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Unit 1: Chemistry of Life

• The structure and chemical properties of water

• The makeup and properties of macromolecules

• The structure of DNA and RNA

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Unit 2: Cell Structure and Function

• Cellular components and functions of those components

• Cell interaction with its environment

• The cell membrane structure and function

• Cell regulatory mechanisms like osmosis and selective permeability

• Cellular compartmentalization

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Unit 3: Cellular Energetics

• The structure and function of enzymes

• The role of energy in living systems

• The processes of photosynthesis

• The processes of cellular respiration

• Molecular diversity and cellular response to environmental changes

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Unit 4: Cell Communication and Cell Cycle

• The mechanisms of cell communication

• Signal transduction

• Cellular responses and feedback mechanisms

• The events in a cell cycle

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Unit 5: Heredity

• The process and function of meiosis

• The concepts genetic diversity

• Mendel’s laws and probability

• Non-mendelian Inheritance

• Factors affecting inheritance and gene expression

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Unit 6: Gene Expression and Regulation

• The roles and functions of DNA and RNA

• The mechanisms of gene expression

• How genotype affects phenotype

• Mutations, genetic diversity, and natural selection

• Genetic engineering and biotechnology

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Unit 7: Natural Selection

• Evidential support for evolution and common ancestry

• The mechanisms of natural selection and speciation

• Environmental and human-caused factors in evolution

• Charting species ancestry through phylogenetic trees and cladograms

• Extinction

• Models of the origin of life on Earth

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Unit 8: Ecology

• Communication and responses to environmental changes

• Energy flow within and across ecosystems

• Factors in the growth, density, and success of populations

• Factors in community and ecosystem dynamics

• Invasive species, human interaction, and environmental changes