This is meant to serve as a high school Biology course with a lab (which college admissions offices like to see on your transcript, or so I’m told) for S., who will be 14 next year. It is also intended for J., who will be 10.

This is a work in progress; I’ll be adding to it as I go along. Please keep the suggestions coming! The high school biology text I’m using for reference is a cheap used copy of Holt Biology.

Things to Invest In:

compound microscope
stereoscope
specimens from each of the 6 kingdoms
bacteria
Maybe: Disease Causing Bacteria
viruses
protists
yeast & molds
Bacteria Introduction Kit
Stream Ecology Pack
safety goggles and gloves
250 ml beakers
petri dishes
20 mL mold inhibitor
methylene blue stain
Shanleya’s Quest & Botany in a Day by Thomas Elpel
Frogs
anoles
Crickets or Mealworms
2 Terrariums
Tadpoles or eggs & Food
Tank
Microscope Slide: Mammal Skin
Microscope Slides: Animal & Plant Cells

Outline:

I. Year 1, 1st Quarter

A. Week 1: Introduction/The Scientific Method

Note: We’ve been getting our feet wet with the scientific method this spring with the tomatosphere project and watching Mythbusters.

1. Lab: The Effects of Acid Rain on Seeds

2. Topics:
a. Characteristics of Living Things (see HB, Chapter 1)
b. The Scientific Method (see HB, Chapter 1)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist’s Life in the Field by Bernd Heinrich (for me to read, and maybe excerpts for S. & J.)

B. Week 2: The Kingdoms of Life/Animals

1. Lab: Kingdom Diversity (looking at specimens of each of the 6 kingdoms under a stereoscope)

2. Topics:
a. 6 Kingdoms of Life (see HB, Chapter 19)
b. Animal Characteristics (see HB, Chapter 27)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:

C. Week 3: Simple Invertebrates

1. Lab: Stream ecology study

2. Topics:
a. Sponges (see HB Ch 28)
b. Cnidarians (see HB Ch 28)
c. Flatworms and roundworms (see HB Ch 28)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?
D. Weeks 4-6: Plants

1. Lab: Gather plants and study them under the stereoscope, botany scavenger huntplant stuff & do a flower dissection;

2. Topics:
a. Adaptations of plants (see HB Ch 23)
b. Kinds of plants (see HB Ch 23)
c. Uses of plants (see HB Ch 23)
d. Plant reproduction (see HB Ch 24)
e. Plant structure & function (see HB Ch 25)
e. Plant growth & development (see HB Ch 26)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. Shanleya’s Quest & Botany in a Day by Thomas Elpel
b. The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist Deborah Kogan Ray (J.’s age level)

E. Weeks 7-9: Viruses & Bacteria

1. Labs: Studying Bacteria & Viruses, Growing Bacteria & Bacteria Experiments

2. Topics:
a. Structure & characteristics of bacteria & viruses (see HB, Chapter 20)
b. Viral vs. bacterial illnesses
b. The discovery of vaccines
c. Current controversies about vaccines (including the possible link to autism)
d. Potential development of an AIDS vaccine

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. A Field Guide to Bacteria by Betsey Dyer (?)
b. The Microbe Hunters by Paul de Knuif (AO Year 9 Recommendation) (for me & S. to read)
c. Resources on the development of vaccines– the library has these resources:
Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine by John Bankston
Jonas Salk: Conquering Polio by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson.
Netflix has this movie — Modern Marvels: Polio Vaccine

II. Year One, 2nd Quarter

A. Week 10: Protists

1. Lab: Studying Protists

2. Topics:
a. Protist characteristics and diversity (see HB ch. 21)
b. Protists and diseases (see HB ch. 21)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

B. Week 11: Fungi

1. Lab: Studying Yeast & Molds

2. Topics:
a. The Discovery of Penicillin

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. Book(s) or movie(s) about the discovery of penicillin. The library has these:
Alexander Fleming : The Man Who Discovered Penicillin by Salvatore Tocci
Alexander Fleming : Discoverer of Penicillin by Ted Gottfried

C. Week 12: Mollusks & Annelids

1. Lab: ?

2. Topics:
a. Mollusks (see HB ch. 29)
b. Annelids (see HB ch. 29)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

D. Week 13: Arthropods

1. Lab: ?

2. Topics:
a. Features of arthropods (see HB ch. 30)
b. Arachnids (see HB ch. 30)
c. Insects & their relatives (see HB ch. 30)
d. Crustaceans (see HB ch. 30)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
Journey to the Ants by Bert Holldobler & Edward Wilson (?)
Fabre’s Book of Insects by Jean Henri Fabre (?)

E. Week 14: Echinoderms & Invertebrate Chordates

1. Lab: ?

2. Topics:
a. Echinoderms (see HB ch. 29)
b. Invertebrate chordates (see HB ch. 29)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

F. Weeks 15-16: Vertebrates/Fish & Amphibians

1. Lab: Observing a live frog, raising tadpoles & visiting an aquarium

2. Topics:
a. Introduction to Vertebrates (see HB ch. 32)
b. Fish (see HB ch. 33)
c. Amphibians (see HB ch. 33)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. Animal Lives: Frog by Sally Tagholm & Bert Kitchen (for James & Trishy)
b. Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Frog’s Tale by April Sayre (for James & Trishy)

G. Weeks 17-18: Reptiles & Birds

1. Lab: Observing anoles & Luray Reptile Zoo

2. Topics:
a. Reptiles
b. Birds

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. The Life of Birds by David Attenborough (for me to read and maybe sections for S. & J.)

III. Year 1, 3rd Quarter

A. Weeks 19-22: Mammals

1. Lab: Studying Mammal Skins & ?

2. Topics:
a. Mammals
b. Wildlife conservation (wolves)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. Of Wolves & Men by Barry Lopez
b. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
c. and this: Once A Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf by Stephen R. Swinburne
d. Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Seton (AO Year 5 Recommendation)
e. Movie — Nature: Koko

B. Weeks 23-25: Animal Behavior, Evolution & Natural Selection

1. Lab – Timeline of life on earth & natural selection activity (HB p. 272 & 296)
See also The Beast in You: Activities & Questions to Explore Evolution by Marc McCutcheon

2. Topics:
a. Animal behavior (H ch. 36)
b. History of life on earth (Ch. 12)
c. Natural selection & evolution (Ch. 13)
d. Theistic vs. secular evolution, creationism & “intelligent design”

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. The Flamingo’s Smile: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould (for me and perhaps sections with S. & J.)
b. Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould (for me and perhaps sections with S. & J.)
c. It Couldn’t Just Happen by Lawrence O. Richards (to explore the Creationist viewpoint)
d. Theory of Evolution: A History of Controversy (The Teaching Company)

C. Week 26: Classification

1. Lab ?

2. Topics:
a. How scientists classify organisms (HB ch. 14)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:

D. Week 27: Populations & Ecosystems

1. Lab ?

2. Topics:
a. Populations (HB ch. 15)
b. Ecosystems (HB ch. 16)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:

IV. Year 1, 4th Quarter
?

A. Week 28: The Environment

1. Lab ?

2. Topics:
a. Global change (HB ch. 18)
b. Effects on ecosystems (HB ch. 18)
c. Solving environmental problems (HB ch. 18)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

B. Week 29: Cells

1. Lab: Studying Animal & Plant Cells, Drawing Diagrams of Plant & Animal Cells & Streaming Chloroplasts Flip Book

2. Topics:
a. Cell structure (HB ch. 3)
b. Cells & their environment (HB ch. 4)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

C. Week 30: Chromosomes & Cell Reproduction

1. Lab: Modeling mitosis

2. Topics:
a. Chromosomes (HB ch. 6)
b. The cell cycle (HB ch. 6)
c. Mitosis & cytokinesis (HB ch. 6)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

D. Week 31: Meosis & Sexual Reproduction

1. Lab: Modeling Meoisis

2. Topics:
a. Meosis (HB ch. 7)
b. Sexual reproduction (HB ch. 7)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

E. Week 32: Mendel & Heredity

1. Lab: Modeling monohybrid crosses (with lentils & green peas)

2. Topics:
a. Origins of genetics (HB ch. 8 )
b. Mendel (HB ch. 8 )
c. Studying heredity (HB ch. 8 )
d. Complex patterns of heredity (HB ch. 8 )
e. Genetic disorders (HB ch. 8 )

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
?

F. Week 33-36: DNA & Gene Technology

1. Lab: ?

2. Topics: DNA & Gene Technology (HB ch. 9-11)

3. Living Books/Resources for Reading or “Strewing”:
a. The Way Life Works by Mahlon Hoagland (?)
b. The Double Helix by James Watson (for me)
c. Rosalind Franklin by Brenda Maddox (for me)
d. Rosalind Franklin & DNA by Anne Sayre (for me)
e. Understanding Genetics: DNA, Genes, and Their Real-World Applications (The Teaching Company)

V. Year 2: 1st Quarter: The Human Body

VI. Year 2: 2nd Quarter: TBA