Classification of Kingdom Animalia

Learn the features every animal shares and the ranks used to classify them, then place any animal in its phylum and class, from sponges and worms to the insects, fish, crocodiles and gorillas of Rwanda.

2

Introduction to Environmental Biology

Use the language of ecology, from population and community to niche and biome, to describe Rwanda's ecosystems, trace food chains and webs, and explain with pyramids why energy runs out at the top of the chain.

3

Transport Across the Cell Membrane

See how the fluid mosaic membrane controls what enters and leaves a cell. Explain diffusion, osmosis and water potential with experiments, relate them to wilting, drips and food preservation, and contrast them with active transport, endocytosis and exocytosis.

4

Identification of Food Components

Name the seven components of food and their chemistry, then carry out and interpret the laboratory tests for starch, reducing sugars, proteins, lipids and vitamin C on everyday Rwandan foods.

5

Enzymes

Discover how protein catalysts speed up the chemistry of life, explain their specificity with the active site and the lock-and-key model, analyse how temperature and pH change their activity, and see how enzymes are used in digestion, food, washing and medicine.

6

Photosynthesis

How green plants use light energy to make food, what limits the rate of photosynthesis, how the leaf is built for the job, and why plants need magnesium and nitrate from the soil.

7

Transport in Plants

How xylem and phloem carry water, minerals and food through a plant: uptake by roots, the forces that lift water, transpiration and the factors that change it, translocation from sources to sinks, and plants adapted to dry, wet and salty places.

8

Gaseous Exchange in Humans and Plants

How respiratory surfaces work, how the human breathing system moves air, how oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged in the alveoli, how disease and smoking damage the lungs, and how leaves exchange gases through their stomata.

9

Excretion in Humans

Why the body must remove metabolic waste, the part played by the lungs, skin and liver, the structure of the urinary system, kidney and nephron, how urine is formed and concentrated, and habits that keep the kidneys healthy.

10

Joints and Movement

The main types of joints and the structure of a synovial joint, how antagonistic muscles such as the biceps and triceps move bones, and practices that keep bones and joints healthy.

11

Infectious Diseases, Immunity and Vaccination

You will learn what causes infectious diseases and how they spread, how the body's three lines of defence recognise and destroy pathogens, and how vaccination trains the immune system in advance. You will also see what happens when the immune system attacks the body itself, as in type 1 diabetes.

12

Sexual Behaviour and Sexual Response

You will learn how and why the body changes at puberty, what happens in the body during the sexual response, and how to make safe, respectful decisions about relationships, including abstinence and consent. You will also learn to recognise harassment, coercion, trafficking and transactional sex, and where to get help in Rwanda.

13

Pregnancy Prevention

You will learn what contraception is, why it matters for families and health, and how to tell myths from facts. You will study the menstrual cycle and natural methods, then barrier, hormonal, intra-uterine and permanent methods, and learn to compare their effectiveness and choose wisely.

14

Reducing Risk of STIs and HIV, Care and Support

You will learn how chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV are caused and transmitted, how HIV damages the immune system and how treatment controls it, and the proven ways to reduce the risk of infection. You will also learn about positive living, the rights of people living with HIV, the support available in Rwanda, and how to end stigma.

Units