Syllabus -- A General Overview
This set of web-pages are designed to give an overview of the Planetary Approach to General Biology. The information below and on the links included is intended to give a general overview of the course. Teaching students, much less adolescent students, is more of an art form so flexibility is required to assure content understanding. Thus, a format for the class and schedule of topics are available here, but the actual timing could prove to be imprecise. The Standards, though, are set.

Biology in a Year
This Tucson High Biology course will be a version of the "Planetary" approach being designed on the Tucson High campus. Thus, we'll be looking into life from a planetary point of view that sets environment first as a template for the development of specific life forms. Physics, Chemistry and Natural History are all far game here and will be used as a format to facilitate better understanding of life on the planet Earth.

Below, you'll find two tables that explain the planetary approach to General Biology. The first table describes the National Science Standards as they relate to Life Science. Here, you won't see much of a change from any other biology classes taught throughout the country. The Arizona State Standards are based on these same standards, so here we'll just site the source of the standards for better clarity.

Below that, you'll find another table that will lay out the basic sequence of instruction. That is where the Planetary Approach differs. Basically, this approach describes the natural world within a historical context. Basically, that means we start with the Big Bang Event 13.7 Billion years ago and move forward throughout the year towards the present day. Also, we'll try to move from the least complex to the more complex and from the predecessors toward the successors.

--Time and Tide waits for no man -- John Skot's "Everyman"
Classroom Scheduling: The listings below represent a basic structure for events in the classroom. Unlike the tide, timing may change as teaching is more art than science. Like the tide, the timing structure will have a rigid nature that does not require full respect of a rigid structure due to the nature of the thing. Respect, though, will allow insignificant mortals like ourselves to better understand, thrive and utilize the power seen in the understanding of natural events.

THMS Science: From the Perspective of a Small Planet
		Quarter 1: Brains, Experimentation and Individual Genotypes Here we'll begin with an introduction to ourselves and good scientific thought that assumes little, but can predict much. An Introduction to Science as Philosophy: We'll be introducing ourselves to each other, our brains and to the scientific thought. Individual Genetics Through Random Processes: The argument will be made that life's origin's on Earth were spontaneous and therefore life on other planets is a forgone conclusion. This argument requires a firm grasp mathematical probability and a sophisticated definition of "Random". Brother Gregor Mendel: There are few scientific laws that apply specifically to biology. We use laws from other branches of science, but for biology alone,...few. Gregor Mendel owns three of those few and the understanding of his work netted another. Rosalind's Mathematical Mind and Organismal Genetics: Next we enter the realm of Genetics, where Gregor Mendel will act as a primary scientist using statistical analysis to infer meaning into scientific observation. After that, it all comes down finding out why Gregor Mendel's findings occur and the mechanism that makes it all work. Here we find it, the secret to life on Earth,...IPMAT 1:2:1
		Quarter 2: Phenotypes, Darwin and Population Genetics Once we understand the basics of the forces that make everything possible, we need to look into how we think everything became everything. The Analytical Charles and Population Genetics: Experimental genetics is one thing, but natural surroundings tend to make things a bit messier. That makes real world scientific understanding a bit more complex. Enter the Theory of Evolution by means of Natural Selection. Biological Evolution Theory: The basics are really very simple. If a population has a genetically inherited trait that has multiple alleles and is diverse within that population (Mendel) and there is a tenancy to overpopulate and a struggle for existence of that trait (Darwin), then the population will evolve. Biological Evolution Mechanics: The types of environmental pressures that drive evolution through natural selection can make for an interesting study of our biological world and it's history.
		Quarter 3: Natural History, The Cambrian and Land Acquisition Anna's Couries and a Natural Evolutionary Process: What brings us to this place? Earth has a dynamic history and the greening of the sea and land is a vital first step towards our current diversity. OK, so here's the argument,...from a single cell to everything alive today. Fasten your seat belts. The: E
		Quarter 4: Becoming Homo, Becoming Human and the Invention of Inhumanity Luci, Frodo and Hominid Evolution: Making a bony organism with limbs is one thing, but the complexity of the Human experience is quite another,...or is it? Homo sapiens' spread over from Africa to the rest of the planet. What does that tell us of our past and our future?

This course in general biology, uses a planetary approach to teach basic standards defined by the Arizona State Standards for Science Education. These standards are defined wholly by the National Standards for Science Education. There is little difference,but where there is discrepancy the National Standards will take precedence.

The National Science Standards for High School: Strand 4 -- Life Science
		Concept One: The Cell This area teaches us about the inner workings of the cell. As all life is made of cells, this important aspect of biology is vital to a better general understanding of the world we live in. Given two basic types of cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, we'll look into the advantages of both and why the latter allowed life to develop into really large organisms like ourselves.
		Concept Two: The Molecular Basis for Heredity This area teaches us about the most basic part of life on Earth,...Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). The discovery of chromosomes to the discovery of how they are built and function took over 100 years. The story gives us great insight into the nature of science and the nature of Planet Earth.
		Concept Three: Interdependence of Organisms This area teaches us about the interconnected latticework of life. As life gains complexity (we're very complex) it depends a great deal on the well being of other planetary inhabitants. As this picture fleshes out, we find that we are more dependant on them and they are independent of us.
		Concept Four: Biological Evolution This area teaches us about genetics on a population level. It has been said that nothing in biology ultimately makes sense, except within the framework of the Theory of Evolution by means of Natural Selection.
		Concept Five: Matter, Energy and the Organization of Living Systems This area teaches us about everything that is anything. A hallmark of the study of physics is that we can neither create nor destroy energy, we can only transform it. Thus, everything that is anything works upon an energy framework first released at the time of the Big Bang. Life is a mechanical structure that survives by transforming energy.

 

Science is a thing that makes us Human