MS Life Science — the PP100 clusters I recommend (held while Becky reworks the mastery tests)

What this is. One table. Each topic is cut into clusters of about three to five lessons, and each cluster ends on a capstone the earlier lessons feed. A PP100 would sit at the end of each cluster, and every topic would also keep one static topic test. Nothing is authored against this; it waits for your word.

1 Alive, and built from cells (15): do these clusters look right?

1A the seven processes, which process, living or not, the hard cases (4) → explain a hard case
1B organism, organ, organ built from tissues, tissue, tissue built from cells (5) → tissue is built from cells (the chain's last link)
1C the cell is the smallest living unit, every living thing is made of cells, one cell or many (3) → sort single- from many-celled
1D organ system, order the five levels, which level (3) → place a part at its level My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

2 Inside the cell (11): do these clusters look right?

2A membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria, vacuole (5) → the five parts and their jobs (no sort; a five-way match)
2B cell wall, chloroplasts, spot a plant cell, spot an animal cell (4) → sort plant from animal cell
2C why different cell types; more cells, not bigger (2) → explain My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

3 How plants make food (8): do these clusters look right?

3A living things need food; animals take in, plants make; plants make their own food (3) → sort by how it gets food
3B what goes in, what comes out, the word equation, light energy stored, the mass comes from air and water (5) → where the mass came from My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

4 Releasing energy from food (6): do these clusters look right?

4A what goes in, what comes out, the respiration word equation (3) → write the equation
4B opposite inputs, opposite outputs, stores or releases (3) → which process stores and which releases My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

5 Sorting living things (8): do these clusters look right?

5A sort by shared features; why scientists group (2) → why
5B animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, classify into a kingdom (6) → the kingdom sort (the capstone allows six) My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

6 From kingdom to species (10): do these clusters look right?

6A species, same species reproduce, genus, family, order (5) → name the level from its definition
6B class, phylum, kingdom as a level, order the Linnaean levels (4) → order the levels
6C use a classification key (1) → the key routine on its own My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

7 Ecosystems and food webs (13): do these clusters look right?

7A water, air, a suitable place; what an ecosystem is; a named ecosystem (5) → list an ecosystem's living and non-living parts
7B producer, consumer, decomposer, sort the feeding role (4) → the feeding-role sort
7C follow the chain, what it eats, what eats it, the knock-on effect (4) → predict the knock-on effect My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

8 Energy flows, matter cycles, interactions (10): do these clusters look right?

8A less energy each step, where it goes, fewer organisms, why, decomposers return nutrients (5) → why fewer at each step
8B competition, predator and prey, both benefit, tell them apart, environmental change (5) → predict the effect of a change My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

9 Traits and reproduction (12): do these clusters look right?

9A offspring resemble parents, two origins, inherited, acquired, decide which (5) → the inherited / acquired sort
9B two ways, asexual, sexual, one parent or two, tell them apart by the offspring (5) → the asexual / sexual sort
9C why two-parent offspring match neither; why offspring vary (2) → explain My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

10 Genes, DNA and chromosomes (9): do these clusters look right?

10A genes carry features, what a gene is, DNA, chromosome, how they nest (5) → the nesting
10B alleles, mutation, classify a mutation, inherited and environmental causes (4) → the two sorts My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

11 Dominant, recessive, Punnett (7): do these clusters look right?

11A dominant, recessive, predict which shows (3) → the prediction
11B genotype, phenotype, tell them apart, the Punnett square (4) → the Punnett routine My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

12 Adaptation and natural selection (11): do these clusters look right?

12A spot a helpful feature, name it an adaptation, explain how it helps (3) → explain
12B features differ within a kind, variation, variation passes on, a helpful variation (4) → name a helpful variation
12C which individual survives, why, does the variation spread, how (4) → predict and explain the spread My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

13 Evidence for change (6): do these clusters look right?

13A deeper fossils are older, some kinds died out, a shared structure, what it suggests (4) → what a shared structure suggests
13B which variation wins when the environment changes, and why (2) → predict and explain My recommendation: approve as drawn.

A: Fine / B: Change this

Why cut this way

PP100 items are served at random from a bank, so a bank over ten lessons cannot guarantee every lesson is tested; a bank over three to five can. Every cluster ends on the lesson the earlier ones exist for. Three break the three-to-five guide on purpose: the kingdom sort closes six lessons; the classification key stands alone; five two-lesson "explain" tails would go untested inside a bigger bank.