Grade 10 Biology Program

This is a representative list of topics covered in our Grade 10 Biology program - however all programs will be customized for the individual student.

CELL BIOLOGY

• Cell Structure
• Enzymes
• Prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells (including those from plants and animals)
• Viruses - complexity and general structure
• Central Dogma of molecular biology
• Role of the endoplasmic reticulum
• Golgi apparatus
• Usable energy captured from sunlight by chloroplasts
• Role of the mitochondria
• Macromolecules (polysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids) in cells and organisms
• Chemiosmotic gradients in the mitochondria and chloroplast - ATP production
• Eukaryotic cells - cytoskeleton, cell wall

GENETICS

• Meiosis
• Random chromosome segregation
• Fertilization
• DNA sequence
• Role of chromosomes in determining an individual's sex
• Possible combinations of alleles in a zygote from the genetic makeup of the parents
• Probable outcome of phenotypes in a genetic cross from the genotypes of the parents Mode of inheritance (autosomal or X-linked, dominant or recessive)
• Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment
• Mode of inheritance from a pedigree diagram showing phenotypes
• Estimating genetic distances between loci, and to interpret genetic maps of chromosomes
• Using tRNAs to translate genetic information in mRNA
• Genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids
• Mutations in the DNA sequence of a gene - effects
• Specialization of cells in multicellular organisms
• Proteins - number and sequence of amino acids, different shapes and chemical properties
• General structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein
• Base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA during semi-conservative replication
• Transcription of information from DNA into mRNA
• Genetic engineering (biotechnology) - production of novel biomedical and agricultural products
• Basic DNA technology to construct recombinant DNA molecules
• Exogenous DNA inserted into bacterial cells

ECOLOGY

• Biodiversity
• Changes in an ecosystem
• Fluctuations in population size in an ecosystem
• Water, carbon, and nitrogen - cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter in the ecosystem
• Oxygen cycles via photosynthesis and respiration
• Stability of producers and decomposers in an ecosystem
• Food Pyramid
• Accommodation of an individual organism to its environment
• Gradual adaptation of a lineage of organisms through genetic change

EVOLUTION

• Effect of natural selection on the phenotype of an organism
• Lethal alleles in a homozygous individual carried in a heterozygote
• New mutations in a gene pool
• Variation within a species - survival under changed environmental conditions
• Conditions for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in a population
• The Hardy-Weinberg equation to determine the predicted frequency of genotypes
• Natural selection - differential survival of groups of organisms
• Effects of genetic drift
• Effects of reproductive or geographic isolation
• Analyzing fossil evidence
• Comparative embryology
• Branching diagram (cladogram) that shows probable evolutionary relationships
• Estimating how long ago various groups of organisms diverged evolutionarily from each other

PHYSIOLOGY

• Complementary activity of major body systems
• Nervous system - communication between different parts of the body and interactions with the environment
• Feedback loops in the nervous and endocrine systems
• Functions of the nervous system
• Role of neurons in transmitting electrochemical impulses
• Roles of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in sensation, thought, and response
• Individual functions and sites of secretion of digestive enzymes (amylases, proteases, nucleases, lipases), stomach acid, and bile salts
• Homeostatic role of the kidneys in the removal of nitrogenous wastes, and of the liver in blood detoxification and glucose balance
• Cellular and molecular basis of muscle contraction, including the roles of actin, myosin, Ca+2, and ATP
• Hormones (including digestive, reproductive, osmoregulatory)
• Role of the skin in providing nonspecific defenses against infection
• Role of antibodies in the body's response to infection
• Vaccination - protection from infectious diseases
• Differences between bacteria and viruses
• Compromised immune systems - inability to fight off and survive infections of microorganisms that are usually benign
• Roles of phagocytes, B-lymphocytes, and T-lymphocytes in the immune system