MYP Command Terms for Sciences

MYP Command Terms for Sciences

• Analyse: Break down information to identify essential elements and relationships. Interpret to draw conclusions.
• Annotate: Add brief notes to a diagram or graph.
• Apply: Use knowledge in a given situation or context.
• Calculate: Obtain a numerical answer showing the working.
• Classify: Arrange or order by class or category.
• Comment: Give a judgment on a statement or result, supported by reasons.
• Compare: Show similarities and differences.
• Complete: Finish a task according to given instructions or criteria.
• Construct: Create a plan, model, or simulation; display information diagrammatically.
• Contrast: Show differences.
• Convert: Change something from one form to another; change a measurement to different units.
• Create: Make something new.
• Define: Give precise meaning to a word, phrase, concept, or physical quantity.
• Demonstrate: Make clear or show something by reasoning and evidence; use examples or practical application.
• Describe: Give a detailed account or picture.
• Design: Produce a plan, simulation, or model.
• Determine: Obtain the only possible answer.
• Diagram: Illustrate information with an image.
• Discuss: Review arguments, factors, or hypotheses, supported by evidence.
• Draw: Represent using a labelled, accurate diagram or graph (to scale).
• Evaluate: Make an appraisal by weighing strengths and limitations.
• Explain: Give a detailed account, including reasons and causes.
• Estimate: Obtain approximate value.
• Explain: Give a detailed account including reasons and causes.
• Experiment: Perform a controlled test to investigate a phenomenon.
• Find: Obtain an answer.
• Formulate: Express precisely and systematically.
• Identify: Provide an answer from a number of options.
• Illustrate: Show in a diagram or example.
• Interpret: Use understanding to recognise trends, draw conclusions.
• Justify: Give valid reasons or evidence to support answer.
• Label: Add title, labels, or brief explanations to a diagram.
• List: Give sequence of brief answers without explanations.
• Measure: Obtain a quantity value.
• Model: Represent by creating a visual or mathematical representation.
• Organize: Arrange ideas and information systematically.
• Outline: Give a summary of main points.
• Plan: Set out a detailed sequence of intended actions.
• Plot: Mark the position of points on a diagram.
• Predict: Give the expected result of an experiment or situation based on evidence.
• Present: Offer for examination, observation, or consideration.
• Recall: Remember something previously learned.
• Recommend: Suggest a particular course of action.
• Relate: Show the connections between things.
• Represent: Present with a visual image or form.
• Select: Choose from a list or group.
• Sequence: Put items in a logical order.
• Sketch: Represent using a diagram or graph (general idea).
• Solve: Obtain answer using appropriate methods.
• State: Give a specific answer or value without explanation.
• Suggest: Propose a solution or other possible answer, without justification.
• Summarize: Briefly state the main points.
• Tabulate: Display data in rows and columns.
• Trace: Show how things are related.
• Verify: Provide evidence that validates a result.
• Write down: Obtain an answer; little calculation is required.

Inheritance, Variation, and Evolution Unit Objectives (Part 1: Inheritance)

• Understand the structure of DNA and its relationship to genes and chromosomes.
• Define and use terms like gene, allele, genotype, phenotype, homozygous, and heterozygous.
• Explain, predict, and interpret results of crosses involving dominant/recessive alleles, codominance, incomplete dominance, multiple alleles, and sex-linked inheritance.
• Use Punnett squares and pedigree charts.
• Analyze test cross problems for inheritance.
• Understand the inheritance of gender.
• Apply scientific reasoning to interpret data and results.
• Discuss and evaluate implications of using science to solve problems or issues.
• Understand DNA's role in controlling traits.

Gregor Mendel

• Austrian monk who conducted experiments on pea plants to understand inheritance patterns.
• Known as the "Father of Genetics" for discovering basic rules of trait inheritance.
• Observed how traits were passed from generation to generation in pea plants.
• Discovered the concepts of genes and alleles.

Mendel's Experiments and Steps

• Mendel bred pea plants with contrasting traits (e.g., color, shape).
• He crossed "purebred" plants (homozygous) with contrasting traits.
• Observed the traits in their offspring (F1 generation).
• Crossed the F1 generation to observe subsequent generations (F2).
• Determined that some traits (dominant) masked others (recessive).
• Proposed that traits are controlled by factors (now called genes) and these factors come in pairs (alleles).

Test Crosses

• Used to determine the genotype of an organism showing a dominant trait (homozygous or heterozygous for the dominant allele).
• The unknown genotype is crossed with a recessive genotype to determine potential outcomes and identify homozygous dominant.

Mendel's Laws

• Law of Segregation: Each individual has two alleles for each gene, and these alleles segregate (separate) during gamete formation, with only one allele passing to each offspring.
• Law of Independent Assortment: The inheritance of one set of genes is independent of the inheritance of another set of genes.

Other Inheritance Patterns

• Codominance: Both alleles are expressed equally in the heterozygous individual (e.g., roan cow).
• Incomplete Dominance: Both alleles blend their effects, producing an intermediate phenotype in the heterozygotes (e.g., pink snapdragons).
• Multiple Alleles: Genes can have more than two alleles in a population (e.g., ABO blood types).
• Polygenic Traits: Traits controlled by multiple genes (e.g., human height, skin color).