High School Biology Series 4 of 4: Human Anatomy

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$120

This is part 4 of 4 in a full year (36 week) high school homeschool biology curriculum series, lasting 6 weeks.
This class is only offered once per year in the fall.

It is not required, but it is highly recommended that you take these classes in order. Later courses in the series refer back to information we learn in earlier courses.

Other classes in this series include:
High School Biology: Series 1 of 4- Chemistry and Ecology
High School Biology: Series 2 of 4- Cells, Genetics, and Evolution
High School Biology: Series 3 of 4- Kingdoms of Life

CLASS DESCRIPTION
This is one of the most advanced classes we offer at Next Level Homeschool, meant to be a comprehensive full year biology program for serious students. You will not find another online high school homeschool program that covers this much biology content. Students who complete the full year will be easily prepared to take AP or college biology. In fact, former students have told me they learned more in this class than their college biology!

My degree is in Marine Biology (from Texas A&M University at Galveston), and I am truly a biologist at heart! I have a passion for this branch of science, and truly love sharing that passion with my students. And it’s my goal to make sure students come away with a deep understanding of the science of life. Because biology is not just a science, it is what we are! It is in us and around us and we are being it and interacting with it every second of our lives. I may be biased, but I truly feel that it is the most important branch of science students will ever learn. And I treat teaching it as a huge responsibility. This will be an academic, in-depth approach to biology.

In this class, we will be covering all of the major human body systems, including: Nervous, Skeletal, Muscular, Integumentary, Circulatory, Respiratory, Digestive, Excretory, Endocrine, Reproductive, and Immune. We will be going into detail on the characteristics, anatomy, and functions of each system.

As this is a science class, the unit on the immune system will discuss the science behind vaccinations, including how they work within the body and within a population.

At the end of the course, students will have a firm understanding and working knowledge of all aspects of general biology. This foundation will serve them very well if they progress to an AP biology course in high school or for college biology. That said, it’s going to be engaging and a lot of fun as well!

CLASS FORMAT
No live classes—view lessons on YOUR schedule. In general, expect 1.5-2.5 hours to work through the lesson plan each week, and an additional 2-5 hours working on assignments (it really depends what assignment your child chooses to do and how they manage their time). For classes with two levels, the material is the same for both—the depth of the assignments differs. Younger students should usually be placed in Level 1. Older students, or younger students who want more of a challenge, should be placed in Level 2.

Each lesson consists of a fully narrated PowerPoint presentation with images and videos to enhance the topics. Students will have access to our learning management system, Canvas, for viewing their lesson, printing worksheets, taking quizzes, viewing/submitting assignments, participating in discussions, and viewing grades/feedback. Read more details about class format.

Week 31
We begin our final session of our Biology course with our first week of human anatomy! We'll focus this week on the nervous system- from the different types of nerves and their anatomy to a detailed discussion of how signals from a stimulus move through the nervous system and culminate in a response. We'll discuss the parts of the brain, and it's role as the "control center" of the body. We'll end with an exploration of the five senses and how they work.

Week 32
This week we're covering the skeletal system, with the muscular and integumentary systems! 😉 We'll learn the major bones of the body and their structure, discuss how bone is produced, and the different types of joints. Then we'll move to the muscular system and learn about the different types and the mechanics behind exactly how they work. Finally, we'll tackle the skin- the different parts and functions.

Week 33
It's time to get to the "heart" of the respiratory and circulatory systems! We'll cover all of the major structures of each, and discuss in detail how they both work- separately and together- to keep our cells bathed in oxygen.

Week 34
Grab a snack! This week we're going to learn all about the digestive system. We'll revisit the biomolecules from waaaaay back in week 1, and talk about the nutrients we need, and don't need, for a healthy life. We'll discuss all of the parts of the digestive system, mechanical and chemical digestion, and the different enzymes and hormones that help with the digestive process. Then we'll move to the excretory system, and discuss all of the parts of the kidney in detail and how our kidneys function to keep our blood clean.

Week 35
This week we'll cover one of the least well-known of the body systems, but one of the most important- the endocrine system. We'll discuss the glands and hormones that regulate our body functions, including every student's favorite topic....puberty! From there we'll move into a discussion about the reproductive system, including fertilization and development of a human embryo.

Week 36
It's our final week of biology, and this week the immune system is the star of the show! We'll discuss contagious diseases in humans and how they can be spread. Then we'll talk about all of the different part of the immune system- all the way down to the cellular level- that defend us against getting sick! We'll cover innate, acquired, active, and passive immunity, vaccines, allergies, and end with auto immune diseases.

There are no in class labs for this session. My husband frowns upon the idea of me dissecting a human cadaver on the kitchen counter! 🙂

There are several labs that can be chosen by students to do as their assignment, none of which require anything other than normal household items.

Optional Supplemental Material
The Anatomy Coloring Book (Level 1)
The Anatomy Coloring Book (Level 2)

Next Level Homeschool is a firm believer that not all learning should happen from behind a screen! That's why we give students the freedom to submit their assignments in the way THEY want to! We don't want regurgitation learning here. By allowing students to use their own talents, skills, and passions to complete assignments, they become even more engaged and retain the information. Why? Because now it's literally in their hands! We receive thousands of projects every year from our students: written reports, videos, models, posters, Scratch, Minecraft, Roblox, songs, poems, skits, drawings, sculptures, crafts—we've seen it ALL! And WE LOVE IT!!

Click here to view just a few projects we've received from students who have taken this class and see what YOUR kid could be learning with Next Level Homeschool!