School / Grade 11
Grade 11 Biology: Life Sciences 11
Cells, energy, viruses, evolution and the classification of life.
This course follows the structure of BC Life Sciences 11 across thirteen lessons. It begins with the levels of biological organization and the interrelationships described in First Peoples understandings, then moves inside the cell to structure, function, reproduction by mitosis and meiosis, and the energy transformations of cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
Two lessons then examine viruses: what they are made of, how they replicate, and how the body and public health measures respond. The course turns next to change over time, covering microevolution and natural selection, artificial selection and genetic modification, and macroevolution, speciation and the evidence for it.
The final lessons look at trends in complexity from single-celled to multi-celled life, and at classification: phylogenetic evidence, taxonomic principles, First Peoples knowledge on classification, and the similarities and differences among domains and kingdoms.
Each lesson includes diagrams, worked examples, key terms, check questions and sources. These lessons are an independent study aid. The official curriculum document remains the authority on what is required.
Big ideas
- Life results from interactions at the molecular and cellular levels.
- Evolution occurs at the population level.
- Organisms are grouped by common characteristics.
Lessons
- Levels of Organization and InterrelationshipsFrom molecules to ecosystems: the nine levels of life, plus First Peoples understandings of plants as timing indicators and decaying animals as plant nutrients.
- Cell Structure and FunctionCell theory, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, why cells are small, unicellular and multicellular life, cell specialization and the origin of organelles.
- Asexual Reproduction and MitosisBinary fission, budding, conjugation and mitosis: how cells copy DNA and divide, and how the eukaryotic cell cycle works.
- Meiosis and Sexual ReproductionHow meiosis halves the chromosome number and shuffles genes, how fertilization restores it, and why sexual and asexual reproduction each have costs and benefits.
- Cellular Respiration: Aerobic and AnaerobicHow cells break down glucose to make ATP and carbon dioxide, and how fermentation and anaerobic respiration work without oxygen.
- PhotosynthesisHow chloroplasts transform light energy into the chemical energy of sugars, consuming carbon dioxide and water and releasing oxygen.
- Viruses: Structure and Replication CyclesWhat viruses are made of, why they sit at the boundary of living and non-living, and how lytic and lysogenic cycles and retroviruses work.
- Viral Disease: Immunity, Vaccines and PreventionHow the immune system responds to viruses, how vaccines and herd immunity work, and how spread of H1N1, avian flu, HIV, Ebola and viral STIs is reduced.
- Microevolution, Mutation and Natural SelectionHow populations change over generations: mutations, population genetics, natural selection, drift, and adaptation to changing environments.
- Artificial Selection and Genetic ModificationSelective breeding, recombinant DNA, GMOs and gene therapy, and the social and ethical questions they raise.
- Macroevolution, Speciation and EvidenceHow new species arise, models of the pace of evolution, adaptive radiation, divergent, convergent and co-evolution, and the evidence for macroevolution.
- Trends in Complexity and Body PlansSingle-celled versus multi-celled life and ten trends in complexity, from body symmetry and tissues to vascular tissue, alternation of generations and seeds.
- Classification, Phylogeny and the Diversity of LifeEvidence for evolutionary relationships, cladograms, taxa, binomial names, dichotomous keys, First Peoples classification by use, and the domains and kingdoms.
Official BC curriculum for this course ↗
These lessons follow the content areas listed in the British Columbia curriculum. They are study material written for this site and are not an official document. The official curriculum is the authority on what each course requires. Lessons are general education, not medical advice.