Framework

Field 706: Biology

Recommendation for individuals using a screenreader: please set your punctuation settings to "most."

(Testlets 300, 301, 302)

The framework below is a detailed outline that explains the knowledge and skills that this assessment measures.

Framework

Testlet 300: Structures and Processes of Cells and Organisms

This testlet consists of approximately 50 multiple-choice questions.

0001 Understand the characteristics and behavior of the atoms and molecules necessary for life.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the chemistry of major elements composing living things (e.g., carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur) and the properties of chemical bonds that join these elements (e.g., covalent, ionic, hydrogen).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of common molecules in living things (e.g., water, molecular oxygen, carbon dioxide).
3. Demonstrate knowledge of overall structures related to protein function, their subunits, and protein folding, and of the structure and function of enzymes in cells, models of enzyme function, and factors that affect enzyme activity (e.g., catalysts, pH, temperature).
4. Apply knowledge of the structures and functions of biologically important macromolecules (i.e., carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids), including their basic building blocks (e.g., monomers, peptides, lipids, nucleotides), and the processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
5. Apply knowledge of the structures of DNA and RNA; the impact of those structures on their functions; and the relationship between DNA, alleles, genes, and chromosomes.
6. Apply knowledge of the central dogma, DNA replication, and protein synthesis, including the role of mRNA, tRNA, and rRNA in transcription and translation.
7. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data), safety procedures, and the proper use of equipment related to the characteristics and behavior of the atoms and molecules necessary for life.

0002 Understand the components of living things.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the mechanisms of cellular communication (e.g., endocrine, synaptic transmission, chemical signaling).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the structure of a cell's membrane and its role in passive and active transport and the maintenance of homeostasis in cells (e.g., diffusion, osmosis, endocytosis, exocytosis).
3. Demonstrate knowledge of cell theory.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the hierarchical organization of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems of living things (e.g., lung tissue in the respiratory system of a mammal, xylem and phloem making up the transport system in a plant).
5. Demonstrate knowledge of the similarities and differences between various cells and nonliving cell-like structures (e.g., viruses, prokaryotic versus eukaryotic cells, plant versus animal cells).
6. Apply knowledge of the structure and function of a cell's organelles (e.g., mitochondrion, chloroplast, flagellum, cell membrane).
7. Apply knowledge of how organelles function together (e.g., energy transfer, reproduction, information storage, disposal of waste).
8. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data), safety procedures and the proper use of equipment, and the engineering design process (e.g., hypothesis testing, solving problems) related to the components of living things.

0003 Understand the flow of energy in different organisms.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the processes within photosynthesis, including energy transfer and cycling of reactants and products during light-dependent and light-independent reactions.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the processes of cellular respiration, including energy transfer (e.g., ATP) and the cycling of reactants and products during anaerobic and aerobic respiration (e.g., fermentation, electron transport chain, glycolysis, the citric acid cycle).
3. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data), safety procedures and the proper use of equipment, and the engineering design process (e.g., hypothesis testing, solving problems) related to the flow of energy in different organisms.

0004 Understand the homeostasis, growth, and reproduction of organisms.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of feedback loops (e.g., blood clotting, blood glucose regulation), including in the maintenance of homeostasis (e.g., temperature regulation, water levels, oxygen levels).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic structures and functions of the reproductive system in plants and animals.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the forms of reproduction, including the similarities and differences between sexual and asexual reproduction.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the process of mitosis, including its major events, functions, final products, and errors.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of the process of meiosis, including its major events, functions, and final products.
6. Apply knowledge of how the cell cycle relates to the life processes of growth, differentiation, maintenance, and repair in multicellular organisms.
7. Apply knowledge of the major events of the cell cycle outside of mitosis (e.g., DNA replication, cytokinesis, cell cycle control, cancer, checkpoints).
8. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data), safety procedures and the proper use of equipment, and hypothesis testing related to the homeostasis, growth, and reproduction of organisms.

Testlet 301: Ecosystem Interactions and Dynamics

This testlet consists of approximately 38 multiple-choice questions.

0001 Understand the relationships between organisms within an ecosystem.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of ecological concepts (e.g., niche, population, community, ecosystem, biome) and types of biomes.
2. Apply knowledge of cause and effect to biodiversity, population sizes, density, and growth rates of species in an ecosystem (e.g., disease, predation, generation length).
3. Apply knowledge of interactions between species and organisms in an ecosystem (e.g., competition, predation, commensalism, mutualism, parasitism).
4. Analyze the biotic and abiotic factors that influence population dynamics (e.g., carrying capacity, resource availability, limiting factors, competition), including interpreting graphs, such as growth curves, and data tables.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematical models), safety procedures and the proper use of equipment, and hypothesis testing related to the relationships between organisms within an ecosystem.

0002 Understand how energy and matter pass through ecosystems.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of trophic levels and relationships in an ecosystem (e.g., producers, consumers, decomposers).
2. Apply knowledge of the ways in which matter moves through abiotic and biotic reservoirs in an ecosystem (e.g., carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, chemosynthesis), including through the use of models.
3. Apply knowledge of factors affecting equilibrium, resistance, and resilience in an ecosystem (e.g., genetic diversity, biodiversity, reproductive rates, keystone species).
4. Apply knowledge of the processes of primary and secondary succession and how these processes affect the ecosystem (e.g., pioneer species, climax communities).
5. Analyze energy transfer within ecosystems, including through food chains/webs and mathematical models (e.g., pyramid of energy).
6. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematical models), safety procedures, and hypothesis testing related to how energy and matter pass through ecosystems.

0003 Understand how humans impact ecosystems.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of renewable resources (e.g., wind, solar) and nonrenewable resources (e.g., natural gas, coal) and their impact on the environment.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the concept of sustainability; its applications to human activities in both terrestrial and aquatic environments; and its potential for preventing, mitigating, and reversing environmental harm.
3. Apply knowledge of the impacts of human activities on changes in climate and the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems (e.g., ocean acidification, global changes in temperature and precipitation, rise in sea level), including through the use of mathematical models (e.g., graphs, data tables).
4. Apply knowledge of the types and sources of environmental pollution; the effects of pollution on natural populations, communities, and ecosystems; and remediation methods.
5. Apply knowledge of the ecological consequences of human activities and population growth that lead to a loss of biodiversity (e.g., habitat fragmentation, introduction of invasive species, overharvesting), including the use of models (e.g., maps, graphs, data tables).
6. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, hypothesis testing, using mathematical models, analyzing and interpreting data, evaluating proposed solutions to biological problems) related to how humans impact ecosystems.

Testlet 302: Heredity and Evolution

This testlet consists of approximately 38 multiple-choice questions.

0001 Understand genetic inheritance.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the Mendelian principles of genetics (e.g., alleles, dominance, independent assortment).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the sources (e.g., UV, oxidation) and types of mutations (e.g., point, frameshift) and chromosomal abnormalities (e.g., structure, nondisjunction) and their effects.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic methods, processes, and tools (i.e., gel electrophoresis, PCR, and restriction enzymes) used in genetic engineering (e.g., GMOs, cloning).
4. Apply knowledge of genetics to explain connections between genotype and phenotype, including interpreting models (i.e., monohybrid cross, dihybrid cross, and pedigree charts).
5. Apply principles of probability to analyze possible genotype and phenotype combinations in offspring (e.g., complete dominance, codominance, incomplete dominance, sex linked, polygenic).
6. Apply knowledge of the role of DNA, RNA, genes, and chromosomal behavior (e.g., independent assortment, segregation, crossing over) on patterns in the inheritance of traits (e.g., codominance, sex-linkage, multiple alleles, polygenic).
7. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, hypothesis testing, analyzing and interpreting data, interpreting models, solving problems), safety procedures, and the proper use of equipment related to genetic inheritance.

0002 Understand natural selection, adaptation, and the diversity of life.

Includes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the theory of natural selection (e.g., overproduction, competition, variation, survival of the fittest).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the types of evidence for natural selection and for common ancestry and diversity among living things (i.e., embryonic, amino acid sequences, fossil record, and comparative anatomy).
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the processes of speciation (e.g., allopatric, sympatric) that maintain reproductive isolation and factors that affect the reproductive success of populations (e.g., gradualism, punctuated equilibrium), including interpreting graphs and data tables.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the conditions associated with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
5. Apply knowledge of the ways in which natural selection can influence the phenotypes in a population to affect the distribution of heritable traits (i.e., disruptive selection, stabilizing selection, and directional selection), including interpreting graphs and data tables.
6. Apply knowledge of the effects of gene flow, genetic drift (e.g., population bottlenecks, the founder effect), and other mechanisms of evolution on species diversity, including interpreting graphs and data tables.
7. Apply knowledge of the use of taxonomy (i.e., taxonomic systems, binomial nomenclature, phylogenetic trees, and cladograms).
8. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, hypothesis testing, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematical models, solving problems) related to natural selection, adaptation, and the diversity of life.

 

---