META24 CORE · PROJECT-BASED · SCIENCE · UPPER SCHOOL · GRADE 9 · 1 CREDIT · NGSS
Biology
From the cell to the species: the membrane, the body at work, the fuel, the genes, the microbes and the immune answer, the web and the soil, selection and resistance. Every rung is a build — the Specimen Bench, the Gene Bench, The Ground — and the Report reads the builds.
THE MIX · HOW MUCH OF EACH CORE SUBJECT THIS COURSE CARRIES · IN ORDER
SCIENCEMATHREADING & WRITINGTECHNOLOGY & TRADES
The squares are a picture of a course — how much of each core subject its own rooms carry, read from the rooms’ text — never a score of a student. Every course in a lab is graded to the core across the board; the squares say which columns it feeds most.
WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO
- Model cell structure and transport from microscope evidence
- Explain the heart, the lungs and fatigue as systems with numbers
- Use DNA, Punnett squares and pedigrees to predict and explain inheritance
- Explain evolution by selection with a count, and antibiotic resistance as the same thing
AT A GLANCE · 36 WEEKS
Q1 The cell and the body at work — The Recovery Number
Q2 Fuel and genes — Pull the DNA Out of a Strawberry
Q3 Microbes, immunity, the web — The Cup Outbreak
Q4 Evolution — Three Locks
Semester 1
WEEKS 1–18 · QUARTERS 1 AND 2The cell and the body at work
WEEKS 1–9THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 1–3Cell parts, membrane, scale
The onion skin and the cheek; the gummy bear; how big is small.
WK 4–7The heart, the lungs, fatigue
The recovery number; the bottle lung; two minutes.
WK 8–9Organs and levers
The eye at three times life; what your biceps really lifts.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The Recovery Number
The question. What is your recovery number — and what does it say about the system under the skin?
The make. The Recovery Number — the build on the Science Floor, in the Movement Floor: the number, the count, the sheet.
The evidence. The recovery sheet across three days, handed in through the Science Floor (a picture, never a score)
HS-LS1-3MS-LS1-3
Fuel and genes
WEEKS 10–18 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 10–13Calories, respiration, the budget
Burn a Cheeto; where the mass comes from; one day, both columns.
WK 14–18DNA, Punnett, traits
The strawberry’s DNA; count the kernels; the pedigree wall.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
Pull the DNA Out of a Strawberry
The question. Pull the DNA out of a strawberry: what did each step of the protocol do, and why?
The make. Pull the DNA Out of a Strawberry — the build on the Science Floor, in the Kitchen: the number, the count, the sheet.
The evidence. The extraction protocol annotated step by step with the result, handed in through the Science Floor
MS-LS3-1HS-LS1-1HS-LS3-1
Semester 2
WEEKS 19–36 · QUARTERS 3 AND 4Microbes, immunity, the web
WEEKS 19–27THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 19–22Microbes, spread, immunity
The plate count; the glitter hand; the cup outbreak.
WK 23–27Food web, soil, cycles
The bed census; the jar test; the hot pile.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The Cup Outbreak
The question. The cup outbreak: trace patient zero from the data — and what would have stopped it?
The make. The Cup Outbreak — the build on the Science Floor, in the Kitchen: the number, the count, the sheet.
The evidence. The outbreak trace with the transmission tree drawn, handed in through the Science Floor
HS-LS1-3MS-LS1-3
THE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 28–31Selection and breeding
The bead hunt; one species, six vegetables.
WK 32–34Resistance and boundaries
Three locks; the two tables.
WK 35–36The case
The year’s builds read back as one argument.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
Three Locks
The question. Three locks: why does one antibiotic fail and three together hold — as a count?
The make. Three Locks — the build on the Science Floor, in the Esports Lab: the number, the count, the sheet.
The evidence. The resistance simulation counts with the explanation, handed in through the Science Floor
MS-LS4-4HS-LS4-4HS-LS4-5
A course is a quarter, a semester or a year — nine, eighteen or thirty-six weeks — a project a quarter. Offered as the year, a semester or a quarter, it is the same course seen through a window. A lab is a family: its year, each of its tracks as a course, and its rooms. The evidence is what a student hands in through the room; the Report reads it from there. Nothing in the catalog is a grade.
THE PASS · THIS COURSE AND EVERY OTHER ONE
One pass includes Biology and every course in the catalog. Pick a pass, or enter a school code; checkout stays on this page.