Learning Streams

Please contact us to register for this class and see if we are a good fit for your family. Payment plans are available. This class can become a full year course if there is interest.

Secular High School Biology: 

Learn about the broad field of the biological sciences, organized into three major areas: molecular and cellular biology, organismal biology, and population biology. During this introductory class, students will learn about molecular and cellular biology. They will work extensively on comprehension and critical thinking questions.

During this introductory 14-week course students will learn about: 

• Scientific Method: understanding the means by which information is collected, how it is interpreted, how one hypothesizes from available information, and how one draws conclusions and makes further predictions
• Molecular & Cellular Biology: chemical composition of organisms, simple chemical reactions and bonds, properties of water, chemical structure of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, origin of life, cells, structure and function of cell organelles, properties of cell membranes, comparison of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, enzymes, enzyme-substrate complex, roles of coenzymes, inorganic cofactors, inhibition and regulation, energy transformations, glycolysis, respiration, and anaerobic pathways, photosynthesis, cell division, structure of chromosomes, mitosis, meiosis, and cytokinesis in plants and animals, chemical nature of the gene, Watson-Crick model of nucleic acids, DNA replication, mutations, control of protein synthesis: transcription, translation, and posttranscriptional processing, structural and regulatory genes, transformation, viruses
• Hands-on Activities: reinforce the knowledge of facts, principles, and processes of biology.
• Student Exhibition Project: students compile all of their work into a portfolio to display at Student Exhibition.

Homework: students are expected to read and prepare for class ahead of time and will have approximately 2 hours of reading per week. Open note Quizzes and Exams make up part of this class and students may need additional time to study at home.  

Grading: there will be no grades for this class but full class participation including test taking is still expected