MĀTAI KOIORA / Biology

Course aims / learning outcomes 

Ma te huruhuru, ka rere te manu
Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly

The Greek prefix ‘bio’ means 'life’ and biology is the study of life. In te reo Māori, kaiora means life, hence our Maori name for Biology, mātai koiora; to inspect or look closely at life! 

Biology is an important subject. It connects us to the world we live in and reminds us of our interconnectedness with all other life forms. To understand the world, we must understand the relationships between ourselves and the environment in which we live and our role as guardians of the land, kaitiakitanga.

Not studying Science in Level 6 is not necessarily a barrier to taking this course. However, if you come and have a chat with me I can give you some material to catch you up with the important concepts.

Course content

• Questions that we will answer throughout the year: How do we get energy from food? How does photosynthesis work? Why do the simple Punnett squares that we learned about in Level 6 not work for all alleles? What are the different ways that organisms have adapted to their environment and way of life?
• The first internal will require a day field trip to Taylor's Mistake.

Assessment statement

A total of 19 Achievement Standard credits are offered within this course at Level 2. This includes 8 credits in external assessments and 11 credits through internal assessments. There is an additional 4 credits available via an optional extra external. 

• Assessements in this course will include external assessments as well as reports written during and outside of class time.

Authenticity

• Assignments that take place over time will be produced in an online system such as Google Docs. Learning Advisors will monitor student work by accessing document history. A portion of work will need to be completed during class time under Learning Advisor supervision.
• Class tests will take place under supervised test conditions within class.
• Students may be required to sign an authenticity statement, perform certain parts of assessment tasks under close supervision, or show through interview and the existence of notes and supporting material that the work submitted by the student is genuinely his/her own work.

Appeal Procedures

• Students have the right to appeal the mark they have been awarded. If a student wishes to appeal a grade, they should initially talk to the subject learning advisor about the marking process immediately after the marked assessment task is shown to them. If still dissatisfied the student should make an appointment and discuss grades with the Principal’s Nominee (Brent) who will check that the correct procedures have been followed as outlined in the school and subject policies taking into account any special circumstances.

Table of Assessments