Ontario Grade 11 SBI3C Biology (Grade 11, College Preparation)
Chapters: 6
1. A. Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration
A1 Scientific Investigation Skills · A2 Career Exploration
- The Scientific Method – The scientific method is the careful way scientists find out how the world works. Observe something, ask a testable question, make a hypothesis (a clear, testable guess), test it with a fair experiment (change one variable, measure one, keep the rest the same), repeat and record data, analyse it, draw a conclusion and share it so others can check. Results that fail the test are useful too: they send you back to a new hypothesis.
2. B. Cellular Biology
B1 Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment · B2 Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication · B3 Understanding Basic Concepts
- Cell: The Unit of Life – Every living thing is made of cells, and every new cell comes from an old cell. Prokaryotic cells (bacteria) have no nuclear envelope and no membrane-bound organelles; eukaryotic cells have a true nucleus and many organelles. The membrane is a fluid mosaic of lipids and proteins; plants add a cellulose wall. ER, Golgi, lysosomes and vacuoles form the endomembrane system. Mitochondria and plastids make energy and food, ribosomes make proteins, the cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella and centrioles give shape and movement, and the nucleus holds the DNA.
3. C. Microbiology
C1 Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment · C2 Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication · C3 Understanding Basic Concepts
- Microorganisms: The Tiny Living Things All Around Us – Microorganisms (microbes) are living things too small to see without a microscope. The main groups are bacteria, fungi, protozoa and algae; viruses are also studied with them but are not cells. Bacteria have no nucleus (prokaryotes); the others have one (eukaryotes). Bacteria multiply by splitting in two, so their number doubles again and again. Most microbes are harmless or helpful: our gut microbiota helps digestion, microbes make curd and bread, recycle dead matter and fix nitrogen. A few are pathogens that cause disease. Antibiotics kill bacteria but not viruses, and misusing them breeds resistant bacteria.
4. D. Genetics
D1 Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment · D2 Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication · D3 Understanding Basic Concepts
- Heredity and Mendel's Laws – Heredity is the passing of traits from parents to children through genes. Each parent gives one copy of every gene. A dominant copy hides a recessive one, which is why Mendel saw 3:1 in a monohybrid cross and 9:3:3:1 in a dihybrid cross. Genes are pieces of DNA that make proteins, and proteins build the trait.
5. E. Anatomy of Mammals
E1 Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment · E2 Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication · E3 Understanding Basic Concepts
- Human Body Systems – Your body is organised in levels: cells make tissues, tissues make organs, organs make organ systems, and all systems together make you, the organism. Each system has a main job: skeletal (frame), muscular (movement), circulatory (transport), respiratory (gas exchange), digestive (food), excretory (waste), nervous and endocrine (control), immune (defence), integumentary (skin, hair, nails) and reproductive. No system works alone: during exercise the muscles, heart, lungs and nerves all change together to keep the inside of the body steady (homeostasis).
6. F. Plants in the Natural Environment
F1 Relating Science to Technology, Society, and the Environment · F2 Developing Skills of Investigation and Communication · F3 Understanding Basic Concepts
- Anatomy of Flowering Plants – Anatomy is the study of the inside structure of a plant, seen by cutting thin slices (sections). Plant cells form tissues, and tissues form three tissue systems: epidermal (the skin), ground (the filling) and vascular (xylem and phloem pipes). Dicots and monocots differ in how these systems are arranged in their root, stem and leaf.