Appendix—Content Standards
The Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Science and Technology, which will be addressed in this curriculum, was taken directly from the Core Curriculum Standards Alignment and Educational Resource Guide for the School District of Philadelphia. They include the following:
3.3. Biological Sciences Standards (A, B, C, D)
A. Explain the structural and functional similarities and differences found among living things.
- Identify and characterize major life forms according to their placement in existing classification groups (e.g. bacteria and viruses).
- Describe organizing schemes of classification keys.
- Describe the relationship between the structure or organic molecules and the function they serve.
- Explain how cells store and use information to guide their functions.
- Identify the specialized structures and regions of the cell and the functions of each.
- Compare and contrast the function of mitosis and meiosis.
- Describe mutations' effects on a trait's expression.
- Compare random and selective breeding practices and their results (e.g. antibiotic resistant bacteria).
- Describe the role of DNA in protein synthesis as it relates to gene expression.
- Describe the factors affecting gene frequency in a population over time and their consequences.
- Explain why natural selection can only act on inherited traits.
- Explain the role of gene recombination in changing a population of organisms.
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