Strands of Study

In addition to the ability to understand and apply the concepts, laws and theories of science, students come to understand the purposes and principles underpinning the practice of science. Through studying Leaving Certificate chemistry, students gain an understanding of the ideas which underpin the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data so that they can handle scientific evidence effectively. In justifying their conclusions they consider the validity and reliability of their data and appreciate the limitations of scientific evidence. As they present their work they develop skills in scientific communication and argumentation. The scientific practices outlined in this unit are learning outcomes in themselves and apply to all learning outcomes throughout the four units in the specification.

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Experimenting	identify variables and select appropriate controls design, manage and conduct practical investigations and also investigations based on secondary data collect, organise, interpret, present and analyse primary and secondary data with and without ICT describe relationships (qualitatively and/or quantitatively) between sets of data, recognising the difference between causation and correlation distinguish between statistical and systematic uncertainty and identify appropriate methods to reduce these recognise uncertainty as a limitation of the process of measurement and appreciate the difference between accuracy and precision *conduct an open-ended investigation Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Experimenting

- identify variables and select appropriate controls
- design, manage and conduct practical investigations and also investigations based on secondary data
- collect, organise, interpret, present and analyse primary and secondary data with and without ICT
- describe relationships (qualitatively and/or quantitatively) between sets of data, recognising the difference between causation and correlation
- distinguish between statistical and systematic uncertainty and identify appropriate methods to reduce these
- recognise uncertainty as a limitation of the process of measurement and appreciate the difference between accuracy and precision
- *conduct an open-ended investigation
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Evaluating evidence	critically examine the scientific process that was used to present a scientific claim appreciate the limitations of scientific evidence make judgments and draw informed conclusions arising from their own and others’ investigations and consider the reliability and validity of data make predictions on the behaviours of systems based upon interpretation of numeric, graphic and symbolic representations evaluate the ethical issues embedded in scientific decision-making processes Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Evaluating evidence

- critically examine the scientific process that was used to present a scientific claim
- appreciate the limitations of scientific evidence
- make judgments and draw informed conclusions arising from their own and others’ investigations and consider the reliability and validity of data
- make predictions on the behaviours of systems based upon interpretation of numeric, graphic and symbolic representations
- evaluate the ethical issues embedded in scientific decision-making processes
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Communicating	communicate the procedures and results of investigations by displaying evidence and information in various forms, for example flow charts, tables, graphs, and laboratory reports discuss, debate, reflect on and critically evaluate the outcomes of investigations ,their own and others read and evaluate scientific explanations of everyday phenomena in books, websites, promotional literature, popular science magazines, etc. Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment Context Examples www.action.ncca.ie

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Communicating

- communicate the procedures and results of investigations by displaying evidence and information in various forms, for example flow charts, tables, graphs, and laboratory reports
- discuss, debate, reflect on and critically evaluate the outcomes of investigations ,their own and others
- read and evaluate scientific explanations of everyday phenomena in books, websites, promotional literature, popular science magazines, etc.
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment
- Context Examples
  
  www.action.ncca.ie

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Hypothesising	use observations as the basis for formulating a hypothesis apply their knowledge and understanding of science to develop arguments or draw conclusions related to both familiar and unfamiliar situations compile and interpret data or other information gathered from print, laboratory, and electronic sources (including web sites), to research a topic, solve a problem, or support an opinion make predictions and generalisations based on available evidence Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Hypothesising

- use observations as the basis for formulating a hypothesis
- apply their knowledge and understanding of science to develop arguments or draw conclusions related to both familiar and unfamiliar situations
- compile and interpret data or other information gathered from print, laboratory, and electronic sources (including web sites), to research a topic, solve a problem, or support an opinion
- make predictions and generalisations based on available evidence
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

In this strand students will learn about the basic structure of all living things, and about cells and how they ensure their continuation from one generation to the next. They will learn about the diversity of life and the methods of classifying living things. Students will study evolution and genetics and discuss the human genome project and its ethical implications.

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Development of taxonomy	describe the development of biological classification systems from kingdom to domain compare trait-based and phylogenetic classification Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Cell structure	*use a light microscope to view plant and animal cells, using appropriate stains, in the preparation of labelled diagrams of cell structure explain how the cell is the organisational unit of life identify the following organelles and structures from electron micrographs and diagrams: cell wall, cytoplasm, cell membrane, mitochondrion, chloroplast, nucleus, nuclear pore, ribosome and chromosome illustrate the ultrastructure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and highlight the differences between them Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Cell structure

- *use a light microscope to view plant and animal cells, using appropriate stains, in the preparation of labelled diagrams of cell structure
- explain how the cell is the organisational unit of life
- identify the following organelles and structures from electron micrographs and diagrams: cell wall, cytoplasm, cell membrane, mitochondrion, chloroplast, nucleus, nuclear pore, ribosome and chromosome
- illustrate the ultrastructure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and highlight the differences between them
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Bacteria	outline how temperature, pH, and nutrient, water and oxygen availability affect bacterial growth discuss the economic and medical importance of bacteria *carry out a laboratory activity to analyse one condition needed by microorganisms for growth Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Viruses	discuss the difficulty of defining viruses explain how viruses replicate within cells discuss the economic and medical importance of viruses Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Genetics and inheritance	explain the terms species, heredity, chromosome, gene and gene expression explain the structure of a chromosome and the role of a gene illustrate the inheritance to the first generation of a single trait in crosses involving homozygous and heterozygous parents illustrate a cross involving incomplete dominance illustrate Mendel's first and second laws explain how linkage affects Mendel’s second law (knowledge of crossing over not required) describe sex determination by X and Y chromosomes in humans state two sex-linked traits Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Genetics and inheritance

explain the terms species, heredity, chromosome, gene and gene expression
- explain the structure of a chromosome and the role of a gene
- illustrate the inheritance to the first generation of a single trait in crosses involving homozygous and heterozygous parents
- illustrate a cross involving incomplete dominance
- illustrate Mendel's first and second laws
- explain how linkage affects Mendel’s second law (knowledge of crossing over not required)
- describe sex determination by X and Y chromosomes in humans
- state two sex-linked traits
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Genomics	explain the concept of genome biology give examples of how knowledge of the human genome might be used to improve human health and quality of life evaluate the ethical issues that arise from knowledge of the human genome Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Evolution	discuss the variations that come from sexual reproduction and mutations explain the rationale for, and basis of, the theory of evolution by natural selection Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

In this strand students will study some of the fundamental processes that occur in living cells, including cell division. The macromolecules that make up cells are identified and the processes of respiration and photosynthesis are studied along with protein synthesis, enzymes, DNA and RNA. The modern areas of genetic engineering, cloning and bioinformatics are explored.

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Cell continuity	describe the complexity of multicellular organisms *prepare slides and use a microscope to gather information to describe the sequence of changes in the nucleus of cells undergoing mitosis describe simply the process and role of mitosis with the aid of labelled diagrams compare the roles of mitosis and meiosis explain the role of DNA replication and mitosis in the cell cycle explain how uncontrolled cell growth and proliferation can lead to development of cancers assess the role of infectious agents, environmental factors and genetic susceptibility in the development of different cancers in plants and animals Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Cell continuity

- describe the complexity of multicellular organisms
- *prepare slides and use a microscope to gather information to describe the sequence of changes in the nucleus of cells undergoing mitosis
- describe simply the process and role of mitosis with the aid of labelled diagrams
- compare the roles of mitosis and meiosis
- explain the role of DNA replication and mitosis in the cell cycle
- explain how uncontrolled cell growth and proliferation can lead to development of cancers
- assess the role of infectious agents, environmental factors and genetic susceptibility in the development of different cancers in plants and animals
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Cell metabolism	outline a nutritional source, and the structural and metabolic roles, of carbohydrate, lipid and protein describe the role of any one vitamin and the role of any one mineral and evaluate the effects of a deficiency of the named vitamin and the named mineral explain five of the main roles of water in living organisms distinguish between anabolic and catabolic cellular metabolism describe the structure and role of ATP use a colorimeter to compare quantitatively the level of any one constituent in a range of food samples research one use of microbes in the food or agribusiness industries outline the processes of anaerobic and aerobic respiration (balanced chemical equation for aerobic respiration) describe the three stages in the process of aerobic respiration and identify their cellular location* outline the process of photosynthesis (balanced chemical equation) describe the light-dependent and the light-independent stages of photosynthesis *use gel bead technology to investigate the effect of temperature, or light intensity, or carbon dioxide concentration on the rate of photosynthesis discuss the role that manipulation of photosynthesis can play in horticulture Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Cell metabolism

- outline a nutritional source, and the structural and metabolic roles, of carbohydrate, lipid and protein
- describe the role of any one vitamin and the role of any one mineral and evaluate the effects of a deficiency of the named vitamin and the named mineral
- explain five of the main roles of water in living organisms
- distinguish between anabolic and catabolic cellular metabolism
- describe the structure and role of ATP
- *use a colorimeter to compare quantitatively the level of any one constituent in a range of food samples
- research one use of microbes in the food or agribusiness industries
- outline the processes of anaerobic and aerobic respiration (balanced chemical equation for aerobic respiration)
- describe the three stages in the process of aerobic respiration and identify their cellular location
- outline the process of photosynthesis (balanced chemical equation)
- describe the light-dependent and the light-independent stages of photosynthesis
- *use gel bead technology to investigate the effect of temperature, or light intensity, or carbon dioxide concentration on the rate of photosynthesis
- discuss the role that manipulation of photosynthesis can play in horticulture
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Movement through cell membranes	*investigate the effect of pH, or temperature, or concentration of solute on the rate of diffusion across a plasma membrane describe the processes of diffusion and osmosis use the relationship between surface area and volume to explain the size limitations of cells discuss the role of osmosis in food preservation Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Movement through cell membranes

- *investigate the effect of pH, or temperature, or concentration of solute on the rate of diffusion across a plasma membrane
- describe the processes of diffusion and osmosis
- use the relationship between surface area and volume to explain the size limitations of cells
- discuss the role of osmosis in food preservation
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Proteins and enzymes	explain catalysis describe how protein shape and folding affect enzyme activity *investigate the effect of substrate concentration or enzyme concentration, or temperature, or pH on the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Information flow in the cell	describe the basic structure of DNA and RNA relate genes, proteins and traits in organisms and outline the concept of the genetic code describe how DNA is replicated and how mutations occur during this process describe chromosomal mutations outline the steps in the flow of information from DNA through mRNA to protein describe the processes of transcription and translation *isolate DNA from plant tissue Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Information flow in the cell

- describe the basic structure of DNA and RNA
- relate genes, proteins and traits in organisms and outline the concept of the genetic code
- describe how DNA is replicated and how mutations occur during this process
- describe chromosomal mutations
- outline the steps in the flow of information from DNA through mRNA to protein
- describe the processes of transcription and translation
- *isolate DNA from plant tissue
- Key Concepts
  
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Genetic engineering, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics	explain the principles and processes involved in genetic engineering explain the principle and processes of DNA profiling explain the principle of DNA sequencing and its use in bioinformatics outline the main types of therapeutic cloning evaluate the ethical aspects of stem cell therapy and therapeutic cloning in human biology evaluate the arguments in the debate surrounding genetically modified crops use a genome database to search for alleles that are known to cause (or be responsible for) specific genetic diseases produce a DNA profile using electrophoresis ion and translation *isolate DNA from plant tissue Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about

Students should be able to

Genetic engineering, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics

- explain the principles and processes involved in genetic engineering
- explain the principle and processes of DNA profiling
- explain the principle of DNA sequencing and its use in bioinformatics
- outline the main types of therapeutic cloning
- evaluate the ethical aspects of stem cell therapy and therapeutic cloning in human biology
- evaluate the arguments in the debate surrounding genetically modified crops
- *use a genome database to search for alleles that are known to cause (or be responsible for) specific genetic diseases
- *produce a DNA profile using electrophoresis
- ion and translation
- *isolate DNA from plant tissue
- Key Concepts
  KeyConcepts
- Teaching and Learning
  TeachingLearning
- Assessment
  Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to
Evolution	discuss the variations that come from sexual reproduction and mutations explain the rationale for, and basis of, the theory of evolution by natural selection Key Concepts KeyConcepts Teaching and Learning TeachingLearning Assessment Assessment

Students learn about	Students should be able to

Students learn about	Students should be able to

Publication of redeveloped Primary School Curriculum

Strands of Study

Strand 1. Scientific Practices

Experimenting

Evaluating evidence

Communicating

Hypothesising

Strand 2: Biological diversity and evolution

Development of taxonomy

Cell structure

Bacteria

Viruses

Genetics and inheritance

Genomics

Evolution

Strand 3: Fundamental cellular processes and biotechnology

Cell continuity

Cell metabolism

Movement through cell membranes

Proteins and enzymes

Information flow in the cell

Genetic engineering, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics

Evolution

Strand 4

Strand 5