Uganda Senior Three Biology Curriculum

This curriculum is designed to equip learners with the knowledge, understanding, and skills to explore the complexities of the biological world. It emphasizes a learner-centered approach, encouraging active participation through investigations, experiments, and discussions. The curriculum is structured around themes and topics, focusing on developing competencies within each area. Assessment is an integral part of the learning process, guiding instruction and providing feedback for continuous improvement.

Term 1

Theme: Respiration in plants and animals

• Gaseous Exchange (14 periods): Learners explore the need for gaseous exchange systems in multicellular organisms, identify adaptations of gas exchange surfaces, understand the structure and mechanism of gaseous exchange in humans, determine the variation in gas composition in inhaled and exhaled air, and understand the dangers of smoking and air pollution. They also learn about diseases associated with respiratory organs.
• Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration (15 periods): Learners appreciate the importance of respiration, understand the process and site of aerobic respiration, explore the relationship between plants and animals in respiration and photosynthesis, understand when organisms use anaerobic respiration, outline the process of anaerobic respiration, investigate its products, understand its applications in everyday life, and compare aerobic and anaerobic respiration.

Theme: Excretion

• Excretion in Animals (19 periods): Learners appreciate the need for excretion, understand the process in humans, explain the body's reaction to raised carbon dioxide levels, identify the causes, symptoms, and treatment of kidney failure, understand tests for glucose and protein in urine, and recognize the need for proper waste disposal.

Term 2

Theme: Coordination in animals

• Chemical Coordination in Humans (18 periods): Learners differentiate between hormones and enzymes, understand the effects of hormones, describe the causes and symptoms of hormonal disorders (diabetes, goitre, osteoporosis), and appreciate the role of diet in managing these disorders.
• Nervous Coordination in Humans (22 periods): Learners understand the structure and function of the nervous system, identify parts of the brain and their roles, understand reflex action, differentiate between voluntary and involuntary responses, distinguish between substance use and abuse, understand the effects of substance abuse, and learn about prevention and control.
• Receptor Organs in Man (8 periods): Learners understand the roles and functions of the human eye and ear, understand short and long-sightedness and their correction.

Term 3

Theme: Locomotion in Animals

• Locomotion in Mammals (20 periods): Learners understand the structure and function of the skeleton, identify bones in the human skeleton, understand how muscles and the skeleton interact for movement, and understand the causes, effects, and prevention of muscle cramps.

Theme: Growth and Development in Plants and Animals

• Growth in Plants and Animals (12 periods): Learners distinguish between growth and development, appreciate the role of mitosis in growth, understand seed structure, conduct experiments on germination conditions, identify the roles of water, oxygen, and temperature in germination, and identify types of seed germination.
• Development in Plants and Animals (16 periods): Learners understand cell differentiation, understand secondary growth in dicot stems, know the meaning of metamorphosis and compare types, know insect development stages, understand human development stages, understand changes associated with adolescence and puberty, and understand features of aging.