A complete 9th grade homeschool curriculum

1. Unit 1: Who Is Telling This Story? Point of View and Narrative ReliabilityShort stories, read closely, to build vocabulary for talking about narrators: who's telling the story, what they're hiding, and whether to trust them. This is the toolkit the rest of the year reuses.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Grammatical and epistemic markers of narrative point of view (pronouns, access to characters' thoughts)Given a short story excerpt, identify whether the narration is first-person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient by locating pronoun and knowledge-access evidence in the text.
   • Point-of-view classification in an unfamiliar textGiven a new short story not used in instruction, classify its point of view and locate the specific sentence(s) that provide the classifying evidence.
   • The gap between narrator's telling and text's showing as evidence of (un)reliabilityExplain how a specific gap between what a first-person narrator tells the reader and what other characters' reported actions or dialogue show reveals a limit on that narrator's reliability.
   • Textual signals of narrator reliability across two different narratorsCompare two narrators from different short stories studied in this unit on the specific textual signals (self-contradiction, other characters' reactions, narrator's stated motive) that cue their reliability, and explain which signal is strongest evidence in each case.
   • The distinction between narrator's tone and reader's moodDistinguish the tone a narrator takes toward events from the mood a passage creates in the reader, using word-choice evidence from a passage where the two diverge.
   • An unstated narrator motive inferred from unfamiliar textInfer an unstated motive or bias of a first-person narrator in a short story never discussed in class, using only textual gaps as evidence, and justify the inference in writing.
   • A written argument about narrator reliability with cited textual evidenceConstruct a paragraph-length claim about a narrator's reliability in a short story not covered in class, supported by at least two pieces of textual evidence and an explanation of how each piece supports the claim.
   • Transfer of the reliability-judgment routine beyond fictional narrationGeneralize the reliability-judgment routine built in this unit to a non-narrative context (e.g., a first-person opinion column or a witness account) and explain what changes and what stays the same when the 'narrator' is a real person rather than a fictional construct.
2. Unit 2: Sustained Narrative: Reading a Novel WholeOne full novel, read over several weeks, with a reading log tracking evidence as they go. The question is whether the Unit 1 tools still work when the story is long and the proof is scattered across chapters instead of sitting in one paragraph.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Motif occurrences in the assigned novel (recurring concrete images/objects/phrases)Given a chapter excerpt, record a motif appearance in a tracking chart by noting the image/detail, page location, and surrounding context, without yet stating what it means.
   • The distinction between topic and themeDistinguish a chapter's topic (what it is about, e.g. 'a fight breaks out') from a candidate theme statement (a claim about people/life the chapter's events support), given three chapters' worth of tracked evidence.
   • Change in the protagonist's (or a chosen major character's) behavior/values across the novelExplain how a specific character's response to a new event in the second half of the novel differs from their response to a structurally similar event in the first half, citing both passages.
   • The motif's stability or instability of meaning across the novelArgue, using at least three tracked instances, whether a recurring image functions as a single stable symbol or shifts meaning across its appearances.
   • Structural choices (event order, pacing, withheld information) in a designated chapterExplain how the author's ordering of events (e.g., withheld information, flashback, foreshadowing) in a specific chapter creates tension or surprise, rather than simply reporting what happens in chronological order.
   • Criteria for identifying a motif, applied to an unfamiliar textGiven a novel the student has never read or discussed in class, identify whether a described recurring detail is functioning as a motif and justify the judgment using the criteria (repetition + accumulating significance) developed in this unit.
   • A full-novel literary argument about motif or character changeCompose a thesis-driven essay tracing one motif or one character's arc across the entire novel, synthesizing evidence from at least three different sections of the text into a single connected argument.
   • The general applicability of motif- and character-tracking methods across narrative formsGiven a novel-length narrative in an unfamiliar genre (e.g. a graphic novel or verse novel) that the student has not previously encountered, judge whether the character-change and motif-tracking methods from this unit still apply, and if not, explain what about the new form breaks the method.
3. Unit 3: Shakespeare: Reading Across Historical DistanceOne full Shakespeare play, tragedy by default, read as a puzzle to reconstruct rather than a foreign language to translate. Adds dramatic vocabulary — soliloquy, dramatic irony, blank verse — and asks what the original audience knew that we don't.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Blank verse vs. prose as formal markers in dramatic dialogueGiven an unmarked passage of dialogue, correctly identify whether it is written in blank verse or prose and state one textual feature (line breaks, capitalization at line start, meter regularity) that signals the choice.
   • The dramatic function of verse/prose shifts within a sceneExplain why Shakespeare shifts a specific character from verse to prose (or vice versa) at a given moment in the play, connecting the shift to that character's social status, emotional state, or relationship to another character in the scene.
   • Dramatic irony arising from audience/character knowledge gaps in soliloquyGiven a soliloquy the class has not annotated together, distinguish which lines state a character's stated belief versus which lines the audience alone knows to be false or incomplete, and explain the resulting dramatic irony.
   • The gap between original-audience assumed knowledge and modern-reader assumed knowledgeReconstruct one piece of historical or cultural knowledge (e.g., beliefs about fate, social rank, gender roles, honor codes) that the original audience would have brought to a scene, using textual evidence plus a provided historical source, and state what a modern reader misses without it.
   • The distinction between paraphrase and interpretationProduce a line-by-line paraphrase of an unfamiliar passage that preserves denotative meaning, then separately produce an interpretation of the same passage that accounts for what the paraphrase necessarily lost (tone, ambiguity, wordplay, meter).
   • Director's interpretive choices versus the printed scriptCompare a filmed or staged version of a scene to the printed text, identifying at least two directorial choices (cutting, staging, casting, delivery) and evaluating what each choice emphasizes or suppresses relative to the text.
   • The connection between a specific dramatic/formal choice and scene meaning, in an untaught sceneGiven a scene and formal choice the student has NOT discussed in class (a different scene from the one used in guided practice, featuring a soliloquy or verse/prose shift not covered), construct an original argument for why that choice matters to the scene's meaning, using evidence from the text and citing at least one piece of reconstructed historical context.
   • Dramatic irony as a transferable structural device across dramatic works and erasGiven two scenes from unrelated plays or eras (one studied in this unit, one entirely new, e.g., a modern film script excerpt) that both use a knowledge gap between audience and character, generalize a claim about why dramatists across eras use audience-superior-knowledge structures, independent of which specific play is involved.
   • Definitions of soliloquy, dramatic irony, and blank verseRecall the definitions of soliloquy, dramatic irony, and blank verse using precise academic language when prompted with an example from the play.
4. Unit 4: Reading Arguments: Claims, Evidence, and Rhetorical AppealsSwitches from fiction to nonfiction argument. Teaches claim, warrant, evidence, the three classical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), and common logical fallacies — and the core problem that a confident-sounding argument isn't automatically a well-supported one.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • The claim as the arguable statement an argument is built to supportGiven a short argumentative paragraph, identify the claim and underline the specific sentence(s) that state it.
   • The warrant as the (often unstated) assumption linking evidence to a claimGiven a claim and a piece of evidence offered for it, state the unstated warrant that would have to be true to connect them.
   • Ethos, pathos, and logos as distinct persuasive appeals with distinguishable textual signaturesClassify a persuasive move in a nonfiction passage as primarily an appeal to ethos, pathos, or logos, and justify the classification by pointing to the specific textual feature that signals it.
   • The distinction between rhetorical strength (persuasiveness) and evidentiary strength (support) in the same argumentGiven two arguments for the same position, one built mainly on emotional appeal with thin evidence and one built on relevant, sufficient evidence with modest appeal, determine which is better supported and explain the difference using claim/warrant/evidence vocabulary.
   • Logical fallacies as identifiable failures of the warrant, not a vocabulary listName the specific logical fallacy at work in a short reasoning example (from a bank including ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, slippery slope, hasty generalization) and explain what a valid version of that reasoning would need.
   • The effect of historical/cultural distance on an argument's implicit warrants and evidentiary needsUsing the historical-context reconstruction skill from Unit 3, infer what the original audience of a historical speech would have known or assumed that a present-day reader does not, and explain how that gap affects which parts of the argument would have needed less evidence for that audience.
   • Text structure (problem/solution, comparison, cause/effect) as a rhetorical choice that develops a claimGiven a nonfiction text structured by problem/solution, comparison, or cause/effect, explain how that structural choice serves the author's argument rather than merely naming the structure.
   • Full rhetorical analysis of an argumentative text (claim, warrant, evidence sufficiency, and appeal) integrated into one accountGiven an unfamiliar op-ed on a topic never discussed in this unit, produce a written rhetorical analysis that identifies the claim structure, evaluates the sufficiency of the evidence, and names the dominant appeal(s) used, with no scaffold naming which of these three moves to make where.
   • Core rhetoric vocabulary (claim, warrant, evidence, ethos, pathos, logos, bias)Recall the definitions of claim, warrant, evidence, ethos, pathos, logos, and bias when given the term.
   • Author's purpose and bias as a source of the specific rhetorical and evidentiary choices visible in a textGiven a persuasive passage with an identifiable bias (e.g., an author with a stated financial or political interest), attribute specific rhetorical choices in the text to that underlying bias or purpose.
5. Unit 5: Comparing Arguments: Credibility and Bias Across Paired TextsMoves from judging one argument to weighing two credible arguments against each other on the same question. Introduces credibility criteria (authority, evidence base, motive, currency) and the idea that credible sources can disagree without either being a liar.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The four-criteria credibility framework (authority, evidence base, purpose, currency)State the four criteria the class uses to judge a source's credibility (authority, evidence base, purpose/motive, currency) and identify which criterion a given piece of evidence about a source speaks to.
   • The corroboration/contradiction labeling procedure applied to a previously modeled text pairGiven a completed corroboration/contradiction map for a paired-text set already used in class instruction (set A or B), correctly label each row as corroborating, contradicting, or unrelated, using the exact map and texts shown during the worked example.
   • The distinction between bias and perspectiveClassify a given statement from a text as evidence of bias (motivated distortion) versus evidence of perspective (a legitimate, undistorted standpoint shaped by the author's position).
   • Legitimate disagreement between credible sourcesExplain why two sources that meet credibility criteria can still reach different conclusions on the same question, citing differences in evidence base, scope, or values as the mechanism rather than error or dishonesty.
   • Corroboration and contradiction between paired textsCompare two paired texts on the same issue by identifying where their evidence corroborates (supports the same fact) and where it contradicts (conflicts on a fact or its interpretation), producing a two-column corroboration/contradiction map.
   • Comparative judgment of argument quality across an untaught topicGiven two unfamiliar credible-seeming texts arguing opposite positions on a question never discussed in class, judge which argument is better supported and justify the judgment using the credibility criteria and the corroboration/contradiction method taught in the unit.
   • Unstated assumptions underlying credibility judgmentsGiven a claim about which of two sources is more credible, identify the unstated assumption the claim depends on (e.g., that peer review guarantees accuracy, or that a personal account is automatically biased).
   • Point-by-point comparative essay organizationOrganize evidence from a corroboration/contradiction map into a comparative essay structure (point-by-point across texts rather than text-by-text summary) that argues which source is better supported.
   • The corroboration/contradiction method as a transferable evaluative structureGeneralize the corroboration/contradiction comparison method to a non-text domain (e.g., comparing two data-based reports, or two eyewitness accounts of an event) never used as an instructional example.
6. Unit 6: Writing Narrative: Craft Choices in Original FictionThe student now makes the narrative choices they've only analyzed so far — point of view and pacing — while writing an original short story. Two full drafts are required, because revision is taught as fixing where the story confuses a reader, not tidying typos.12 skills ▸close ▾

   • The informational access and restrictions built into first-person, third-limited, and third-omniscient point of viewGiven the same short scene rewritten in first-person, third-limited, and third-omniscient POV, the student identifies what information each version makes available to the reader and what it withholds.
   • Surface-level pronoun and knowledge-access cues that identify first-person, third-limited, and third-omniscient point of viewGiven a short passage of narrative text, the student correctly labels it as first-person, third-limited, or third-omniscient using the pronoun and knowledge-access cues taught on Day 2, applying the same labeling routine practiced in class.
   • The tradeoff structure of a specific POV choice for a specific story ideaThe student selects a point of view for an original short story and states, in one sentence, what that choice gains the reader and what it costs them.
   • The showing-versus-telling distinction in sentence-level narrative craftThe student distinguishes 'showing' from 'telling' in sample sentences by identifying which sentences state a character's internal state directly versus which render it through action, dialogue, or sensory detail.
   • Conversion of a telling sentence into a showing sentence without losing the original narrative informationThe student rewrites three of their own 'telling' sentences from their story draft into 'showing' sentences that preserve the same underlying information.
   • The scene-versus-summary pacing decision and its narrative effectGiven two worked examples of a scene told at full scene-speed and the same events compressed into summary, the student explains why a writer would choose one pacing strategy over the other at a given story moment.
   • A pacing map for an original, not-yet-written short storyThe student plans a scene-by-scene pacing map for their own short story, marking which moments will be full scene and which will be compressed summary, before drafting.
   • A complete original short story draft applying POV and pacing decisionsThe student drafts a complete original short story of at least 800 words applying the chosen POV consistently and following the planned pacing map.
   • Reader-confusion points in the student's own draft identified via two independent feedback sourcesGiven the app's automated rubric feedback and the parent-teacher's conference notes on the same draft, the student identifies at least two specific places where a first-time reader would be confused, and states what information is missing at each place.
   • Targeted revision decisions justified by reader effect rather than by writer preferenceThe student revises the full draft, addressing at least three identified confusion points, and writes a reflective note explaining what changed and why the change serves the reader rather than the writer's own sense of completeness.
   • Grammar and usage conventions specific to narrative writing (tense consistency, pronoun-antecedent agreement, comma splices)The student edits the final draft for command of standard English grammar and usage, correcting at least the error types flagged in the unit's grammar diagnostic (e.g., pronoun-antecedent agreement, comma splices, verb tense consistency within a narrative).
   • Transfer of the POV/pacing tradeoff framework to an unfamiliar, unanalyzed story openingGiven an unfamiliar short story opening the student has never seen analyzed, the student predicts what POV and pacing choices a different writer might have made differently and what effect that would have produced, without being told which craft element to examine.
7. Unit 7: Writing Argument: Building a Defensible ClaimThe student builds an argument instead of analyzing someone else's. The real new skill is representing an opposing view fairly enough that rebutting it actually means something — not just stating a position and moving on.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Fair representation of an opposing position (counterclaim) prior to rebuttalGiven a claim of the student's choosing, write a counterclaim paragraph that states the opposing position in terms its holder would accept as a fair characterization, before any rebuttal is introduced.
   • Argument-writing vocabulary: claim, counterclaim, warrant, evidence, rebuttalRecall the definitions of claim, counterclaim, warrant, evidence, and rebuttal as used in argument writing.
   • The claim-evidence-explanation (CEE) paragraph structure for integrating evidenceExecute the claim-evidence-explanation integration pattern (signal phrase, quoted or paraphrased evidence, explanation of how the evidence supports the claim) in a body paragraph.
   • The distinction between a fairly represented counterclaim and a straw-man counterclaimDifferentiate a counterclaim that is fairly represented from one that is a straw man, given two contrasting sample paragraphs on an unfamiliar topic.
   • Logical gaps between evidence and claim in argumentative writing (missing warrants)Given a full draft argumentative paragraph containing a logical gap (an unsupported leap from evidence to claim), infer what missing warrant or evidence would close the gap.
   • Fairness and logical sufficiency of a counterclaim-rebuttal section in an unfamiliar essayGiven a completed argumentative essay draft on any topic (including one on a topic never discussed in this unit), critique the essay's counterclaim-rebuttal section for fairness and logical sufficiency and produce specific revision guidance.
   • Overall structural plan of an argumentative essay including counterclaim placementPlan an argumentative essay's structure (claim, three-point organization, placement of counterclaim/rebuttal) for a self-selected issue before drafting.
   • Sentence-level revision for clarity: transitions and pronoun referenceGiven feedback identifying a specific weak transition or unclear pronoun reference, apply Language conventions (L.9-10.1, L.9-10.2) to revise sentence-level clarity in the student's own draft.
   • Original claim and fair counterclaim construction in an unrehearsed domainGiven an issue in a domain never discussed in class (e.g., a local zoning dispute or a school policy the student has never analyzed), generate an original claim and a genuinely fair counterclaim without a model paragraph to imitate.
8. Unit 8: Research: Finding, Evaluating, and Using SourcesA short research paper built from real judgment calls: pick a question, sort through sources of mixed quality (some look authoritative and aren't), and write a claim-driven paper from what actually holds up. Teaches lateral reading — checking who's behind a source before trusting its content.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The criteria that make a research question researchable at this scope (arguable/explorable, bounded, not a single-fact lookup)Given a broad topic, narrow it to a research question that is answerable within an 18-day, source-based paper (neither a yes/no fact lookup nor an unanswerably broad question).
   • Lateral reading as a credibility-checking strategy, contrasted with reading a site 'vertically' (judging it by its own claims/design)Explain why checking who is behind a source (lateral reading) is a more reliable credibility check than evaluating the source's own content, appearance, or self-description.
   • Credibility judgment of a specific, previously unseen digital sourceApply lateral reading to judge whether an unfamiliar website, given only its homepage and a five-minute open-search window, is credible enough to cite in a research paper.
   • The boundary between acceptable paraphrase, patchwriting, and appropriate quotationDistinguish an acceptable paraphrase (same idea, own sentence structure and words, cited) from plagiarism-adjacent paraphrase (word-swapped but same sentence structure) and from an unnecessary direct quotation.
   • MLA in-text citation and reference-list entry format across three source typesExecute in-text (parenthetical) citation and a matching Works Cited/reference entry for a website, a print article, and a database article in a standard format (MLA).
   • Synthesis of multiple, partially conflicting sources into a single defensible claimGiven three sources that address the same research question but partially disagree, construct a claim that accounts for where the sources agree, where they conflict, and which source's conflicting claim is better supported.
   • The definition and scenario-based recognition of plagiarismRecall the definition of plagiarism and identify which of several given scenarios (uncited quote, uncited paraphrase, common knowledge, cited paraphrase) constitute it.
   • Fitness of a source for a specific research question, as distinct from generic credibilityGiven a completed source list, evaluate which two sources are weakest for this specific research question and justify replacing them, even though both would pass a generic credibility checklist.
   • Lateral reading as a transferable verification strategy across media, not a website-specific procedureGeneralize the lateral-reading strategy to a non-website context (a documentary clip and a social-media infographic) that was not the medium used during instruction.
9. Unit 9: Synthesis: A Second Novel and the Multi-Genre PortfolioA capstone: a new novel, read mostly outside lesson time, analyzed by choosing which lens — narrator reliability, theme/motif, historical context, or rhetorical/source evaluation — fits a given passage, then a portfolio: a literary essay, an argumentative piece, and an oral defense pulling in the whole year.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The four year-long analytical lenses (narrator reliability, theme/motif, historical context, rhetorical evaluation) and their diagnostic cues in a passageGiven an unannotated passage from the synthesis novel, the student identifies which of the four lenses (narrator reliability, theme/motif, historical context, rhetorical/source evaluation) is most productive for that passage and states one textual reason for the choice.
   • Year-long vocabulary set from Units 1-5 and 8The student recalls the definitions of narrator, reliability, theme, motif, historical context, claim, warrant, evidence, appeal, bias, and credibility without reference support.
   • The relationship between narrator reliability and warranted theme claims in the synthesis novelThe student explains how the second novel's narrator's reliability affects which theme claims the reader can trust as the author's, connecting narration technique to thematic development.
   • An arguable, text-specific literary analysis claim integrating at least two analytical lensesThe student drafts a literary analysis essay claim about the synthesis novel that is arguable, specific to the text, and supported by textual evidence selected using at least two lenses.
   • Credibility and relevance criteria for external sources applied to the synthesis novel's argumentative topicThe student evaluates a source proposed for the argumentative portfolio piece for credibility and relevance, applying the source-evaluation criteria built in Unit 8 to a source outside any text used in that unit.
   • Reader-confusion-driven revision of the literary analysis essay draftThe student revises a full draft of the literary analysis essay toward a reader's likely points of confusion, identified from a peer/parent read-aloud, rather than toward the student's own sense of completeness.
   • Justification of lens-combination choice against a proposed alternative interpretationIn the oral defense, the student justifies why a particular lens combination (not a single lens) best accounts for a portfolio claim, when questioned about an alternative lens the questioner proposes.
   • A general heuristic mapping text features to productive analytical lenses, transferable beyond the two novels studied this yearThe student generalizes a statement of which lens or lens-combination tends to matter most for which kind of text feature (e.g., unreliable first-person narration cues the narrator lens; archaic diction cues the historical-context lens), applicable to a novel not read this year.
   • Sorting of collected textual evidence by analytical lens (narrator, theme, context, rhetoric)The student classifies portfolio-relevant textual evidence by which lens it best supports before drafting either piece.

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1. Unit 1: Linear Relationships as Rules, Graphs, and StoriesThis is the unit everything else depends on. Your child learns that a linear relationship — a starting amount plus a steady rate of change — can be shown as a table, a graph, an equation, or a story about a phone plan or a tank of water, and that these are four views of the same thing, not four different skills. They also meet slope, intercepts, domain/range, and function notation for the first time.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Starting value and constant rate of change in a verbal linear contextGiven a real-world description of a linear situation (e.g., a text-messaging plan), the student identifies the starting amount and the constant amount of change per unit and states which is which.
   • Slope as a computed ratio of vertical change to horizontal changeThe student computes slope from two points or a table using (change in y)/(change in x) and correctly labels the units of the result in context.
   • Invariance of slope across point pairs on one lineThe student explains why the slope computed between any two points on the same line is identical, using the idea of equal-interval accumulation of change rather than recomputation of the formula.
   • Distinguishing linear structure from graph/table appearance aloneGiven a table, a graph, and a verbal description of three DIFFERENT linear situations, the student sorts them by which representation was generated FIRST and justifies the sort using surface cues that turn out to be unreliable, then revises the sort using structural cues (constant difference, common ratio check).
   • Slope-intercept equation construction from varied input formatsThe student writes a linear equation in slope-intercept form from a context, a table, or two points, choosing the correct method for the given starting information.
   • Function notation f(x) as input-output pairing tied to contextThe student evaluates and interprets f(x) notation, stating what f(3) = 11 means in terms of the original context's two quantities.
   • Domain and range as context-imposed restrictions on an algebraic relationshipGiven a context with a natural restriction (e.g., number of weeks cannot be negative, or a tank empties and cannot go below zero), the student determines a realistic domain and range and explains what part of the algebraic line is NOT part of the model.
   • Equality of two linear expressions as the point of agreement between two contextsThe student solves a one-variable linear equation that arises from setting two linear expressions equal (e.g., two phone plans costing the same), and interprets the solution as the point where two stories agree, without being told in advance that this is what the algebra represents.
   • Appropriateness of a linear model and selection among representations for a decisionGiven an entirely new kind of everyday situation not resembling any unit example (e.g., a recipe scaling with a fixed one-time setup cost analog), the student decides, without being told, whether a linear model is appropriate and produces all four representations, then argues in writing which representation someone with a specific decision to make should trust.
   • Vocabulary: slope, x-intercept, y-interceptThe student recalls and correctly states the definitions of slope, x-intercept, and y-intercept when shown a labeled graph.
2. Unit 2: Systems of Linear EquationsNow there are two conditions that both have to be true at the same time — two phone plans, two recipes, two moving cars — and 'solving' means finding where they agree, or discovering they never do. Your child learns graphing, substitution, and elimination as three ways of asking the same question, and learns to pick the efficient method by looking at the equations rather than always defaulting to one.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The point of intersection of two lines as a shared solution to both equationsGiven a system of two linear equations graphed on the same coordinate plane, identify the point of intersection and state what it means for both equations to be true at that point simultaneously.
   • The graphing method for solving a linear systemSolve a system of two linear equations by graphing, including cases where the intersection has non-integer coordinates requiring estimation.
   • The substitution method for solving a linear systemSolve a system of two linear equations using substitution when one equation is already solved for a variable or can be solved for a variable in one step.
   • The elimination method and the general algebraic justification (given A=B and C=D, then A+kC=B+kD) that it preserves the solution setSolve a system of two linear equations using elimination, including cases requiring multiplying one or both equations by a constant before adding, and, for a NEW pair of equations not previously demonstrated, explain in the student's own words why replacing an equation with the sum of itself and a multiple of the other equation does not change the solution set.
   • The relationship between slope/intercept and the number of solutions to a linear systemGiven the graphs or equations of two lines, classify the system as having one solution, no solution, or infinitely many solutions, and explain the classification in terms of slope and intercept.
   • Translation of a two-constraint real-world scenario into a system of linear equationsGiven a novel real-world scenario with two independent constraints (e.g., cost, distance, mixture), write a system of two linear equations that models the situation, choosing variable definitions and units without being told what the variables represent.
   • Viability of an algebraic solution against the real-world constraints of the situation it modelsGiven a system's algebraic solution in a modeling context, determine whether the solution is viable given real-world constraints (e.g., non-negative time, whole-number people) and justify the determination.
   • The relationship between equation structure (coefficient values, isolated variables) and the relative efficiency of substitution versus eliminationGiven two systems of linear equations with different coefficient structures, compare substitution and elimination and construct a written argument for which method is more efficient for each, citing specific features of the equations.
   • Solving and interpreting a system in a context that does not signal which special case or method appliesGiven an unfamiliar system embedded in a non-routine context (e.g., a scenario with a disguised no-solution or infinite-solution structure, or requiring a unit conversion before writing equations), select and apply an appropriate solution method and interpret the result.
3. Unit 3: Linear Inequalities and Absolute ValueThis unit swaps 'equals' for 'greater than or less than,' and introduces absolute value as a short way to describe distance from a target — like a thermostat that has to stay within 5 degrees of 70. Your child solves and graphs inequalities, learns why multiplying by a negative flips the inequality sign, splits absolute value problems into cases, and graphs systems of inequalities using an actual test point rather than guessing.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • The sign-reversal rule when multiplying or dividing an inequality by a negative numberSolve a one-variable linear inequality involving a negative coefficient and correctly reverse the inequality symbol, then represent the solution on a number line.
   • The geometric reason the inequality direction reverses under multiplication by a negative numberExplain why multiplying a true numeric inequality by a negative number reverses its direction, using a number line as evidence rather than restating the memorized rule.
   • Compound inequalities joined by 'and' or 'or'Translate a verbal description containing 'and'/'or' logic (e.g., 'the temperature is above 60 and below 80') into a compound inequality and graph its solution region on a number line.
   • The equivalence between absolute-value-distance statements and compound inequality statementsGiven a real-world tolerance context stated only in words, produce both an absolute value inequality and an equivalent compound inequality, and justify their equivalence using a shared number line.
   • Case-splitting procedure for absolute value equations, including the no-solution and one-solution conditionsSolve an absolute value equation of the form |ax + b| = c by splitting into two cases, correctly identifying when zero or one solution (rather than two) results.
   • The and/or branching rule for absolute value inequalities based on the inequality directionSolve an absolute value inequality (|ax + b| < c or |ax + b| > c) and correctly determine whether the solution is a compound 'and' region or a compound 'or' region.
   • Systems of linear inequalities and their graphed solution (feasible) regionGiven a two-inequality system with no algebraic labels indicating method, determine whether a given point satisfies the system and identify the boundary lines that define the feasible region on a graph.
   • Systems of inequalities combined with absolute value constraints in an unfamiliar applied contextGiven a novel real-world constraint scenario with three or more conditions (some inequalities, at least one absolute value), construct the full system, graph it, and identify whether a specific proposed solution point is feasible, with no indication in the problem of which techniques from the unit apply.
4. Unit 4: Systems with Nonlinear Functions — Function Notation FormalizedThis unit makes f(x) notation official (it was informal in Unit 1) and asks the Unit 2 question again — where do two things agree? — but now one of them is curved instead of straight. Your child compares functions given in different formats (table vs. graph vs. equation), solves f(x) = g(x) by graphing and by matching input-output pairs in a table, and gets a first look at non-constant rate of change without the full quadratic machinery yet.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Function notation f(x) as input-output correspondenceGiven f(x) = 2x - 3 or a similar linear rule, evaluate f(a) for a numeric input and state what f(a) represents in a labeled context (e.g., cost after a hours).
   • Comparison of function properties across representationsGiven two functions in different representations (one as a table, one as a graph, one as an equation), compare a stated property such as which has the greater output at x=2 or which increases faster over an interval.
   • The equivalence between graphical intersection and algebraic solution of f(x)=g(x)Explain why the x-coordinate of an intersection point of y=f(x) and y=g(x) is a solution to f(x)=g(x), using a labeled graph as evidence.
   • Graphical solution of f(x)=g(x) for a linear-nonlinear pairSolve f(x)=g(x) for a linear function f and a given quadratic or absolute-value function g by graphing both and reading the intersection point(s).
   • Number of solutions to f(x)=g(x) as a property of the specific function pairDetermine numerically, from a table of paired values, all x-values where f(x)=g(x), including cases with zero, one, or two solutions.
   • Translation of a verbal scenario into a function pair and interpretation of their intersectionGiven a real-world scenario described verbally (e.g., a rising cost line vs. a spiking usage curve), construct the linear and nonlinear function rules from the description and identify what the intersection means in context.
   • The general equivalence of graphical and numerical solution methods for f(x)=g(x)Given a new, previously unseen pair of functions (e.g., one absolute value and one linear, in unfamiliar contexts), justify using both a graph and a table why the algebraic and graphical solutions to f(x)=g(x) must be the same value.
   • The meaning of the notation f(x) versus multiplication notationRecall the definition of function notation f(x) as 'the output of function f when the input is x' when asked to distinguish it from multiplication (f times x).
5. Unit 5: Introduction to Quadratic FunctionsThis is the parabola unit — but before any equation-solving. Your child learns that a quadratic's rate of change is itself changing at a steady pace (a idea Unit 5's exponential work set up as a contrast), finds this pattern numerically through 'second differences,' and learns to read vertex, axis of symmetry, and intercepts from a graph or from vertex form. Transformations reuse the shift vocabulary from Unit 1 rather than treating parabola-shifting as new.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Second differences as the numerical signature of quadratic growth, contrasted with constant first differences (linear) and constant ratios (exponential)Given a table of (x, y) pairs with equal x-intervals, compute first and second differences and use the pattern (constant, constant-second, or constant-ratio) to classify the table as linear, quadratic, or exponential.
   • The vertex and axis of symmetry as features read from a graphed parabolaIdentify the vertex, axis of symmetry, and y-intercept of a parabola directly from its graph.
   • The correspondence between the parameters h and k in vertex form and the vertex's coordinatesRewrite a quadratic function given in vertex form, y = a(x-h)^2 + k, to state the vertex and axis of symmetry without graphing.
   • The effect of each parameter (a, h, k) on the graph of a parabola relative to the parent function y = x^2Predict the direction, width, and vertical/horizontal position change of a parabola when a, h, or k in y = a(x-h)^2 + k is altered, before graphing to check.
   • The algebraic reason for reflective symmetry in a quadratic function, grounded in (x-h)^2 producing equal outputs for equal-and-opposite deviations from hExplain why a parabola is symmetric about a vertical line through its vertex, using the structure of the squared term in vertex form.
   • The real-world meaning of a parabola's vertex, intercepts, and symmetry in a modeling contextGiven a real-world context modeled by a quadratic (e.g., projectile height over time), interpret the vertex, an intercept, and the axis of symmetry in terms of the situation, and state what would change about the situation if the symmetry were broken.
   • Differences/ratios as a general discrimination procedure across the three function families studied this year (linear, exponential, quadratic)Given a table of data from an entirely unfamiliar context (not previously classified as linear, exponential, or quadratic in this course), determine which function family best fits using differences and ratios, and justify the choice by naming what pattern would have appeared under each of the other two families.
   • The decision to model an unfamiliar symmetric phenomenon as quadratic based on structural reasoning about accumulating change, not surface featuresGiven only a verbal description of a symmetric real-world phenomenon never framed mathematically before (e.g., an arch bridge's load distribution, or a business's cost curve with a single minimum), construct a rough quadratic model (vertex location and opening direction) and justify why a quadratic, rather than linear or exponential, structure is appropriate.
6. Unit 6: Solving Quadratic EquationsNow your child actually solves ax^2+bx+c=0 — by factoring, by completing the square, and with the quadratic formula, in that order, and learns the discriminant as a way to predict how many solutions there are before solving. The real point of the unit is judgment: given a specific equation, which method is actually the efficient one, and why.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Greatest common factor extraction combined with trinomial factoringGiven a trinomial with a GCF, factor out the GCF and then factor the remaining trinomial completely.
   • The zero product property applied to a factored trinomial equationSolve a quadratic equation by factoring a trinomial (a=1) and applying the zero product property.
   • The logical requirement of a zero side for the zero product propertyExplain why the zero product property requires one side of the equation to equal zero before factoring is useful for solving.
   • Structural features that distinguish difference-of-squares and trinomial formsClassify a quadratic expression as a difference of squares, a factorable trinomial, or neither, based on its term structure.
   • The completing-the-square procedure transforming ax^2+bx+c=0 into (x-p)^2=qSolve a quadratic equation by completing the square, including cases where the leading coefficient is not 1.
   • The derivation connecting completing the square to the quadratic formulaDerive the quadratic formula from the completed-square form of ax^2+bx+c=0.
   • The discriminant as a predictor of solution typeUse the discriminant (b^2-4ac) to predict the number and type of real or complex solutions without solving the equation.
   • Method selection and contextual interpretation of quadratic solutionsGiven the unfamiliar real-world context and equation specified for the Day 18 far-transfer task (a garden-path border area problem, ax^2+bx+c=0 with a non-1 leading coefficient not previously paired with an area context in this unit), select and justify the most efficient solving method and interpret the solution(s) in terms of the situation, including when a negative or non-real solution should be rejected.
   • Equivalence of solution methods for a single quadratic equationCompare two different-looking correct solving methods applied to the same equation and explain in writing why both produce equivalent solutions despite different intermediate steps.
   • Domain restrictions on algebraic solutions to quadratic modelsGiven the novel garden-border word problem in Lesson 14 (item text below), whose solution requires recognizing that a quadratic model's algebraic solution set contains an extraneous or non-physical value, identify and justify which root(s) to discard.
7. Unit 7: Piecewise Functions and Absolute Value GraphsA single relationship can need a different rule on different parts of its domain — shipping costs that jump at weight thresholds, parking that charges by the partial hour with a daily cap. Your child learns to evaluate and graph these piecewise functions, discovers that absolute value is just the simplest two-piece case, and builds models for real tiered-rate situations.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Piecewise function evaluation at boundary and non-boundary inputsEvaluate a given piecewise function at specified input values, including at least one boundary value, correctly assigning each input to its defining piece.
   • Piecewise linear graphs with domain-restricted piecesGraph a piecewise linear function over its restricted domains, correctly marking open or closed circles at each boundary.
   • The one-function structure of a piecewise definition despite multiple rulesExplain why a piecewise function with correctly chosen domain restrictions (no overlaps, no gaps) still represents exactly one function rather than several.
   • Absolute value as a two-piece function, compared against a general piecewise exampleCompare the two-case definition of absolute value to a piecewise function already graphed, and generalize that |x| is a specific instance of the piecewise structure.
   • Transformations of f(x) = |x| producing shifted V-graphsGraph transformations of the absolute value parent function (vertical/horizontal shifts) by identifying the new vertex location.
   • Piecewise models of tiered real-world rate structures, including boundary-ownership justificationGiven a real multi-tier rate table (e.g., shipping cost by weight), construct a piecewise function that models it and justify which piece owns each boundary value based on the context's actual billing convention.
   • Selecting and justifying piecewise vs. smooth modeling for a novel step-rate contextGiven a completely unfamiliar step-rate or bracket-style context not resembling shipping or tax examples used in class (e.g., a parking garage charging by partial hour with a daily cap), determine without being told the general strategy whether a piecewise model is more defensible than a single smooth equation, and construct it.
   • Internal consistency (single-output) errors in a constructed piecewise modelCritique a peer-style or app-generated piecewise model of a rate context by identifying a boundary where the model assigns two different outputs to the same input, and explain what change would fix it.
8. Unit 8: Modeling with Data: Linear Regression and an Introduction to VariabilityThis closing unit turns the year's tools on real, messy data. Fitting a line to a scatterplot is a judgment call, not a single right computation, and the leftover gap between the line and each point — the residual — is itself useful information about where the model is weak. Your child builds scatterplots, fits lines, reads residual plots, and tackles correlation versus causation by first trying to poke holes in a causal claim themselves before getting the formal vocabulary.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Scatterplot construction and visual association strength/directionGiven a bivariate dataset presented as a table, construct a scatterplot with appropriately scaled axes and describe the direction and strength of the association in words.
   • Slope and intercept of a fitted regression line in contextFit a linear model to a scatterplot using the app's least-squares tool and state the slope and y-intercept of the fitted line in the units and context of the original quantities.
   • Residual as signed vertical distance between actual and predicted valueCompute the residual for a given data point from a fitted line and explain what the sign of the residual indicates about the point's position relative to the model.
   • Comparison of candidate fitted lines via total residual magnitudeGiven two candidate lines fit to the same scatterplot, compare them by computing total residual magnitude and determine which is the better model, justifying the choice by referring to the comparison rather than visual impression alone.
   • Residual plot pattern as evidence of model appropriatenessGiven a residual plot, determine whether a linear model is appropriate for the data by identifying whether the plot shows random scatter or a systematic (curved) pattern.
   • Correlation coefficient versus visual/residual evidence of linear fit quality (Anscombe-style contrasting cases)Given several scatterplots with similar correlation coefficients but visibly different shapes (including one with an outlier and one with a curved trend), rank them by how trustworthy a linear model would be for each and justify the ranking using shape and residual pattern rather than the r value alone.
   • Confounding variables and causal versus correlational claimsGiven a real-world pair of strongly correlated variables never discussed in instruction, propose at least one plausible confounding variable or reverse-causal explanation and use it to argue that the correlation does not establish causation.
   • Linear versus exponential versus quadratic growth pattern as evidence for model choiceGiven a dataset with a visibly nonlinear trend, decide whether a linear model, an exponential model (Unit 5), or a quadratic model (Unit 6) best describes the relationship, and justify the choice using the pattern of change across equal intervals.
   • Full linear-model critique integrating fit, residual analysis, and causal limitationIndependently collect or use a given real bivariate dataset to produce a complete written critique that fits a linear model, analyzes residuals, states the correlation strength, and explains at least one limitation of the model including the correlation-causation distinction.

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1. Unit 1: The Chemistry of LifeThis is where all the vocabulary for the rest of the year gets built: water, the four big molecule families (carbs, fats, proteins, DNA), and how enzymes work. The through-line question is always: how does a molecule's shape decide what it can and can't do?9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Water's polarity and hydrogen bonding, arising from unequal electron sharing at oxygenGiven a diagram of a water molecule's electron distribution, the student explains why water forms hydrogen bonds and predicts which of two unfamiliar small molecules would also be polar.
   • Monomer identity and functional groups distinguishing the four macromolecule classesThe student classifies an unfamiliar biological molecule as a carbohydrate, lipid, protein, or nucleic acid by identifying its monomer and characteristic functional groups from a structural diagram.
   • Dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis as the shared mechanism linking all four macromolecule classesThe student explains how dehydration synthesis builds a polymer from monomers and how hydrolysis reverses it, using water molecules as the shared mechanism, for a polymer type not covered in the worked examples (e.g. a nucleic acid strand when only carbohydrates and proteins were worked).
   • Levels of protein structure and how sequence determines folded 3-D shapeThe student compares the four levels of protein structure (primary through quaternary) and explains how a change at the primary level can propagate to change the protein's final 3-D shape.
   • Macromolecule class names, monomer names, and functional rolesThe student recalls the standard names and one-sentence functional role of the four macromolecule classes and their monomers (carbohydrate/monosaccharide, lipid/fatty acid+glycerol, protein/amino acid, nucleic acid/nucleotide).
   • Enzymes as catalysts that lower activation energy via substrate-specific shape complementarityThe student explains why enzymes lower activation energy without being consumed in the reaction, using the enzyme-substrate specificity model for a specific worked enzyme-substrate pair.
   • The relationship between temperature/pH-induced denaturation and loss of enzyme activityGiven an activity-vs-temperature (or activity-vs-pH) graph for an enzyme the student has never seen, the student predicts the shape of the curve's declining region and justifies the prediction in terms of denaturation changing the active site's shape.
   • The disproportionate functional consequence of a single amino-acid substitution on protein shape and functionThe student critiques a claim that 'a small change in one amino acid can't matter much because the protein is still made of the same building blocks,' using evidence from sickle-cell hemoglobin or an equivalent case not previously discussed in class.
   • Domain-specific vocabulary in a biochemistry text versus everyday usage of the same wordsThe student interprets a text passage describing an unfamiliar macromolecule's function by identifying which domain-specific terms (e.g. 'denaturation,' 'hydrophobic,' 'substrate') carry technical meaning distinct from their everyday meaning.
2. Unit 2: Cell Structure and TransportThe cell as a chemical factory with rooms — each organelle's shape explains what it does, and the membrane's structure explains what can and can't get in or out. This is also where 'homeostasis' first shows up, just not by that name yet.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Organelle structure-function relationshipsGiven a labeled diagram of an organelle (nucleus, mitochondrion, rough/smooth ER, Golgi, chloroplast), state the specific structural feature responsible for its named function.
   • Organelle abundance as evidence of cell specializationGiven a cell's primary job (e.g., secretes hormones, contracts, absorbs nutrients), predict which two organelles should be most abundant and justify the prediction from organelle function.
   • Phospholipid bilayer structure and membrane protein functionConstruct a two-part explanation (phospholipid bilayer orientation + embedded protein function) for why the plasma membrane is selectively permeable rather than a simple wall.
   • Passive transport (diffusion, osmosis) vs. active transportClassify a given transport scenario (dissolved gas crossing a membrane, glucose moving against its gradient via a pump, water moving toward a solute-dense compartment) as diffusion, osmosis, or active transport, citing the energy requirement as the deciding feature.
   • Osmosis and tonicity as a quantitative relationshipCalculate and predict the direction of net water movement for a cell placed in an unfamiliar solute concentration, using tonicity and units of concentration consistently.
   • The surface-area-to-volume constraint on cell sizeExplain why a cell's surface-area-to-volume ratio decreases as it grows, and connect that ratio to a limit on the rate of material exchange the cell can sustain.
   • The cell as evidence for homeostasisGiven data or a scenario showing a cell maintaining an internal condition (e.g., ion concentration, water balance) different from its external environment, construct an argument for why this is evidence the cell is actively regulating rather than passively equilibrating.
   • Integration of organelle structure-function and membrane transport in a novel cellGiven a novel cell type with an unfamiliar micrograph-style image and a described job the cell performs, justify which organelles should be abundant, integrating structure-function reasoning with membrane transport demands the job implies.
3. Unit 3: Energy Transformation: Photosynthesis and RespirationWhat actually happens inside the mitochondria and chloroplasts named in Unit 2 — where a plant's sugar comes from, and how every cell burns that sugar for usable energy, always losing some as heat along the way.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Inputs, outputs, and cellular location of photosynthesisGiven a labeled diagram of a chloroplast, state the location and general inputs/outputs (light, CO2, water -> glucose, O2) of photosynthesis.
   • Inputs, outputs, and cellular location of the three respiration stagesGiven a labeled diagram of a mitochondrion and the three respiration stages, state the general inputs/outputs and location of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain.
   • The functional relationship between photosynthesis and respiration in a photosynthetic cellExplain why a plant cell performs both photosynthesis and cellular respiration rather than photosynthesis alone, using gas-exchange data from light and dark conditions.
   • The energy-carrier molecules entering and leaving photosynthesis and respirationCompare the energy transformations in photosynthesis and respiration, identifying which molecule carries energy INTO each pathway and which carries it OUT.
   • The complete multi-step energy/carbon pathway from light capture through cellular respiration to mechanical workTrace a labeled carbon atom or joule of energy through a complete diagram from sunlight capture to ATP use in a muscle cell, naming every transformation step and identifying where energy is lost as heat.
   • The general logic that energy is transformed stepwise with heat loss at each step, applied to an untaught organism/contextApply the same energy-tracing logic to an organism and pathway not used during instruction (e.g., a fish or fermenting yeast), with no diagram scaffold provided.
   • The distinction between energy transformation/conservation and energy creation, and the distinction between ATP turnover and ATP storageCritique a diagram or verbal claim that states 'the cell makes energy' or 'ATP is stored in bulk,' identifying the specific inaccuracy and restating it using correct transformation language.
   • The thermodynamic principle of unavoidable heat loss at every energy conversion, generalized from cellular to ecosystem scaleGiven a novel ecosystem energy-loss scenario (e.g., why only ~10% of energy transfers between trophic levels), infer that the same heat-loss principle taught for cellular respiration applies at the ecosystem scale.
   • Correct placement and sequencing of unit vocabulary terms on a blank pathway diagramExecute the labeling of a blank respiration/photosynthesis energy-flow diagram by placing all ten unit vocabulary terms in their correct location and sequence.
4. Unit 4: Cell Division and the Cell CycleHow a cell copies itself reliably, and what happens when the checkpoint system that makes copying reliable breaks — which is what cancer actually is.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The sequence of stages in the cell cycleState the three main stages of the cell cycle (interphase, mitosis, cytokinesis) and name the three sub-stages of interphase (G1, S, G2) in correct order.
   • The defining chromosome and spindle features of each named mitotic phaseGiven the four named mitotic phases (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase) and their defining chromosome/spindle behaviors as directly presented in the Day 4-5 worked examples, label a NEW image of each of the four phases with its correct name using the same defining features shown in instruction.
   • Chromosome number and replication state at a given cell-cycle phaseGiven a labeled diagram of a cell at an unspecified point in the cell cycle, identify the number of chromosomes and whether they are replicated (sister chromatids present) or unreplicated.
   • The relationship between DNA replication timing and equal chromosome distribution to daughter cellsExplain why DNA must be fully replicated before mitosis begins, using the requirement that each daughter cell receive a complete, identical chromosome set.
   • The order of mitotic phases inferred from chromosome and spindle configurationSequence a set of unlabeled microscope images or diagrams of dividing cells into the correct order of mitotic phases (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase) based on chromosome position and spindle behavior.
   • The functional necessity of checkpoint control beyond a simple growth/resource triggerExplain why a cell cycle checkpoint is functionally necessary in addition to a size- or resource-based trigger, using the DNA-damage example as evidence against a growth-only trigger model.
   • The relationship between mitotic-index data patterns and the cell-cycle stage where a checkpoint failure occursGiven a novel mitotic-index table for an unfamiliar tissue sample, determine which stage of the cell cycle is most affected by a described abnormality and predict the downstream consequence for that cell population.
   • The mechanism by which a checkpoint-targeting cancer treatment addresses checkpoint failureEvaluate a claim about a specific cancer-treatment mechanism (e.g., a checkpoint-targeting drug) by constructing a short written argument that cites unit evidence about proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, or checkpoint proteins to support or refute the claim.
   • The distinction between identical DNA content across body cells and differential gene expression producing different cell typesCompare mitosis's role in producing genetically identical daughter cells to the AAAS-documented misconception that different body cells contain different DNA, distinguishing 'same DNA' from 'different genes expressed.'
5. Unit 5: Genetics and HeredityThe whole unit is built around one tension: genotype constrains phenotype, it doesn't fully determine it. It opens with identical twins looking different, then moves through meiosis, Punnett squares, incomplete dominance/codominance, and pedigree analysis.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Chromosome number and genetic variation outcomes of meiosisGiven a diagram or description of a cell entering meiosis, the student correctly identifies the number of daughter cells produced, their chromosome number relative to the parent cell, and whether they are genetically identical to each other.
   • The necessity of chromosome-number halving in gamete formationThe student explains why meiosis, not mitosis, is the process that must occur to produce gametes, citing chromosome number maintenance across generations as the mechanism.
   • Independent assortment vs. crossing over as sources of variationThe student compares independent assortment and crossing over as two distinct mechanisms of genetic variation during meiosis, identifying what each mechanism does that the other does not.
   • Monohybrid Punnett square procedureGiven a monohybrid cross between two known genotypes for a taught trait (e.g., pea color), the student executes a Punnett square correctly and states the resulting genotype and phenotype ratios.
   • Dihybrid Punnett square procedureGiven a dihybrid cross for two taught traits, the student executes the cross using the branching or grid method to predict genotype and phenotype ratios of offspring.
   • Distinguishing inheritance patterns from phenotype ratio evidenceGiven phenotype ratio data from an unfamiliar cross (not covered in instruction), the student determines whether the data are best explained by simple dominance, incomplete dominance, or codominance, and justifies the choice by citing the specific ratio and phenotype pattern.
   • Genotype-environment interaction in phenotype expressionThe student explains why two organisms with identical genotype for a polygenic or environmentally-influenced trait can display different phenotypes, using a specific mechanism (environmental interaction or gene regulation) rather than restating that 'genes aren't everything.'
   • Inferring inheritance pattern from pedigree evidence under ambiguityGiven a pedigree chart for a trait the student has not seen before, the student states which inheritance pattern(s) are consistent with the evidence shown, identifies what is not yet ruled out, and specifies what additional individual or generation would distinguish between remaining hypotheses.
   • Trait classification by phenotype distribution patternThe student classifies a given trait description (e.g., human height, ABO blood type, PTC tasting) as monogenic simple-dominant, codominant, incomplete dominant, or polygenic based on the description of its phenotype distribution.
   • Generating an original inheritance model from novel ratio dataGiven only a description of offspring phenotype ratios in an organism system never discussed in class or in the unit's resources, the student generates a plausible inheritance model (dominance relationships and number of genes involved) that accounts for the data, and states what additional cross would test that model.
6. Unit 6: Evolution by Natural SelectionNatural selection taught as a statistical process acting on variation that already exists — directly against the intuitive wrong idea that organisms change themselves on purpose when they need to.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • The timing of heritable variation relative to a selection pressureGiven a case description of a population before and after an environmental change, state whether the heritable variation involved existed before or after the environmental pressure appeared.
   • The distinction between allele-frequency change and allele creationExplain, using a specific dataset showing trait-frequency change over generations, why natural selection changing allele frequency is different from natural selection creating a new allele.
   • The structural criterion distinguishing homology from analogyCompare a homologous structure pair (e.g., human/bat/whale forelimb) and an analogous structure pair (e.g., bat wing/insect wing), and classify which structural criterion (shared skeletal arrangement vs. shared surface function) sorts them.
   • Convergent multi-line evidence for evolutionary relationship (fossil, anatomical, molecular)Given fossil-record, comparative-anatomy, and molecular-sequence evidence for a lineage the student has not previously studied, construct a written argument for common ancestry that integrates at least two of the three evidence types.
   • The discrimination between natural selection and genetic drift as explanations for allele frequency changeGiven population data showing an allele frequency change over several generations, distinguish whether the pattern is more consistent with natural selection or with genetic drift, citing population size and consistency/direction of change as the discriminating features.
   • Criteria for a species boundary (reproductive isolation) and sufficiency of evidence for speciation claimsGiven a description of two geographically separated populations of the same ancestral species with described reproductive behaviors, evaluate whether the evidence given is sufficient to conclude they have become separate species, and identify what additional evidence would be needed.
   • The definitions of genetic drift, bottleneck effect, and founder effectRecall the definition of genetic drift and distinguish it by name from natural selection, bottleneck effect, and founder effect.
   • Argument construction ruling out a named alternative mechanism using dataset-specific evidenceGiven the peppered-moth population dataset and a second real dataset (e.g., antibiotic-resistance growth curves) not previously analyzed together, construct a written argument identifying natural selection as the mechanism and explicitly ruling out at least one named alternative (drift, migration, non-heritable variation) using specific features of the data.
7. Unit 7: Ecosystem Structure: Energy and Matter FlowScales Unit 3's energy-loss idea up to whole ecosystems: energy flows one direction and gets lost as heat at every step; matter (carbon, nitrogen, water) cycles and gets reused, it doesn't run out the same way.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • The 10% energy transfer rule between trophic levelsGiven a stated number of kilocalories of biomass at one trophic level, calculate the kilocalories available to the next trophic level using the 10% transfer rule.
   • The causal link between cellular respiration's energy loss and the ecosystem-level 10% ruleExplain why cellular respiration's inefficiency (taught in Unit 3) is the mechanistic cause of the 10% energy transfer rule, rather than treating the rule as an independent ecological fact.
   • Food chain vs. food web as representational models of energy flowDifferentiate a food chain model from a food web model in terms of what each does and does not represent about energy flow in a real ecosystem.
   • The carbon cycle as conservation of matter across biosphere, atmosphere, ocean, and geosphere reservoirsConstruct a diagram tracing a carbon atom through at least four reservoirs (atmosphere, living organism, ocean, geosphere/sediment) showing that the atom is neither created nor destroyed, only relocated and chemically transformed.
   • Structural similarities and differences between the carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cyclesCompare the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle to identify which structural features (a one-way atmospheric reservoir vs. a cycle requiring biological fixation) are shared and which are unique to each.
   • Energy-ceiling math as a constraint on ecosystem-change sustainabilityGiven an unfamiliar ecosystem dataset (species list, biomass at each trophic level, and a proposed change such as introducing a new predator), calculate the energy ceiling at each level and use that math to argue whether the proposed change is sustainable.
   • The generality of one-directional energy loss independent of the specific energy sourceExplain, using a specific ecosystem example never discussed in class (e.g., a hydrothermal vent or a cave ecosystem with no sunlight), why energy still flows one direction and is lost at every transfer even when the primary energy source is not sunlight.
   • Predicted redistribution of energy flow following removal of a species from a food webPredict how removing a mid-level consumer from a food web would redistribute energy flow to remaining species, and identify which prediction requires additional evidence beyond the web diagram itself.
8. Unit 8: Population and Community EcologyExtends the negative-feedback idea from Unit 2 and the resource-ceiling idea from Unit 7 up to whole populations: growth curves, carrying capacity, density-dependent limits, competition, predation, and whether a community bounces back after a disturbance.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Exponential vs. logistic population growth curve shapes and the rate-of-change feature that distinguishes themGiven a population-size-over-time graph, the student classifies its growth pattern as exponential, logistic, or neither, and identifies the specific graph feature (constant vs. slowing rate of increase, presence of a plateau) that justifies the classification.
   • Carrying capacity and the mechanism by which growth rate declines as population approaches itGiven a dataset showing a population's growth slowing or reversing, the student determines carrying capacity from the graph and explains why growth rate approaches zero as population size approaches that value.
   • Density-dependent versus density-independent limiting factorsGiven two limiting-factor scenarios (one clearly tied to population density, one clearly not), the student classifies each as density-dependent or density-independent and justifies the classification using the mechanism, not just the label of the factor.
   • Negative feedback structure as a scale-general mechanism, compared across cell/organism and population scaleThe student maps population-level density-dependent regulation onto the same three-part feedback structure (deviation, response, return to set point) used to describe body-temperature homeostasis in Unit 2, explicitly stating what plays each role at the population scale.
   • Exploitative versus interference interspecific competition, inferred from population data rather than observed behaviorGiven population data for two species sharing a resource with no observed direct contact between them, the student infers that exploitative competition is occurring and distinguishes this from interference competition using only the pattern of decline in the data.
   • Ecological resilience versus lasting community shift, evaluated from a multi-year disturbance datasetGiven a predator-prey population dataset with a visible oscillation and a disturbance event embedded partway through, the student evaluates whether the community shows resilience (returns toward its prior dynamic pattern) or a lasting shift, citing specific time points as evidence.
   • Causal argument for a population inflection point, defended against a genuine alternative explanationGiven an unfamiliar multi-year population dataset with an inflection point, the student generates an original argument identifying the best-supported limiting factor and constructs a specific, data-grounded rebuttal to at least one plausible alternative explanation the data do not fully rule out.
   • Core population-ecology vocabulary (exponential growth, logistic growth, carrying capacity, density-dependent/independent factor)The student recalls the definitions of exponential growth, logistic growth, carrying capacity, density-dependent factor, and density-independent factor with correct use in a new sentence.
9. Unit 9: Human Body Systems I: Nutrient Processing and DefenseApplies four ideas from earlier in the year — enzyme specificity, respiration's oxygen need, cell-cycle checkpoints, and selection on existing variation — to real organ systems: digestion, circulation/respiration, and immunity.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Digestive organ structure and the macromolecule class each organ's enzymes targetGiven a diagram of the digestive tract, identify each organ and state the class of macromolecule it primarily chemically digests.
   • Sequence of the heart-lung-body circulatory loop and the location of gas exchangeGiven a red blood cell's starting chamber in the heart, state the correct next stop in the heart-lung-body loop and name whether oxygen or carbon dioxide concentration increases at that stop.
   • Enzyme-substrate specificity applied to digestive enzymesExplain why a protease will not break down starch, using the enzyme-substrate specificity model from Unit 1.
   • Coupling of respiratory/circulatory structure to cellular respiration's oxygen requirementGiven a case description of gas exchange at altitude, explain how reduced atmospheric oxygen constrains cellular respiration, linking circulatory/respiratory structure to Unit 3's respiration mechanism.
   • Self/non-self recognition as the organizing function of the immune systemCompare the immune system's function to a recognition system versus an attack-only army, and justify which model better explains a described case of autoimmune disease.
   • Antibiotic resistance as natural selection on existing variationExplain antibiotic resistance in a bacterial population as natural selection acting on pre-existing variation, not as bacteria developing resistance in response to need.
   • Organ-system malfunction sorted by system and level of organizationClassify a set of described organ malfunctions (e.g., lactose intolerance, emphysema, untreated strep, cystic fibrosis) by which body system and level of organization (organ, tissue, cell, molecule) is most directly implicated.
   • Cross-unit diagnostic reasoning applied to a novel clinical scenarioGiven an unfamiliar clinical scenario never discussed in class, generate a justified diagnosis of which organ system and mechanism is implicated, using named vocabulary and mechanisms from at least two prior units.
   • Structural similarity between checkpoint failure and self/non-self recognition failureExplain why cancer and autoimmune disease, despite affecting different systems, are both describable as failures of a discrimination mechanism (divide/don't-divide or self/non-self).
   • Cross-text comparison of clinical/scientific findings on organ-system disordersRead a technical passage describing a digestive or immune disorder and compare its findings to a second source describing an overlapping but not identical case, noting agreement and contradiction.
10. Unit 10: Human Body Systems II: Coordination and ControlNervous and endocrine systems as two different-looking solutions to the same problem: detect a change, correct it. Reuses Unit 2's ion-channel/membrane vocabulary for neuron signaling and Unit 8's sensor/control-center/effector loop for physiological regulation.11 skills ▸close ▾

    • Neuron structure (dendrite, axon, cell body, myelin sheath, axon terminal)Given a labeled cross-section diagram of a neuron, identify and name the dendrite, axon, cell body, myelin sheath, and axon terminal.
    • The sequence of ion movements that constitutes an action potentialGiven the step names of the action-potential sequence in scrambled order (resting state, depolarization, sodium channels open, repolarization, potassium channels open), place them in the correct order and state, for each step, whether sodium or potassium is the ion moving and which direction it moves relative to the cell.
    • Ion movement across the neuron membrane producing an action potentialExplain how the movement of sodium and potassium ions across the neuron's membrane, through the same type of channel proteins studied in Unit 2's membrane transport, produces an action potential.
    • Electrical-to-chemical signal conversion at the synapseGiven a diagram of a synapse mid-transmission, distinguish the segment of the signal that is electrical from the segment that is chemical and identify the point of conversion.
    • Correspondence between the sensor/control-center/effector labels and the specific textual description of each roleGiven a completed, fully-labeled example feedback loop diagram (e.g., the temperature-regulation worked example) and its written scenario side by side, identify which drawn box corresponds to which sentence in the scenario text that describes the sensor, control center, and effector.
    • Structural and functional differences between nervous and endocrine signalingCompare the nervous and endocrine systems on speed, duration, and reach of response, and justify which system would handle a given novel physiological demand.
    • Sensor-control center-effector structure of a negative feedback loopGiven a description of a novel physiological scenario (e.g., dehydration, fever), construct a negative feedback loop diagram labeling the sensor, control center, and effector using the same three-part structure introduced in Unit 8 for population regulation.
    • Fault localization within a novel negative feedback loopGiven an unfamiliar physiological malfunction scenario not used in instruction, diagnose which single component of the feedback loop (sensor, control center, or effector) is malfunctioning and justify the diagnosis by pointing to specific textual evidence.
    • Metabolic (ATP) demand of nerve and muscle tissueExplain why nerve and muscle tissue require unusually high, continuous rates of cellular respiration, connecting ATP demand to the electrical and mechanical work these tissues perform.
    • The relationship between apparent output stability and active regulatory cost in a feedback systemGiven a completely novel, structurally unfamiliar physiological scenario describing a system that maintains a stable output despite an ongoing stressor (e.g., a scenario invented for the task, not modeled on any taught case), generate an argument for why the stable output does not mean the system is inactive, using evidence from the scenario about component-level effort or cost.
    • Classification of coordination responses as nervous vs. endocrine based on structural featuresGiven two written scenarios (one nervous-system-mediated, one endocrine-mediated) describing responses to the same environmental change, classify which coordination system explains each response and cite the specific structural feature (myelinated axon vs. hormone traveling in blood) that justifies the classification.
11. Unit 11: Capstone: Building an Evidence-Based Biological ArgumentNo new biology here — this is where your child picks one real, unfamiliar biological case and argues it using the four big frames built all year: structure-function, energy transformation, variation/selection, and feedback/homeostasis. It ends with a written argument and an oral defense where you ask unscripted follow-up questions.8 skills ▸close ▾

    • The four explanatory frames as applied in a worked example caseGiven a short case description, state which of the four explanatory frames (structure-function, energy transformation, variation/selection, feedback/homeostasis) was used to explain a worked example the student has already seen.
    • The four explanatory frames applied to novel, confusable casesSort eight novel, unfamiliar case descriptions into the four explanatory frames, including at least two cases each deliberately written to be plausible under two different frames.
    • The distinguishing mechanism features between two competing explanatory frames for one caseFor a case correctly sorted into one frame, explain why a second, named frame does not account for the mechanism as well, citing a specific feature of the case that distinguishes them.
    • An unresolved real-world biological case and its connection to specific prior-unit contentIdentify a real, ongoing biological case (disease outbreak, conservation problem, or evolving-resistance case) not covered in the course, and state which prior unit's content most directly supplies background knowledge for it.
    • A written evidence-based biological argument with a ruled-out alternativeConstruct a written scientific argument for the chosen case that states a claim, cites quantitative evidence (a dataset, graph, or model), names at least one specific alternative explanation, and explains why the evidence favors the claim over that alternative.
    • Integration of a previously-uncited prior unit's content into a live defense of a biological argumentDuring oral defense, respond to an unscripted follow-up question by revising or defending a claim using content drawn from a prior unit not already cited in the written draft.
    • The distinction between correlational data and causal mechanism in the chosen case's evidenceDistinguish, in a real dataset or graph tied to the chosen case, a correlational pattern from a stated causal mechanism, and identify what additional evidence would be needed to move from one to the other.
    • Definitions and worked examples of the four explanatory framesRecall, without notes, the definitions of all four explanatory frames and one worked example case for each, as a cumulative check on year-long retention.

Try a real Biology: Systems, Structure, and Change lesson, no account needed →

1. Unit 1: The Geographer's Toolkit: Maps, Scale, and Physical SystemsThis is the vocabulary and map-reading unit everything else depends on: latitude and longitude, climate zones, landforms, watersheds, and how maps distort reality depending on which projection they use. The big idea your child needs to walk away with is that a map is a choice, not a photograph — and that physical geography makes some places more likely to be settled than others, without guaranteeing it.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Latitude/longitude coordinate gridLocate any point on Earth's surface using latitude and longitude coordinates to the nearest degree.
   • Climate zone classification criteriaClassify a described location into its correct climate zone (tropical, arid, temperate, continental, polar) using given temperature and precipitation data.
   • Mercator projection's area-shape tradeoffExplain why the Mercator projection distorts the relative size of landmasses at high latitudes while preserving shape and direction.
   • Tradeoffs between equal-area and conformal (Mercator) projectionsCompare an equal-area projection and a Mercator projection of the same country and identify what each exaggerates, minimizes, or omits.
   • Distortion patterns as evidence of projection choiceGiven an unfamiliar map of a place never discussed in class, infer which projection was likely used based on the distortion pattern visible at the map's edges.
   • The five themes of geographyRecall the names and one-sentence definitions of the five themes of geography (location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, region).
   • Watershed as a bounded hydrological systemExplain how a river's watershed boundary determines which settlements and farms depend on the same water source, using a labeled watershed diagram.
   • Drainage prediction from elevation contours in an unfamiliar landscapeGiven a raw contour/elevation map of an unfamiliar region with no watershed lines drawn, predict where a new settlement's water would drain and justify the prediction using landform vocabulary.
   • Maps as rhetorical/argumentative artifactsCritique a published map's title, legend, and framing to identify what argument the mapmaker is making about a place (e.g., depicting a country as embattled, resource-rich, or peripheral).
2. Unit 2: Population and Culture: Where People Live and WhyThis unit asks why people live where they live, and whether it's mostly physical geography or mostly history and decisions. It covers population density (two kinds), push and pull migration factors, cultural diffusion versus independent invention, and why a country's national statistic often doesn't describe any specific place inside that country.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Arithmetic density vs. physiological density calculationGiven a country's total population and land area, calculate arithmetic population density and distinguish it from physiological density when arable land data is provided.
   • Correspondence between physical-geography features and population clustering on a mapGiven a dot-density or choropleth population map of an unfamiliar region, identify which named Unit 1 physical-geography feature (climate zone, landform, water access) most plausibly explains a visible cluster or gap in population.
   • Cases where physical-geography prediction of population density fails and the non-physical (historical, economic, technological) factor responsibleExplain why a region's actual population density diverges from what its physical geography alone would predict, using the Nile Valley/Sahara or an equivalent contrasting case, naming the specific non-physical factor responsible.
   • Push and pull migration factorsGiven a scenario describing conditions in a place of origin and a destination, classify each named condition as a push factor, a pull factor, or neither.
   • Migration pressure prediction from combined physical and push/pull dataGiven population and physical-geography data for two unfamiliar countries not used in instruction, predict which country is under greater emigration pressure and justify the prediction by connecting at least one physical factor and one push/pull factor.
   • Evidence criteria distinguishing cultural diffusion from independent inventionGiven two documented cultural-practice cases (one with evidence of contact between cultures, one without), apply an evidence checklist to determine whether cultural diffusion or independent invention better explains the shared practice.
   • Scale mismatch between national-level cultural/demographic statistics and sub-national patternsGiven a country-level statistic about language, religion, or urbanization percentage, evaluate whether that statistic can be assumed to hold true for a specific named sub-region or city within that country, using a provided sub-national map.
   • Prediction and justification of migration pressure across multiple unfamiliar countries, including identification and explanation of a disconfirming caseGiven population density and physical-geography data for four wholly unfamiliar countries with no worked precedent of this exact combination, generate a written prediction of migration pressure for each, identify which prediction the data contradicts, and propose the specific non-physical mechanism responsible without being supplied a candidate list.
   • Push/pull mechanisms underlying urbanization trends over timeGiven a new country's urbanization rate over three decades and a short passage describing rural land-tenure and urban job-market conditions, infer the push/pull mechanism driving the trend rather than attributing it to vague 'modernization,' applying the same reasoning routine modeled on a different country the day before.
3. Unit 3: Economic Geography: Development, Trade, and InequalityThis is the unit where colonialism becomes a real explanatory tool instead of a history fact. Your child learns GDP per capita and HDI, sorts jobs into economic sectors, and then works through paired country cases to build the idea that today's wealth gaps trace back to colonial trade relationships, not climate or effort.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • GDP per capita calculation formulaCalculate GDP per capita from total GDP and population figures for a given country using the standard division formula.
   • The averaging property of GDP per capita and what it hides about wealth distributionExplain why GDP per capita, as a single average figure, can misrepresent the actual distribution of wealth within a country.
   • The primary/secondary/tertiary/quaternary sector classification schemeClassify a list of described jobs into primary, secondary, tertiary, or quaternary economic sectors.
   • The relationship between sector composition and value-added capture in an economyPredict how a country's dominant sector mix (e.g., primary-heavy vs. tertiary-heavy) relates to its likely GDP per capita, and justify the prediction using the value-added concept.
   • The causal divergence between two resource-comparable countries' development pathsDIAGNOSTIC/PRIMING TASK, NOT AN ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVE: output is not scored for correctness. Produce a draft, original explanation for why two countries with similar resource endowments have diverged economically, using only paired data (no theory given yet). Success on this task is not evidence of content understanding; a plausible-sounding but content-empty narrative (e.g., 'better leadership,' 'luckier trade deals') is an expected and acceptable outcome. Its purpose is to generate a public first attempt for the student to revise against the theory named on Day 7, per the Schwartz et al. (2011) contrasting-cases design.
   • The shared core-periphery structure across two distinct colonial case studiesCompare two colonial case studies (e.g., a plantation-extraction colony and a settler colony) to identify the common abstract structure of core-periphery relationships.
   • The causal argument connecting colonial history and trade relationships to present-day development divergence, applied to a new country pairConstruct a written argument explaining why a colonized country and a never-colonized country with similar resource endowments diverged economically, using GDP, HDI, and export data as evidence.
   • The explanatory limits of the core-periphery/dependency model when applied to an anomalous caseEvaluate whether the core-periphery/dependency model adequately explains a country's development trajectory that the model was not built to predict (e.g., a rapidly industrializing former periphery nation).
4. Unit 4: Political Geography: Borders, Sovereignty, and ConflictThis unit argues that borders are drawn to serve whoever drew them, not the people living inside them. It covers the state/nation/nation-state vocabulary, the Berlin Conference's role in African border-drawing, and three distinct ways sub-state political change happens: devolution, irredentism, and secession.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • The state/nation/nation-state taxonomy applied to real countriesClassify a given political entity (e.g., Japan, Nigeria, Kurdistan, Somalia) as a nation-state, a stateless nation, a multinational state, or a state without a strong national identity, using its ethnic/religious composition and governance structure as evidence.
   • The causal chain from Berlin Conference boundary decisions to post-independence conflictExplain how the 1884-85 Berlin Conference's boundary-drawing process created present-day conflict potential in at least one named African state, citing the specific mismatch between the drawn line and pre-existing ethnic or linguistic territory.
   • Devolution, irredentism, and secession as distinct mechanisms of sub-state political changeCompare a devolution case, an irredentism case, and a secession case to identify what distinguishes the three mechanisms of sub-state political change from one another.
   • Mechanism identification in an unfamiliar border conflictGiven a previously unseen border-conflict case description, infer which mechanism (colonial boundary mismatch, resource competition, irredentist claim, or devolution/secession failure) is most likely driving the conflict, based on textual and map evidence provided.
   • The geographic separability of population as a constraint on border-redraw solutionsEvaluate whether a proposed 'redraw the border' solution would resolve a given conflict, based on whether the underlying population is geographically separable or intermixed at the local scale.
   • A generalized rule for the viability of border-redraw solutions across conflict typesGiven two border conflicts, one with a colonial-legacy origin and one without, generalize a rule for when 'redraw the border' is and is not a viable solution mechanism, extending beyond the two specific cases provided.
   • Textual evidence used to support a mechanism-identification claim about a border conflictCite specific textual evidence from a primary or secondary source describing a border conflict to support a claim about which mechanism is driving that conflict.
   • Definitions of the unit's core political geography vocabularyRecall the definitions of sovereignty, state, nation, nation-state, devolution, irredentism, and secession with accuracy sufficient to apply them without a reference card.
5. Unit 5: Regional Study: The AmericasThis is the first regional unit, and it's chosen to be the easiest entry point — familiar territory, English-language sources, lower reading demand. Your child applies the full four-part toolkit (physical, population, economic, political) to the Americas, studies the colonial legacies of four different European powers, and directly tests the tempting-but-wrong idea that being close to the US is what makes a country rich.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Physical geography of the Andes and Amazon and their constraints on settlementGiven elevation and precipitation data for the Andes and Amazon basin, the student identifies which physical features most constrain population settlement patterns in South America.
   • Colonial legacy patterns of Spanish, Portuguese, British, and French colonization in the AmericasThe student classifies a set of six Latin American countries by their dominant colonizing power (Spanish, Portuguese, British, French) using named institutional and linguistic evidence.
   • The relationship between colonial-era trade relationships and present-day GDP per capita in Latin AmericaGiven per-capita GDP, colonizer type, primary export type, and distance-to-US data for 10 countries with no variable pre-identified as the cause, the student infers which variable best explains variation in development outcomes and rejects proximity as the primary cause using a contradicting case.
   • USMCA/NAFTA trade bloc goals versus documented economic outcomes in Mexico, including cases where surface-level textual evidence conflicts with the underlying mechanismGiven a case where USMCA's stated goal appears met on the surface (a favorable headline statistic) but a second data point contradicts the colonial-legacy mechanism taught on Day 8, the student reconciles the two pieces of evidence and explains which one actually reflects the underlying economic mechanism, using citations from a provided text.
   • Push/pull migration factors in two distinct Americas migration casesGiven migration data for Venezuela-to-Colombia flows and Mexico-to-US flows, the student differentiates push factors from pull factors that are region-specific versus economic in origin for each case.
   • Causes of megacity growth in São Paulo and Mexico CityThe student explains why São Paulo and Mexico City grew into megacities by connecting at least two toolkit categories (economic pull factors and colonial-era administrative centrality) rather than citing population growth alone.
   • Application of the physical/population-culture/economic/political toolkit to an unstudied Americas countryGiven a country the student has not studied in this unit (e.g., Paraguay or Suriname) and only raw data (no toolkit labels), the student produces a four-part toolkit profile and identifies which category is weakest in available evidence.
   • The validity of 'the Americas' as a single coherent region versus a constructed map argumentThe student critiques whether 'the Americas' functions as a coherent geographic region or is itself a constructed grouping, using evidence of internal variation from this unit's data on at least three countries.
6. Unit 6: Regional Study: EuropeEurope is a genuinely different kind of region: instead of colonial imposition, it's centuries of nation-state conflict followed by voluntary, negotiated integration into the EU. Your child studies Europe's physical geography, the unresolved WWI/WWII border disputes, how EU governance actually splits power between national and supranational levels, and Brexit as the case where integration reversed.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Europe's major landforms, rivers, and peninsulas and their historical relationship to settlement/trade patternsLabel and describe at least five major physical features of Europe (the North European Plain, the Alps, the Rhine and Danube rivers, the Scandinavian Peninsula/Iberian Peninsula) and state one way each has historically shaped settlement or trade.
   • The causal chain from post-WWI border redrawing through WWII to Cold War division of EuropeExplain how the specific unresolved border and ethnic-minority disputes left after WWI (e.g., the redrawing of Central/Eastern European borders) contributed causally to WWII and to Cold War division, using Unit 4's colonial-boundary and ethnic-pluralism vocabulary.
   • The division of policy authority between EU member states and supranational EU institutionsSort a list of at least ten specific EU policy areas (currency, defense, immigration/border control, agricultural subsidy, criminal law, trade tariffs, environmental regulation, taxation, healthcare, monetary policy) into 'fully national,' 'shared/coordinated,' and 'fully supranational' categories, and justify two placements using specific EU governance facts.
   • The structural difference in depth of integration between a trade bloc (NAFTA/USMCA) and a supranational union (EU)Compare the EU's depth of integration (shared currency, free movement of labor, supranational court, common external tariff) against Unit 5's NAFTA/USMCA trade bloc on the same four dimensions, and generalize a rule for what distinguishes a 'trade bloc' from a 'supranational union.'
   • The range and variance of GDP per capita/HDI across specific European countries, contrasted with a continental averageGiven real GDP-per-capita and HDI figures for at least eight specific European countries (a mix of EU members and non-members), plot them and explain why using a single continental average would misrepresent the actual range of economic conditions across Europe.
   • The general conditions under which the sovereignty-cost/economic-benefit balance of supranational membership reverses (using Brexit as the contrasting case)Using the Brexit case as a contrasting case against continued EU membership, infer at least two general conditions under which a member state's cost-benefit calculation for supranational integration would flip from net-positive to net-negative.
   • The distinction between internal-EU free movement, external immigration into the EU, and emigration out of the EU, and the specific policy mechanism enabling internal movementCategorize a set of real European migration examples (Polish workers in Germany, Syrian refugees resettled in Germany/Sweden, British retirees in Spain, EU-to-non-EU emigration) as internal-EU movement, external-to-EU immigration, or EU-outbound emigration, and explain how the EU's free-movement policy specifically enables the internal-EU category.
   • The weighed cost-benefit case for a specific non-EU European country's potential EU membershipGiven a data packet (GDP/HDI, trade dependency, public-opinion polling, and a summary of sovereignty implications) for a named non-EU European country not previously discussed in class, construct a written argument for or against EU membership that explicitly weighs sovereignty costs against economic benefits rather than listing them separately.
7. Unit 7: Regional Study: Africa and the Middle EastThis unit takes the colonial-boundary and resource-conflict mechanisms from Unit 4 and applies them where they show up most densely. Your child works through four cases (Rwanda, Sudan/South Sudan, DRC, Nigeria) with heavy support at first, then two brand-new cases with none — one of which is the summative. A second thread runs the whole unit: who benefits when a region gets described mainly through its wars.11 skills ▸close ▾

   • Physical geography and resource distribution of Africa and the Middle East (Sahara, Sahel, oil reserves)Label the physical-geographic features (Sahara, Sahel, Rift Valley, major oil fields) on a blank map of Africa and the Middle East and state one resource or agricultural implication of each.
   • Colonial partition (Berlin Conference) and resulting arbitrary bordersExplain how a specific Berlin Conference decision (e.g., the 1884-85 partition lines) created a border that ignored a pre-existing ethnic or linguistic boundary, using a named country example.
   • The two-link causal chain from colonial-era decision to post-independence conflict triggerGiven the Rwanda case fully worked (colonial decision, ethnic ID policy, post-independence trigger), reproduce the same causal-chain structure to explain the Sudan/South Sudan split without teacher modeling of that specific case.
   • Divergent post-independence outcomes despite similar colonial historiesCompare Rwanda and a colonial-history-similar neighboring country that did not experience the same level of post-independence violence, and identify the specific point in each causal chain where the two diverge.
   • Rentier states and the resource curseExplain the rentier-state mechanism (resource revenue -> reduced need to tax citizens -> reduced government accountability -> conflict incentive) using Nigeria as the worked case.
   • Rentier-state mechanism applied to an untaught Middle Eastern caseGiven sources on a Middle Eastern rentier state not covered in direct instruction (e.g., a Gulf state other than the worked example), classify whether the resource-curse mechanism applies fully, partially, or not at all, citing specific source evidence for the classification.
   • The colonial-boundary-to-conflict causal mechanism applied to a genuinely novel country caseGiven a full source set (primary and secondary) on a conflict in a country never discussed in this unit or Unit 4, construct an original two-link causal chain from colonial-era decision to post-independence trigger with no modeled example of that country available.
   • The selective framing of Africa and the Middle East through conflict coverage and who benefits from that frameEvaluate, using evidence from a conflict-focused source set versus a growth/development data set for the same countries, who benefits from describing a region mainly through its conflicts, and construct a counter-argument to the conflict-only frame.
   • Regional organizations (African Union, Arab League)Identify the stated purpose and one concrete action of the African Union and the Arab League from primary organizational documents or charters.
   • Voluntary regional integration (AU) as a structural contrast to imposed colonial partitionExplain how the African Union's voluntary-integration model contrasts structurally with the imposed-border colonial model studied earlier in the unit, using the EU comparison from Unit 6 as an analogical anchor.
   • The full causal-chain-and-resource-evaluation case study across two regionsProduce a written case-study analysis of one African and one Middle Eastern conflict that traces each to a specific colonial-era decision, builds a two-link causal chain to a post-independence trigger, and evaluates whether resource wealth made the conflict better or worse, integrating cumulative Unit 3-4 concepts (GDP/HDI, sovereignty, boundary mechanism).
8. Unit 8: Regional Study and Capstone Synthesis: Asia and the PacificThe first half of this unit is genuinely new material: monsoon Asia's physical geography, why Japan, South Korea, and China industrialized so differently from the colonial-extraction pattern, and the demographic pressures facing China, India, and Japan. The second half isn't new content at all — it's the real test of whether the four-part toolkit actually became a general tool, by having your child compare two regions that were never paired together anywhere else in the course.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The causal chain from monsoon seasonality through wet-rice agriculture's labor intensity to settlement density in monsoon AsiaGiven a monsoon precipitation map and a rice-agriculture labor-intensity dataset for South/East Asia, the student explains the causal chain from monsoon seasonality to historical settlement density, naming the human-decision link (labor organization, land tenure) at each step rather than stopping at climate.
   • The specific historical mechanisms of Japan/South Korea's postwar industrializationThe student recalls the specific historical mechanisms (postwar land reform, Cold War-era foreign aid, export-oriented industrial policy) that produced Japan and South Korea's rapid industrialization.
   • The export-oriented industrialization causal model applied to China's post-1978 economic reformGiven China's post-1978 reform data (coastal special economic zones, export volumes, GDP per capita over time), the student applies the land-reform/foreign-investment/export-policy causal model from Japan and South Korea to explain China's industrialization, identifying where the model fits and where China's path differs (state-directed vs. private-sector-led investment).
   • Demographic transition stages as represented in China's, India's, and Japan's population pyramidsGiven population pyramids for China, India, and Japan, the student compares their demographic structures and classifies each country's position in the demographic transition model, distinguishing high-growth, transitional, and aging-population profiles.
   • The dependency ratio and its change over time in Japan's aging populationThe student calculates a simple dependency ratio (non-working-age population divided by working-age population) from raw population data for Japan at two time points and infers the labor/fiscal pressure implied by the change.
   • The geographic logic of Pacific Rim maritime trade network developmentGiven trade-flow data for at least four Pacific Rim economies before formal instruction, the student proposes an initial explanation for why Pacific Rim trade networks developed around ocean shipping routes and port cities rather than overland routes, which the subsequent lesson then confirms, corrects, or extends.
   • A cross-regional causal comparison using the four-category toolkit applied to two previously studied but not-yet-paired regionsGiven full four-category (physical, population/culture, economic, political) toolkit data for two regions the student has NOT yet compared in this unit (e.g., Europe and Africa/Middle East, or the Americas and Asia), the student constructs a written causal explanation of one major difference between the two regions, connecting at least two toolkit categories in a single causal chain rather than listing them separately.
   • A generalized rule governing when physical geography versus human decision-making dominates as an explanation of regional outcomes, tested across all six studied regionsGiven the full six-region dataset compiled across the course, the student generalizes a rule for when physical geography versus human decision-making better explains a region's developmental outcome, and defends that rule against at least one region that appears to violate it.
   • The completeness of one's own toolkit-based causal argument in the capstone essay draftIn the capstone essay, the student critiques their own first-draft causal comparison by identifying which toolkit category is under-used or missing in their explanation of the chosen regional difference, and revises the essay to correct it.

Try a real World Geography: Physical Systems, Human Patterns, and Regions lesson, no account needed →

1. Unit 1: Fueling and Recovering the Body: Nutrition, Fitness, and SleepThis is where your kid learns to read their own body like data instead of morality — energy in versus energy out, what carbs/protein/fat actually do, why a sleep-deprived week catches up with you, and why caffeine hits differently depending on how much and when. It also introduces the six-step decision framework (goal, options, evidence, constraints, decide, review) that every later unit reuses.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Energy balance (calories in vs. calories out) and its limits as a single-day predictorGiven a person's estimated calories consumed and calories expended for a day, the student determines whether that day was in energy surplus, deficit, or balance and states what that single day does and does not predict about weight change.
   • Macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat) and their distinct physiological rolesThe student classifies foods and food combinations by primary macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein, fat) and explains the distinct physiological role each macronutrient plays in energy supply, tissue repair, or hormone function.
   • Nutrition/ingredient label literacy versus front-of-package marketing claimsGiven a real nutrition/ingredient label for a food the student has not seen in class, the student identifies which of two competing marketing claims on the packaging the label itself supports or contradicts.
   • Components of physical fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility) as distinct, non-interchangeable adaptationsThe student explains why a training plan that improves cardiovascular fitness may not improve strength or flexibility, using the distinct adaptations each component of fitness requires.
   • Sleep debt and circadian rhythm as they show up in a real sleep logGiven a sleep log showing bedtime/wake variability and total hours across a week, the student calculates the student's approximate sleep debt and identifies which nights are most likely misaligned with circadian rhythm.
   • Dose-response relationship, introduced informally via caffeine/energy drinksThe student compares two same-day scenarios of caffeine/energy-drink intake (different dose, same substance) and explains why the effect differs, introducing dose-response informally without naming a numeric threshold.
   • The goal-options-evidence-constraints-decide-review (GOECDR) decision frameworkGiven a novel personal or family health-related scenario with a stated goal and at least one real constraint (budget, schedule, or access), the student applies the goal-options-evidence-constraints-decide-review framework to produce and justify a decision.
   • Revision of a personal food/movement/sleep plan under a changed, previously unseen constraintGiven the summative performance task's two counter-scenarios (a changed budget and a changed schedule constraint neither explicitly rehearsed in class), the student revises the weekly food/movement/sleep plan and explains which specific element of the plan must change and why, without being told which framework step to revisit.
   • The falseness of unconditional 'more is better' claims about sleep and exercise, as a general instance of dose-response and trade-off reasoningGiven a claim like 'more sleep is always better' or 'more exercise is always better' applied to an unfamiliar case (e.g., an elite athlete's taper week, or an oversleeping scenario), the student judges whether the claim holds and identifies the missing variable that makes it false as stated.
   • Unit vocabulary: energy balance, macronutrient, sleep debt, circadian rhythm, dose-responseThe student recalls the definitions of energy balance, macronutrient, sleep debt, circadian rhythm, and dose-response when cued with the term alone (no context sentence).
2. Unit 2: Stress, Emotion, and Help-SeekingThis unit treats stress as a signal to read, not an enemy to defeat, and treats mental health struggles with the same seriousness as a physical injury — something with real signs, a real decision process, and a real path to help. It builds on last unit's sleep debt and recovery ideas and reuses the six-step decision framework for a much harder kind of decision: asking for help.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The acute stress response sequence (trigger -> hypothalamic/hormonal signal -> physical changes -> resolution)Given a description of a stressor, sequence and label the physiological stages of the acute stress response (trigger, hormonal cascade, physical changes, resolution or escalation) using the terms introduced in the worked example.
   • The distinction between acute and chronic stress activation and its link to recovery/sleep debtExplain why chronic stress produces different physical consequences than acute stress, using the concept of a body that does not return to baseline (linking to Unit 1's sleep debt and recovery concepts).
   • The distinguishing structural feature between adaptive and maladaptive coping (does it address or reduce the stressor/its effects long-term, or only mute the feeling short-term)Given two contrasted real-world coping scenarios (one adaptive, one maladaptive, same stressor), identify the structural feature that makes one adaptive and the other maladaptive, rather than simply labeling each scenario.
   • Factual, non-diagnostic warning signs of anxiety and depression (duration, intensity, functional interference criteria)Classify a set of described adolescent behaviors as within-normal-range mood/stress fluctuation versus a factual warning sign of anxiety or depression, using only the criteria taught (duration, intensity, interference with functioning) and without assigning a diagnostic label.
   • The decision-making framework applied specifically to a help-seeking scenarioGiven a novel peer-conflict or family-stress vignette never used in instruction, apply the goal-options-evidence-constraints-decide-review decision framework (from Unit 1) to a help-seeking decision, producing a plan that names who to tell, what to say, and what happens next.
   • Protective factors and support networks and their causal role in stress/mood trajectoriesIdentify at least two protective factors present (or conspicuously absent) in a described adolescent's life and explain how each would plausibly change the trajectory of a stress or mood difficulty.
   • The risk of delay/non-disclosure in a mental-health help-seeking situationGiven an unfamiliar scenario in which a peer's stated reason for not seeking help is examined, generate a counter-argument that names the specific risk of delay or non-disclosure, without a script or sentence starter provided.
   • The opening disclosure move in a help-seeking conversationDemonstrate, in a live conversation with a parent acting as the trusted adult, the opening move of a help-seeking disclosure (what to say first) using the sentence frame taught, then adapt it without the frame on a second, different scenario.
   • Unit 1 vocabulary: sleep debt and recoveryCorrectly recall Unit 1's definitions of sleep debt and recovery when they appear embedded inside a stress-related vignette (not flagged as a vocabulary question), as a delayed-retention check.
3. Unit 3: Substance Use and Its EffectsThis unit turns dose-response — introduced casually with caffeine in Unit 1 — into a real reasoning tool for alcohol, nicotine/vaping, cannabis, and misused medications. It treats substance use as one of the coping strategies from Unit 2, usually a bad one, and spends most of its practice time on refusal and bystander scripts under realistic social pressure, not more facts about drugs.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • The dose-response relationship (dose, frequency, timing)State the definition of dose-response and identify the dose, frequency, and timing variables in a given substance-use scenario.
   • Individual variation in substance responseExplain why the same dose of alcohol, nicotine, or a medication can produce different effects in two different people, citing at least two biological variables (e.g., body mass, tolerance, metabolism, combined substances).
   • Acute vs. long-term effects vs. addiction as a physiological processClassify a described substance-use scenario as primarily a short-term (acute) effect, a long-term effect, or a sign of developing addiction, using physiological criteria rather than the substance's legal status.
   • Intoxication vs. overdose/emergency warning signsDistinguish signs of intoxication that call for supportive help-seeking from signs of overdose or acute medical crisis that require an emergency response, given a written or video case description.
   • The help-seeking pathway (Unit 2) applied to substance useApply the Unit 2 help-seeking pathway to a substance-use case in which a peer shows signs of a developing problem but not an acute emergency.
   • Refusal skills under social pressureDeliver a refusal script under simulated peer-pressure conditions that maintains the refusal after at least one social pushback line, without deferring the decision to authority or ending the friendship as the only strategy.
   • Persuasion techniques in substance-use marketingCritique a substance-use marketing message (vape flavor ad, alcohol social-media post, or supplement claim) by identifying the specific persuasion technique used and the health claim it obscures or exaggerates.
   • Substance-use messaging design targeted at an underlying motiveGenerate a counter-message that would address the specific reason a realistic teenager in a given scenario is considering using a substance (coping, social belonging, curiosity), rather than a generic 'drugs are bad' warning, and justify why it targets that reason.
   • Integrated substance-use case analysis (dose-response, emergency classification, help-seeking pathway)Analyze a three-part case file (substance, dose/context, social-pressure situation) never seen before to (a) predict the physiological effect using dose-response reasoning, (b) classify it as emergency vs. help-seeking, and (c) apply the Unit 2 pathway correctly.
4. Unit 4: First Aid, Emergency Response, and Personal SafetyThis is where thinking-it-through gives way to reacting fast. Your kid learns a small set of rehearsed physical steps — checking a scene, calling for help, choking response, bleeding control, recognizing shock, recovery position, CPR/AED basics — plus a personal safety plan for home, online, and situational risks. This is hands-on and physical, not a reading unit.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • The primary assessment sequence (scene safety, responsiveness, call for help, breathing check)Given a description or short video of a collapsed or injured person, state the correct order of the primary assessment sequence (check scene safety, check responsiveness, call/direct someone to call for help, check breathing) without omitting or reordering a step.
   • The abdominal thrust (choking) response sequenceCorrectly execute the two-hand-position adult choking response (identify signs of severe airway obstruction, deliver abdominal thrusts) on a training mannequin or with a coached partner simulation, in the correct order, without a verbal step-by-step prompt from the coach.
   • The physiological rationale for direct pressure as bleeding controlExplain why controlling external bleeding with direct pressure works, by connecting the action (sustained direct pressure over the wound) to the physiological goal (allowing clot formation / reducing blood loss) using circulatory system vocabulary from Unit 1.
   • Overdose/intoxication warning signs as an emergency-recognition triggerGiven a branching scenario describing a person with slurred speech, irregular breathing, and vomiting at a party, classify whether this is most likely an overdose/intoxication emergency requiring an immediate call, using recognition signs taught in Unit 3.
   • Application of the recognize-decide-act emergency sequence to unrehearsed emergency typesGiven four novel branching-scenario emergencies not used in instruction (e.g., a diabetic emergency, a severe allergic reaction, a seizure, a person found unresponsive in cold water), determine the correct recognize-decide-act sequence and correct call/no-call decision for each, despite none matching a rehearsed script exactly.
   • The trade-off between deliberation and speed in the compressed emergency decision frameworkExplain why increased anatomical or medical knowledge can sometimes slow a bystander's response time in an emergency, by connecting the decision framework's 'evidence' and 'options' steps (Unit 1) to the time cost of considering more options under pressure.
   • The distinction between shock and simple fainting, and the corresponding first-aid responseGiven a description of a person exhibiting shock symptoms (pale/clammy skin, rapid weak pulse, confusion) after an injury, distinguish shock from a simple fainting episode and identify the correct positioning/monitoring response for each.
   • A personal safety plan spanning home, online, and situational risk domainsConstruct a personal safety plan covering at least one home risk, one online/digital risk, and one situational risk (e.g., walking alone, an unsafe party), specifying a concrete preventive action and a concrete response action for each.
   • The emergency-call script (location, nature of emergency, victim condition, stay on line)Recall the correct emergency-call script components (location, what happened, condition of the person, staying on the line) when prompted immediately after instruction.
   • Self-checking a physical first-aid procedure against an explicit checklistCompare the physical demonstration of recovery position against a scored checklist, identifying any step performed out of order or omitted, using the checklist's stated criteria rather than the coach's subjective impression.
5. Unit 5: Consumer and Digital Health DecisionsThe capstone: your kid turns everything they've learned onto real supplements, wellness apps, vape marketing, and health-app "emergency detection" claims. It adds two new pieces — what FDA approval actually does and doesn't guarantee, and a set of named advertising tactics (testimonial, before/after, influencer, false authority) — then has your kid write a real buy/don't-buy recommendation on an actual product, citing at least three earlier units correctly.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Dose-response and nutrition-label literacy applied to supplement marketing claimsGiven a supplement or 'superfood' product label and ad, the student identifies which specific nutrition claims are testable using dose-response and nutrition-label concepts from Unit 1.
   • FDA regulatory pathway distinction between drugs and dietary supplementsThe student explains what FDA approval/regulation does and does not guarantee about a supplement's safety or effectiveness, using the correct regulatory distinction (drug vs. dietary supplement pathway).
   • Advertising techniques used in health-product marketingThe student names and gives an example of at least three advertising techniques (testimonial, before/after, influencer endorsement) found in a given set of real health-product ads.
   • Wellness-app claims about stress and mood evaluated against stress-physiology vocabularyGiven a wellness-app claim about mood or stress reduction, the student evaluates whether the claim is supported using Unit 2 stress/coping vocabulary (stress response, rumination, protective factor) correctly applied, not merely mentioned.
   • Vape/nicotine and recovery-product marketing claims evaluated against substance-effect knowledgeGiven marketing for a vape/nicotine 'recovery' or cessation-adjacent product never discussed in class, the student predicts what claims should raise suspicion, using Unit 3 substance-effect and addiction content with no cue identifying which unit applies.
   • Health-app emergency-detection claims evaluated against call/no-call decision criteriaGiven a health/fitness app's marketing claim that it can 'detect emergencies' or tell a user 'when to call 911,' the student evaluates the claim's validity against Unit 4's call/no-call decision criteria in a context (a novel wearable device) never used in Unit 4 instruction.
   • Evidence quality comparison across two competing health-product marketing claimsThe student compares two health products marketed with similar claims but different evidence quality (one with a cited clinical study, one with only testimonials) and explains which is more credible and why.
   • A personal purchase or app-adoption recommendation built on the full decision-making frameworkThe student generates a full written recommendation (buy/don't buy/use with caveats) for a self-selected real health product or app, applying the Unit 1 decision framework and correctly citing content from at least three prior units.
   • The six steps of the goal-options-evidence-constraints-decide-review decision frameworkThe student recalls the six steps of the decision-making framework (goal, options, evidence, constraints, decide, review) from memory without a reference sheet.

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1. Unit 1: Income: What You Actually Have to Work WithThis is where your child learns that the number on a job offer is never the number that shows up in the bank account. They'll learn to read a pay stub, understand what FICA and tax withholding actually are, and see how getting paid weekly versus monthly changes when money arrives without changing how much there is. It ends with comparing two real-looking job offers and writing a memo defending one.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • The structure of a pay stub (gross pay, itemized deductions, net pay)Given a pay stub or pay statement, identify and label gross pay, each named deduction, and net pay.
   • The causal relationship between gross pay and net pay via withholding and FICAExplain, in the student's own words, why gross pay and net pay differ, naming FICA and federal/state withholding as the specific causes.
   • The gross-to-net pay calculation procedureCalculate net pay from gross pay given a stated hourly wage, hours worked, and a simplified withholding rate table.
   • Hourly vs. salary vs. commission/tips as income structures with different variabilityCompare two income structures (hourly, salary, commission/tips) by calculating expected net income for each under a given scenario, and classify which structure carries more month-to-month income variability.
   • The effect of pay frequency on cash flow timing versus total incomeExplain how pay frequency (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly) changes the timing of cash available to a household without changing the total annual net income.
   • Net-income comparison across two full job offersGiven two complete job offers (pay structure, pay frequency, gross pay figures), calculate net pay under each and determine which offer yields more net income annually.
   • Opportunity cost as applied to competing job offersApply the concept of opportunity cost to a job-offer decision by identifying what is given up (money, time, flexibility, benefits) when one offer is chosen over another.
   • Fit between an income structure's characteristics and an untaught personal circumstanceGiven an unfamiliar life circumstance not discussed in class (e.g., a student who needs predictable income to qualify for an apartment lease, or one who travels for two months a year), determine and justify which of two job offers better fits that circumstance.
   • A written net-pay comparison and conditional recommendation between two job offersWrite a comparison memo that states which job offer is better for a given household and identifies at least one condition under which the other offer would be the better choice.
   • The validity of using gross salary alone as the deciding factor between job offersCritique a claim such as 'the job with the higher salary is always the better offer' using evidence from calculated net pay and circumstance-fit.
2. Unit 2: Budgeting: Assigning Every Dollar a JobThis is the unit where money starts behaving over time instead of just sitting in a budget. The big idea is that compound growth is growth building on top of previous growth — it looks slow for a long time and then looks fast, and time turns out to matter more than most people expect. It uses your child's own savings number from the budgeting unit as a real input to a projection to age 65.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Fixed vs. variable expensesGiven the household's monthly net income figure carried over from Unit 1, classify a list of 15 sample household expenses as fixed or variable.
   • The contestable boundary between needs and wantsJustify, with reference to the household's actual circumstances, why a specific expense (e.g., a gym membership, a smartphone plan) could reasonably be classified as either a need or a want, taking a defensible position in writing.
   • The 50/30/20 budgeting heuristicApply the 50/30/20 heuristic to allocate the case household's net income across needs, wants, and savings/debt categories, producing dollar amounts for each band.
   • Limits of the 50/30/20 heuristic under atypical fixed-cost burdensCritique the 50/30/20 heuristic's fit to a household whose fixed expenses (e.g., rent in a high cost-of-living area, or a medical condition's recurring costs) exceed 50% of net income, explaining specifically where and why the heuristic breaks down.
   • Emergency fund sizing and liquidityExplain why an emergency fund's target size is conventionally expressed in months of essential expenses rather than as a fixed dollar amount, using the concept of liquidity.
   • Variance between planned and actual spendingGiven a month of the case household's actual spending records, calculate the variance between planned and actual amounts in each budget category and identify which variances signal a planning problem versus a one-time event.
   • Opportunity cost and reallocation under an unplanned expenseGiven an unplanned $600 expense scenario, determine whether the case household's completed budget (including emergency fund) can absorb the shock and, if not, generate a specific reallocation across categories that would let it, with numbers.
   • The limits of a purely numeric budget comparisonCompare the household's budget under a 50/30/20 allocation to an alternative allocation the student proposes for a stated non-numeric priority (e.g., prioritizing debt payoff speed over discretionary spending), identifying what the numbers alone cannot decide.
3. Unit 3: Growth: How Money Changes Over TimeThis unit takes the compounding math from Unit 3 and runs it in reverse: instead of interest growing your money, APR grows what you owe. Your child will calculate what a credit card actually costs under minimum payments versus paying it off faster, learn what actions raise or lower a credit score, and then shift into insurance — premiums, deductibles, policy limits, and why insurance can make sense even though most people who buy it never collect.10 skills ▸close ▾

   • The distinction between simple interest and compound interest as calculation methodsGiven a principal, rate, and time period, the student distinguishes whether a scenario describes simple or compound interest based on how the description states interest is calculated, and identifies which one is being used.
   • Simple interest and compound interest formulas applied to a principal, rate, and timeThe student calculates the ending balance of an account after a stated number of years under simple interest and under compound interest for the same principal and rate, executing the correct formula for each.
   • The mechanism by which compound interest accelerates over timeThe student explains why compound interest produces an accelerating (not constant) dollar increase per period, using the mechanism that each period's interest is calculated on a base that includes all prior interest.
   • The Rule of 72 as an estimation tool and the boundary conditions of its accuracyThe student estimates the number of years required for an investment to double at a given interest rate using the Rule of 72, and identifies at what range of interest rates the estimate diverges most from the exact calculation.
   • The relative effect of time versus contribution amount on ending balance under compound growthGiven two savers who differ in start age and monthly contribution amount, the student predicts which will have more money at age 65 before calculating, then compares the predicted and calculated outcomes to identify which variable (time or amount) had the larger effect and why.
   • The shared deep structure between compound savings growth and compound debt growth, applied without a surface cueThe student applies the time-versus-amount reasoning developed for compound savings growth to a structurally identical but unlabeled scenario — paying off debt earlier versus later with different payment amounts — without being told the two scenarios share a structure.
   • The effect of volatility and sequence on compounded returns despite equal average returnGiven two investment return sequences with identical arithmetic average returns but different volatility (order and size of gains/losses), the student determines that the ending balances differ and locates the specific step in each calculation where the difference originates.
   • Diversification as a strategy for reducing exposure to any single asset's failureThe student classifies a description of an investment approach (e.g., 'all savings in one company's stock' vs. 'savings spread across a stock index fund, a bond fund, and a savings account') as diversified or not diversified, and justifies the classification by naming what would have to happen for each approach to lose significant value.
   • The application of the student's own budget savings figure as the input to a personal long-horizon compound-growth projectionUsing the student's own Unit 2 budget savings-line figure as the monthly contribution, the student generates a compound-growth projection to age 65 and evaluates whether the current savings rate is consistent with a stated future goal, proposing one specific change to either the rate or the start-now decision.
   • The abstract structural distinction between additive (fixed-base) growth and multiplicative (growing-base) growth, independent of a financial surface contextGiven a description of a totally unfamiliar 'growth' context that shares no vocabulary with money at all — for example, a rumor spreading through a school where the number of new people who hear it each day depends on how many already know it, or a population of bacteria doubling on a fixed schedule — the student determines whether the growth pattern described behaves like simple or like compound interest, and identifies the specific feature of the description (a rate applied to a fixed base vs. a rate applied to an already-grown base) that reveals which one it is, with no dollar figures, no interest vocabulary, and no cue that the question relates to this unit's content at all.
4. Unit 4: Credit and Risk: Borrowing and InsuringThis is the wrap-up unit, and it doesn't teach any new math. Your child has to combine everything — income, budgeting, growth, credit, and insurance — into one household plan, and the real challenge is realizing the five pieces affect each other. Change the budget and the emergency fund target changes. Pay off debt faster and there's less to invest. The order you fund things in is a judgment call your child has to defend, not a formula to look up.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • APR applied monthly to a revolving credit card balance under minimum paymentsCalculate total interest paid on a credit card balance under a fixed minimum-payment schedule using the given APR.
   • Accelerated payoff schedule versus minimum-payment schedule for a fixed credit balanceCalculate total cost and payoff time for the same balance under an accelerated fixed-payment plan and compare it to the minimum-payment total.
   • The mechanism by which minimum payments extend cost (compounding against a nearly-static principal)Explain why paying only the minimum on a revolving balance extends total cost disproportionately, in terms of compounding acting on a shrinking-slowly principal.
   • Behaviors that build a credit score versus behaviors that damage itClassify a set of described borrower behaviors (e.g., missed payment, high utilization, long account history, new credit inquiry) as raising, lowering, or having little effect on a credit score.
   • The relationship between credit score range and offered APRInfer how a given credit score range would change the APR a hypothetical borrower is offered, using a provided lender rate table.
   • Secured versus unsecured debt, defined by collateralDifferentiate secured debt from unsecured debt using the presence or absence of collateral, applied to unfamiliar loan examples.
   • Risk pooling as the mechanism that makes insurance rational despite most individuals not collectingExplain, using risk-pooling logic, why a purchase of insurance can be individually rational for a policyholder even though most policyholders never collect on their policy.
   • Insurance decisions for a novel household scenario, justified by premium/deductible/policy-limit/self-insure tradeoffsGiven a household risk scenario not used in instruction, decide which insurance types to carry and which to decline, justifying each decision by weighing premium, deductible, policy limit, and the household's ability to self-insure.
   • The adequacy of 'what if' reasoning versus risk-pooling reasoning as justification for an insurance decisionCritique a peer or sample argument that recommends buying insurance based solely on 'what if something happens' reasoning, identifying where risk-pooling logic is missing.
5. Unit 5: The Household Plan: Integrating the Parts10 skills ▸close ▾

   • Net worth as assets minus liabilitiesGiven a list of a household's assets and liabilities from the running case, calculate net worth and state whether it is positive or negative.
   • The relationship between expense variability, liquidity, and emergency-fund sizingExplain why a household's emergency-fund target depends on the liquidity and variability of its expenses, using the fixed/variable expense distinction from Unit 2.
   • Opportunity cost of funding-order choices under a fixed monthly surplusCompare two proposed funding orders (emergency fund first vs. extra debt payoff first) for the same household and identify what each order gives up.
   • Funding order (emergency fund, high-interest debt, investing, insurance) under a novel household constraintGiven a household's income, existing debt APRs, and lack of an emergency fund, generate and justify a funding order for a monthly surplus that the student has not seen modeled.
   • Interaction effects among budget, emergency fund, and debt sections of a household planGiven a household plan where one budget category is changed, trace and revise the resulting changes to at least two other sections (e.g., emergency fund target, debt payoff timeline).
   • The argued funding order and its counterfactual (reversed order) consequences within the student's own household planWrite a justification for the funding order chosen in the capstone plan that explicitly states what would change in the plan if the order were reversed.
   • The structural difference between an integrated plan and a topic-by-topic planDistinguish a household plan that treats its five parts as interacting from one that treats them as five independent answers, using specific evidence from a sample plan.
   • Generalizability of the standard funding-order heuristic across differing household profilesGiven a household plan for a family with a different income and debt profile than the student's own running case, evaluate whether the standard funding order (emergency fund, high-interest debt, investing/retirement, insurance) still applies and argue for a modification if not.
   • Core vocabulary from Units 2-4 (emergency fund, high-interest debt, risk pooling) and this unit (net worth)Recall the definition of net worth, emergency fund, high-interest debt, and risk pooling without a word bank, in the context of the delayed cumulative check.
   • Funding-order integration as a durable, transferable construct (this unit's core learning target)Given a novel household scenario not seen during the unit, generate a funding order and identify one cross-section dependency, at least one week after the capstone was submitted.

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1. Unit 1: Meeting PeopleHello, names, where you're from, numbers, and — most usefully — how to say you're lost.6 skills ▸close ▾

   • Say hello and tell someone your nameSay hello and tell someone your name
   • Say how you are, and ask someone elseSay how you are, and ask someone else
   • Say where you're from and where you liveSay where you're from and where you live
   • Say how old you are and count to 100Say how old you are and count to 100
   • Say I don't understand and ask someone to slow downSay I don't understand and ask someone to slow down
   • Introduce yourself completely, unpromptedIntroduce yourself completely, unprompted
2. Unit 2: My People and My LifeFamily, describing people, likes and dislikes, hobbies, days and times.6 skills ▸close ▾

   • Name the people in my familyName the people in my family
   • Describe someone in a few wordsDescribe someone in a few words
   • Say what I like and don't likeSay what I like and don't like
   • Talk about what I do for funTalk about what I do for fun
   • Say the days, the time, and when things happenSay the days, the time, and when things happen
   • Describe my week to someone who's never met meDescribe my week to someone who's never met me
3. Unit 3: Getting Through a DayOrdering food, asking for things, directions, weather, home, school, and saying what's happening now.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Order food and drinkOrder food and drink
   • Ask for what I need and say thank youAsk for what I need and say thank you
   • Ask for and follow directionsAsk for and follow directions
   • Talk about the weather and what I'm wearingTalk about the weather and what I'm wearing
   • Describe my house and my roomDescribe my house and my room
   • Talk about school and what I'm studyingTalk about school and what I'm studying
   • Say what I'm doing right nowSay what I'm doing right now
   • Handle a whole shop or café on my ownHandle a whole shop or café on my own
4. Unit 4: Before and After NowYesterday, stories, plans, arrangements, problems, comparisons and opinions.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Say what I did yesterdaySay what I did yesterday
   • Tell a short story about something that happenedTell a short story about something that happened
   • Say what I'm going to do laterSay what I'm going to do later
   • Make a plan with someoneMake a plan with someone
   • Explain a small problem and ask for helpExplain a small problem and ask for help
   • Compare two things and say which I preferCompare two things and say which I prefer
   • Give an opinion and say whyGive an opinion and say why
   • Tell the story of my week, in the pastTell the story of my week, in the past
5. Unit 5: Real ConversationWorking around missing words, phone calls, describing places, hypotheticals, feelings, summarising, and disagreeing politely.8 skills ▸close ▾

   • Keep a conversation going when I don't know a wordKeep a conversation going when I don't know a word
   • Talk on the phone or leave a messageTalk on the phone or leave a message
   • Describe a place I've beenDescribe a place I've been
   • Say what I would do — things that haven't happenedSay what I would do — things that haven't happened
   • Talk about how I feel and whyTalk about how I feel and why
   • Summarize something I read or watchedSummarize something I read or watched
   • Disagree politely and defend my positionDisagree politely and defend my position
   • Have a long conversation about anythingHave a long conversation about anything

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1. Unit 1: Building a BaseNine weeks of walking, jogging, bodyweight moves and outdoor games, starting from wherever your child actually is.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Find your starting pointComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on find your starting point.
   • Walk–jog intervalsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on walk–jog intervals.
   • Bodyweight basicsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on bodyweight basics.
   • Games outsideComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on games outside.
   • Jogging furtherComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on jogging further.
   • Ball skillsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on ball skills.
   • Hills and stairsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on hills and stairs.
   • Circuit trainingComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on circuit training.
   • Check-in weekComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on check-in week.
2. Unit 2: Strength, Core and Indoor FitnessCore, upper body, legs, jump rope, yoga, dance and short high-intensity work — all of it doable indoors.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Core strengthComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on core strength.
   • Jump ropeComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on jump rope.
   • Flexibility and yogaComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on flexibility and yoga.
   • Pushing and pullingComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on pushing and pulling.
   • LegsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on legs.
   • Dance and cardioComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on dance and cardio.
   • Short and hardComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on short and hard.
   • Balance and coordinationComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on balance and coordination.
   • Check-in weekComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on check-in week.
3. Unit 3: Skills, Games and SpeedSport skills — basketball, soccer, racquet sports, net games — plus sprinting, agility and a measured track-and-field week.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Running form and speedComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on running form and speed.
   • Basketball skillsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on basketball skills.
   • Soccer skillsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on soccer skills.
   • Racquet and paddle sportsComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on racquet and paddle sports.
   • Net and team gamesComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on net and team games.
   • Track and field dayComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on track and field day.
   • Games with other peopleComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on games with other people.
   • AgilityComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on agility.
   • Check-in weekComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on check-in week.
4. Unit 4: Lifetime FitnessHiking, cycling, swimming, progressive strength, recovery, a brand-new activity, and finally writing and running their own training plan.9 skills ▸close ▾

   • Hiking and long walksComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on hiking and long walks.
   • CyclingComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on cycling.
   • Water and swimmingComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on water and swimming.
   • Getting stronger on purposeComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on getting stronger on purpose.
   • RecoveryComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on recovery.
   • Try something newComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on try something new.
   • Design your own planComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on design your own plan.
   • Run your planComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on run your plan.
   • Final weekComplete about 150 minutes of activity this week, focused on final week.

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