BIOLOGY
In high school, students should begin to explain biological phenomena at the molecular level, and they need to look at evidence for essential theories, such as evolution. Careful attention should be paid to scale, both very small (cells and molecules) and very large (the biosphere).
  Biology

The emphasis for each key component in the Biology standard is given below.

5.1     Students will know and understand the characteristics of living things, appreciate the importance of the diversity of life, and begin to recognize the infinite number of ways that living things can interact with each other and with their environment.

Students have studied examples of diversity in terms of physical characteristics. In Biology, this should be extended to behaviors, internal structures, and body functions.

5.2     Students will know and understand how matter cycles and energy moves through living systems.

The emphasis is on carbon, not on nitrogen or any of the other elements. Students are not expected to balance equations or regurgitate formulas. They should understand the evidence for the cycling of matter.

5.3     Students will know and understand how the human body functions, factors that influence its structures and functions, and how these structures and functions compare with those of other organisms.

Help students understand the role of molecules in the functioning of a system. Examples: digestive system (enzymes), circulatory system (diffusion, gas exchange), nervous system (transmission of messages), urinary system (water balance), endocrine system (one example of a hormone and how it works). Students will not have studied the immune, endocrine, or urinary systems (or if they did, it was minimal).

5.4     Students will know and understand the basic principles of genetics and how organisms change over time in terms of evolution and genetics.

Students should understand how genetic information is encoded in genes and they should learn how variation in DNA leads to diversity. They should also understand what biologists mean by the term evolution.
ALWAYS provide evidence to help students understand how we know what we know. Some of the evidence should be in the form of inquiry lab activities.