Grade 12: Biology

This course will take you on a journey through the Galapagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Amazon rainforest in South America.  Both of these places are excellent for studying biology because of the diversity and wealth of flora and fauna that are found there.  Unfortunately, with increasing human activities and changes to our climate, both places are experiencing significant shifts in the makeup of their ecosystems and loss of biodiversity.  Through this course, some of the questions we will address are:  How can we minimize the negative impact we have on the populations of the species living there?  Could biotechnology save some of the Galapagos species from extinction?  How does the Amazon rainforest regulate a large part of the world’s oxygen and carbon level?   How is your body able to maintain homeostasis as you travel from high altitude to the islands and to the tropical rainforest?