GED Science
Here is a link to practice science vocabulary from the GED science test. If you have Vocabulary.com, you can use your account to practice: GED Science Vocabulary
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If you don't have Vocabulary.com, here is a link of how to sign up: How to sign up
Biology
Week 1 - The Scientific Method
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The scientific method is a process that is used to find answers to questions about the world around us. There are several versions of the scientific method. Some have more steps, while others have only a few.
All versions of the scientific method include a question to be answered, a hypothesis, and an organized method for conducting and analyzing an experiment. Watch the video for more information about the scientific method and look at the flow-chart to see the steps of the scientific method laid out: |
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Download and read the following document for two examples of how the scientific method was used in history:
Below is an example of how the scientific method could be used in your own life. Match each action to the correct step of the scientific method:
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Week 2 - Energy & Photosynthesis
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A plant is an organism that can make its own food using a process called photosynthesis. Plants can use the energy from sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar. (“Photo” means “light,” and “synthesis” means “make.”) They take water from the ground, carbon dioxide from the air, and energy from light and turn them into food.
Photosynthesis is a very complicated chemical process. To understand the basics of photosynthesis we need to start by looking at a plant cell.
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A cell is the building block of a plant. A plant is made of individual cells in much the same way that a Lego structure is made of individual bricks. Most importantly for our discussion of photosynthesis, all plant cells have organelles called chloroplasts. It is inside the chloroplast that photosynthesis takes place. The chloroplast’s job is to use the energy in the sunlight to make sugar.
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Without drawing each individual molecule, the formula for photosynthesis looks like this:
This says in pictures what we’ve already said in words: plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to make sugar. In the process of making sugar, oxygen and water also are produced.
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Label the diagram above with the correct words from the photosynthesis formula.
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Week 3 - Cell Reproduction & Mitosis
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Cells are the basic unit of life.
The three main parts of all cells are the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane. Plant cells and animal cells share many other organelles, or features of the cell, but plant cells contain unique organelles, like the cell wall, central vacuole and chloroplasts.
Download the reading for more information on the different organelles, and use that information to label the plant and animal cells in the activity below:
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Cells regularly make duplicates of themselves in a process called mitosis, or cell division. The steps of mitosis are interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis.
Download and answer the questions about the different stages of mitosis, & some practice GED questions about cells:
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Week 4 - DNA
The instructions for building all living things are found in a molecule called DNA, which is made of a backbone and chemical base represented by A, C, G or T. DNA molecules have two strands that are joined together by complimentary base pairs. A pairs with T, and C pairs with G. These building blocks function together in larger units called genes. Each gene is a set of instructions for building a specific protein. A complete set of genes is called a genome, which is a set of instructions for building an entire organism.
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The genome of every person has the same genes arranged in the same order, but small differences in the sequences of the bases in genes make each person unique.
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Answer practice GED questions about DNA:
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Build your own strand of DNA here!
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Week 5 - Traits & Genes
A trait is a specific characteristic of an organism, such as hair color or blood type. Traits can be determined by genes or the environment, or more commonly by interactions between them. The genetic contribution to a trait is called the genotype. The outward expression of the genotype is called the phenotype.
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Which traits are inherited, which are acquired through the environment, and which are influenced by both? Take the quiz below to test your knowledge:
Read about how inherited traits can be passed down from parent to offspring, and then answer some practice GED questions about traits:
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Week 6 - Genetics and Punnett Squares
During sexual reproduction, an organism receives half of its chromosomes from one parent and half from the other. The traits, or alleles, that an organism receives can either be dominant (meaning that the trait can be seen in the offspring), or recessive (meaning that the trait is not seen, or inactive). Dominant traits, such as brown eyes, are expressed through capital letters (RR), and recessive traits, like blue eyes, are expressed through lowercase letters (rr).
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So for example, a blue-eyed parent would carry the recessive (rr) alleles, and a brown-eyed parent would carry dominant (RR) alleles. Their potential offspring would receive one dominant allele (R) and one recessive allele (r), meaning their alleles would be (Rr). This means the offspring would have visible brown eyes, but would carry the recessive trait for blue eyes. This pairing of dominant and recessive alleles is called heterozygous or hybrid. The parents carry only dominant or recessive genes, and so their alleles are homozygous.
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A Punnett square is a diagram that shows all of the possible genetic combinations that can occur during sexual reproduction. So in the example above, the homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive parents would always produce heterozygous alleles in their offspring.
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Watch the video to learn more about how to fill out Punnett squares, and download the worksheets below for more practice:
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Week 7 - Evolution & Cladograms
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A cladogram is an evolutionary tree that diagrams the ancestral relationships among organisms.
The organisms in each clade, or group, are characterized by shared, similar features that they do not share with any other organisms in the cladogram. For example, a mammalian clade would include all mammals. The oldest common ancestors within a clade are located close to the trunk of the evolutionary tree, and newly evolved species form the tree branches farthest from the tree trunk. Watch the video below to learn more about cladograms, and then download the worksheets and complete the online cladogram activity for more practice:
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