Unit Plan for Year 12 Biology (Unit

3/Semester 1)
Wee Unit Plan Wiki Activities
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1 THE CHEMICAL NATURE OF THE CELL
- The water molecule: the basis for life
- The structure and function of organic
molecules
- Carbohydrates/ Polysaccharides
- Simple carbohydrates
- Monosaccharide
- Disaccharides
- Complex carbohydrates
(Polysaccharides)
- E.g. Glycogen, starch,
cellulose
2 - Proteins
- Amino acids are the building
blocks of protein
- Structure and shape of
proteins
- Primary structure
- Secondary structure
- Tertiary structure
- (*Protemes study?)
- Lipids (Fats, oils and waxes)
- Triglycerides
- Phospholipids
3 - Nucleic Acids
- The structure and function of
DNA
- The structure and function of
RNA
- (*venn diagram activity?)
- REVISION
4 MEMBRANES AND CELL ORGANELLES
- What is a cell?
- Eukaryotic cells
- The plasma membrane
boundary
- Recognising cells: self
or non self
- Crossing the membrane
- Diffusion
- Channel mediated
- Carrier mediated
- Active transport
- Bulk transport
5 - Organelles:
- The nucleus (Nuclei)
- Mitochondria
 - Ribosomes
- Endoplasmic Reticulum
(ER)
- Smooth ER
- Rough ER

6 -Golgi Complex
-Lysosomes
- Peroxisomes
- Endosomes
- *Plant cell organelle:
chloroplasts
- The cell skeleton
- Connections between cells
- Occluding junctions
- Communicating junctions
- Anchoring junctions
- *Plant cell junctions
- REVISION
-
7 BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN CELLS
- Chemical energy in organic
compounds
- (Chemical reactions release/require
energy)
- Enzyme action
- Structure of enzymes (proteins)
- Enzyme and their substrates:
how it works
- Factors affecting enzyme
activity
- pH
- Temperature
- Enzyme Concentration
- Substrate Concentration
- Inhibition
8 - Photosynthesis
- Stages of photosynthesis
- Light dependent stage
- Light independent stage
(carbon reduction stage)
- C3 Plants
- C4 Plants
- Cellular Respiration (energy transfer
from glucose to ATP)
- Aerobic respiration
- ATP production (stages)
- Glycolysis
- Krebs cycle
- Electron transport
- Anaerobic respiration
- In humans
- fermentation
 - REVISION
9 MOLECULAR BIOLOGY IN MEDICINE
- History of molecular biology in
medicine
- Inherited diseases
- Phenylketonuria (PKU)
- (* Personal story?)
- Hypothyroidism
- Galactoaemia
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Gene therapy
- Transferring DNA pieces into a
cell
- Using a virus as a vector
- Retroviruses
- Adenoviruses
- Non-viral gene therapy

10 - Medical diagnosis
- E.g. Prenatal testing, breast
cancer, Huntington disease.
- Rational drug design
- Designing a drug based on the
active site
- Vaccines
- E.g. Influenza, malaria
measles
- Manufacturing biological molecules
- Insulin
- Growth hormone
- Factor VIII
- Delivery of drugs by
nanoparticles
- Medical benefits vs.
bioethical issues
- REVISION