NCEA Level 3 Biology
Course Description
Teacher in Charge: Mr V. Pygott.
Students taking this course will be learning biological concepts related to:
Animal and plant responses - how their behaviour or responses are affected by the environment and their interactions with each other.
This will lead to a practical investigation into an aspect of the ecological niche of an organism.
Evolution - looking at the evidence for evolution, the processes that cause evolutionary change in organisms, and evolutionary patterns.
Homeostasis - this is an aspect of animal physiology and you will be studying how an animal maintains a constant internal environment.
Contemporary socio-scientific issue - this is an open topic but will most likely be based on the environmental science or biotechnology important to New Zealand.
Students will also be given the option of doing Human Evolution - looking at our biological and cultural evolution.
Scholarship Biology will be available for students who, in Level 2 Biology, get Excellence in their External Standards, although we encourage all students who are interested in Scholarship to consider trying for Scholarship.
Course Overview
Term 1
Bio 3.4 - Demonstrate understanding of how an animal maintains a stable internal environment.
Bio 3.7 - Demonstrate understanding of human manipulations of genetic transfer and its biological implications.
Bio 3.6 - Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution.
Scholarship
Term 2
Bio 3.2 - Integrate biological knowledge to develop an informed response to a socio-scientific issue.
Bio 3.3 - Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environments.
Bio 3.6 - Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution.
Scholarship
Term 3
Bio 3.5 - Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation.
Revision for External Standards
Scholarship
Term 4
Revision for External Standards
Scholarship
Recommended Prior Learning
14 Level 2 Biology credits.
Good literacy skills are essential.
Contributions and Equipment/Stationery
1 x Level 3 Biology sciPAD Combo from Office Max, $27.30 excl GST (prices as at July 2018)
Trip to Tiritiri Matangi, $25 approximately.
Pathway
Students who take biology typically go into:
Health-related careers - doctors, dentists, nurses, physiotherapy, medical or genetic research.
Animal-related careers - farming, aquaculture, fisheries, veterinary, veterinary assistants, and animal husbandry
Plant-related careers - horticulture, arborist (working with trees), landscaping, and gardening.
Environment-related careers - conservation, environmental science, helping New Zealand to become predator-free, having clean waterways and oceans, improving marine reserves or local and National Parks.
Credit Information
You will be assessed in this course through all or a selection of the standards listed below.
External
NZQA Info
Biology 3.2 - Integrate biological knowledge to develop an informed response to a socio-scientific issue
NZQA Info
Biology 3.3 - Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment
NZQA Info
Biology 3.4 - Demonstrate understanding of how an animal maintains a stable internal environment
NZQA Info
Biology 3.5 - Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation
NZQA Info
Biology 3.6 - Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution
NZQA Info
Biology 3.7 - Demonstrate understanding of human manipulations of genetic transfer and its biological implications
NZQA Info
SCHL - Biology
Approved subject for University Entrance
Number of credits that can be used for overall endorsement: 22
Only students engaged in learning and achievement derived from Te Marautanga o Aotearoa are eligible to be awarded these subjects as part of the requirement for 14 credits in each of three subjects.
Disclaimer
Rosmini College's timetable is student-driven and a new timetable is generated each year based on student subject selection. Unfortunately, while we do our best to avoid them, timetabling clashes may still occur and a few students may be required to choose an alternative subject option.
The 2025 timetable, including the number of classes in each subject and staffing allocations, is created based on student selections made in 2024. Because of this, changing subjects at the beginning of 2025 may not be possible. Please, make your subject choices carefully.