Achievement standards

For the biological systems studied, the student:

• analyses how system components function and are interrelated across a range of scales to enable continuity of individuals, populations and species
• analyses how the function and interrelationships of system components are affected by external factors across a range of scales, and how the system responds over time
• explains the theories and model/s used to explain the system, the supporting evidence, and their limitations and assumption
• applies theories and models of systems and processes to explain phenomena, critically analyse complex problems, and make reasoned, plausible predictions in unfamiliar contexts

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• analyses the roles of collaboration, debate and review, and technologies, in the development of biological theories and models
• evaluates how biological science has been used in concert with other sciences to meet diverse needs and to inform decision making; and how these applications are influenced by interacting social, economic and ethical factors

For the biological systems studied, the student:

• explains how system components are interrelated and how they function to enable continuity of individuals, populations and species
• explains how the function and interrelationships of system components are affected by external factors, and how the system responds
• describes the theories and model/s used to explain the system, some supporting evidence, and their limitations
• applies theories and models of systems and processes to explain phenomena, analyse problems, and make plausible predictions in unfamiliar contexts

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• explains the role of collaboration, debate and review, and technologies, in the development of biological theories and models
• explains how biological science has been used to meet diverse needs and to inform decision making; and how these applications are influenced by social, economic and ethical factors

For the biological systems studied, the student:

• describes how system components function and the processes that enable continuity of the individual, population and species
• describes how system components or processes are affected by external factors, and how the system responds
• describes key aspects of a theory or model used to explain system processes, and the phenomena to which they can be applied
• applies theories or models of systems and processes to explain phenomena, interpret problems, and make plausible predictions in some unfamiliar contexts

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• describes the role of collaboration and review, and technologies, in the development of biological theories or models
• discusses how biological science has been used to meet needs and to inform decision making, and some social, economic or ethical implications of these applications

For the biological systems studied, the student:

• identifies system components that contribute to the survival of an organism, population or species
• describes changes to the system, the external factors that caused those changes, and some system responses
• describes key aspects of a theory or model used to explain a system process
• describes phenomena, interprets simple problems, and makes predictions in familiar contexts

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• describes the roles of communication and new evidence in developing biological knowledge
• describes ways in which biological science has been used in society to meet needs, and identifies some implications of these applications

For the biological systems studied, the student:

• identifies some parts of the system that contribute to the survival of an organism, population or species
• describes a change to the system, and an external factor that caused that change
• identifies aspects of a theory or model related to a system process
• describes phenomena and makes simple predictions in familiar contexts

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• identifies that biological knowledge has changed over time
• identifies ways in which biological science has been used in society to meet needs

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• designs, conducts and improves safe, ethical investigations that efficiently collect valid, reliable data in response to a complex question or problem
• analyses data sets to explain causal and correlational relationships, the reliability of the data, and sources of error
• justifies their selection of data as evidence, analyses evidence with reference to models and/or theories, and develops evidence-based conclusions that identify limitations
• evaluates processes and claims, and provides an evidence-based critique and discussion of improvements or alternatives
• selects, constructs and uses appropriate representations to describe complex relationships and to solve complex and unfamiliar problems
• communicates effectively and accurately in a range of modes, styles and genres for specific audiences and purposes

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• designs, conducts and improves safe, ethical investigations that collect valid, reliable data in response to a question or problem
• analyses data sets to identify causal and correlational relationships, anomalies, and sources of error
• selects appropriate data as evidence, interprets evidence with reference to models and/or theories, and provides evidence for conclusions
• evaluates processes and claims, provides a critique with reference to evidence, and identifies possible improvements or alternatives
• selects, constructs and uses appropriate representations to describe complex relationships and to solve unfamiliar problems
• communicates clearly and accurately in a range of modes, styles and genres for specific audiences and purposes

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• designs and conducts safe, ethical investigations that collect valid data in response to a question or problem
• analyses data to identify relationships, anomalies, and sources of error
• selects data to demonstrate relationships linked to biological knowledge, and provides conclusions based on data
• evaluates processes and claims, and suggests improvements or alternatives
• selects, constructs and uses appropriate representations to describe relationships and solve problems
• communicates clearly in a range of modes, styles and genres for specific purposes

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• plans and conducts safe, ethical investigations to collect data in response to a question or problem
• analyses data to identify trends and anomalies
• selects data to demonstrate trends, and presents simple conclusions based on data
• considers processes and claims from a personal perspective
• constructs and uses simple representations to describe relationships and solve simple problems
• communicates in a range of modes and genres

For the biological contexts studied, the student:

• follows a procedure to conduct safe, ethical investigations to collect data
• identifies trends in data
• selects data to demonstrate trends
• considers claims from a personal perspective
• constructs and uses simple representations to describe phenomena
• communicates in a range of modes