Welcome to the homepage for Ms. Smith's grade 11 (university preparation) biology class. This webpage will be updated frequently and is intended as a resource for students to supplement their learning experience - it is NOT meant to replace classroom learning. I will do my best to post handouts and notes when possible. Students are expected to attend class, keep good notes, participate and seek assistance as required, and complete homework/study on a regular basis.
My goal is to help each student be successful - whatever that may represent for each student. and for each student to develop a genuine interest in biology.
This course provides students with an opportunity to explore five different, but related, areas of biology that will represent our five units of study.
Diversity of Living Things: a basic study of bacteria, viruses, protists and fungi
Genetic Processes: meiotic cell division and its relationship to genetic diversity. Mendelian genetics and beyond and genetic disorders
Evolution: a look at evolutionary processes that lead to biological change over time as species interact with their environment.
Plant Anatomy: a description of various plant cells, tissues and organs, and their specialized functions
Animal Structure and Function: an examination of the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems, culminating in the dissection of a fetal pig
Please note that we will begin the course with an overview of cell structure and function - this material will not be explicitly evaluated, but is background knowledge required for the other units.
An emphasis will be placed on developing critical thinking skills, as well as placing biology within a real-world context. A copy of the course outline can be found here.
Unit Review Questions - these are means to guide you through the textbook and serve as a review of topics covered in class. It HIGHLY recommended that you complete questions as we covered the topics in class. Many will be assigned as homework.
Of the 20 people on the island, 2 are heterozygous for cystic fibrosis. This means that the other 18 are homozygous dominant (we can assume that no one on the island actually has CF). From this data, we can calculate p (frequency of dominant allele). Each of the 18 people who are homozygous dominant would have 2 copies of the dominant allele, and the 2 heterozygous people each have 1 of the dominant alleles. Thus, there are 38 [(2 x18) + 2] dominant alleles in the population. Therefore, p = 38/40 = 0.95, and q = 1 - 0.95 = 0.05. We want to figure out the instance of CF on our island as the population grows. In other words, we want to know the frequency of the homozygous recessive individuals in the future. Thus, we are solving for q2 = (0.5)2 = 0.0025.
Students are encouraged to seek extra help as soon as they feel overwhelmed or that they are struggling with the material. Biology can be a very intestive course, as it is quite detailed with a lot of terminology that students are unfamiliar with. I can be found in the science office before and after school, and at lunch. Students are welcome to schedule extra help with me, or simply come by the science office.
