catalysed reactions. Enzymes lower the activation energy of the chemical reactions that they catalyse. Enzyme inhibitors can be competitive or non-competitive. Metabolic pathways can be controlled by end-product inhibition.

Cell respiration involves the oxidation and reduction of electron carriers. Phosphorylation of molecules makes them less stable. In glycolysis, glucose is converted to pyruvate in the cytoplasm. Glycolysis gives a small net gain of ATP without the use of oxygen. In aerobic cell respiration pyruvate is decarboxylated and oxidized, and converted into acetyl compound and attached to coenzyme A to form acetyl coenzyme A in the link reaction. In the Krebs cycle, the oxidation of acetyl groups is coupled to the reduction of hydrogen carriers, liberating carbon dioxide.

Transfer of electrons between carriers in the electron transport chain in the membrane of the cristae is coupled to proton pumping. Oxygen is needed to bind with the free protons to maintain the hydrogen gradient, resulting in the formation of water. The structure of the mitochondrion is adapted to the function it performs. Light-dependent reactions take place in the intermembrane space of the thylakoids.

Light-independent reactions take place in the stroma. Absorption of light by photosystems generates excited electrons. Photolysis of water generates electrons for use in the light-dependent reactions.