Biology

Dickson biology teachers are passionate about their subject and use a variety of teaching styles for the benefit of our students, including a diverse range of practical lessons, meaningful excursions and the use of ICT. Students can complete a Major or Minor in Biology at Dickson College following the structure indicated in the Australian Curriculum. There are four different semester units of biology available to students.

At Dickson College students will study the following units of work:

• UNIT 1: CELLS AND MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS (prerequisite unit)
  Students use science inquiry skills to explore the relationship between structure and function by conducting real or virtual dissections and carrying out microscopic examination of cells and tissues. Students consider the ethical considerations that apply to the use of living organisms in research. They develop skills in constructing and using models to describe and interpret data about the functions of cells and
  organisms.
• UNIT 2: HEREDITY & CONTINUITY OF LIFE
  Students use science inquiry skills to design and conduct investigations into how different factors affect cellular processes and gene pools; they construct and use models to analyse the data gathered; and they continue to develop their skills in constructing plausible predictions and valid, reliable conclusions.Coordination, Reproduction & Disease
  This varied unit covers the coordination of the nervous and endocrine systems in response to  environmental change and the needs of the organism. It also includes the study of reproduction in plants and animals, disease and infection and how our immune system works.
• UNIT 3: THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
  Students use science inquiry skills to investigate a range of responses by plants and animals to changes in their environments and to invasion by pathogens; they construct and use appropriate representations to analyse the data gathered; and they continue to develop their skills in constructing plausible predictions and valid conclusions.
• UNIT 4: BIODIVERSITY AND CONNECTEDNESS
  Students develop an understanding of the processes involved in the movement of energy and matter in ecosystems. They investigate ecosystem dynamics, including interactions within and between species, and interactions between abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems. They also investigate how measurements of abiotic factors, population numbers and species diversity, and descriptions of species interactions, can form the basis for spatial and temporal comparisons between ecosystems. Students use classification keys to identify organisms, describe the biodiversity in ecosystems, investigate patterns in relationships between organisms, and aid scientific communication.
  
  Students who wish to undertake a minor in biology may complete two or three semester units. Students completing a major in Biology need to complete all four semesters over the two years.