Honors Biology

Honors Biology

Honors Biology covers topics typically covered in a high school biology course and prepares students for Advanced Placement Biology. Students learn complex concepts using a dynamic online environment that includes graphics, animations, video, and audio-narration. Students study the structures, functions, and processes of living organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Course Description:
Honor Biology is devoted to cover high school biology course and prepare students for 
Advanced Placement Biology. Through a combination of online lectures and virtual laboratory experiences, each student is expected to develop a solid foundation in the core concepts of biology, develop an appreciation of the investigative nature of laboratory experimentation, and hopefully experience the joy and excitement of contemporary biology. Students are expected to develop an understanding of certain core concepts of biology including evolution, cell structure and physiology, information flow, metabolism, cellular reproduction, and Mendelian genetics.
 

Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will draw diagrams of how the basic units of matter called atoms interact to produce the myriad of complex macromolecules that imbue living systems with the many and varying properties that constitute the living state. 
2. Students will be able to differentiate between living and non-living objects.
3. Students will utilize the scientific method by conducting specific laboratory exercises and develop critical thinking in seeking answers to their research question.
4. Students will explain how plant cells capture energy from the sun and other light sources and transform the same into chemical energy. They will also explain how that light energy 
transformed to chemical energy is utilized by virtually all eukaryotic organisms to produce the “energy coin” of life, ATP.
5. Students will describe the “central dogma” of biology. They will explain the mechanisms of DNA replication, RNA synthesis, protein synthesis, cell division, and basic Mendelian inheritance.

Major themes include:

1. Atom and molecule+ Build an atom game
2. Chemical component of the cell+ cell animation 
3. Microscope and cells + microscope virtual lab 
4. Cellular transport –Osmosis/ Diffusion
5. Enzymes
6. Energy- Photosynthesis
7. Energy- Cellular Respiration
8. Mitosis
9. Meiosis
10. Mendelian Genetics 
11. DNA replication
12. Natural selection
13. Evolution +Deep tree activity

Real time instruction, weekly assignment, 18 sessions (1.5hr) in regular semesters and 16 sessions (1.7hr) in summer ， 3-5 students per class

Registration and Refund Guidelines

• A non-refundable registration fee $50 will be charged to reserve the spot.
• Class may be cancelled if no more than five students registered in each class.
• The full tuition must be paid off before the class begins.
• Refund must be requested immediately after the first class on the same day.
• Registration fee and tuition for the first class won’t be refunded.
• No refund will be granted after the first day of the class.
• If the class is cancelled by STEM Academy, full tuition plus registration will be refunded.