Year 12 Biology
Module 5, Heredity, from how living things reproduce to how DNA is copied, read and passed on.
- Each week
- One 3-hour lesson · 30-minute break
- In person · St Leonards
- Weekly from Saturday 17 October, decide by Saturday 24 October · 10:00am or 2:00pm
- Online · live from home
- Weekly from Sunday 18 October, decide by Sunday 25 October · 10:00am or 2:00pm
- Price
- $1,000 instead of $1,500 for all 10 lessons, for the first 5 students to sign up. Try 2 lessons before you pay
The term price covers all 10 lessons, the first 2 included. Pay up front, after the first lesson or after the second; if the class is not right by then, there is nothing to pay.
The term, lesson by lesson
In person Saturday 17 October to Saturday 19 December, online Sunday 18 October to Sunday 20 December. Follows the NESA Biology Stage 6 Syllabus (2017), which the 2027 HSC examines, in the order most schools teach it.
The term at a glance
| Lesson | Topic | In person | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesson 1 | ReproductionReproduction across living things | Sat 17 Oct | Sun 18 Oct |
| Lesson 2 | ReproductionMammalian reproduction and agriculture | Sat 24 Oct | Sun 25 Oct |
| Lesson 3 | Cell replicationMitosis, meiosis and DNA replication | Sat 31 Oct | Sun 1 Nov |
| Lesson 4 | DNA and polypeptide synthesisDNA in different cells, and transcription | Sat 7 Nov | Sun 8 Nov |
| Lesson 5 | DNA and polypeptide synthesisTranslation and proteins | Sat 14 Nov | Sun 15 Nov |
| Lesson 6 | Genetic variationInheritance patterns | Sat 21 Nov | Sun 22 Nov |
| Lesson 7 | Genetic variationSex linkage, pedigrees and population data | Sat 28 Nov | Sun 29 Nov |
| Lesson 8 | Inheritance patterns in a populationDNA sequencing and profiling | Sat 5 Dec | Sun 6 Dec |
| Lesson 9 | Inheritance patterns in a populationPopulation genetics and big data | Sat 12 Dec | Sun 13 Dec |
| Lesson 10 | Term reviewConsolidation and term test | Sat 19 Dec | Sun 20 Dec |
Reproduction
Reproduction across living things
- Module 5
- Reproduction
- External and internal fertilisation in animals
- Sexual and asexual reproduction in plants
- Budding and spores in fungi, and binary fission in bacteria and protists
- The advantages and disadvantages of each method
Key skill: Building comparison tables and turning them into a written evaluation.
Mammalian reproduction and agriculture
- Module 5
- Reproduction
- Fertilisation, implantation, and the hormones that control pregnancy and birth
- How farmers manipulate reproduction: artificial insemination, artificial pollination and selective breeding
- Why those methods are used, and the trade-off of narrowing a population’s genetic diversity
Key skill: Reading hormone level graphs and linking each change to a stage of pregnancy.
Cell replication
Mitosis, meiosis and DNA replication
- Module 5
- Cell Replication
- Mitosis and meiosis compared, stage by stage
- How DNA replicates, using the Watson and Crick model
- Why copying genetic material exactly matters for the continuity of a species
Key skill: Modelling a process and explaining each step in order.
DNA and polypeptide synthesis
DNA in different cells, and transcription
- Module 5
- DNA and Polypeptide Synthesis
- How DNA is packaged in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including plasmids and histones
- DNA outside the nucleus, in mitochondria and chloroplasts
- Transcription, and how mRNA is processed before it leaves the nucleus
Key skill: Drawing and labelling clear diagrams of DNA structure and transcription.
Translation and proteins
- Module 5
- DNA and Polypeptide Synthesis
- The roles of mRNA, tRNA, codons, anticodons and ribosomes in translation
- How a protein’s structure determines its function
- How genes and the environment together shape an organism’s phenotype
Key skill: Using a codon table to go from a DNA sequence to a chain of amino acids.
Genetic variation
Inheritance patterns
- Module 5
- Genetic Variation
- Practical investigation: modelling meiosis, crossing over and fertilisation to predict offspring
- Autosomal inheritance, codominance and incomplete dominance
- Multiple alleles, using the ABO blood groups
Key skill: Punnett squares and expressing outcomes as probabilities and ratios.
Sex linkage, pedigrees and population data
- Module 5
- Genetic Variation
- X-linked inheritance and why some conditions are more common in males
- Reading and constructing pedigrees
- Collecting and presenting frequency data for a trait, and single nucleotide polymorphisms
Key skill: Deducing an inheritance pattern from a pedigree and justifying it.
Inheritance patterns in a population
DNA sequencing and profiling
- Module 5
- Inheritance Patterns in a Population
- How DNA sequencing works and what it is used for
- DNA profiling with PCR, gel electrophoresis and short tandem repeats
- Applications in forensics, paternity and identifying species
Key skill: Interpreting gel electrophoresis results.
Population genetics and big data
- Module 5
- Inheritance Patterns in a Population
- Large collaborative projects such as the Human Genome Project
- Using genetic data in conservation, the study of inherited disease and human evolution
- How allele frequencies shift in a population, and what a shift suggests about selection
Key skill: Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of secondary sources.
Term review
Consolidation and term test
- Module 5
- HSC-style multiple choice and extended response on reproduction, DNA replication and expression, biotechnology and population genetics
- A short test under exam conditions, marked with written feedback
- A plan for the summer holidays, built around the genetic change work that opens Term 1
Key skill: Exam technique: answering the verb, whether it asks you to explain, assess or evaluate.
How every lesson runs
3 hours of teaching with a 30-minute break, following the same pattern every week.
Check in
A short quiz on last week’s content, and the homework questions that caused trouble worked through on the board before anything new is taught.
Teach
The new content taught at the whiteboard, with worked examples that build from the first idea up to the standard of an HSC question.
Practise
Questions at four levels: Assimilate, Consolidate, Integrate and Extend. Everyone starts together and moves up as they are ready, with written work checked as they go.
Exam practice
Past HSC questions on the week’s topic, answered under time and marked against the NESA marking guidelines, so students learn what earns the marks.
Take home
Session notes and homework set at each student’s level, so the week’s work is secure before the next lesson builds on it.
What your child receives
Every student in the class gets all of this, week by week and across the term.
- Every week
A check-in quiz
A short quiz on last week’s content opens every lesson, so a gap is found and fixed before new work is built on top of it.
- Every week
Session notes
Notes on what the lesson covered, to revise from at home. They are sent even when a lesson is missed.
- Every week
Homework at their level
Questions set at one of four levels, Assimilate, Consolidate, Integrate or Extend, so the work stretches each student without losing them.
- Every week
Marked HSC questions
Past HSC questions on the week’s topic, answered under time and marked against the NESA marking guidelines.
- End of term
A term test with written feedback
A short test under exam conditions in the final lesson, marked and returned with written feedback on where the marks were won and lost.
- End of term
A holiday plan
A plan for the holidays that follow, built around the work that opens the next term.
The rest of Year 12
Where the course goes next, in the order schools teach it.
- Term 1, 2027
Module 6, Genetic Change: mutation, biotechnology and genetic technologies. Module 7, Infectious Disease, usually begins late in the term.
- Term 2, 2027
Module 7: pathogens, how the body responds to them, immunity, and preventing and controlling disease. Module 8, Non-infectious Disease and Disorders, begins.
- Term 3, 2027
Module 8 is completed: homeostasis, the causes and study of non-infectious disease, and technologies for disorders. Then trial exams and revision for the HSC.
Questions about this class
Which syllabus does the Biology class follow?
The class follows the NESA Biology Stage 6 Syllabus (2017), which the 2027 HSC examines, in the order most schools teach it.
What if my school teaches Biology in a different order?
The class follows the plan on this page, which uses the order most schools teach Biology in. Where your school takes a topic earlier or later, that week’s lesson is either revision of work already done or a head start on what is coming. You keep the session notes from every lesson, so they are on hand when school reaches the topic.
Can I join partway through the term?
Yes. Classes run every week through the term, so you can start whenever suits and still have two lessons to decide before you pay. Tell us which course you are in and we will let you know what the class has covered so far.
What if I miss a week?
Tell us as early as you can. Where there is room, you can sit that week with the other day’s group. The Saturday and Sunday classes cover the same material and we will send the session notes either way.
Do I pay for the first two lessons?
Only if you stay. The term price covers every lesson, the first two included. Pay up front, after the first lesson or after the second. If the class is not right after two lessons, you pay nothing.
Sitting more than one?
Every course runs as its own class, each with its own plan.
Join the Biology class
Try 2 lessons before you pay. Tell us whether Saturdays in person or Sundays online suit, and we will confirm your session.