Massachusetts · MA DESESyllabus
Biology syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the Massachusetts Biologysyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Module 4: Anatomy and physiology
Module overview →- How does the digestive system break food into usable molecules, and how does the immune system defend the body against pathogens?Describe how the digestive system breaks food into absorbable molecules and how the immune system defends the body against pathogens, including the roles of white blood cells and antibodies (MA STE HS-LS1-2, HS-LS1-3, structure and function).11 min answer →
- How does the body keep its internal conditions stable, and how does negative feedback correct a change?Explain how feedback mechanisms, especially negative feedback, maintain homeostasis (a stable internal environment), using examples such as temperature and blood glucose regulation (MA STE HS-LS1-3, stability and change).12 min answer →
- How do the body's organ systems interact as a larger system, and why does an organism depend on this cooperation?Explain how multiple organ systems interact to carry out the functions of the body, using the model of a system of interacting subsystems, and connect this to the maintenance of homeostasis (MA STE HS-LS1-2, systems and system models).11 min answer →
- How do the nervous and endocrine systems detect changes and coordinate responses, and how do they differ in speed and duration?Describe how the nervous system and the endocrine system detect stimuli and coordinate responses, and compare the two control systems in terms of signal type, speed, and duration (MA STE HS-LS1-3 supporting, structure and function).11 min answer →
- How do the circulatory and respiratory systems deliver oxygen and nutrients to every cell and remove wastes?Describe how the circulatory and respiratory systems transport oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients, and explain how their structures (such as alveoli and capillaries) suit gas exchange and delivery (MA STE HS-LS1-2, HS-LS1-3, structure and function).11 min answer →
Module 1: Chemistry of life and cells
Module overview →- How does the selectively permeable cell membrane control what enters and leaves a cell, and when is energy needed to move a substance?Explain the structure of the cell membrane and how diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, and active transport move substances across it, including the role of the concentration gradient and ATP (MA STE HS-LS1-4 supporting).12 min answer →
- How is a cell organized into organelles, and how does the structure of each organelle suit the job it does?Describe the structures and functions of the major organelles in plant and animal cells, distinguish prokaryotic from eukaryotic cells, and relate cell structure to function (MA STE HS-LS1).12 min answer →
- How are the four classes of biological molecule built from monomers, and how does the structure of each one suit its function in living systems?Explain how carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids are constructed from smaller subunits, and relate the structure of each macromolecule to its function (MA STE HS-LS1, structure and function).12 min answer →
- How do enzymes speed up the chemical reactions of life, and what conditions change how well they work?Explain how enzymes lower activation energy and catalyze specific reactions, and analyze how temperature, pH, and substrate concentration affect enzyme activity (MA STE HS-LS1, structure and function).12 min answer →
- How are living things organized from molecules up to organisms, and why does specialization at each level matter?Describe the hierarchy of biological organization from molecules to organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms, and explain how specialization and cell differentiation support complex life (MA STE HS-LS1-1, HS-LS1-2).11 min answer →
- Why are water and carbon so central to life, and how do their properties make the chemistry of cells possible?Explain the properties of water (polarity, cohesion, solvent ability, heat capacity) and the bonding properties of carbon that make it the backbone of biological molecules (MA STE HS-LS1-6 supporting).11 min answer →
Module 6: Ecology and ecosystems
Module overview →- How do carbon and other matter cycle through an ecosystem, and what role do decomposers play?Develop a model of how matter (especially carbon) cycles through an ecosystem via photosynthesis, feeding, respiration, and decomposition, and contrast the cycling of matter with the one-way flow of energy (MA STE HS-LS2-4, HS-LS2-5, energy and matter).11 min answer →
- How do species interact in an ecosystem, and how do these relationships affect populations?Describe the main ecological interactions (competition, predation, and symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism) and explain how they affect the populations involved (MA STE HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-6, cause and effect).11 min answer →
- How is an ecosystem organized, and how do its living and nonliving parts interact?Describe the levels of ecological organization (organism, population, community, ecosystem) and explain how biotic and abiotic factors interact to shape an ecosystem (MA STE HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2 supporting, systems and system models).11 min answer →
- How does energy move through an ecosystem, and why does so little reach the top of a food chain?Explain how energy flows through an ecosystem from producers to consumers along food chains and webs, and use the idea that only about 10 percent of energy passes between trophic levels to interpret energy pyramids (MA STE HS-LS2-3, HS-LS2-4, energy and matter).12 min answer →
- How do human activities affect ecosystems and biodiversity, and how can we reduce the harm?Explain how human activities such as habitat destruction, pollution, overexploitation, and climate change affect ecosystems and biodiversity, and evaluate solutions that support sustainability (MA STE HS-LS2-7, HS-LS4-6, stability and change).11 min answer →
- What controls the size of a population, and what is carrying capacity?Explain how limiting factors and carrying capacity control population size, and interpret population growth curves, distinguishing exponential from logistic growth (MA STE HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2, stability and change).11 min answer →
Module 2: Energy in living systems
Module overview →- How do cells store and release energy, and why is ATP the usable energy currency of life?Explain how cells capture, store, and release energy, the role of ATP as the cell's usable energy currency, and how energy transformations obey the conservation of energy (MA STE HS-LS1-7 supporting, energy and matter).11 min answer →
- How do photosynthesis and cellular respiration move carbon between organisms and the environment, and how do cells build large molecules from sugars?Develop a model of the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in cycling carbon, and explain how cells combine atoms from sugars into amino acids and other large carbon-based molecules (MA STE HS-LS1-6, HS-LS2-5).11 min answer →
- How do cells release the energy stored in glucose, and what is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic respiration?Use a model to illustrate how cellular respiration breaks the bonds of glucose and oxygen to release energy as ATP, and compare aerobic respiration with anaerobic respiration and fermentation (MA STE HS-LS1-7, HS-LS2-3).12 min answer →
- How are photosynthesis and cellular respiration related, and why do they fit together as opposite halves of an energy and matter cycle?Compare photosynthesis and cellular respiration as linked processes, contrasting their reactants, products, energy changes, and locations, and explain how together they cycle matter and transfer energy (MA STE HS-LS1-5, HS-LS1-7, energy and matter).11 min answer →
- How do plants transform light energy into the chemical energy stored in sugars, and what raw materials and products are involved?Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy in sugars, including the reactants, products, and the role of chlorophyll (MA STE HS-LS1-5).12 min answer →
Module 5: Evolution and biodiversity
Module overview →- What is biodiversity, why does it matter, and how do scientists organize the variety of life?Explain what biodiversity is and why it matters for ecosystem stability, and describe how organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups based on shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships (MA STE HS-LS4-5, HS-LS2-7 supporting).11 min answer →
- How do biologists show how species are related, and how do you read a phylogenetic tree?Explain how common ancestry is represented by phylogenetic trees and cladograms, and interpret these diagrams using shared characteristics and molecular data to infer relationships (MA STE HS-LS4-1, patterns).11 min answer →
- What lines of evidence show that species have evolved over time and share common ancestors?Describe and evaluate the lines of evidence for evolution, including the fossil record, comparative anatomy (homologous structures), embryology, and molecular biology (DNA and protein similarities) (MA STE HS-LS4-1, engaging in argument from evidence).12 min answer →
- How does natural selection change a population over time, and what conditions are needed for it to happen?Explain how natural selection acts on heritable variation so that advantageous traits become more common in a population over generations, and apply this to examples such as antibiotic resistance (MA STE HS-LS4-2, HS-LS4-3, cause and effect).12 min answer →
- How do new species arise, and how do the frequencies of traits in a population change over time?Explain how reproductive isolation and natural selection can lead to speciation, and describe how the distribution of traits in a population changes as allele frequencies shift over generations (MA STE HS-LS4-3, HS-LS4-4, HS-LS4-5).12 min answer →
Module 3: Genetics and molecular biology
Module overview →- How is genetic information stored in the structure of DNA, and how is it copied so faithfully before a cell divides?Describe the structure of DNA as a double helix of nucleotide base pairs and explain how complementary base pairing allows DNA to be copied accurately during replication (MA STE HS-LS1-1, HS-LS3-1, structure and function).12 min answer →
- How does meiosis make sex cells, and how do meiosis and fertilization create genetic variation in offspring?Explain how meiosis produces gametes with half the chromosome number and how meiosis and fertilization, together with mutation, create genetic variation among offspring (MA STE HS-LS3-2, HS-LS3-3).12 min answer →
- How does a cell divide to make two genetically identical cells, and why does the body need this kind of division?Describe the cell cycle and mitosis as the process that produces two genetically identical daughter cells, and explain its role in growth, repair, and asexual reproduction (MA STE HS-LS1-4, HS-LS3-2 supporting).11 min answer →
- What is a mutation, when does it affect an organism, and how do humans use our understanding of DNA in biotechnology?Explain what a mutation is, how mutations change proteins and can be harmful, neutral, or beneficial, and describe examples of biotechnology such as selective breeding and genetic engineering (MA STE HS-LS3-2, HS-LS3-3 supporting).12 min answer →
- How are traits passed from parents to offspring, and how can a Punnett square predict the probability of an outcome?Use the rules of inheritance, including dominant and recessive alleles, genotype and phenotype, and Punnett squares, to predict the probability of traits in offspring and apply statistical reasoning to genetic crosses (MA STE HS-LS3-3, using mathematics).13 min answer →
- How does the sequence of bases in a gene direct the building of a protein, and how does this shape an organism's traits?Explain how a gene's base sequence is transcribed into messenger RNA and translated into a sequence of amino acids, and how this gene-to-protein pathway produces an organism's traits (MA STE HS-LS1-1, HS-LS3-1).12 min answer →