SME
Grade 9 Science
Biology
The chemistry of life: water and biomolecules
Main lesson
Dehydration synthesis: water and mass
Use this for “How many water molecules leave as the chain forms, or are needed to split it, and what is the polymer’s mass?”
Which class of biomolecule is it?
Use this for “Antibodies are made of which kind of molecule?”
Which property of water explains it?
Use this for “Why can an insect stand on the surface of a pond?”
Cell membranes and transport: diffusion, osmosis and active transport
Main lesson
The sodium–potassium pump
Use this for “How many Na⁺ and K⁺ ions does the pump move for 2 ATP?”
Which kind of transport is it?
Use this for “Is it passive or active transport, and does it need a protein?”
Cells in hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic water
Use this for “Onion cells in salt water shrink from their walls. Why?”
Cellular energy: ATP, photosynthesis and cellular respiration
Main lesson
The photosynthesis equation
Use this for “How many CO₂ molecules make 2 glucose molecules, and are the atoms conserved?”
The stages of cellular respiration
Use this for “Where does each stage of respiration happen, and which makes the most ATP?”
Photosynthesis, respiration or fermentation?
Use this for “Which process makes bread dough rise?”
Enzyme activity by temperature
Use this to record or read how fast an enzyme works at each temperature.
The cell cycle and its control, cancer, mitosis and meiosis
Main lesson
Mitotic index
Use this for “20 of 100 root-tip cells are in mitosis. How long does mitosis last in a 24-hour cycle?”
Counting chromosomes
Use this for “A body cell has 46 chromosomes. How many are in a gamete, and in a zygote?”
The cell cycle and how long each phase takes
Use this for “In which phase of the cell cycle is DNA replicated?”
Meiosis I and II
Use this for “What are the final products of meiosis?”
Mitosis, meiosis or both?
Use this for “Why do offspring from sexual reproduction vary more than those from mitosis?”
Which checkpoint stops it?
Use this for “A cell’s DNA is damaged before it is copied. Where in the cycle is it stopped?”
Normal cell or cancer cell?
Use this for “How does a cancer cell differ from a normal body cell?”
Reproduction and development
Main lesson
Sexual or asexual reproduction?
Use this for “Why do offspring from sexual reproduction differ from both parents?”
Which germ layer forms it?
Use this for “Which germ layer forms the brain and spinal cord?”
The menstrual cycle
Use this for “Why does menstruation stop during pregnancy?”
Hormone levels through a cycle
Use this for “Which hormone keeps the uterine lining in the second half of the cycle?”
Mendelian and non-Mendelian inheritance
Main lesson
Expected genotypes among many offspring
Use this for “Among 100 children of carrier parents (Ff × Ff), how many are expected to be Ff?”
Incomplete dominance
Use this for “Two pink snapdragons are crossed. How many of 4 offspring are expected to be red, pink and white?”
Codominance
Use this for “A roan bull and a white cow: how many calves in 4 are roan?”
A sex-linked trait
Use this for “A carrier mother and a father with normal vision: what is the chance a son is color-blind?”
ABO blood types from genotypes
Use this for “Which two genotypes give the same blood type?”
A sex-linked pedigree
Use this for “Can an affected son have a mother who does not show the trait?”
DNA structure, replication and protein synthesis
Main lesson
Base pairing: Chargaff’s rule
Use this for “A DNA sample is 30% adenine. What percent is guanine?”
DNA replication
Use this for “How does base pairing let a cell copy its DNA before it divides?”
From gene to protein
Use this for “Put the steps of protein synthesis in order, from the gene in the nucleus.”
Mutations, gene expression and biotechnology
Main lesson
An insertion shifts the reading frame
Use this for “Why does inserting one base change every amino acid after it?”
A deletion shifts the reading frame
Use this for “One base is deleted from a gene. Which codons change, and is there still a stop codon?”
Gel electrophoresis: a piece of DNA cut once
Use this for “A 5,000 bp piece is cut once, and one fragment is 3,000 bp. How long is the other?”
PCR: copies double each cycle
Use this for “Starting from 2 copies, how many copies are there after 10 cycles of PCR?”
Silent, missense, nonsense or frameshift?
Use this for “The codon GAA changes to GUA. What kind of mutation is it?”
Which DNA tool is it?
Use this for “Which technique would make millions of copies of DNA from one hair?”
Genes switched on and off
Use this for “Why does a bacterium make the enzymes for lactose only when lactose is there?”
DNA fingerprinting
Use this for “Which suspect’s DNA matches the evidence?” or “Could this man be the father?”
Evidence for evolution, population genetics and speciation
Main lesson
Allele frequencies from genotype counts
Use this for “A sample has 49 AA, 42 Aa and 9 aa. What are p and q?”
Homologous, analogous or vestigial?
Use this for “Which forelimb is not homologous to the others?”
Common ancestry on a cladogram
Use this for “Which two animals are most closely related?”
How bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic
Use this for “Why does overusing antibiotics lead to resistant bacteria?”
How one species becomes two
Use this for “Put the steps of speciation after a population is split in order.”
What changes allele frequencies?
Use this for “Which condition would change the allele frequencies in a population?”
Classification and the diversity of life: domains, kingdoms and cladograms
Main lesson
The three domains
Use this for “Methane-making microbes live in a cow’s stomach. Which domain are they in?”
The kingdoms of Eukarya
Use this for “Is yeast a plant, a fungus or a protist?”
The ranks of classification
Use this for “Which rank is the most specific: family, genus or order?”
A dichotomous key
Use this for “Use the key to name the animal: it has no backbone and a segmented body.”
Plants: structure, transport, growth and reproduction
Main lesson
Transpiration rate
Use this for “A leafy shoot in a potometer takes up 4.8 mL of water in 6 hours. What is its rate?”
Xylem or phloem?
Use this for “Which tissue carries sugar from the leaves to the roots?”
Which tropism is it?
Use this for “Why does a houseplant bend toward the window?”
Which nutrient is it?
Use this for “Why do farmers plant beans to add nitrogen to the soil?”
A flowering plant’s life cycle
Use this for “Put these in order: pollination, fertilization, seed dispersal, germination.”
The parts of a flower
Use this for “Which part of the flower becomes the fruit?”
Population growth and carrying capacity
Main lesson
Births, deaths and migration
Use this for “A herd of 500 deer has 90 births, 40 deaths, 10 arrivals and 20 departures in a year. What is its new size?”
Doubling time
Use this for “Bacteria double every 15 minutes. How many are there after 2 hours, starting from 40?”
Density-dependent or density-independent?
Use this for “Habitat loss crowds a population. Which limiting factor grows stronger?”
Bacteria growing in a flask
Use this for “Why does the number of bacteria level off and then fall?”
Two species, one food
Use this for “Two protist species grow together in one dish. Which one wins, and why?”
Ecosystems: energy pyramids, matter cycles, succession and biodiversity
Main lesson
Pyramid of numbers
Use this for “2 oak trees each carry 3,000 caterpillars, and a warbler eats 250 a season. How many warblers can they feed?”
Pyramid of biomass
Use this for “Phytoplankton hold 6 g/m² and zooplankton 18 g/m². How many grams of zooplankton are there for each gram of phytoplankton?”
Simpson’s diversity index
Use this for “Which pond community is more diverse: 25, 5, 5, 5 or 10, 10, 10, 10?”
Primary succession
Use this for “Put these communities in the order they grow on new volcanic rock.”
The nitrogen cycle
Use this for “How do plants such as beans add nitrogen to the soil?”
The carbon cycle and energy
Use this for “How do photosynthesis and respiration move carbon between the air and living things?”
Biomes and aquatic ecosystems
Body systems, homeostasis and feedback loops
Main lesson
Which body system does it?
Use this for “Which organ system filters the blood and controls the water in it?”
Negative or positive feedback?
Use this for “Insulin release slows once blood glucose is back to normal. What kind of feedback is it?”
Blood glucose after a meal
Use this to record or read blood glucose after a meal and see insulin bring it back.
The nervous system and the senses
Main lesson
How fast a nerve impulse travels
Use this for “An impulse travels 1 m from the toe to the spinal cord at 50 m/s. How long does it take?”
A nerve impulse
Use this for “What makes the inside of a neuron positive during an impulse?”
Membrane potential through an impulse
Use this to record a neuron’s membrane potential through one impulse.
Across a synapse
Use this for “How does a signal pass from one neuron to the next?”
Which part of the nervous system?
Use this for “Which part of the nervous system speeds up the heart in an emergency?”
Which receptor detects it?
Use this for “Which receptors in the eye respond to light?”
Disease and the immune system
Main lesson
Herd immunity
Use this for “Each case of a disease infects 5 people, and the vaccine works in 95% of people. What share must be vaccinated to stop it spreading?”
Kinds of pathogens
Use this for “Strep throat or the flu: which one can an antibiotic treat?”
The immune response in stages
Use this for “What do helper T cells do in the adaptive immune response?”
Innate or adaptive defense?
Use this for “Is a fever part of the innate or the adaptive immune response?”