Description
Experimental Biology is a hands-on, project-based secular lab science curriculum with an Honors option for academically strong homeschoolers that is a solid foundation for students who may or may not later take Advanced Placement or college biology. Critical thinking, experimentation, documentation and presentation are all strong components to the learning experience. This course is offered in Naperville as a full year hybrid course with in-person class meetings once/week for 1.5 hour with additional work done between classes qualifying for 1 full credit of transcriptable lab science. We also offer a separate Supported Homework Session for some (possibly all) of the work done outside of class.
Experimental Biology
In-person class Tuesdays, 12:30-1:55 pm with an additional approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours of work to be done between classes. (Parents may opt to enroll in our Supported Homework Session/s to contribute toward completing work done outside of regular class time)
Registration is now only open for the Spring 2024 semester.
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The key concepts for Experimental Biology are:
- Observation and experiment – The scientific process of observation and inquiry, experimentation and fieldwork are fundamental to lab sciences.
- The science of life – An understanding of living organisms and their varied processes including concepts such as genetics and ecology which in turn affect the diversity and sustainability of living organisms.
- Cells are basic building blocks of life – Learning about how cells work—and what happens when they don’t work properly—teaches us about the biological processes that keep us healthy. It also uncovers new ways to treat disease.
- Biological processes are complex and integrated – understanding how life is structured, created and sustained requires elements of other major science domains.
Major content areas covered in the course include:
- Biochemistry (including macro-molecules & enzymes)
- Cell biology (including cell metabolism, diffusion and photosynthesis)
- Genetics (including meiosis and natural inheritance)
- Ecology
Additional content may be covered depending on the pace of student learning and the direction their discovery moves.
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Primary Text: Campbell Biology: Concepts Connections (8th Edition)
Reece, Jane B.
Published by Pearson, 2020
ISBN 10: 0321885325 ISBN 13: 9780321885326
(copies can be purchased used through Amazon, AbeBooks, etc.)
Other Required Course Materials
- Large 3 ring binder with 5 dividers (more dividers are fine, but fewer will be difficult)
- Standard lined/”filler” paper
- Graph paper
- Two different colored pens
- One set of colored pencils (at least 4 different colors)
- Basic calculator
- Flash/thumb drive
Additionally, students will need technical ability to access Zoom, Nearpod.com, Discovery Education Streaming, OERCommons, Study.com and Schoology.com (Schoology will require an e-mail address for student access).
At home, students will need access to the internet (home or library) to look up information, related published materials and/or videos and do work through our class learning management system. Some videos will be subscription-based and issued by illuminat-ED (all students will have accounts for Discovery Streaming and Study.com for additional video support). Some videos will be freely available.
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Students can expect to spend approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours/week doing additional work, readings and other class preparation. Combined with our live class time, this is a total of 4 to 4-1/2 hours/week for a course total of 128-144 hours. This comfortably equates to one full credit using the Carnegie unit methodology.
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Live class time will assume students have done their pre-reading, online content and any offline labs/fieldwork (if any). We will be collaboratively sharing lab results and discussing results in the context of the assigned readings and asynchronous work in addition to doing practical and hands-on activities.
Each unit begins with a demonstration designed to engage students and make them curious about the topic at hand. Engagement is followed by exploration, in which students begin to gather general information about a process, system or circumstance using observation skills and creating hypotheses to explain what they perceive. After sharing their observations and hypotheses, students then work in lab groups to design experiments that can be used to determine what factors are affecting the topic they are studying. Students use a peer-review process to share methods and procedures, then they conduct their peer-edited experiment. Data analysis and conclusions are shared using lab reports, brochures or audio-visual presentations after each experiment, so that all of the students learn from the experiences of their peers.
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[rara_toggle title=”Parent Considerations” status=”close”]In the first class, we will cover note-taking skills and introduction to metrics (which will be revisited regularly in the course). Students should be taking (or already taken) algebra 1 and support will be available for students who struggle with any math concepts. This may require additional contact time, which can be done via Zoom if necessary.
Course time will be devoted to discussion related to the content that is the culmination of the students pre-reading and other assigned activities for the week. Pre-reading and asynchronous work is an essential component for this class and relevant book sections and activities are listed in the class outline distributed at the beginning of the semester. In addition to listening and taking notes, students are expected to actively participate in the course, through asking and answering questions and doing research to expand on the material.
Ecological, Evolutionary, and Physiological systems will be discussed in-class and the students will need to participate in these discussions in a respectful and mature manner.
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